Saturday, July 07, 2007

Elements of Reformed Worship

















Sidebar
June 2001









Elements of Reformed Worship









Praise

As God's people gather for worship, through Scripture or song, we focus our attention on God and away from ourselves.

Confession
Worshipers today, like the prophet Isaiah, cannot come into the presence of our holy God without realizing our own sinfulness. When we confess, we do so for ourselves and for the church as a whole.

Assurance
Scripture calls us to confession; Scripture also assures us of God's inestimable love.

Illumination
Before attempting to listen for the Word of God, we pray for the assistance of the Holy Spirit to open our ears to hear and our hearts to receive what God is saying to us through Scripture and interpretation.

Word
The Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, comes from the pages of Scripture. Interpretation of God's Word comes through Spirit-inspired speech, drama, music, dance, or other forms of communication.

Prayer
Part of our response to the living Word is Spirit-prompted prayer, possible in many varied forms and formats.

Thanksgiving
Our greatest rejoicing can come only around the Table of the Lord as we share in communion with Christ and with God's people. When that is not possible, offering of ourselves and of our tangible gifts can be a beginning response to the Word.

True Worship
When the liturgy of the church is concluded, our true worship begins. Everything we know about God teaches us that true worship, lifestyle evangelism, is an intentional living of each day in prayer and mission, in our home, our work, our study, our recreation: glorifying and enjoying God forever.



http://www.pcusa.org/today/believe/past/june01/sidebar-1.htm