Worship Pastor Mike Cosper speaks of our view of the corporate worship gathering in one of two ways. We typically either view it as a concert hall or as a banquet hall. “If it’s a concert hall, we show up as passive observers and critics, eager to have the itches of our preferences and felt needs scratched. A banquet hall, by contrast, is a communal gathering. We come hungry and in community, ready to participate and share experience with one another.”
We must come to the worship service with a “banquet hall” mentality. We begin by “considering how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24). We come to the worship service having spent our week worshipping God in every area of our lives, having sought to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1) and “[doing] all things to the glory of God” even down to the seemingly miniscule details of “eating and drinking” (1 Cor. 10:31). And when we have failed to do these things well, we remind each other of the abundance of grace that is waiting for us in the face of Christ.
As we worship God individually and with our families and small groups throughout the week, it enables us to better serve our brothers and sisters and “encourage one another, and all the more as [we] see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:25) whenever we meet together on Sundays. We arrive at the “banquet hall” ready to feast on the goodness of God and the love and fellowship of our brothers and sisters. We, once again, remind each other of the story of the gospel and how God has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1:13). We remember that the stories of the “good life” – the things that we are told both explicitly and implicitly by our culture, will bring us satisfaction and fulfillment – are not true. We are reminded that to sacrifice our desires for love of our brothers and sisters is one way that we can deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. The banquet hall approach to the worship service is such a better way isn’t it?
How will you view corporate worship?
For this Sunday:
This week we will continue our series: Reconciled. Pastor Brady will be preaching from James 1:9-11 and 2:1-17. The title of his sermon will be “Reconciling Rich and Poor.”
The Call to Worship will come from Psalm 146.
The songs we will sing together are below linked to recordings for your preparation.
To God be the Glory
My Soul Finds Rest (Psalm 62)
For the Cause
All the Poor and Powerless
We will be taking communion together this week. The hymn of response after communion will be Amazing Grace. The choir and orchestra will be presenting a song called The Song of Your Renown as the offertory.
As usual, we ask that you would read through the Scripture passages and pray for receptive hearts. Also pray for all who are leading in the service.
See you Sunday!
