I’ve been thinking about worship lately. I have to organize my thoughts but three things stand out. First, worship should demand something from us, not give something to us. It should be work, spiritual work. Second, there is no explicit sacred liturgy set down in Scripture, though Church history has different models, they have some similar elements. We shouldn’t ignore that. Third, there is infantile and mature worship. It isn’t seen in the form or the style of music (or lack of it) or in the dress code. It is in the content. More mature worship wonders at and delights in Christ. Less mature worship considers God only be looking at ourselves. Mature preaching exalts Christ by drawing us to the cross. Less mature preaching presents the facts and the principles and rushes to application. Both may use illustrations to make the point but one is about what God can do for me and the other is about what God has done for me and how I should now live.

As I said, more needs to be said. I have a six-hour drive ahead of me tomorrow so maybe I can organize my thoughts more. BTW, I said that there was no sacred liturgy explicitly spelled out in Scripture, but I need to draw that out a little. The elements of worship are present and include public prayer and public reading of scripture in addition to the Apostles teaching (i.e. preaching from a New Testament perspective) and singing and collecting donations. The first two are often overlooked at the expense of the last three. All of them must be God-centered. Lord, revive your Church. Shake the ashes of pride from her wedding gown and wash her in your blood. Fill her heart with a love for her Bridegroom such that her eyes wander nowhere else. Begin that revival in my prideful heart and then in my family and then my church. Amen.