Christian worship is a real and living encounter between God, the eternal Creator of all things, and the people he has redeemed through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. It is God who reveals himself, and who calls us to know and worship him. In response to God’s word and God’s great acts of love on our behalf, we speak and sing words of our own, and perform our own acts of devotion to God. We praise God, we confess our sins, we declare our thankfulness, and we renew our commitment to live as God’s obedient children. We share in baptism and communion, the sacraments God has given us, visible and tangible ways of experiencing his gracious presence. And we worship in the concrete act of presenting our offerings, pledging to God not only our wealth, but also every part of our selves: hearts and minds, bodies and spirits.
Christian worship is a foretaste, in this world, of the unceasing song of praise offered by every living creature that sees God's glory in the redeemed creation. When we worship, we join our voices to the voice of every creature bowing before God’s throne, and we sing:
“To him who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb
Be praise and honor and glory
and power for ever and ever” (Rev. 5:13).
God has graciously called us into the eternal fellowship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we worship, whether now or in the new creation, we share in the very life of the blessed Trinity. We are called by the eternal love of the Father, redeemed by the sacrifice of the Son, and made holy by the Spirit of God within us.
The Bible is God’s own word. It is a declaration of God’s character, and of God’s will for our lives. In worship we hear the good news—that we are reconciled to God through Christ—and we learn how to live as Christ’s disciples. The Bible also teaches us how to worship. Both in planning and conducting our worship, we seek to follow the patterns and principles that God reveals to us in the Bible.
God has called us to himself, and bound himself to us in a covenant relationship. This intimate relationship with God is reflected and celebrated in the concrete acts of our worship service. It is God who gathers us, who invites us to worship and who greets us as his own children. It is God who assures us of his mercy, and makes known to us his will for our lives. It is God’s own word that is declared to us in worship - comforting us, encouraging us, strengthening us and sometimes chastising us, but always calling us towards himself.
Christian worship is the worship of a community. Our fellowship with God is mirrored in our fellowship with one another. We worship not as mere gathered individuals, but as a people made one by the life and death of Jesus, and by the bond of the Holy Spirit. We are reconciled to one another because we are reconciled to God. As God has done good to us, we seek one another’s good. We worship together as sisters and brothers, striving to make our worship and our life together a witness to the world of the God who has called us out of darkness, and into his marvelous light.
Worship prepares God’s people to make their whole lives in this world an expression of worship to the God who created us and who redeems us. It not only reminds us of who God is, but also of whom God calls us to be. Worship is meant to transform and renew us into the image of Christ, so that, like him, we may be faithful servants.
God has invited us into fellowship with himself. In the same way, we invite others to share the life that God has given us through Jesus Christ. This is the life that we celebrate and experience when we worship, and that we eagerly desire to share with others. As the Apostle Paul said,
So for the sake of Christ, we are like ambassadors of God himself, who makes an earnest appeal through us: “We beg you – for the sake of Christ – be reconciled to God.”
(2 Corinthians 5:20, original translation)