Worship is the right, fitting, and delightful response of moral beings—angelic and human—to God the Creator, Redeemer, and Consummator, for who he is as one eternal God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and for what he has done in creation and redemption, and for what he will do in the coming consummation, to whom be all praise ...

Many churchgoers assume that worship is inherently boring, something we need to make exciting. But as Jonathan Landry Cruse shows, churchgoing only seems monotonous and mundane because our eyes are blinded to the supernatural wonder that is taking place all around us. In this book, Cruse helps us perceive the significance of worship and guides us through the spiritual actions of a worship service. Once you recognize how God is doing something to us and for us and through us in each element of the service, Lord’s Day worship will become the highlight of your week! Table of Contents: Foreword by Michael S. Horton Part 1: Introduction 1. What Happens When We Worship? Part 2: A Brief Theology of Worship 2. The Most Important Thing We Will Ever Do 3. We Are Being Shaped 4. We Meet with God 5. God Renews His Covenant 6. We Submit to God’s Agenda 7. We Commune with the Saints Part 3: The Parts of the Service 8. God Calls Us 9. The Verdict Is Pronounced 10. Jesus Gets Up to Preach 11. God Feasts with Us 12. We Get a New Name 13. We Sing a New Song Part 4: Conclusion 14. Extraordinarily ordinary Worship 15. Preparing for Worship

This book offers a discussion of the Reformed worship tradition, its history, theology, and rationale. The authors discuss the characteristics of Reformed worship and focus on theology and the practice of the sacraments and ordinances of the church. They provide concrete suggestions as to how this tradition can be the basis of meaningful worship in American congregations today.

Hughes Oliphant Old masterfully summarizes the worship of Israel and the early church and traces the development of worship through the period of the Reformation. He provides a sterling historical study that will be highly useful for pastors and church study groups as well as for scholars and students interested in Reformed worship. An extensive bibliography of resources for the study of Reformed worship adds to the value of this book.

Worship renewal is now on the agenda of many Reformed churches, as the need for adaptation and new approaches is acutely felt all over. How can the church faithfully worship God in the midst of rapidly changing situations? How can it constructively relate to widely differing cultural contexts? What is its place in the wider ecumenical scene? In preparing a sweeping survey of Reformed worship across time and place, this volume provides some help to those engaged with vital questions like these. Written by theologians and liturgical scholars from a wide range of churches and countries, these chapters explore the history of Reformed worship on every continent from the sixteenth century to the present. Surveying the most significant developments in the growth of Reformed worship, the book identifies the major "ingredients" that make the Reformed worship tradition distinctive and highlights those aspects of Reformed worship that are particularly relevant to present efforts at renewal. Indeed, an important component of this book is the inclusion of "A Common Reflection on Christian Worship in Reformed Churches Today," the result of a major consultation in January 2001 at the International Reformed Center John Knox. Revealing the rich variety of forms and diversity of perspectives that have made and do make up Reformed worship worldwide, this volume will be a valuable resource for church and worship leaders both in and outside the Reformed family. Contributors: Hor ace T. Allen Jr. Emily R. Brink Livingstone Buama Coenraad Burger Bruno Bürki Gerson Correia de Lacerda Alan D. Falconer, Kasonga wa Kasonga Baranite T. Kirata Elsie Anne McKee Seong-Won Park Ester Pudjo Widiasih Alan P. F. Sell Joseph D. Small Bryan D. Spinks Leonora Tubbs Tisdale Lukas Vischer Isaiah Wahome Muita Geraldine Wheeler Marsha M. Wilfong John D. Witvliet

Through careful exegesis in both Old and New Testaments, David Peterson unveils the total life-orientation of worship that is found in Scripture. Rather than determining for ourselves how we should worship, we, his people, are called to engage with God on the terms he proposes and in the way he alone makes possible.

"Worship the Lord." Too many churches assume that those in their pews and those who pass through their doors know what worship is and why the Lord commands it. The purpose of this booklet, then, is to educate and acquaint members of Reformed churches but most of all those who inquire within their walls, with a basic knowledge of what Reformed churches mean when they say, "Worship the Lord." In knowing what to expect, the worshippers' response of praise and thanksgiving will be more active, joyful, and meaningful.

Christian worship in North America has undergone great change in recent years. But change always brings uncertainty -- at times even division -- about what constitutes "authentic worship." This important book reviews a wide variety of current perspectives and offers a fresh outlook on the contemporary practice of Christian worship. In order to provide the widest, most insightful discussion on present-day worship practices yet assembled, the authors gathered a team of church musicians, ministers, worship leaders, and educators from eight church traditions. Discerning the Spirits is the fruit of their work. Shaped by the wisdom of men and women like Marva Dawn, Justo Gonzalez, C. Michael Hawn, and John Witvliet, this book broadens today's "worship wars" into a bigger, richer discussion that moves from arguments over musical tastes to good thinking about the overall purpose of worship in relation to church life and God himself. Sidebar articles and quotes are meant to draw readers and study groups into dialogue on these issues. Whether one plays a leadership role in church worship or is simply grappling with questions about it, Discerning the Spirits is a must-read.

The first part of this work describes the development of Reformed Worship from 1500-1542. The story begins with liturgical reforms of the Christian Humanists in Alsace, continues through the establishment of the first Protestant worship services in the Swiss cities of Zurich and Basel, joins with the currents of French evangelical thought flowing from Meaux, and finally reaches Geneva with the publication of Calvin's first psalter. Reformed worship is presented as the fruit of an inner-church liturgical renewal movement begun well before the Reformation which was then cultivated by the Rhineland Protestant Reformers. In order that we might be clear about how patristic literature affected this process, we turn next to discover what the Reformers knew about the church fathers. We show evidence of the impressive patristic knowledge of such men as Zwingli, Brucer, Hedio, Oecolampadius, and Calvin. An extensive bibliography of patristic editions known and used by the Reformers concludes the second part of the book. Finally we analyze each element of Reformed worship to show its development and to indicate its scriptural and particularly its patristic roots. The Prayer of Confession, the Prayer of Intercession, the Communion Invocation, and the Benediction are studied to show their liturgical purpose. How the Reformers understood their use of the lectionary, the sermon, psalmody, and hymnody is presented in the light of their understanding of the practice of the ancient church.