WORSHIP NOTES Volume 18, Nr. 2 (February 2023) Jewish Roots While we do not have a lot of historical information about worship in the very earliest churches, we can observe that there were influences from Christianity’s Jewish roots: both from the synagogue (especially the practice of the reading and expounding of the Scriptures) and from the temple (especially the remembrance of the once-for all sacrifice of Christ in the celebration …
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 17, No. 1 (January 2022) The “worship reformation” of recent years has led many churches to make changes in their worship styles and practices. That is no small matter, and the way is full of potholes and pitfalls. Therefore, how we go about it (if at all) may be more important (and say more about us) than the results. Here are some suggested principles to help guide …
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 15, No. 2 (February 2020) An enduring question underlying most of our debates, discussions and dissensions about worship is: How can we be biblically faithful in our worship,and yet culturally relevant in our own particular setting? Two issues in particular make this question difficult to answer: CHALLENGE ONE: The virtual silence of the New Testament The startling truth is that the pages of the New Testament contain …
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 15, No. 1 (January 2020) Among (undoubtedly) others, the following are some of the key purposes of corporate worship: 1. Worship in the church honors the Father. This is the ultimate purpose of corporate worship, an end in itself. It serves no higher purpose than this; it is a means to no other end. (“Worship is the only Christian activity that is an end in itself,” John …
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 11, No. 2 (February 2016) THE PASTOR’S VITAL ROLE IN THE WORSHIP LIFE OF THE CONGREGATION Worship is central to the identity and the life of the body of Christ, including of course corporate worship, as Eduard Schweizer affirms: “Public worship is clearly and openly the place in the congregation’s life at which it manifests itself as the Body of Christ.”[1] Similarly, William Willimon states: [Corporate] worship is the …
