Worship

In his book The Orthodox Church, the late Bishop Kallistos Ware, shared the story of a group of emissaries sent out by Prince Vladimir in search of “true religion.” They make their way through various kingdoms and religions all found unsatisfactory. Finally, they reach Constantinople and worship at...

You and I spend a lot of time interacting with others. In conversations and meetings, texts and emails, and social media posts, we communicate a lot of words and ideas. And in our actions we communicate a lot too, especially about what’s important to us. But do we, in all of these interactions,...

Modern worship, even by some definitions, has more to do with feelings than form. What matters, it seems, is not the quality of the offering but the affection of the worshiper. Actually, both are important. We must worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:23). But attitudes do not trump actions...

I love to see families walking through the doors of the auditorium on Lord's Day morning. I see each of them as a living stone coming together to form a living temple in order to worship the living God. They were once like the dry bones of Ezekiel's vision scattered about in the valley of the...

I love the writing of Iain Murray. I’ve probably recommended and given out more of his books than I do most others. And I can certainly say that I’ve benefitted from his historical insights and applications to such a degree that many of my convictions about pastoral ministry and church and...

What if worship style were more than a matter of personal taste? In Trembling Joy , Pastor Ryan Speck answers that question by turning to the Scriptures, showing how God's definition and description of worship should impact our own. As Ryan states in his introduction, one of his goals in writing...

Many define “worship” as the music Christians employ in Sunday services. Others hold to a certain “style” of worship. What kind of worship does God demand? In his new book, Trembling Joy: A Biblical Defense of Traditional Worship, Pastor Ryan Speck defines terms and points his readers to what...

The Abitinian Martyrs – The Christians Who Couldn’t Do Without a Lord’s Day Service. " Sine dominico non possumus " ("We can't do without the Lord’s Day"). This was the answer of a group of 49 Christians (31 men and 18 women) who were arrested for participating in a Lord’s Day service. They lived...

Calls to Worship, Invocations, and Benedictions Pastors and worship leaders recognize the significance of every liturgical element in the organization of a worship service. Today’s guest offers both a guide to Scripture-filled worship and some historical background on the use of these all-important...

There was a time when 2 Timothy 3:12 worried me. In it, Paul tells Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” It wasn’t the idea of persecution that worried me, but the idea that, at that point in my life, I couldn’t really think of any great moments...