How We Worship: Ten Principles Which Guide us on Sunday Morning

A few years ago I felt compeled to put on paper the values in worship that would both provide guidance to my church fellowship as well as serve as a teaching tool to help us grow and maintain harmony on the issue of corporate woship. Any worship leader knows, because worship is charged with so many cultural values that if wrongly understood (and man-centered in its orientation) it can be an explosive issue resulting in division among the church. God may that never again be so! The following ten principles are the result of my labor in the study of what the Bible says about God and our appropriate response to Him in worship. They have since become part of the ethos of Grace Community Church. I continue to hear people speaking of these principles on Sunday mornings around the coffee and donuts, in small group fellowships, and in various formal and informal settings. Here they are to share with you. I pray that they might serve you as well.

How We Worship: Ten Principles Which Guide us on Sunday Morning

As a worshiping church we will seek to...

1. be God-centered, understanding that God’s glory is His highest purpose in all things. We seek to make God central in our mind’s attention and our heart’s affections. We will seek to exalt Him by delighting in His glory (Is. 48:9-11; 26:8).

2. worship in “spirit and in truth.” We understand worship to involve the Spirit-stirred affections of the heart, the devotion of the mind, and the submission of the will according to the truth of God (John 4:23-24).
In spirit—worship that flows out of a new life in Christ (a new spirit given birth by the Holy Spirit) which involves our whole being – mind, heart, and will (Phil. 3:3; Eph. 5:18-20; Ex. 20:3; Deut. 6:4-5; Rom. 12:1-2).
In truth, we will seek to be Bible-saturated and doctrinally sound, giving Scripture prominence in worship as the basis of our response. We will read Scripture publicly and corporately and sing songs that reflect the truth of Scripture. All music will be examined for doctrinal correctness.

3. hold worship as our highest calling, understanding the supremacy of worship in the believer’s life and in the mission of the church. Worship is the fuel and goal of all other ministries at GCC. Worship is the purpose for which we evangelize and do missions and the purpose for which we encourage and build each other up in the faith. Worship is the eternal purpose of the Church (Rev. 14:6-7; Ps. 96:3).

4. incorporate both revelation and response, understanding that all response in worship is based upon God’s revelation of Himself. As God reveals His power, we respond in wonder. As God reveals His holiness, we respond in confession and contrition. As God reveals His grace, we respond in humility. As God reveals His purpose, we respond in surrender and commitment. As God reveals His plans for our lives, we respond in prayer. As God reveals His goodness, we respond in thankfulness (Is. 6:1-12; Ps. 100:4-5).

5. be congregational. The Greek word, “leitourgia,” (used to describe worship in the New Testament for worship) is made up of ergon = “work”; and laos = “of the people.” The literal meaning then, would be, “work of the people.” The early Church understood worship to be a communal event in light of the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. Every believer freely and enthusiastically participated in worship before the Lord (1 Pet. 2:9). Therefore, we will seek to be congregational rather than leader/performer-driven in worship. We believe that any worship service whereby a worship leader, musical ensemble, soloist, etc. is given prominence over a congregation’s expression is not biblical leitourgia.

6. worship God both in His transcendence and His imminence, understanding that God is worthy to be worshiped as the great King upon His throne in Heaven, as well as the Savior who meets with His children intimately (Rev. 7:9-12; 3:20).

7. blend contemporary and historical songs of worship. We will seek to mine from history the very best of hymnody and couple these with the most passionate new God-centered songs of worship from our generation (Matt. 13:52).

8. lead by the principle of undistracting excellence. “We will try to sing and play and pray and preach in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted from the substance by shoddy ministry nor by excessive finesse, elegance, or refinement. Natural, undistracting excellence will let the truth and beauty of God shine through. Sound system, music playing… all undistracting from the aim of thinking about God. Avoid the flair of words and chords that draw attention mainly to the performance and style and not the substance” (John Piper, from Gravity and Gladness on Sunday Morning: the Pursuit of God in Corporate Worship). We will seek excellence in all we do for the purpose of drawing attention to the supreme excellencies of God (Ps. 33:3; Jn. 3:30).

9. maintain a balance of form and freedom in worship.

10. be continually growing in our biblical understanding and our practice of worship (Ps. 40:3; 98:1; 149:1).

Christ - Our Worship Leader

Christ's Actions as Our Prophet/Priest Worship Leader

What are Christ’s actions as our worship leader?

