Faith & Worship

Wow, its been a while since I've posted here. Its been about 3,000 miles plus a trip to Dallas, TX! I've been traveling a bit but I want to get back to thinking about a reformed and Presbyterian church in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. What makes Christian worship different? What makes worship at Lake OPC different?

Many people are looking for something more meaningful or perhaps more spiritually satisfying in worship. Some have thought that we need to adapt to the times. This has been the motivation for much of the contemporary worship movement and even the "emerging church" movement.

I think we need to constantly re-apply the gospel and principles of worship to our times. More importantly we need to use God's means. After all it is God's worship, not ours. God centered worship means more than just having God as the focus. It is using God's ways or means. The reformers of the 16th century wanted the church to be founded on the eternal principles of God's word not on the changing ideas of men. As we think about worship, the reformers helped us to identify the "means of grace." These are essentially the elements of worship; the Word of God (read and preached), the sacraments (Baptism & Lord's Supper), and prayer. These means actually and really communicate the benefits of redemption in Christ to the believer.

The way in which this is accomplished is through the instrument of faith. Faith is the instrument by which we receive all the benefits of Christ's work. Through faith we are justified in Christ. Through faith we receive the benefits of Christ's work. What I mean then is that we must use the means; the word, sacraments, and prayer, by faith. We must therefore come believingly into worship. So the writer of Hebrews writes, "Without faith it is impossible to please him (God), for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." (Heb. 11:6).

If you want more spiritually satisfying worship you don't need to do different things or modernize worship. You need to come to worship by faith. God has appointed the means for us to come to him in Christ. These are divinely powerful through faith. Too often we don't come to worship with belief. We want something we can hear, touch, feel. We need that which is truly spiritual and divinely powerful. Too often our worship is faithless. We can perform a lot of outward rituals or activity which seem like worshipful things. Paul writes about this in Colossians 2:20-23. Real worship is faithful worship or rather, worship through faith. Come and visit us at Lake OPC. We emphasize God's means. Your faith will be strengthened.