What makes up Christian worship?

Worship FAQs, part 3 – What makes up Christian worship?

The specific way Christians worship is not prescribed for us in Scripture. In reality, Christian worship has taken and can take many forms. No matter what form true Christian worship takes, however, there are some definite elements that will always be included.

In Christian worship, God is the chief actor. He is the focus, in the Word and Sacraments. In worship, God’s Word is read, recited, sung, and explained in its truth and purity. God’s Word is where Christ, the chief cornerstone of the Church comes to us personally. God’s Word, correctly divided into Law and Gospel, shows us who we truly are and what we truly need. God’s Word is where we find the strength to go out and share God’s love in our daily lives.

God’s Word gives the washing of Baptism its power and makes it a source of rich blessings. True Christian worship highlights this washing, whether it is actually celebrated in a given worship service or simply remembered in the invocation and confession and absolution of sins.

God’s Word unites the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper with the true body and blood of Christ. True Christian worship highlights this foretaste of heaven; for that reason, more and more Christian churches around the world are returning to the historical practice of celebrating the Lord’s Supper in every regular worship service.

Where these essential elements are at their best, we will always find other closely related elements, as well. Prayers and thanksgiving are the natural results of listening to God’s Word and joyfully receiving the blessings of the Sacraments. Music plays an integral role not only in our response to God’s Word, but first and foremost in our proclaiming of that Word. Patterns in worship, such as familiar liturgies, focus us on God and his actions on our behalf instead of on the worship itself or on the worshipers or on “what I got out of worship this week.” Christian worship recognizes that an assembly of believers, whether large or small, provides encouragement we cannot find in our personal worship lives. That assembly of believers participates actively in the speaking and singing of worship as part of the “priesthood of all believers.” Worship is guided by a skilled and dedicated shepherd, or what we call a pastor. And worship ends with the sending of the people out into the world.

While exact forms of Christian worship vary greatly from place to place, all true Christian worship includes these essential and closely related elements.

Reference: Lathrop, Gordon. What are the essentials of Christian worship? Augsburg Fortress: 1998.