This is the first in a series of blog entries on why we worship the way we do at Providence and attempts to outline not only what you can expect to see in one of our worship services, but where each element of worship comes from. The sermon linked to above lays down the central principle that guides our approach to worship: That our worship must be based entirely on what we are commanded to do in the Word of God. We believe that our gracious God has taught us how to worship Him, and that we should follow His directions as well as we are able to do so.
We understand that some Reformed believers will disagree with some of our conclusions, or even the guiding principle of our worship. We also acknowledge that the majority of modern churches do not believe that our worship should only consist of what is taught in scripture and agree with the declaration in the 39 Articles of the Church of England that "Every particular or national Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish, Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained only by man's authority", but we offer the following as an apologetic and explanation for why our own practice is so different.
A Brief Guide to Presbyterian Worship
or
WHY WE WORSHIP THE WAY WE DO
Introduction
"The great error of the Church in all ages, the fruitful source of her apostacy and crime, has been a presumptuous reliance upon her own understanding. Her own inventions have seduced her from loyalty to God, and filled her sanctuary with idols and the hearts of her children with vain imaginations. The Bible cuts at the very root of this evil by affording us a perfect and infallible rule of faith and practice. The absolute perfection of the Scriptures as a directory to man was a cardinal principle of the Reformation, and whatever could not be traced to them either directly or by necessary inference was denounced as a human invention - as mere will-worship, which God abhors so deeply that an inspired Apostle has connected it with idolatry or the worshiping of angels." – James Henley Thornwell
The Lord our God, who alone is to be worshipped, teaches us the way in which we are to worship Him in His Word.
The Bible, which is the inspired and infallible Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21), is entirely sufficient for everything in our faith, life, and practice and we do not need to add anything of our own, nor should we. Therefore our worship is to be ordered according to God's instructions, and not according to our imaginations or traditions or in any way God has not prescribed for us.
The ordinary elements of worship given to us in the Bible are:
1) prayer
2) the reading of the scriptures
3) the sound preaching and attentive hearing of the Word, in obedience to God, with understanding, faith, and reverence
4) the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with grace in the heart
5) public confession of our faith
6) the collection
7) the due administration and right receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ.
There are also occasional elements of worship given to us in the Bible, which should occur in our worship at appropriate times and special occasions (such as the ordination of an officer or following a national or local disaster or blessing), these are:
1) religious oaths and vows
2) solemn fasting, and thanksgiving to God for his providential blessings.
It is our hope that our worship would always consist of these elements alone, and that they would be offered up to God with love, adoration, and reverence. In the next installment in this series we will begin to examine and explain each of these elements in greater detail.
Older
Top
