Worship leaders ought to prayerfully plan each service. They need to be guided by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s help does not eliminate the need for thorough preparation. A worship service may be structured in the following way based on our discussion on the “Essence of Christian Worship.”
An introduction to a worship service includes an invitation to worship God and a time to prepare oneself through introspection.
We are exhorted to come before God with clean hearts and hands, being washed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus … let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”1
A short time of silent introspection and confession is necessary in the introductory part of the service. Not all Christians take time at home to prepare themselves before setting out for church. Christians must be encouraged to confess to God their specific sins.
When one person sins against another, it is important to seek forgiveness and reconciliation.
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”2
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”3
A time of silent prayer may be followed by a song that helps the worshipper to vocalise his repentance and surrender before God. Again, this should not be done through “preaching.” This time of introspection may be given before extending an invitation to worship.
The initial moments of a praise and worship session should help the congregation gather their thoughts about God so that they can worship God with all their being. There are several psalms that invite God’s people to worship. These psalms remind us of God’s goodness and faithfulness, God’s strength and greatness, and encourage us to worship him.
“Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; praise is becoming to the upright.
“Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
“Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy. For the word of the LORD is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.
“He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.”4
“Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.”5“Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to
His excellent greatness.
“Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with
stringed instruments and pipe.
“Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath
praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!”6
These verses are not praises. They are just invitations to praise God. Similarly, there are several songs in English and other languages that invite God’s people to praise God. An “invitation to worship” can be given through the reading of these psalms or through a song. Songs of invitation may be classified separately and stored in the church’s music database. The worship leader should not convert this invitation into a preaching session.
Sadly, we do not pay attention to the words that we sing, much less to the God whom we worship. Often, we mistake songs of invitation for actual praise. At other times, songs of invitation are sung at the close of a worship service!
These may also be called “non-negotiable” elements because they have to be included in a service to make it a true Christian worship service.
We worship God because He is our Creator and because He has become our Redeemer. Therefore our worship services must help participants to reflect on both the creative and redemptive works of God.
God is worthy of our worship because He is our Maker. All His creatures owe Him their devotion and worship.
When the apostle John was taken up to heaven in a vision, he witnessed scenes of worship. The “living creatures” and the twenty-four “elders” declared:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”7
They cast their crowns before God’s throne and bowed down before God saying,
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”8
They worshipped and praised God, the Creator, in whom they found the meaning and purpose of their existence.
In the Psalms, we find Israel extolling the Lord for His creative power and His providential care for His creatures. Special care must be exercised to include psalms and songs that highlight this theme. Examples from the Psalms include Psalms 8, 19, 103, 104, etc.
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is
Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor
above the heavens! …
When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars,
which You have ordained;
What is man
that You take thought of him,
And the son of man
that You care for him? …
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name
in all the earth!9
Creation proclaims the greatness of God.10 Those who reject God may attribute the formation of the earth, the oceans, the continents, and every landform to slow, unguided geological processes that went on for “millions of years.”11 Those who believe in God’s revealed Word have the advantage of a different perspective. Some geological events were indeed sudden. At God’s Word, the continents were formed. The tectonic plates moved. The mountains arose while valleys sank.
Geologists admit that it is a wonder that continents continue to exist given the annual rate of erosion via rivers. It is God who set the boundary between oceans and continents. The waters will not transgress that boundary! The God of the Bible claimed credit for this marvellous fact two thousand six hundred years ago when people never knew what “tectonic balance” was about.12 See how the psalmist captured these profound thoughts in worship of the Almighty Creator.
[God] established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not totter forever and ever.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
At Your rebuke, they fled,
At the sound of Your thunder, they hurried away.
The mountains rose; the valleys sank down
To the place which You established for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.13
The more we learn about God’s creation, the more we should be able to ascribe all glory to God. If our learning only serves to demystify the universe and in making us doubt God’s Word, we are wasting our time.
God’s providential care includes His supply of our daily needs, physical healing, and protection and deliverance from harm. Songs of thanksgiving can be integrated into this part of the worship session.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!14
We must also acknowledge God’s providence for all creatures on the planet. Psalm 104 continues to describe God’s careful design of landforms with gradients, which enables gravity flow of water to complete the water cycle. Animals, birds, and human civilizations thrive along the banks of these streams and rivers. Notice how the psalmist was careful even to mention the most basic form of primary productivity: “He causes the grass to grow.” Have you ever praised God for sustaining grasslands? No grass? No steak!
