Worship is...

A Fitting Response to Who God Is,

characterized by a deep sense of awe and wonder – a deep awareness that as we gather, the Lord of all creation is among us by his Spirit. As we are told:

“The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” - Habakkuk 2:20

A Fitting Response to What God has Done,

characterized by deep and genuine expressions of praise and adoration. For when we come before this God, we do not come as those who are still separated from him by our sin, but as those who have been redeemed through the precious blood of Christ. As we read:

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” - II Corinthians 5:21

A Fitting Response to What God has Promised to Do,

pointing us toward the future - not just the coming kingdom of Christ he will bring at his return, but also toward the rest of our time in this life. It is through his people that God has purposed to build his church, so we turn to Scripture to inform us as to how God would have us face the days in which we live, while we look for every opportunity to invite others into the salvation we share. Paul describes this beautifully:

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…” - Philippians 2:14-16a

Thus, worship not only gives us a way to deal with the past and to understand the present, it also propels us into the future with confidence and hope as those who have been brought out of darkness and into God’s wonderful light – as those who await his coming and the kingdom that he will bring.
Because of the deeply emotional aspect of these truths, music is a central component in worship. This has been true throughout the history of God’s people as we see throughout the scriptures. We are told:

“Sing joyfully to the LORD you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him… Sing to him a new song; play skillfully and shout for joy.” - Psalm 33:1 & 3

Scripture plays a central role in worship, as you may have noticed from this brief description here, for it is Scripture that reveals to us with the truest clarity all of these things. As a visual expression of this fact, the pulpit stands in the center of our worship space with the Word of God prominently placed upon it.