Presbyterian worship

[wsw201]

Wow. I believe the root of this is because the rest of the week is not spent worshipping our Lord. So the Church feels the need to do more on Sunday. Not only would my kids squirm, but so would I.

I am not inclined to be a spectator that long. I can maybe last 90 minutes on a good day. But again, that is where Christiandumb is nowadays. Showtime religion and we are spectators.

Actually the root is that Sunday is the Lord's Day and that it should be spent with other Christians; ie; The Church.

Unfortunately your comment about Showtime religion is all too true. But the root of Showtime religion is lazy Christians.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Originally posted by turmeric
The Puritans made church an all-day affair as well - and they had that guy go around with the stick to whack overly-rambunctious kids. But that was when kids knew Latin and were off to seminary at the tender age of 12!

 

[The Lamb]

Originally posted by turmeric
The Puritans made church an all-day affair as well - and they had that guy go around with the stick to whack overly-rambunctious kids. But that was when kids knew Latin and were off to seminary at the tender age of 12!

Thank God that practice has been buried.

 

[The Lamb]

Originally posted by wsw201

Wow. I believe the root of this is because the rest of the week is not spent worshipping our Lord. So the Church feels the need to do more on Sunday. Not only would my kids squirm, but so would I.

I am not inclined to be a spectator that long. I can maybe last 90 minutes on a good day. But again, that is where Christiandumb is nowadays. Showtime religion and we are spectators.

Actually the root is that Sunday is the Lord's Day and that it should be spent with other Christians; ie; The Church.

Unfortunately your comment about Showtime religion is all too true. But the root of Showtime religion is lazy Christians.

Wayne: It is the Lords Day. But we are still called to be doing the Lords Work every day of the week. My issue is when so much stress and "Piety" is put upon Sunday and outward forms of worship, this creates lazy Christians. If one spends 8 hours on a Sunday in Church, they feel that is their quota, and rightly so. Monday through Saturday in the world, Sunday all day in Church, as if this puritanical or whatever false piety does anything to edify believers.

It is almost legalistic to a point. I know a person who believes I am not faithfull because I do not attend the morning service, then cathechism, then the evening service and wednesday night service.

Christ said the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. While they are cooped up into a legalistic fase piety type weekly scedule, I enjoy being out in the world sharing Christ. And I even lack at that.

Sometimes our Church bulletin is so packed with programs under the guise of worship, I do not believe there is room for Christ to come in. It is a legalistic YMCA!!!!!!!!!!!


Getting so attached to "historical' or "traditional" words and the length quenches the Spirit In my humble opinion. (H=humble).

Sometimes i feel like Mary at the tomb. "They have taken away my Lord and I dont know where He is"

Give me guilt grace and gratitude. Tell me how rotten I am, point me to the cross. Sing a few songs. And let me go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


In His Grace


Joseph

[Edited on 3-22-2005 by The Lamb]

 

[raderag]

Originally posted by The Lamb

My goodness. Is it a wonder that kids may grow up disliking church with a list like this. PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

I visited a church once on vacation. They had a "label" for every part of the service and a song to go with it. Kids were screaminf after and hour. Parents were spanking them in the narthax. The titles they used were all latin on taken from 500 years ago. I had no clue what they were doing. My kids started acting up afte 1.5 hours. People were looking at us wondering why were were not adressing them wqith any discipline. I said, the only way a child could sit through this is it they were nailed to the pew. 2 hours long, 16 songs, 30 minute sermon. it was brutal.

Our service is about 1.5 hours long, and my 8 year old does well participating in the service. Actually, it is much easier for her to do the liturgy and music than understand the sermon. The good thing about having good music and liturgy is that the body is edified even when a sermon is bad.

 

[Scott]

"My goodness. Is it a wonder that kids may grow up disliking church with a list like this. PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW"

I don't think the extensive liturgy drives children away. Evangelicals tend to be anti-liturgical and have services that are pretty simple, along the lines you suggest, and yet studies show that 80 percent of evangelical kids leave the church at age 18 and never return. Yikes!

 

[The Lamb]

Originally posted by Scott
"My goodness. Is it a wonder that kids may grow up disliking church with a list like this. PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW"

I don't think the extensive liturgy drives children away. Evangelicals tend to be anti-liturgical and have services that are pretty simple, along the lines you suggest, and yet studies show that 80 percent of evangelical kids leave the church at age 18 and never return. Yikes!

That is my point, there is no "formula" But we need to get rid of the ancient language Scott. Everytime someone forgets to put in "Votum" as the call to worship, he goes nuts. I know one typist does it on purpose.

