Worship is the central activity of the church’s life together. Like some other central and essential activities in life, we do what we’ve always done, and we simply receive what has been handed down to us, perhaps without much thought. And so we sometimes fail to reflect on the practice’s meaning and significance—that is, until it becomes a matter of controversy. Then we debate the details and risk losing sight of the big picture that puts the details in their proper context.
In the new video series, “Holy Ground: A Theology of Worship,” I want to take a few steps back—away from the debates and the contested practices—and first make room for reflection on worship. Reflection on worship is often about asking good questions. Worship is something we feel so familiar with, that we often fail to ask good questions.
What is worship? What is the goal(s) or purpose(s) of worship? Who is worship for? Who is this God that we worship, and who are we in relation to him? What is happening when we worship?
God seeks worshipers who will worship him in Spirit and in Truth (Jn. 4:23-24). God seeks us out first. And then, when we seek God in worship, he is found (2 Chr. 15:4). The reciprocal and relational dimensions of worship are foundational: we are called to seek God because he has already sought us.
God seeks us for the same reason he created and redeemed us—for eternal fellowship with him. The closest thing on earth to that relationship is the body of Christ assembled around the table in worship to God, in communion with him and with one another, a foretaste of the kingdom that is here and yet to come.
This new video course from the Center for Christian Studies explores these and other fundamental truths about worship in nine episodes:
1. Introduction: In Search of True Worship
2. Trinitarian Worship: A Uniquely Christian Practice
3. The Foundation of Worship: God’s Gracious Initiative
4. “Watch Your Step”: Worship as Divine Encounter
5. Holiness, Transcendence, and Immanence
6. Two Dimensions of Worship: Vertical and Horizontal
7. Theological and Practical Meaning
8. Worship: Gathered and Sent
9. Tradition and Ritual in Worship
Like all of our video series, it comes with a study guide, discussion questions, and further reading for digging deeper.
See brief video excerpts of this series at our YouTube channel.
The Center for Christian Studies video library is growing! Have you seen it lately? See our entire video collection here, and check out the subscription pricing plans for your church. A video subscription provides every church member access to this premium content, 24/7.
For a limited time, use the code VIDEOS25 at checkout to receive a 25% discount for the first year. Also, each pricing plan comes with a 7-day free trial, so you can view the full video collection and see for yourself the benefit of these instructional tools.
Also, check out our books on worship:
John Mark Hicks, Transforming Encounters: Baptism, Assembly, and the Lord’s Supper.
Wendell Willis, When You Come Together: The Theology and Practice of Christian Worship.
Allan McNicol, Preparing for Baptism.
Allan McNicol, Preparing for the Lord’s Supper.
And our Journal of Christian Studies III/1 on "Theology and Practice of Singing."