Faith Practices: Worship
In worship, we praise God. We gather to hear God’s word, we offer prayers and confession, and we are sent out into the world. In worship, we encounter God, and we respond to God.
What is corporate worship?
In corporate worship, we unite ourselves with others to acknowledge the holiness of God, to hear God’s Word, to offer prayer, and to celebrate the sacraments.
— Book of Common Prayer, p. 857
Read
Psalm 95:1-7 (NRSV)
1 O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
To Worship is to Touch Life by Richard J. Foster
”Worship is our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father.” This brief book excerpt (from Celebration of Discipline) examines worship as part of our spiritual growth.
The Dangerous Act of Worship by Mark Labberton
What's at stake in our worship? Everything. Worship is the dangerous act of waking up to God and God's purposes in the world…But true biblical worship does not merely point us upward--it should turn us outward as well.
Watch
KOREuk: Worship
A short from a series of animations that simply explore and explain themes from the Bible and rituals of the church. (2 minutes)
The Way of Love: Worship
Just as God wants to enter into our lives and meet us where we are, so God desires for us to enter into God’s space, together, and be present there. How will you start worshiping on the Way of Love? (3 minutes)
Fuller Studio: Eastertide
“Death and Resurrection,” portraying the night before and the morning of the resurrection of Jesus, marks the beginning of the season of Eastertide. The scriptures are drawn from Matthew 27-28, John 19, and 1 Corinthians 15. (4 minutes)
Listen
So many of our worship experiences take place within a church building - it can be hard to imagine worship without candles and stained glass and pews - but there are many ways we can bring worship out into the wider world, knowing that God is out there, too. (18 minutes)
What does it mean to glorify God? Is it simply singing songs? Does it somehow how to do with our behavior. Why is God so interested in his glory? How does this connect to the Image of God? (52 minutes)
What is worship, why do we do it, and how can we enter more fully into worship on Sunday and everyday? Dallas Willard answers those questions with his characteristic wisdom and gentleness in this archive interview with John Ortberg at Menlo Park Church. (44 minutes)
If Christians worshiped only when they felt like it, there would be precious little worship . . . Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship. When we obey the command to praise God in worship, our deep, essential need to be in relationship with God is nurtured.
— Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
Practice
Daily Devotions for Individuals & Families
Book of Common Prayer, p. 136
These devotions follow the basic rhythm of the Daily Office, which are prayers said in the morning, at noon, in the evening, and at the end of the day. As the title suggests, they are appropriate for individuals, families, and also small groups, to be used at any time.
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The Episcopal Church
Way of Love
Getting Started
Individual
Make the effort to participate in worship once a week for a season.
Small Group
Choose and share a liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer during your meeting.
Congregation
Include testimonies of gratitude or blessing in worship once a month.
Going Deeper
Individual
Notice new people at your worship service. If possible, sit next to them and help them engage with the service fully.
Small Group
Look at the liturgical calendar together. Pick a saint or feast day to celebrate as a group. Prepare foods, read the history, sing songs, and say the prayers associated with that day.
Congregation
Ask members to describe a worship gathering they would invite friends to. Incorporate that wisdom into an intentional worship gathering.
Revelation 4:11 (NRSV)
You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.
Pray
Prayer before worship:
O Almighty God, who pours out on all who desire it the
spirit of grace and of supplication: Deliver us, when we draw near to you, from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind, that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections we may worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer after worship:
Grant, we beseech you, Almighty God, that the words which we have heard this day with our outward ears, may, through your grace, be so grafted inwardly in our hearts, that they may bring forth in us the fruit of good living, to the honor and praise of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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