I was specifically addressing the length of the liturgy the person posted here. Every section of the service has a name, prayer, song, handshake, bowing. It is way too starched for my flavor and kids do suffer. I do nto discipline my kids in church. They are well behaved, and if they act up, I take them outside for a walk.


There is a reason that kids do not enjoy going to church. It is tooo starched for them. '



In His Grace


Joseph

 

[wsw201]

Wayne: It is the Lords Day. But we are still called to be doing the Lords Work every day of the week. My issue is when so much stress and "Piety" is put upon Sunday and outward forms of worship, this creates lazy Christians. If one spends 8 hours on a Sunday in Church, they feel that is their quota, and rightly so. Monday through Saturday in the world, Sunday all day in Church, as if this puritanical or whatever false piety does anything to edify believers.

It is almost legalistic to a point. I know a person who believes I am not faithfull because I do not attend the morning service, then cathechism, then the evening service and wednesday night service.

Christ said the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. While they are cooped up into a legalistic fase piety type weekly scedule, I enjoy being out in the world sharing Christ. And I even lack at that.

Sometimes our Church bulletin is so packed with programs under the guise of worship, I do not believe there is room for Christ to come in. It is a legalistic YMCA!!!!!!!!!!!


Getting so attached to "historical' or "traditional" words and the length quenches the Spirit In my humble opinion. (H=humble).

Sometimes i feel like Mary at the tomb. "They have taken away my Lord and I dont know where He is"

Give me guilt grace and gratitude. Tell me how rotten I am, point me to the cross. Sing a few songs. And let me go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If going to Worship God (for however long) on the Lord's Day creates a sense of false piety and lazy Christians that only act like Christians on Sunday, then the Church is not doing what they are suppose to be doing and that is equipping the saints to glorify God in whatever they do, not just on Sunday.

I think the issues surrounding the Lord's Day are about what Scripture says its suppose to be not what it has become (showtime religion). If your Church is creating lazy Christians then your Church needs to follow Scripture and get with the program.

 

[The Lamb]

Originally posted by wsw201

Wayne: It is the Lords Day. But we are still called to be doing the Lords Work every day of the week. My issue is when so much stress and "Piety" is put upon Sunday and outward forms of worship, this creates lazy Christians. If one spends 8 hours on a Sunday in Church, they feel that is their quota, and rightly so. Monday through Saturday in the world, Sunday all day in Church, as if this puritanical or whatever false piety does anything to edify believers.

It is almost legalistic to a point. I know a person who believes I am not faithfull because I do not attend the morning service, then cathechism, then the evening service and wednesday night service.

Christ said the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. While they are cooped up into a legalistic fase piety type weekly scedule, I enjoy being out in the world sharing Christ. And I even lack at that.

Sometimes our Church bulletin is so packed with programs under the guise of worship, I do not believe there is room for Christ to come in. It is a legalistic YMCA!!!!!!!!!!!


Getting so attached to "historical' or "traditional" words and the length quenches the Spirit In my humble opinion. (H=humble).

Sometimes i feel like Mary at the tomb. "They have taken away my Lord and I dont know where He is"

Give me guilt grace and gratitude. Tell me how rotten I am, point me to the cross. Sing a few songs. And let me go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If going to Worship God (for however long) on the Lord's Day creates a sense of false piety and lazy Christians that only act like Christians on Sunday, then the Church is not doing what they are suppose to be doing and that is equipping the saints to glorify God in whatever they do, not just on Sunday.

I think the issues surrounding the Lord's Day are about what Scripture says its suppose to be not what it has become (showtime religion). If your Church is creating lazy Christians then your Church needs to follow Scripture and get with the program.

Exactly my point Wayne!!!!!!!! I believe it is present everywhere in Christiandumb these days. They try to repackage the good ole Gospel. Or present it in a way that is so archaic and liturgical, If we had kneeling pads I would think I may be in an rcc.

Like I said, prepare the congregation to go out and be filled with the Spirit.

 

[cupotea]

I once went to a Presbyterian church like that, which was just about all music. I admit, that's not really my thing. I didn't yet know any Latin, so I had no clue what was going on, and I didn't really care. My impression was, it wasn't about God at all, it was about putting on a good show. It was about the choir being dressed in white, and walking down the aisle in unison, about everything being ritualistic. It made me want to puke. Mind you, the church I went to was not raderag's church--I am not commenting on that church, I'm commenting on the one I went to! I absolutely love the church I'm going to now, though. We sing about 4 hymns, and the choir sings a welcoming hymn, and a preparation for prayer hymn.

My main problem with hymns is that they put too much focus on singing the notes properly. When I sing them, I don't pay any attention to the words--I want to, but I'm distracted by trying to sing on key and hold the notes for the right length and all that. The hymns would be much more effective--for me--if the minister would just read out the lyrics. Obviously, there does need to be music, I realize that. I'm just saying this is why I don't agree with over-doing it--again, this is my personal experience, and not an attack on raderag's church!