1. Christ went as our forerunner into heaven.
Barry Liesch on Christ as our forerunner
“Jesus is our worship leader by virtue of the fact that He is our forerunner, entering into the presence of God for us, offering himself as a permanent sacrifice and interceding for us in His continuing roles as our high priest.
A forerunner functions as a scout or pioneer and precedes those who follow later. Christ is our forerunner. Hebrews 6:19-20 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”

Consider the dialog between Jesus and his disciples in John 14
1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Jesus is not saying that He is going to prepare a place, that is, a mansion on a hilltop overlooking lake New Jerusalem. No, he is going to the Father’s throne. Look at the next few verses…
4You know the way to the place where I am going."
5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is going to the Father’s throne to prepare a place, the grace in which we now stand, made possible by His sacrifice.

– Hebrews 4:14 - We have a high priest who has gone through the heavens.“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”

– Hebrews 9:11-12 - He entered the Most Holy Place one for all by His own blood.“11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”

– Hebrews 9:24 - He entered heaven itself to appear for us in God’s presence“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.”


2. Christ offered himself as an eternal sacrifice, provided for the atonement of sins by His blood, and established a permanent priesthood.

– Hebrews 9:14 – Christ offered himself unblemished to God, a spiritual and eternal sacrifice. “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

– Hebrews 1:3 – After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

– Hebrews 7:24-25 – Because He lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely, because He always lives to intercede for them.“24but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

3. Christ walks among the churches.

– Revelation 1:12, 13, 16, 20 - "I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone 'like a son of man,' dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."

In this passage we see Jesus depicted in heaven with a sash around His chest, walking among the lampstands, not unlike the Old Testament priest in the temple. Christ is exercising vigilance over His churches which are symbolized by the lampstands.Christ – the High King of Heaven, comes and walks among us. Is this in part what Jesus meant when He said that where two or three come together in His name, there He is with them (Luke 18:20)? Is this in part what Jesus meant when he assured his disciples after commanding them to go into all the earth that He would be with us until the end of the age (Matt 28:20)?
He makes His presence among His people.


4. Christ sings before heaven’s assembled congregation.

– Hebrews 2:12 – Jesus says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."William L. Lane comments that here we see Christ, our exalted Lord, “who as the singing priest leads the redeemed community in songs of praise.”John Calvin describes Christ as “the chief conductor of our hymns.”


Summary of Christ’s Actions
Christ, in His sinlessness, He rose from the dead, entered the Holy of Holies, and now represents us before the Father interceding on our behalf, “uniting us with himself in his life in the Spirit” and “drawing us into the very life of God.” These are His actions as our high priest or our “heavenly worship leader.”

Our Response

The Starting Point for Worship
“Frequently we are inclined to conceive of worship as our response to God – our response, our decision to worship. Worship boils down to “us and God.” The human –Godward movement in worship is often viewed as wholly ours. If we are not careful, we can short-circuit grace when we think this way…. In reality, ours is not the only human-Godward movement. Jesus Christ himself performs the primary human-Godward role. Christ’s gracious initiative is the crucial Godward action in worship. Christ, in his sinlessness, rises from the dead, enters the Holy of Holies, represents us before the Father, and intercedes for us, “uniting us with himself in his life in the Spirit” and “drawing us into the very life of God.” Think about that! Our response, then is really a response to his response already affected, which is “continually being made for us.” When we begin to think in this way, the starting point of worship becomes less “our experience” and more the work of Christ, the true agent of our worship. We are drawn away from any narcissistic preoccupation with self and toward a Christ-centered (God-centered) worship, which is more biblical and healthy.” (Also makes our worship Trinitarian.)
Our worship of Christ (our King) is in response to what Christ (our Prophet) has done and through what Christ (our Priest) is doing for us at this very moment."
- Barry Liesch (from The New Worship)

Our response in worship is a response to Christ’s response. What should that do for us? It should give us incredible confidence.

Confidence in Worship
– Hebrews 4:14-1614Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

– Hebrews 10:19-2219Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

We are to run to the open arms of Jesus in full confidence in what Christ has done for us:
– went as our forerunner into heaven.
– offered himself as an eternal sacrifice,
– provided for the atonement of sins by His blood,
– established a permanent priesthood.
And what He continues to do for us:
– intercedes for us continually,
– continually purifies us from our sins,
– walks among His people,
– Leads the singing in the heavenlies.