OUR WORSHIP
Corporate Worship: In Principle
In John 4, Jesus has an encounter with a Samaritan woman that turns to the subject of worship. The Samaritans were a group of people who believed God wanted them to worship at a place called Mt. Gerizim, whereas the Jews believed they were supposed to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. The woman wanted to know, “Who was right?” Jesus answered:
There are two principles we learn about worship from this passage. The first is that God wants us to worship Him “in spirit.” That is to say that God wants us to worship Him from our innermost being. He doesn’t merely want us to make a hypocritical display of worship – one in which we merely say the right words without truly meaning them. No, God wants us to love Him with “all [our] heart and with all [our soul and with all [our] might” (Deut. 6:5). This is one of the reasons why Christians sing in church. It’s because there is perhaps no other form of expression that allows to convey the depth of feeling that we have toward God with one another than corporate singing. The second principle we learn from this passage is that God wants us to worship Him “in truth.” In other words, God is not interested in mere feeling, but in feelings that are in response to who He truly is. To worship Him in any other way isn’t really worship; it’s just idolatry.
“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:21-24)
There are two principles we learn about worship from this passage. The first is that God wants us to worship Him “in spirit.” That is to say that God wants us to worship Him from our innermost being. He doesn’t merely want us to make a hypocritical display of worship – one in which we merely say the right words without truly meaning them. No, God wants us to love Him with “all [our] heart and with all [our soul and with all [our] might” (Deut. 6:5). This is one of the reasons why Christians sing in church. It’s because there is perhaps no other form of expression that allows to convey the depth of feeling that we have toward God with one another than corporate singing. The second principle we learn from this passage is that God wants us to worship Him “in truth.” In other words, God is not interested in mere feeling, but in feelings that are in response to who He truly is. To worship Him in any other way isn’t really worship; it’s just idolatry.
Corporate Worship: In Practice
Here at Cornerstone, the way we apply the above principle in our corporate worship in a few different ways. The first is with a “reading-response” structure to the service, wherein we first hear God’s proclamation of the truth through His Word, and then we respond in worship. God “speaks,” for instance, in the call to worship, and then we respond in song. God “speaks” through our Scripture reading for the day, and then we respond in prayer and song. God “speaks” to us through the sermon, and then we respond again in worship. The pattern always goes: “God speaks, and then we respond.” We do this not only because we think this best mirrors the pattern of our relationship as creatures (God being the one who “initiates” the relationship through our creation, salvation, etc.), but also because this best enables the feelings we have in worship to be in response to what has been clearly revealed about God in His inspired word.
The second is by prioritizing the selection of songs that a) have strong theological content and b) are adequate responses to the concepts and themes covered in our Scripture readings and sermon. To put it another way: while we value aesthetics/presentation in our worship, we are more concerned with the content of our worship than we are its style or expression. You will see no “random” songs here. Everything has been intentionally selected so that the things we sing match what we are hearing revealed through God’s Word.
The third way this principle is applied is through the centrality of preaching in our worship. The sermon takes up the vast majority of our worship time together. That is because, again, God isn’t interested in mere words – empty expressions of worship with no depth of understanding or accompanying action to follow. He wants us to both understand and believe the things we say, as well as to live out those truths throughout the rest of our week (and lives). That requires an in-depth explanation of God’s Word, which comes first and foremost through the sermon. Our Sunday morning worship is really designed as an “anchor-point” in our worship, in this sense. God speaks to us on Sunday. We hear the truth of His Word, and this then equips us to worship Him all throughout the week, with the whole of our lives, as well.
On this note, if you pay attention to worship, you’ll notice that it is all structured around the main concepts that are being delivered in the sermon for that week. The first half of the service is designed to prepare our hearts to hear and receive God’s Word through Scripture readings and songs themed around concepts that will be touched on in the sermon. Then, in the second half, we respond in worship that is based on what we have heard in that message.
The second is by prioritizing the selection of songs that a) have strong theological content and b) are adequate responses to the concepts and themes covered in our Scripture readings and sermon. To put it another way: while we value aesthetics/presentation in our worship, we are more concerned with the content of our worship than we are its style or expression. You will see no “random” songs here. Everything has been intentionally selected so that the things we sing match what we are hearing revealed through God’s Word.
The third way this principle is applied is through the centrality of preaching in our worship. The sermon takes up the vast majority of our worship time together. That is because, again, God isn’t interested in mere words – empty expressions of worship with no depth of understanding or accompanying action to follow. He wants us to both understand and believe the things we say, as well as to live out those truths throughout the rest of our week (and lives). That requires an in-depth explanation of God’s Word, which comes first and foremost through the sermon. Our Sunday morning worship is really designed as an “anchor-point” in our worship, in this sense. God speaks to us on Sunday. We hear the truth of His Word, and this then equips us to worship Him all throughout the week, with the whole of our lives, as well.
On this note, if you pay attention to worship, you’ll notice that it is all structured around the main concepts that are being delivered in the sermon for that week. The first half of the service is designed to prepare our hearts to hear and receive God’s Word through Scripture readings and songs themed around concepts that will be touched on in the sermon. Then, in the second half, we respond in worship that is based on what we have heard in that message.
Addendum: The Lord’s Table
We observe the Lord’s Table weekly at Cornerstone. Its placement in the order of worship is also quite intentional. The Table is a reminder of both a) the fellowship that we experience, both with the Lord and one another, and b) the basis of that fellowship, which is the finished work of Jesus Christ. In other words, the Scriptures tell us that no one earns a relationship with God through their performance or good works, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Instead, that relationship is received through the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:15-21; cf. 2 Cor. 5:21), which is given to us by His grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 6:23). It is entirely free, and it is the knowledge of this promise that actually supplies us with the willingness (and worship) to do the things that God commands us in His Word (2 Pet. 1:3-7; cf. Luke 7:47). To put it yet another way: our love for God (and the genuine obedience that follows) comes in response to our recognition of His love for us (1 John 4:10-11).
This is why we always put the Table after the preaching of the Word. It’s so that as we encounter the glory and righteousness of who God is in His Word and are inevitably confronted with our sinfulness as a result, we might be encouraged to still draw near as we are reminded of His grace. There are often commands that we encounter in the Scripture, as we are instructed in how to express our worship of God with the whole of our lives. The Table serves to remind us that our obedience to those commands is never a qualification of our acceptance before God. Rather, our acceptance by God serves as the ground for our obedience. We obey not to be loved, but because we already are loved.
That said, we would note that we believe the Table is for those who have faith in Jesus Christ, and who have publicly expressed that confidence and relationship through the act of baptism. So if you have not yet believed in Jesus Christ for salvation or been baptized in His name, we would encourage you to let the elements pass as they’re distributed this morning.
This is why we always put the Table after the preaching of the Word. It’s so that as we encounter the glory and righteousness of who God is in His Word and are inevitably confronted with our sinfulness as a result, we might be encouraged to still draw near as we are reminded of His grace. There are often commands that we encounter in the Scripture, as we are instructed in how to express our worship of God with the whole of our lives. The Table serves to remind us that our obedience to those commands is never a qualification of our acceptance before God. Rather, our acceptance by God serves as the ground for our obedience. We obey not to be loved, but because we already are loved.
That said, we would note that we believe the Table is for those who have faith in Jesus Christ, and who have publicly expressed that confidence and relationship through the act of baptism. So if you have not yet believed in Jesus Christ for salvation or been baptized in His name, we would encourage you to let the elements pass as they’re distributed this morning.