My problem with the choir singing is with all that harmony junk they put in it, a) the focus is on how pretty it sounds, so it's more like a concert than worship of God b) you can't understand what the heck they're saying. One great thing about my church is they print the words in the bulletin, so as the choir sings, I can ignore them and read the words, so I get the message. Brilliant!

In response to turmeric's comment, don't forget who the youngest person to be accepted into Harvard was! (Cotton Mather, aged 11 ). I wish I could attend a Puritan church service for 6 hours on Sundays and then another few hours on Thursdays... how sweet that would be!

 

[Scott]

"Every section of the service has a name, prayer, song, handshake, bowing. It is way too starched for my flavor and kids do suffer. I do nto discipline my kids in church. They are well behaved, and if they act up, I take them outside for a walk."

It is interesting to me to note that when the Church was most vibrant and growing (the early church), it was also the least user-friendly. The services were liturgical, complicated, long and they did not even have nurseries or pews. When Christianity is in its anemic forms, it can be short, simple, and user-friendly. Not an argument, just an observation.

 

[Scott]

"My main problem with hymns is that they put too much focus on singing the notes properly. When I sing them, I don't pay any attention to the words--I want to, but I'm distracted by trying to sing on key and hold the notes for the right length and all that."

It is interesting to me that the Bible emphasizes the quality of music (beyond lyrics), especially in 1 and 2 Chronicles. In those books we see that Levitical musicians were chosen for their musical talent, they were trained, rotated responsibilites, etc. The focus is on more than the lyrics. Excellence in the entire musical program seems to be a goal.

 

[Caka]

Originally posted by doulosChristou

Originally posted by doulosChristou

Originally posted by blhowes
It'd be nice to be able to attend different churches to experience how others worship. About the only time this is really practical is when you go on vacation somewhere and go to a different church.

I was wondering if anybody has ever found online recordings of entire services? I've never seen them and I realize most people are mostly interested in the sermons, but it'd be nice to be able to hear an entire service that way.

We've recently decided to do just that. DVDs of our entire Lord's Day morning worship service -- prayers, hymns, supper, sermon and all -- will be offered, and we will also make the video available for streaming online. We haven't decided between Windows Media or Real Audio format yet. We're also working on the equipment. Look for it soon here:

http://www.dsf.org

We went with RealAudio. It's up and running:

http://www.dayspringsermons.org/dsvideo.htm

WOW it's been awhile ( 3 or 4 years? ) since I've visited Dayspring. I forgot Jackson playes the guitar from the pulpit You just don't see that very often:bigsmile: I really enjoyed his preaching the 5 or so times I visited there. The video really turned out well by the way.

 

[doulosChristou]

Originally posted by CakaWOW it's been awhile ( 3 or 4 years? ) since I've visited Dayspring. I forgot Jackson playes the guitar from the pulpit. You just don't see that very often :bigsmile: I really enjoyed his preaching the 5 or so times I visited there. The video really turned out well by the way.

Thanks! I met Dr. Story for the first time back in January at a conference we held at Dayspring. He and I talked about Edwards. Your pastor is a very warm and gracious man. I'd like to hear him preach some day.

 

[raderag]

Originally posted by doulosChristou

Originally posted by CakaWOW it's been awhile ( 3 or 4 years? ) since I've visited Dayspring. I forgot Jackson playes the guitar from the pulpit. You just don't see that very often :bigsmile: I really enjoyed his preaching the 5 or so times I visited there. The video really turned out well by the way.

Thanks! I met Dr. Story for the first time back in January at a conference we held at Dayspring. He and I talked about Edwards. Your pastor is a very warm and gracious man. I'd like to hear him preach some day.

Hey Guys,

I'm in Austin too. Dr Story is very nice. His son goes to redeemer. Providence is just down the street from me. (about 1/2 mile)

 

[doulosChristou]

Hi Brett!

Is Dr. Leonard Payton still at Redeemer? Talk about Presbyterian worship! His chapter on music and worship in The Coming Evangelical Crisis is golden. Amazing -- all of us Reformed folks here in Austin, TX. :bigsmile:

 

[Robin]

Originally posted by Scott
"My goodness. Is it a wonder that kids may grow up disliking church with a list like this. PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW"

I don't think the extensive liturgy drives children away. Evangelicals tend to be anti-liturgical and have services that are pretty simple, along the lines you suggest, and yet studies show that 80 percent of evangelical kids leave the church at age 18 and never return. Yikes!

The reason for this is that Evangelical churches preach the Law and use moralistic lectures to burden believers to try ever a little harder to "bear fruit."

