The Three Audiences of our Worship

When the church gathers for worship, there are three “audiences” present.

1. First and foremost, God is the only object of our worship. We “magnify the Lord” (Psalm. 34:3) and praise him alone.

2. We worship with one another as the church, believers and our children. As we read, sing, pray, preach, and see (in the Sacraments) the Word, we “exalt his name together” (Ps. 34:3).

3. Called to be witnesses for Christ in the world, we rejoice when non-believing guests join us, as we invite them to “taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm. 34:8)

The Gospel Framework of Liturgy

As God’s Word directs our worship, the liturgy (structure of the service) reflects the framework of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: the Glory of God > the Gravity of Sin > the Grandeur of Grace. We see this kind of worship approach in passages like Isaiah 6, Deuteronomy 5, Romans 11-15, and Revelation 4-21, as well as the grand narrative of Scripture: Creation > Fall > Redemption > Consummation. As we walk through this Gospel framework from the Call to Worship to the Benediction, the weekly sermon passage gives us the particular themes from God’s Word to highlight. This keeps our liturgical flow anchored in the Gospel while we explore a diversity of themes as directed by the exposition of Scripture.

Reading the Word

“Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (1 Tim. 4:13). As the church gathers, one of the simplest things we do is read the Bible out loud for all to hear. It’s simple in outward form, and yet significant in spiritual reality. As the inspired and inerrant Word of God, reading the Bible is the most clear and direct way to hear from God. Hearing from God! It’s staggering that the One who created and rules all that there is has spoken to us through his written Word. Thus, we read the Word publicly with reverence, confidence, and clarity. Captured by this milestone event, our call is to listen to ”with diligence, preparation, and prayer; so that we may accept it with faith, store it in our hearts, and practice it in our lives” (New City Catechism, Q. 42).

Singing the Word

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16). Singing engages the mind, heart, and body. Singing unites people around a shared theme. Melody and poetry impress a song’s content into our souls so that it sticks with us. Singing transforms us. So, it’s incredibly important what we sing when we gather for worship. God has given us a songbook in Psalms, as well as freedom to compose new songs for worship. Yet, even these new songs should be based upon and saturated with the Word, so that as we sing, the word of Christ dwells in us more richly. 

Praying the Word

When Jesus said, “pray then like this…” (Matt. 6:9) he gave us the Lord’s Prayer to use both as a prayer itself, and as a form to guide the substance of our prayers. The Lord gave us the Psalms, which function both as songs and prayers. When the Bible records people praying to God, we often see them grabbing Scriptural language to give voice to praise, confession, thanksgiving, and petition. What better way to ensure that we are praying according to the will of God, and in the name of Jesus, than to base upon and fill our prayers with the Spirit-inspired language and themes of the Bible? When we pray together in public worship, our goal is that even as we apply our prayers to our specific situations, we would together pray the Word of God back to God.

Preaching the Word

“Preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2), which is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). We reserve a bulk of our worship service for the preaching of a sermon, where a minister explains and applies a passage of Scripture, helping the congregation to hear God’s will for his people. God’s Word is inerrant, authoritative, relevant, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, who has ordained that preaching be a means of grace God uses to gather and equip believers in Christ. Although illustrations, stories, and quotes may be used in support, the anchor of the sermon is God’s Word, revealed to us in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

Seeing the Word (In the Sacraments)

Jesus instituted two sacraments for the Church in the New Testament: Baptism (Matt. 28:19) and the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26:26-29). These were given to represent Christ and the benefits of the covenant of grace to believers. Augustine referred to the sacraments as “visible words” because through them God appeals to our physical senses to communicate a spiritual grace. Baptism is an initiatory sign into the visible church, given only once to believers and their children. The Lord’s Supper is a renewal sign where believers regularly feast on Christ by faith to our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. The Lord, in his kindness, has allowed us to “see” the Gospel promises of his Word through physical signs in order to “strengthen and increase our faith" (WLC 162).

Confession of Sin

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4). Since the liturgy of corporate worship follows the framework of the Gospel, we prioritize confession of sin in the earlier part of our service. As God calls us to praise and adore him, the proper response is to recognize our unworthiness in light of his worthiness. We follow King David’s lead in Psalm 51 and admit and confess to God that we have sinned against him in broad and specific ways. We are born in sin, our fallen flesh wages war against our soul, we reject God and his will in our thoughts, words, and deeds, we fear man instead of fearing God, we hate our neighbor, we think of ourselves too highly - indeed, our reality outside of God’s mercy is that we are dead in sin. Confession of sin admits the truth. Yet, for all those who gather for worship as believers in the Lord Jesus, we confess our sin weekly not in order to get God’s forgiveness, but as those who have already been forgiven all our sin through the finished work of the cross. Out of thankfulness for his great mercy, we are called to come before him humbly, confessing our sin, embracing our Savior, seeking the Spirit’s transformation, and experiencing the Father’s love for his children.

Assurance of Grace

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Lest any believer be left in the depths of despair or in the hamster wheel of self-righteousness, after confessing our sin, we embrace our Savior. We look to him, the “founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2) and hear a word of grace from God’s Word that in Christ we are forgiven, fully and finally. Through Christ’s work on the cross and in the empty tomb, we are redeemed and resurrected. “No condemnation” means that the verdict is settled, that believers in Christ are counted as “not guilty.” It is not that this declaration, spoken by an elder, affects salvation or forgiveness. Rather, it assures us of what God has already promised for all those who have faith in Jesus: to save us from our sins. Let this be a high point of the service as you are reminded of God’s grace in Christ.