He sends forth springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
They lift up their voices among the branches.
He waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the labor of man,
So that he may bring forth food from the earth,
And wine which makes man’s heart glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And food which sustains man’s heart.15
We need to maintain a healthy balance between our focus on God the Creator and God the Redeemer. Those who focus exclusively on God’s redemption tend to highlight salvation and sanctification. They do not think about thanking God for rivers and valleys. Haven’t you come across some Christians who always talk about the importance of fasting and self-denial even as they turn a blind eye towards God’s generous gifts such as oil and wine that were given for our enjoyment? Yes, real wine—not grape juice. Some of them might tell you, depending on their culture, why you should wear clothes of a certain color or cut to church. They forget that other colors, too, were created by God. Sexual morality must be emphasized but the goodness of the human body or sexuality – as God’s gift to humanity – must not be denied.
The worship of God as our benevolent Creator is common to humans and to angels. Worship of God as our redeemer is unique to us, who received God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. This is why we say that the worship of the Redeemer by the redeemed forms the core of Christian worship.
In John’s heavenly vision, he saw multitudes stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb of God, praising God for their salvation:
“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”16
The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before God and sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”17
By virtue of creation, we belong to God; by virtue of redemption, we are doubly His. As the company of the redeemed, we worship the gracious God for His salvation through Jesus Christ. In Old Testament times, the theme of redemption can be seen in the frequent reference to God’s act of liberating Israel from slavery in Egypt (For instance, Psalms 107, 136, etc.)
In the New Testament, I find St Paul’s worship the most impressive. The introductory passage in his Epistle to the Ephesians is not a theological treatise or a doctrinal statement. It is unadulterated worship of God the Redeemer.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
The apostle Paul blessed God for what He did for us in Christ Jesus. The fact that he started his Epistle with high praise to God shows us how central worship was to Paul’s life.
There are innumerable songs that dwell on the theme of God’s love and redemption. These songs ought to be carefully chosen and arranged so that the leader need not take an extended time to preparing the congregation for the Lord’s Table.
Worship of the Creator-Redeemer God demands our total consecration to obey and to serve Him. I have already explained the importance of service to God in the chapter on The Essence of Christian Worship.
Here again, we have plenty of songs that express the worshippers’ desire to serve God and be committed to Him. As these songs follow the Lord’s Table (and sometimes, the sermon), they provide a fitting finale to the “praise and worship” session. The offertory, too, is a token of our consecration.
These are not “optional” extras; they are necessary components of worship that have to be integrated into the service according to the specific needs arising within the church. Here are a few examples of such components: Themes of the season: Easter, Christmas, Independence Day, Earth Day, war, natural disasters, etc.
Songs of blessing and hope, songs that confess one’s faith in the unfailing love of God can charge up a congregation before they leave the sanctuary to face the challenges of daily life. I knew a church in an Indian metropolis that concluded every worship service with the chorus: “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.” Why was that song so significant? That church is located in the suicide capital of the world. The congregation sang that piece with all their heart, expressing their faith and confidence in God.
Proceed to Chapter 5: Wisdom For Worship Leaders
Heb 10:19-22.↩︎
Romans 12:18.↩︎
Matthew 5:23-24.↩︎
Psalm 33:1-5.↩︎
Psalm 95: 6, 7.↩︎
Psalm 150.↩︎
Revelation 4:8b.↩︎
Revelation 4:11.↩︎
Psalm 8:1,3-4,9.↩︎
Psalm 19:1ff.↩︎
This is known as Uniformitarianism: the view that the Earth has always changed in uniform ways and that the present is the key to the past. They do not consider the possibility of quick and drastic changes such as the special creation of Man or Noah’s flood.↩︎
‘Do you not fear Me?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.” — Jeremiah 5:22↩︎
Psalm 104:5-9↩︎
Psalm 103:1-5 NLT.↩︎
Psalm 104:10-15↩︎
Revelation 7:10.↩︎
Revelation 5:9-10.↩︎
Ephesians 1:3-14.↩︎
Philip Eapen, an environmental scientist by training, devoted his life to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ ever since he realized that the world needs Jesus Christ more than anyone or anything else. Apart from sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, Philip teaches Christians in order to equip them for service. He is supported by donations from readers. Philip is married to Dr. Jessimol and they are blessed with three sons and a daughter.
Date: May 8, 2023