It's tyranny.

R.

 

[raderag]

Originally posted by doulosChristou
Hi Brett!

Is Dr. Leonard Payton still at Redeemer? Talk about Presbyterian worship! His chapter on music and worship in The Coming Evangelical Crisis is golden. Amazing -- all of us Reformed folks here in Austin, TX. :bigsmile:

No, he left some time ago to go to a Lutheran seminary, but I have heard nothing but good things about him. I never met Dr Payton, but his replacement is great.

 

[DTK]

Originally posted by Scott
It is interesting to me to note that when the Church was most vibrant and growing (the early church), it was also the least user-friendly. The services were liturgical, complicated, long and they did not even have nurseries or pews. When Christianity is in its anemic forms, it can be short, simple, and user-friendly. Not an argument, just an observation.

Scott,

I always find it interesting what folk write about the Early Church. Now while I would argue that every Church follows de facto some form of liturgy (whether they call it that or not), the order and forms do seem to vary. Below I am posting what, as far as I've been able to research, the earliest post-Apostolic description of a worship service as given by Justin Martyr. And it doesn't appear to be complicated at all to me. But maybe I'm missing something here.

Justin Martyr (wrote after 151): And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. ANF: Vol. I, First Apology of Justin, Chapter 67.

His liturgy seems to be as follows...
1) The memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits.
2) Preaching/Teaching: the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.
3) Prayer: Then we all rise together and pray.
4) The sacrament of the Lord's table.
5) Collection is made for the poor/needy.

Now, I'm sure that liturgical practices differed, but this early one doesn't appear very complicated to me. Interestingly enough, Justin Martyr makes no mention of any hymnology in his description of this service. He does make one mention of "a hymn of praise to the Almighty God" in the 38th Chapter of his Hortatory Address to the Greeks, but even there, not in the context of a worship service.

Blessings,
DTK

 

[Scott]

"The reason for this is that Evangelical churches preach the Law and use moralistic lectures to burden believers to try ever a little harder to "bear fruit."

I know plenty of evangelical churches (antinomian and otherwise) that preach only grace and have the same problems. The same applies for the ones that have essentially therapeutic sermons or teachings (how to have better finances, relationships, overcome anger, etc.).

 

[Scott]

David: I agree that Justin's description is not very complicated and I often use that exact quote from Justin when discussing the regulative principle and also to show that traditional Protestant worship services conform to these essential elements. (I had a dialogue with a Catholic on that point recently). Still, if you look at early (first 3-4 centuries) liturgies and other other docs, we can see some fairly elaborate practices and many of these developed over time. Again, that is not an argument for or against and is not saying that the apostles had any specific liturgical practice.

For what it's worth, I found this issue of Christian History interesting:
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1993/37

One of the articles make the point that the early services (first 3-4 centuries) were not very user-friendly.

Scott

 

[AdamM]

Interesting that the Puritans rejected most of the elaborate ceremonies in favor a simple worship service. J.I. Packer sums their approach up nicely in the following article:


http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/articles/full.asp?id=39||489

The Glory of Worship

But these problems concerned the forms and externals of worship only, and our present interest is rather in the inner reality of worship, as the Puritans understood it. Here, wherever else they differed, they were at one, and the written material they have left us is completely homogeneous, as we shall hope to show by a fairly wide range of quotations. What is worship? It is essentially doxology, a giving of glory, praise, honor, and homage to God. In the broadest sense of the word, all true piety is worship. 'Godliness is a worship,' wrote Swinnock:
Worship comprehends all that respect which man oweth and giveth to his Maker...It is the tribute which we pay to the King of Kings, whereby we acknowledge his sovereignty over us, and our dependence on him...All that inward reverence and respect, and all that outward obedience and service to God, which the word [sc,godliness] enjoineth, is included in this one word worship. [2]
Usually, however , the Puritans used the word in its narrower and more common sense, to signify simply all our direct communion with God: invocation, adoration, mediation, faith, praise, prayer and the receiving of instruction from his word, both in public and in private.
Worship must be, as our Lord said, 'in spirit and in truth'(Jn 4:24). The Puritans understood this as meaning that, on the one hand, worship must be inward, a matter of 'heart-work,' and, on the other, worship must be a response to the revealed reality of God's will and work, applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they insisted that worship must be simple and Scriptural. Simplicity was to them the safeguard of inwardness, just as Scripture was the fountain-head of truth. The austere simplicity of Puritan worship has often been criticized as uncouth, but to the Puritans it was an essential part of the beauty of Christian worship. This comes out in two sermons by Owen on Ephesians 2:18, entitled 'The nature and beauty of gospel worship,' in which the weightiest of all the Puritan theologians formulates to perfection the Puritan ideal of worship in scarcely veiled antithesis to the Prayer Book formalism of Laud ('the beauty of holiness' as Laud was pleased to call it.) [3] It is worth quoting from this exposition at some length. Owen begins by making the point that the true 'decency,' 'order,' and 'beauty' of Christian worship lies in its trinitarian and evangelical character, as an exercise of faith on the worshippers' part.
It is a principle deeply fixed in the minds of men that the worship of God ought to be orderly, comely, beautiful and glorious....And indeed that worship may be well suspected not to be according to the mind of God which comes short in these properties. ...I shall add unto this, only this reasonable assertion,... viz, That what is so in his worship and service, God himself is the most proper judge. If then we evince not that spiritual gospel worship, in its own naked simplicity, without any other external, adventitious helper or countenance, is most orderly, comely, beautiful, and glorious, the Holy Ghost in the Scripture being judge, we shall be content to seek for these things where else, as it is pretended, they may be found.

