Our Worship

Regulated by God

God cares about our worship. We see that in many places in the Scriptures. For example Lev. 10:1-2 records the tragic death of the sons of Aaron the high priest for their creative license in worship. When we gather in worship, we proclaim the name of our great God, and we must do so according to his will.

The Scriptures also teach us that we are to worship in spirit and truth (see John 4:24). That means that our worship is spiritual, proceeding from our new birth in the Holy Spirit. It also means we worship regulated by the truth of God’s Word. As God’s worshippers, we must understand who we are worshipping. Whenever we see man coming face to face with God in the Bible, the mortal trembles before the immortal (see Ex. 20:18-19; Rev. 1:17). Therefore, our attitude in worship ought to be one of sober reverence, holding a sense of awe concerning God in our worship. Awe for God grows as we allow his Word to shape our understanding of who He is, and as we understand who we are in his presence. In worship we hope to present a full picture of God through the liturgy of the service and through the proclamation in preaching.

Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 21, section 1 teaches, “... the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.”