Gathered worship, local church worship, corporate worship.
“The debate over raising hands in worship resurfaces every few years…. Scripture answers that question directly, and the answer appears more often across the Bible than a quick read would suggest.” - Sam Storms
The songs we sing are with us throughout our daily lives away from church. The importance of choosing congregational music that aligns with the theology our churches uphold cannot be overstated.
“Around 1 in 4 Protestant churchgoers (24 percent) say their church has a very liturgical style…. (42 percent) says their church has some liturgical elements, while 27 percent say their church has none of the liturgical style and 7 percent are unsure…. (75 percent) are satisfied with their current worship style.” - Baptist Press
“When church members bring their own Bible, something subtle but deeply important takes place. They move from being passive observers to active participants in the worship experience. The screen presents a passage for the moment. A personal Bible invites an ongoing relationship.” - Thom Rainer
“One of the most overlooked tools for growth is honest self-examination—asking ourselves where our habits, patterns, and expectations fall short of the biblical vision for gathered worship.” - 9 Marks
“We honestly hope that the next several minutes of conversation, pastor, will help you perhaps re envision the role that confessions of faith and other documents can play in the life of your church.” - TGC
“Because Easter is often the highest-attended Sunday of the year, how leaders answer this question shapes not only the experience of that day, but also what first-time and returning guests assume about the life of the church.” - Sam Rainer
“Many faithful Christians are committed to churches they love, even if they don’t always care for the music. They join and stay because the preaching is biblicalb…. Because music engages our affections, though, it can be painful when we don’t love our church’s music.music.” - TGC
“Our Scripture reading today is from Galatians 1:6–10,” the deacon behind the pulpit mumbled. Even as the pages rustled, the minds of the congregation wandered. The public reading of Scripture is just a preliminary before the real event happens–the preaching of God’s Word.
But wait. Why is the reading of God’s Word not given the same attention as the preaching of God’s Word? The preacher plans and maybe even practices the delivery of his sermon, but he often stumbles over the words of Scripture as he reads them. Reading the text can become an afterthought, getting little attention in the preparation of the sermon.
“From the parents’ perspective, children—especially very young children—pose an impediment to adults engaging in the worship service. Though I see legitimacy in these perspectives, it’s important to affirm that corporate worship is not like the workplace. Rather, corporate worship is, in fact, for children.” - 9 Marks