...In the spiritual worship of the gospel, the whole blessed trinity, and each person therein distinctly, do in that economy and dispensation, wherein they act severally and peculiarly in the work of our redemption, afford distinct communion with themselves unto the souls of the worshippers. [Owen shows how this is set forth in his text, which speaks of access to the Father through the Son by the Spirit.] This is the general order of gospel worship, the great rubric of our service....If either we come not unto it by Jesus Christ, or perform it not in the strength of the Holy Ghost, or in it go not unto God as a Father, we transgress all the rules of this worship. This is the great canon, which if it be neglected, there is no decency in whatever else is done in this way. And this in general is the glory of it....Acting faith on Christ for admission, and on the Holy Ghost for his assistance, so going on in his strength; and on God, even the Father, for acceptance, is the work of the soul in this worship. That it hath anything more glorious to be conversant about, I am yet to learn....[4]
In similar terms, Owen from his text gives theological substance to the idea of uniformity in worship:
The saints...have all their access 'in one Spirit': and this is the spring of all the uniformity that God requires. So the apostle tells us, that as the gifts themselves [sc,abilities for leading the church in corporate worship] there are diversities of them, and difference in them; I Cor. xii. 4-6. But where then is uniformity?...The apostle answereth, verse 11. ('All these worketh that one and self-same Spirit'). Here lies the uniformity of gospel worship, that though the gifts bestowed on men for the public performance of it be various...yet it is one Spirit that bestows them all among them ...one and the same Spirit discovers the will and worship of God to them all; one and the same Spirit works the same graces for their king in the hearts of them all; one and the same Spirit bestows the gifts that are necessary for the carrying on the gospel worship in the public assemblies... And what if he be pleased to give out his gifts...variously ...'dividing to every one severally, as he will?' Yet this hindereth not, but that as the saints mentioned, they all approach unto God by the one Spirit, and so have uniformity in their worship throughout the world. This is a catholic uniformity.... [5]
Finally, Owen scouts the idea that ornate buildings and rituals have, or can have, anything to do with the 'beauty' that God seeks and finds in the worship of his faithful people. He reminds us that Christians are themselves the temple and dwelling place of God, and that true worship, though done on earth in the body, is actually 'performed in heaven,' inasmuch as 'those who have an access unto the immediate presence of God, and to the throne of grace, enter into heaven itself.' (Owen appeals for the proof to Hebrews 5:20; 9:24; 10:19, 21; Revelation 4.) The idea that ritual pageantry in services and decoration of church buildings is of itself an enriching of worship thus appears as a ludicrous irreverence. 'What poor low thoughts have men of God and his ways, who think there lies an acceptable glory and beauty in a little paint and varnish.' [6]

Complementary to Owen's analysis is Charnock's anatomizing of worship in his sermon entitled 'Spiritual Worship'on John 4:24.
Worship is an act of the understanding, applying itself to the knowledge of the excellency of God, and actual thoughts of his majesty....It is also an act of the will, whereby the soul adores and reverenceth his majesty, is ravished with his amiableness, embraceth his goodness, enters itself into an intimate communion with this most lovely object, and pitcheth all his affections upon him. [7]
Only the regenerate can worship God acceptably, says Charnock, for only they have hearts that truly go out to him in adoration and self-subjection. Therefore 'we must find healing in Christ's wings, before God can find spirituality in our services. All worship issuing from a dead nature, is but a dead service. ['8]