Prayer of Intercession

“We have not ceased to pray for you” (Col. 1:9a). At this point in the service, we have sung and prayed praise, thanksgiving, confession of sin, and Gospel embrace. From this humble gratitude and confident security in Christ, we move to bold intercessory prayer. Simply stated, this is when we pray for specific things for and on behalf of others. You may hear the elder praying for the sanctification and building up of the church local and global, for comfort for the sick, sorrowful, and suffering among us, for provision for those in need, for wisdom for church leaders, for guidance for civil authorities that the church may live in peace, for salvation for the lost, for protection, provision, and fruitfulness for our ministry partner organizations, and many other ways in which Jesus says, “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14).

Giving of Tithes and Offerings

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). In gratefulness of what the Lord has done for us, we worship him through giving back to him a generous portion of what he has entrusted generously to us. God uses the offerings of his people to support the ministry of his church locally and globally. He also uses this call to giving as an important part of sanctification, in loosening our grip on the things of this world and laying up our treasures in heaven. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). During this part of the service, consider using the time to give physically, initiate an online gift, thank God for his generosity, pray for God to use your gift fruitfully in his Kingdom, or quietly instruct children on biblical stewardship and modeling what this looks like in worship.

Song Selection for Worship

Song selection for worship is a pastoral ministry of the Word. Good lyrics matched with good melodies stick with us and minister to us during the week and throughout our lives. God uses them to guide us, teach us, and comfort us. So, we should be intentional and discerning of the songs we sing. What are the characteristics of a good song for worship? We look for songs that are Biblically Robust, Theologically Clear, Poetically Rich, Musically Moving, Vocally Singable, Simple, and Memorable.

Hearing the Word

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). In God’s wisdom and mercy, he speaks to us through his Word. For his glory, when he sends out his Word he accomplishes exactly what he intends (Isaiah 55:11). There is certainly an element of spiritual power and mystery about this. Yet, because God ordains preaching as an ordinary means of grace, we are also called to listen to the Word preached. This is clearly explained in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 90: “How is the word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?” Answer: “That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.” Let us pray for God to tune our ears and hearts to hear his Word.

The Lord’s Supper

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). At our church, we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (also called Communion) weekly as a regular proclamation of the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. Through his death, the church is given life! In the sacrament, the bread and wine, representing Christ’s body and blood, are visible signs of Christ’s spiritual presence with us. For those believing in and trusting in Christ, we outwardly partake of the elements in remembrance and inwardly feed upon Christ for spiritual sustenance. In Communion, we proclaim the grace of the Gospel to ourselves and all who are present. For non-believers or children who have not yet professed faith, instead of partaking in the Lord’s Supper, we invite you to see Jesus offered in the Gospel and receive him as your eternal hope and comfort. 

Baptism

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:38–39). Baptism is a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, reflecting God's redemptive plan from Genesis to Revelation, centering at the cross of Christ. It is a visible depiction of God’s covenant promises to be God to believers and their children. Each time we see baptism initiating the recipient into the visible church, let us remember and rejoice in God’s grace to cleanse us from our sin and give us new life in Christ.

Creeds, Confessions, & Catechisms

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4). This early Scriptural confession of faith distills a lot of theology about God into one short, memorable, statement. Deut. 6 goes on to describe how one generation should be prepared to explain the faithfulness of God to the next generation. Further, the Scriptures God has given us, in written form, preserve the “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) and call us to contend for it against false teaching. So, the Bible gives us the “content” of our faith, culminating in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, modeled in Scripture, and demonstrated through generations of the church, there is a place for doctrinal statements and summaries, often called creeds, confessions, and catechisms. While these documents are subordinate to the Bible (only the Bible is inspired by God and inerrant), they do represent what the church considers to be faithful summaries of the faith and helpful tools for Christian discipleship. In our worship services, we often incorporate a portion from trusted creeds, confessions, and catechisms to help us proclaim what the Bible teaches, and through that proclamation, worship God and make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Children in Worship

“And I will establish my covenant… to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Gen. 17:7). Throughout Scripture, we read that the covenant people of God include believers and their children. Collectively called the “church,” “saints,” the “flock of God,” and the “bride” of Christ, the church is multigenerational. This aspect alone makes a strong case for welcoming children into our corporate worship service, which is the central weekly act of worship and unity as the people of God. Then, when we consider the incalculable benefits we and our children receive when worshipping together, let us pursue it all the more! We are delighted to provide a nursery for the youngest among us, as infants, toddlers, and parents prepare for worshipping in the sanctuary. Yet, it’s our desire to put our children in the way of the means of grace as they hear the word preached, participate in prayer, and see God’s grace in the sacraments. Press on parents, it’s worth the struggle, that they may be “rooted and built up in Christ and established in the faith” (Col. 2:7). Press on church, it’s worth the persistence. Our children are not just the future church, they are the current church too.

Benediction

“The LORD bless you and keep you” (Num. 6:24). In our worship services, God gets the first and last word. He calls us to gather and worship him (Call to Worship), and he sends us forth with his blessing (Benediction). Here, we have encountered the living God, confessed our sin, embraced his grace in the Gospel, and been nourished by the Word and Sacraments. And now we can go in peace with the assurance of God’s covenant promises to fill us with comfort, hope, and security in Christ. More than just a farewell or a punctuation mark, in the Benediction God’s sending grace falls upon his people. So, lift up your heads and receive the Lord’s blessing to “keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore” (Ps. 121:8).