The Gospel in Worship

For many years I’ve explored various styles of worship to see how they could minister to others as well as releasing into the atmosphere my complete adoration and love of God. Over a process of 20 years, my style and format of worship have evolved. However, just to be clear, my heart was always very deep for what I considered honoring worship of our Heavenly Father. I’d always been a classical musician from as early as the age of 7. I didn’t become a Christian until the age of 27.

However, all of the years of training and preparation would become very crucial and instrumental to how I worship the Lord with my violin. Being a violinist is such a joy. Being a classic perfectionist and over achiever, I’d always strived for excellence in mastering my instrument. Never in all my years of playing the violin did I know or understand what it meant to play under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

When I first became a Christian, I was asked to play in a worship band that traveled all over Southern California. For some reason, I was very nervous while standing in front of a crowd. One time, I literally “froze” under the lights and had to leave the stage. This was very traumatic for me. Clearly, I wasn’t playing under the anointing at that time and didn’t have the confidence to go back on stage to finish the worship set.

Years later, I stopped feeling nervous when playing in large venues because as I grew into my faith, knowledge of scripture and utter devotion to God there was no need to be nervous at all! Shortly after that experience I decided to become part of a home church.

In this church, we began to follow a format in our approach to worship. Scripture follows in readings from the Old Testament and epistles so that the entire Word of God is honored. [1] The purpose of reading scripture in worship is to honor God but also to bring the Word to life in our hearts though worship. Reading the Word of God is a part of the ordinance of obeying the Lord in place of following some of the sacraments that were originally practiced in earlier church history. Along with reading the Word of God, comes the liturgy of the sermon. In our worship, we read the Word of God as well as delivering a sermon. The sermon was followed by an affirmation of faith, both to underscore the conformity of the sermon with the truths of the Gospel and to bolster the congregation with the foundations

of faith for the challenges of life in the days to come. [2]

Some of the patterns of worship present in our home church setting would be adoration in singing our praises to the Lord. Once many hearts, voices and spirits surrendered themselves to the Lord, there would exist a confession and thanksgiving in the experience. There were times where we would begin to pray right after a song and bring our petitions before the Lord. It would be a great way to cry out to God for matters that were pressing so greatly on our hearts. Then, after praying for awhile, a scripture would be read so the entire Word of God was honored. Others would feel led to share how they felt the Lord moving through the hearing of the Word. Then, more worship

would come. All individuals present would break out in song. Some would grab a drum, even a tambourine. I would always pick up my violin and play as I felt the Holy Spirit stirring in my heart. Oh then the anointing would come. The anointing that would follow after singing, praying and reading scripture was so completely profound and other worldly. There were times some would see visions from heaven and share what they saw with each other. Other times, the worship lasted well past the hour most churches would have stopped. We did not want to interrupt the spontaneous flow of the Holy Spirit and presence of the Lord in our church service. How great it felt to honor and worship the Lord without hindrance. So many breakthroughs would come after spontaneous worship.

Having the right heart is of the utmost importance when approaching God through worship. Having a unified pattern of worship is also imperative when approaching the throne room of God. With the right combination of scripture reading, singing, praying and

delivering the Word through a sermon, God is truly honored. Each liturgy must have a strategy involved. All components are a critical element involving proper thought and reverence as to how we should approach God. When each of these components are honored, we are experiencing the true relationship with God that we are intended to have.

References

[1]. Bryan Chappell, Christ Centered Worship, Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice: (Grand Rapids Michigan: Baker Academic, 2009).

[2]. Ibid.