Charnock goes on to show that spiritual worship is performed only by the Spirit's active help, since it requires sincerity and singleness of heart ('unitedness,' Charnock calls it; 'concentration' would express his meaning). It involves acts of faith, love, humbling, and self-distrust, and must be an expression of the heart's desire for God. 'A spiritual worshipper actually aspires in every duty to know God....To desire worship as an end, is carnal; to desire it as a means, and act desires in it for communion with God in it, is spiritual, and the fruit of a spiritual life....' [9] Also, spiritual worship will be joyful:
The evangelical worship is a spiritual worship, and praise, joy, and delight are prophesied of as great ingredients in attendance on gospel ordinances, Is. xii.3-5....The approach is to God as gracious, not to God as unpacified, as a son to a father, not as a criminal to a judge....Delight in God is a gospel frame, therefore the more joyful, the more spiritual.... [10]
In worship we must seek to reflect back to God by our response the knowledge that we have received of him through his revelation.
God is a Spirit infinitely happy, therefore we must approach him with cheerfulness; he is a Spirit of infinite majesty, therefore we must come before him with reverence; he is a Spirit infinitely high, therefore we must offer up our sacrifices with deepest humility; he is a Spirit infinitely holy, therefore we must address him with purity; he is a Spirit glorious, we therefore must acknowledge his excellency...he is a Spirit infinitely provoked by us, therefore we must offer up our worship in the name of a pacifying mediator and intercessor. [11]
'That all true believers whose minds are spiritually renewed have a singular delight in all the institutions and ordinances of divine worship is fully evident,' writes Owen, and quotes Psalms 42:1-4, 63:1-5, 84:1-4 to prove his point. [12] That the saints love public worship is a constant Puritan theme. Why their delight in it? Because in worship the saints do not merely seek God; they also find him. Worship is not only an expression of gratitude, but also a means of grace, whereby the hungry are fed, so that the empty are sent away rich. For 'there is in worship an approach of God to man.' [13] God's presence in his ordinances is a reality; God is essentially present in the world, graciously present in his church. 'God delights to approach to men, and converse with them in the worship instituted in the gospel.' [14] And men honor God most when they come to worship hungry and expectant, conscious of need and looking to God to meet them and supply it.

The ordinances of Christian worship, declares Owen, are 'means of the communication of a sense of divine love, and supplies of divine grace unto the souls of them that do believe.' They are 'ways of our approaching unto God,' and 'we are always to come unto God, as unto an eternal spring of goodness, grace and mercy, of all that our souls do stand in need of.' 'To make a pretence of coming unto God, and not with expectation of receiving good and great things from him, is to despise God.' An aimless, careless, casual, routine habit of church-going is neither rational nor reverent. Asks Owen, with piercing rhetoric:
What do men come to hear the Word of God for? What do they pray for? What do they expect to receive from him? Do they come unto God as the eternal fountain of living waters? As the God of all grace, peace and consolation? Or do they come unto his worship without any design as unto a dry and empty show?....Or do they think they bring something unto God, but receive nothing from him?....To receive anything from him they expect not, nor do ever examine themselves whether they have done so or no?....It is not for persons who walk in such ways, ever to attain a due delight in the ordinances of divine worship. [15]
Owen's application of this is uncomfortably searching:
Many of the better sort of professors are too negligent in this matter. They do not long and pant in the inward man after renewed pledges of the love of God; they do not consider how much they have need of them...; they do not prepare their minds for their reception of them, nor come with the expectation of the communication unto them; they do not rightly fix their faith on this truth, namely that these holy administrations and duties are appointed of God in the first place, as the way and means of conveying his love and a sense of it unto our souls. From hence springs all that luke-warmness, coldness, and indifferency unto the duties of holy worship, that are growing among us. [16]
This, surely, is a word for our times.

The Elements of Worship

The Puritan lists of the parts and constituent activities of worship normally include the following: praise (especially the singing of psalms), prayer (confession, adoration, intercession), preaching, the sacraments ('ordinances'), and also catechizing and the exercise of church discipline. In all these activities, the Puritans maintained, God comes to meet his people met together in his Son's name, but most of all in preaching. Preaching is the most solemn and exalted action, and therefore the supreme test, of a man's ministry: 'they [Puritans] hold that the highest and supreme office and authority of the Pastor is to preach the gospel solemnly and publicly to the Congregation by interpreting the written Word of God, and applying the same by exhortation and reproof unto them.' [17] For preaching in the church is supremely the ministration of the Spirit, in a way that (pace Richard Hooker) the mere reading of the Word to the Puritans' minds never could be; therefore it is the supreme means of grace. So Thomas Goodwin writes:
It is not the letter of the Word that ordinarily doth convert, but the spiritual meaning of it, as revealed and expounded....There is the letter, the husk; and there is the spirit, the kernel, and when we by expounding the Word do open the husk, out drops the kernel. It is the meaning of the word which is the word indeed, it is the sense of it which is the soul....Now, preaching in a more special manner reveals God's Word. When an ointment box is once opened, then it casts its savour about; and when the juice of a medicinal herb is once strained out and applied, then it heals. And so it is the spiritual meaning of the Word let into the heart which converts it and turns it to God. [18]
For congregations, therefore, the hearing of sermons is the most momentous event of their lives, and the Puritans pleaded with worshippers to appreciate this fact, and listen to the word preached with awe, attention, and expectancy. Baxter put the point thus, in the course of his 'Directions for Profitably Hearing the Word Preached' in the Christian Directory:
Come not to hear with careless heart, as if you were to hear a matter that little concerned you, but come with a sense of the unspeakable weight, necessity, and consequence of the holy Word which you are to hear; and when you understand how much you are concerned in it, it will greatly help your understanding of every particular truth...

