Calls to worship, benedictions, and "this is the word of the Lord"

[Sam Jer]

I have noticed certain churches have a call to worship in the beginning, a benediction at the end, or, after the scriptures are read, the minister says "this is the word if the Lord", expecting the response "thanks be to God".
Does anyone know what the sources of these traditions are? Do you believe such traditions are in keeping with the regulative principle?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Coming to worship is by divine invitation; it is not properly something man decides to do then does it. Man on earth in his present state is a sinner, and is in himself unworthy to worship God against whom he is in rebellion--not that his motive for doing so would be acceptable in any case. But hearts that have been turned to God in Christ may and should worship him. There is a general invitation to prayer, the reduced essence of worship from man toward God, in which God's "open door" allows his beloved children unfettered private access to him. There is also a formal invitation to public assembly for worship, a coming together before the Presence where God promises to make himself known among his people in the beauty of holiness.

True full-spectrum worship is dialogical, it is communicative, not a one-way street. But if worship is by invitation only, then God must take the initiative and speak, leading to a response by the people. God called his people out of Egypt to worship him, Hos.11:1; Pharaoh was told repeatedly to let the people go for them to keep their appointment. The call is repeated for the people of God elsewhere, as in Ps.95:6. Ps.50:5 instructs the leaders of the people to gather them for worship. The call to worship is a way of reminding the gathered that God has summoned, and those who have heard and obeyed are present to begin.

The benediction is a way of bookending the formal public worship service, where God has the last word as well as the first. Moses was instructed to bless the people of God in assembly, Num.6:22-27, putting his name upon them. The New Testament contains new benedictions, whereby we continue to have God's name--recognized now in Triune form--placed upon us, reminding us whose we are, and of our individual baptism when our Owners name was imparted. 2Cor.13:14 is a common, Triune expression of benediction.

As for statements after or before the reading of God's word, or other words habitually spoken, often by the pastor/leader and otherwise by the people: you have the prophets frequently declaring thus or similar, "Now therefore hear the word of the Lord," Amos 7:16. The people are instructed to say "Amen" in Dt.27, and Ps.106:48. 1 Chr.16:36 concludes, "Then all the people said, 'Amen!' and praised the Lord." In Nehemiah 8, Ezra read the word of God unto the assembled people, and v6, "all the people answered, “Amen, Amen."

The specific terms you encounter may vary to one degree or another from place to place, though there is also likely to be some consistency also among churches of the same denomination and tradition. But the pattern is biblical, and the regulative principle is intended to bind our worship behavior to the language and shape determined by the Bible.