The book Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship by David Peterson surveys the
entire Bible, identifying themes that are relevant to our worship of God. From
my reading of this excellent but challenging text, which includes fascinating analyses of key Hebrew and Greek words used by the biblical authors in the
context of worship, I identified five key points, summarized below.
- Worship must be on God's terms, not our terms. Peterson's hypothesis is that "the worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible."
- Worship is a whole-life activity (Romans 12:1-2), not a Sunday morning diversion. Peterson states, "Worship is a subject that should dominate our lives seven days a week. Vitality and meaning will not be restored to Christian gatherings until those who lead and those who participate can recover a biblical perspective on their meetings, seeing them in relation to God’s total plan and purpose for his people."
- Jesus is the temple and we are his body, so we should honor and care for his body as the Israelites did for the physical temple in the Old Testament. The New Testament proclaims that Jesus Christ in union with his church is the new temple, where God dwells in or through the Spirit. (See, for example, 1 Corinthians 3:11–17 and Ephesians 2:18–22).
- The Bible has something to say about our liturgy when we meet corporately. From the New Testament, we see that the first century church was preoccupied with apostolic teaching. Paul further emphasized in 1 Corinthians 14 that any words spoken during their gatherings should build up one another. Given the context of the home churches, they commonly shared meals together as part of their corporate fellowship. In addition, prayer was a core activity of their meetings.
- Worship is more about reverence and respect than awe and fear (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Peterson states, "In the Old Testament, reverence or respect for God is essentially a matter of walking in his ways and keeping his commandments."
How do we as a church body respond to the commands and patterns for personal and corporate worship in God's Word? In 2019, Midland Free's worship arts ministry will be focusing on 24/7 worship, striving to make worship the subject that dominates our personal lives seven days a week. Although our ministry is music-centric, we will be encouraging one another to grow in our knowledge of God, to pray without ceasing, to serve the body of Christ, to give generously, to fulfill God's calling to worship Him in our vocations, and to lead or assist our families in times of worship, in all of these things rejoicing continually and giving thanks to God in all circumstances. The biblical church is one where its members build up one another in love. Together, we, the church, are building up the temple of Christ's body, one spiritual brick at a time, eagerly "waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13, ESV).