Make it our work with diligence to apply the word as you are hearing it...Cast not all upon the minister, as those that will go no further than they are carried as by force...You have work to do as well as the preacher, and should all the time be as busy as he...you must open your mouths, and digest it, for another cannot digest it for you...therefore be all the while at work, and abhor an idle heart in hearing, as well as an idle minister.

Chew the cud, and call up all when you come home in secret, and by meditation preach it over to yourselves. If it were coldly delivered by the preacher, do you...preach it more earnestly over to your own hearts.... [19]
We complain today that ministers do not know how to preach; but is it not equally true that our congregations do not know how to hear? An instruction to remedy the first deficiency will surely be labor lost unless the second is remedied too.
Not, however, that the hearing of sermons is an end in itself, or that ardent sermon-tasting and preacher-hunting is the height of Christian devotion. Thomas Adams speaks sternly against the assumption that listening to sermons is all that matters, reminding us that preaching must lead on to prayer and praise:
Many come to these holy places, and are so transported with a desire of hearing, that they forget the fervency of praying and praising God....All our preaching is but to beget your praying; to instruct you to praise and worship God....I complain not that our churches are auditories, but that they are not oratories; not that you come to sermons (for God's sake, come faster), but that you neglect public prayer: as if it were only God's part to bless you, not yours to bless God....Beloved, mistake not. It is not the only exercise of a Christian to hear a sermon; nor is that Sabbath well spent that dispatcheth no other business for heaven....God's service is not to be narrowed up in hearing, it hath greater latitude; there must be prayer, praise, adoration.... [20]
Here, too, surely is a word for Christian people today.

The Spheres of Worship

There are, said the Puritans, three spheres of Christian worship: public, in the local church; domestic, in the family circle; private, in the closet. Of these three, public worship is the most important. David Clarkson was entirely typical when, preaching on Psalm 87:2 under the title 'Public worship to be preferred before private,'' he argued from Scripture that 'the Lord is more glorified by public worship,' `'there is more of the Lord's presence in public worship,' 'here are the clearest manifestations of God',' 'there is more spiritual advantage to be got in the use of public ordinances,' and 'public worship is more edifying.' [21] Strikingly, yet characteristically (for many others made the same point), he reminds us that public worship is 'the nearest resemblance of heaven that earth knows: for in heaven, so far as the Scripture describes it to us...all the worship of that glorious company is public....They make one glorious congregation and so jointly together sing the praises of him that sits on the throne, and the praises of the Lamb, and continue employed in this public worship to eternity.' [22] Similarly, Swinnock insists that on the Lord's Day church must come first, and everything else be built round it. 'Esteem the public ordinances the chief work of the day, and let thy secret and private duties be so managed that thy soul may be prepared for them, and profited by them.' [23]

But family worship was also, to the Puritans, vitally important. Every home should be a church, with the head of the house as its minister. Daily and indeed twice daily, the Puritans recommended, the family as a family should hear the Word read, and pray to God. Sunday by Sunday, the family should seek to pool the profiting of its members from the public ordinances; day by day, its members should seek to encourage each other in the way of God. Parents must teach their children the Scriptures; all members of the household must be given time and a place to pray. Thus, informally, but conscientiously, the worship and service of God in the home must be carried on.

Reproducing the Beauty of Puritan Worship

Incomplete though this survey has necessarily been (we have said nothing, for instance, of the sacraments), it has at least sketched in the main outline of Puritan ideals for worshippers -- reverence, faith, boldness, eagerness, expectancy, delight, whole-heartedness, concentration, self-abasement, and above all a passion to meet and know God himself as a loving Father through the mediation of his Son. This ideal was common to them all -- to those like Sibbes and Archbishop Usher, who conformed to the Prayer Book liturgy; to those like Owen, who thought all liturgies unlawful; and to those like Baxter, who were happy to alternate between 'free' and 'set' prayers, and were equally at home in either. Here, in their conception of what the worshipper's spirit and goal should be, the Puritans were at one; and perhaps we may venture the judgment that their agreements here were more significant than their differences, and that it is within the area of their agreements that their teaching can help us most today.

