WORSHIP NOTES Volume 20, No. 7 ( July 2025) Silence and Freedom It is an amazing fact that the New Testament is virtually silent on the matter of form for the church’s worship. D. A. Carson writes: “There is no single passage in the New Testament that establishes a paradigm for corporate worship.” (“Worship under the Word,” in Worship by the Book, 40) (Of course, this is in marked contrast […]
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 19, No. 9 (September 2024) The members of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are all equally God and equally glorious. Yet, remarkably, the different members of the Trinity voluntarily perform different roles: The Father sends the Son (a major theme in the Gospel of John: 4:34; 5:24, 36–38; 6:29; 7:16; etc.); the Son obeys the Father (John 4:34); and the Spirit, as we see here, glorifies Christ
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WORSHIP NOTES Volume 17, No. 4 (April 2022) THE SCOPE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER TIME (past-present-future) At the Table we are reminded of the event of Christ’s crucifixion, but in its remembrance we draw comfort from the realization that when Jesus died, He died for each of us—thus bringing the significance of the past event into our present experience. There is also a crucial future aspect as well. Paul writes:
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WORSHIP NOTES Volume 17, No. 3 (March 2022) In obedience to Jesus’ command (Luke 22:19),[1] His church has always made the ritual remembrance of His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross a central part of gathered worship.[2] In fact, in most traditions the Lord’s Supper was celebrated weekly for the first 1500 years of the church. Some groups continue this practice, though many groups now opt for a monthly observance, while
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WORSHIP NOTES Volume 16, No. 9 (October 2021) “Here is the church, and here is the steeple; open the door and see all the people!” As has often been observed, there is precious little in the New Testament by way of specific instructions about how to practice corporate worship in the church. Of the little that one does find, most of it has to do with Paul correcting abuses or
The Gathering: “Decently and in Order”(1 Corinthians 14) Read More »
WORSHIP NOTES Volume 15, No. 3 (March 2020) Below are listed just a few of the many resources that have been made available for Christians and churches dealing with our present trying time. SCRIPTURES (among, of course, many, many others) Many are the plans in the mind of a man,but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21) God is our refuge and strength,a very present
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WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 2 (February 2019) A PARABLE This parable to was told to certain ones who trusted in themselves that their worship style was the only acceptable form: “Four men went up in to the temple to pray, two traditional music directors and two contemporary worship leaders. One of the music directors stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not
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WORSHIP NOTES Volume 13, No. 2 (February 2018) (presentation to the Memphis chapter of theAmerican Guild of Organists, March 5, 2018) I. PLANNING A. Revelation & Response ↓↑ (see Worship Notes 1.5)B. Thematic Worship (see Worship Notes 3.4) C. Priorities D. “Preparing for Worship” (weekly email sent from the church; describes that week’s theme, and includes links to listen to songs that may be unfamiliar) E. Holiday Services II. RESOURCES A. In-house resources B.
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WORSHIP NOTES Volume 13, No. 1 (January 2018) The annual Calvin Symposium on Worship, sponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, is held at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the end of January every year. It is always a rich time of worship, instruction (in plenary sessions and dozens of special-interest workshops), inspiration and networking. This year was no exception. Here are some miscellaneous thoughts and ideas
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WORSHIP NOTES Volume 12, No. 9 (September 2017) “The most important musical group in the churchis the congregation.” This vital truth was hammered home to me from several different angles during the month of September. Capitol Hill Baptist Church I had long wanted to visit this church (especially since I grew up in the D.C. area), located just five blocks from the U.S. Capitol. The first Sunday in September I
