Subscription Lists

We have reached the climax of this series and perhaps the area which many of us immediately jump to when we hear the word ‘worship’. It is certainly my experience that the vast majority of times I hear the word ‘worship’ used in a Christian setting it is regarding corporate, or congregational, worship.

Trawling through the Bible it is not difficult at all to find examples of congregational worship; Israel gathered together for ‘praise parties’ every so often ‘to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David King of Israel’ (Ezra 3:11). All Christians, without exception, are called to worship with other believers. John Wesley said, 'there is no such thing as a solitary Christian' and he is right. We are not called to be lone ranger followers of Christ; if Jesus needed to gather a community around him then how much more do we?

The face of congregational worship

Congregational worship can be satisfactorily defined as a group of Christians worshipping simultaneously in the same way. In other words a group should be performing the same actions at the same time.

There are not many ways in which a group can collectively worship but some do exist. It is important to bear in mind that ideas for congregational worship must be easily accessible by as many as possible to ensure that as many as possible can participate; a congregational attempt to perform cartwheels may prove less effective than it did in your mind.

We saw last week that worship is personal; if an idea for congregational worship prevents some from participating it does not prevent them worshipping. You may want to come up with your own ideas but I will suggest two ways that have proved effective in the history of the church.

Firstly we could consider speaking words together. By corporately reading Bible passages, prayers, and creeds we can know that as a group we are performing the same actions and that our eyes are fixed on one person, namely God. While this is a good way to ensure that everyone in the group is performing the same action we know that worship must involve our whole spirits, so if possible we should encourage a different form of congregational worship that fulfils that aspect as well.

I would suggest that the most effective and biblical form of congregational worship is the singing of songs to Jesus. Apart from the many biblical examples of songs being sung in worship there are simple logical reasons for using this medium. In singing we achieve two important goals in enabling everyone in a group to worship in spirit and truth.

Singing

Songs are essentially made up of two parts, namely the lyrics and the melody. I am sure that musicians everywhere could add in additional aspects such as rhythm, timbre, and harmony, but for the purposes of this study we will treat the melody as including all musical aspects.

The lyrics of songs sung in times of congregational worship are important. In most settings every member of the congregation will be singing the same words as one another, ensuring that all eyes are fixed on Jesus and that God is being glorified. Songs are often written around verses of the Bible, so we can be built up as we declare these truths boldly.

The melody of songs is also important. On its own a musical tune cannot declare any truth whatsoever; one listener may listen to Gustav Holst’s Mars, from The Planets Suite, and imagine a great battle, where another may imagine whales swimming in the ocean. Another still may imagine a colony of ants working hard; the sound of music in itself is horrendously subjective. As a result our emotions are forced to engage when we sing melodies. No truth is being declared directly by the music we hear and participate in and therefore we can engage using as much, or as little, of our spirits as we feel free to.

This combination of spirit (our expression through the medium of music) and truth (as we declare biblically-revealed realities) enables us to worship corporately in a manner unlike any other form of worship. Therefore I would logically conclude that singing songs is the most effective way of worshipping as a congregation.

But we should not stop there; the Bible gives us clear examples of how music is used in congregational worship. The Old Testament records the people of Israel gathering together for the purposes of singing praise to God, we are told that the angels sing together, and John tells us in Revelation that the twenty-four elders will sing God’s praises on our behalf in eternity as well.

What happens?

In worshipping together we have the privilege of fulfilling one of Jesus’ desires for his church. Just before his arrest Jesus was quoted as praying to the Father, saying about the disciples: ‘keep them in your name…that they may be one, even as we are one’ (John 17:11). The power in this fulfilment of Jesus’ prayer as we gather together to worship him is wonderful.

We are told by David that God is ‘enthroned on the praises of Israel’ (Psalm 22:3). This verse can also be translated to say that God dwells in the praises of his people; as we praise God he descends to us and he dwells among us.

As we enter the age of the New Testament in which we now live we see that this word ‘dwell’ is used for God in a slightly different light. It had always been Jewish understanding that God’s presence dwelt in the temple and while ‘the Holy Spirit dwells…in us’ (2 Timothy 1:14) as individuals this is truly seen when we gather together. Paul writes to the Ephesians that they were ‘being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit’ (Ephesians 2:22) so some important conclusions must be made, built on our previous understanding of worship.

Our worship must be in Jesus (John 4:23-24). Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30). God is Spirit (John 4:24). The Spirit dwells in us (2 Timothy 1:14). The Spirit brings us together into a dwelling place for God (Ephesians 2:22). God dwells with the praises of his people (Psalm 22:3 KJV).

It is clear that biblically-based worship involves the whole Trinity, and that the Spirit is particularly involved when it comes to corporate worship. As a result we should expect to see this when we gather. Reading Paul’s comments on congregational worship to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:2-14:40) it is clear that, although the church in Corinth was not using spiritual gifts wisely, they were being used, and Paul did not forbid it. Rather, he encouraged the Christians there to ‘earnestly desire the spiritual gifts’ and went on to say that ‘since [they were] eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church’. Whenever Paul wrote about spiritual gifts he talked about ‘unity of the Spirit’; by using spiritual gifts wisely in congregational worship we will see the church built up.

Summary

In conclusion we can summarise congregational worship as follows. Despite the fact that all worship is always personal we are called to publicly worship by gathering with other believers to worship together. Of all the methods available to us it is sung worship which seems to be the most appropriate.

Congregational worship involves the whole Trinity and the Holy Spirit inhabits our praises, enabling us to use spiritual gifts in our times of congregational worship to the glory of God.

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

A Great House Falls