But still one question remains. How do we begin to get from where we are to where the Puritans show us that we ought to be in our own practice of worship? How can we, cold-hearted and formal as we so often are -- to our shame -- in church services, advance closer to the Puritan ideals? The Puritans would have met our question by asking us another. How do we prepare for worship?

Here, perhaps, is our own chief weakness. The Puritans inculcated specific preparation for worship -- not merely for the Lord's Supper, but for all services -- as a regular part of the Christian's inner discipline of prayer and communion with God. Says the Westminster Directory: 'When the congregation is to meet for public worship, the people (having before prepared their hearts thereunto) ought all to come....' But we neglect to prepare our hearts; for, as the Puritans would have been the first to tell us, thirty seconds of private prayer upon taking our seat in the church building is not time enough in which to do it. It is here that we need to take ourselves in hand. What we need at the present time to deepen our worship is not new liturgical forms or formulae, nor new hymns and tunes, but more preparatory 'heart-work' before we use the old ones. There is nothing wrong with new hymns, tunes, and worship styles -- there may be very good reasons for them -- but without 'heart-work' they will not make our worship more fruitful and God-honoring; they will only strengthen the syndrome that C.S. Lewis called 'the liturgical fidgets.' 'Heart-works' must have priority or spiritually our worship will get nowhere. So I close with an admonition from George Swinnock on preparation for the service of the Lord's Day, which for all its seeming quaintedness is, I think, a word in season for very many of us:
Prepare to meet thy God, O Christian! Betake thyself to thy chamber on the Saturday night, confess and bewail thine unfaithfulness under the ordinances of God; ashamed and condemn thyself for thy sins, entreat God to prepare they heart for, and assist it in, thy religious performances; spend some time in consideration of the infinite majesty, holiness, jealously, and goodness, of that God, with whom thouart to have to do in sacred duties; ponder the weight and importance of his holy ordinances...; meditate on the shortness of the time thou hast to enjoy Sabbaths in; and continue musing...till the fire burneth; thou canst not think the good thou mayest gain by such forethoughts, how pleasant and profitable a Lord's day would be to thee after such a preparation. The oven of thine heart thus baked in, as it were overnight, would be easily heated the next morning; the fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed, would be the sooner kindled when thou shouldst rise. If thou wouldst thus leave thy heart with God on the Saturday night, thou shouldst find it with him in the Lord's Day morning. [24]

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

That's a good article, Adam. It's worth remembering what the word Puritan meant. It was used originally in a derogatory way to describe those who wanted to reform and simplify Anglican ceremonial worship by purging it of the rituals that lacked Biblcal warrant and adhering to worship that was centered on God's Word. The Biblical ordinances of worship -- as outlined in the WCF, Chap. XXI, V -- are quite simple and though the preaching and psalm-singing might have lasted a while in a Puritan worship service, such worship was centered on and based upon God's Word, in contrast with the extraneous ceremonies, rituals and observances of those who adhere to the principle: If it's not forbidden, it's lawful. The RPW simplifies worship rather than complicates it.

 

[Puritan Sailor]

I think the Puritan use of "the stick" would also be a good practice to restore too
But to clarify, the stick wasn't used on children. It had a pointy end for the men, and a blunt end for the women, and was used by the elder standing in the back of the church to wake up anyone who fell asleep during the preaching.

[Edited on 3-29-2005 by puritansailor]

 

[Scott]

Patrick: You won't find that suggestion in any church growth materials!

 

[Plimoth Thom]

Originally posted by puritansailor
I think the Puritan use of "the stick" would also be a good practice to restore too
But to clarify, the stick wasn't used on children. It had a pointy end for the men, and a blunt end for the women, and was used by the elder standing in the back of the church to wake up anyone who fell asleep during the preaching.

[Edited on 3-29-2005 by puritansailor]

I'm sure there was a lot of variance in the type of "church-stick" used by the Tithing-man from church to church. I've read (in one of Eric Sloane's books I believe) that the stick often had a rabbits foot on one end for children, and a soft fox tail on the other to tickle the cheek of sleeping adults. It was the Tithing-man's job to keep order, and if someone was making noise, he would put his finger to his lips and tap his stick to warn them. It's believed that the finger across the lips sign for quiet may have originated with the Tithing-man in early American churches.

 

[Puritan Sailor]

I read about it in Davies' Worship of the American Puritans.

 

[Plimoth Thom]

Originally posted by puritansailor
I read about it in Davies' Worship of the American Puritans.

I haven't read that one. It looks interesting.