Independent Fundamentalist And Evangelical Churches

Worship is the adoration of God. Worship can also be an important vehicle for spiritual formation, and for the education and the influencing of children. But since these churches believe that only believers can truly worship, evangelism and worship are maintained as separate functions.

The impact of worship on the life of a healthy congregation goes far beyond what happens in a service. Worship has an impact in many areas of parish ministry, including spiritual formation, education, and evangelism. It also influences children who attend worship. Worship and Spiritual Formation Spiritual formation is related to events, activities, or ideas that help shape the concept of the Christian life and how it is lived. How are people's spiritual lives and thoughts molded or guided? What are some ways this is done? One popular method is the organizing of small cell groups, covenant groups, or accountability groups. This unit meets regularly, usually for Bible study, prayer, and sharing of personal concerns and needs. Most groups are composed of six to eight people. Worship can assist these groups, as well as the individuals in them, by: (1) offering a truer perspective on the individuals' selves, thus making the group more effective; (2) cleansing the inner life, resulting in greater honesty, transparency, and holiness; (3) bringing unity to the group in the shared activity of worship; and (4) providing insight into one another through observing each other in worship. These groups may begin their meetings with a time of worship, which includes the singing of hymns or Scripture songs and the reading of Psalms or other portions of Scripture. Often in these first minutes together, the group is drawn together in spirit as the focus shifts from various concerns to worshiping the Lord. As God is worshiped, individuals become aware of who God is and who they are in relation to God and to each other. This gaining of perspective on one's life is one of the most essential elements of small group dynamics. Worship brings cleansing. As a result, love, accountability, openness, transparency, and honesty have a better chance of being realized in the group when people attain a clear perspective on who they are. Worshiping together is the most powerful way to bring a personal life into focus. Authentic worship always brings truth to bear on the individual's life. There is often greater courage and honesty in sharing after a group has worshiped together. Worship also helps to give insight into other members of the small group, as we, the members of the group, observe each other in worship. In worship, we voice our common beliefs. We have opportunity to see, be it ever so dimly, into the soul of the individual as he or she worships. We hear one another pray and lift our voices in singing. We may hold each other's hands in prayer. We break bread and share the cup together. We rejoice together and weep together. Together, we experience intimate communion with the Father. Of course, at the heart of worship, as our attention is focused on God, is all that we learn of God's thoughts, God's love, and God's counsel. Our spiritual lives are enlarged, reshaped, pruned, and transformed as we encounter our Lord. Though activities and disciplines assist us, these can not replace worship. Worship and Education How do worship and education relate? In Deuteronomy 6:20, Moses writes, "?When your children ask you in time to come, '?What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you??' then you shall say to your children … ?" (nrsv). The Scriptures clearly teach that worship of God is something to be discussed at length at home. It is to be a part of the everyday life of a family. Worship is the laboratory experience that provides the grist for Christian education in its best and truest sense. In worship, we as believers learn of the Father and his love, mercy, patience, justice, and faithfulness. We learn of God's character, identity, and worth. In one congregation, the minister of music and worship wrote each week a three-paragraph summary of the worship service for that day. He wrote of the importance of preparing for worship and included in the bulletin a brief thought from one of the great devotional writers. He commented on the significance of each piece of music, touching on its purpose for inclusion in that particular day. He commented on creeds, responsive readings, and hymns. He explained, where appropriate, how the entire service was woven together in support of the pastor's sermon topic. In short, these "?notes on worship?" were intended to guide and to teach. At other times, topics such as the relationship between "?heart and mind?" would be addressed as they related to the service that Sunday. This particular pastor planned out two years of weekly topics to be covered in an effort to educate his congregation in the whole area of worship and to raise the congregation's expectations whenever they gathered. Over a period of years, the congregation became much more aware of some of the continuity and flow, as well as the theology, of worship. The wise pastor takes every opportunity to speak on worship to Sunday school classes from children through adults. One pastor taught the book of Hebrews to an adult Sunday school class solely from the perspective of developing the individual's worship life. The class lasted a whole year, and each week some of the elements of the lesson were related to the service that followed. Another natural place for education on worship to occur is in the choir loft. Each week, a group of worship leaders come together to prepare and to worship. This is a natural laboratory experience to teach what is happening and what can occur as God's people gather for worship. A well-worded introduction to the Scripture reading, hymn, or choir anthem is yet another low-profile kind of education. The pastor has only a short time with the people each week. Subsequently, every word must be thoughtfully prepared. Worship must become a major contributing factor to Christian education in the broadest sense. Worship and Evangelism Much has been written toward the end of the twentieth century regarding evangelism and worship. In vogue are the seekers' services, a contemporary version of the old camp meetings at the turn of the twentieth century. The point of this service is to aim at the lowest common denominator of theological understanding or interest. The music idiom is popular contemporary music. The congregation is truly a passive audience. Many who are involved in seekers' services do not call what they do worship; it is, rather, evangelism. The service is an event that provides the opportunity for people mildly interested in religion to come, to hear, and to think about their own relationship to God. Some congregations have sought to combine worship and this kind of evangelism in the same service, even though the aims, purposes, and focuses of these two activities are entirely different. The aim of the latter is to encourage a person to have a relationship to God. The purpose of the former is to provide an opportunity for those who are already in a relationship to God to express that intimate relationship. Scripture is clear in teaching that only believers can worship. The apostle Paul does, however, acknowledge a relationship between worship and evangelism in his first letter to the Corinthians. He comments that if unbelievers are present when authentic worship by Christians takes place, they will declare that "?God is really among you.?" All too often those unbelievers present in worship see lethargic, passionless believers going through the motions of worship. The singing is insensitive; the prayers are repetitions of old tired phrases; the sense of awe and wonder exists nowhere in the service. Paul strongly suggests that this ought not to be! The majesty, awe, and reverence of real worship will have an impact on those gathered as the Holy Spirit moves in the congregation. It is imperative that worship planners think through their purpose in a service. Worship and evangelism are not interchangeable concepts. When the purpose of a service is evangelism or reaching unbelievers, the entire meeting will have one shape. When the reason for gathering is the worship of God by believers, then the focus of the service will be different. This is not to say that people are never confronted with the gospel and their need of a Savior in a worship service. However, this purpose is not the point of the gathering. Worship is an indirect form of evangelism. People may be converted through a worship service, but the primary focus of worship is the adoration of God. Children in Worship The church at worship has an impact on children. This impact is either positive and constructive, or it is neutral, negative, and destructive. All too often children occupy the neutral role of observers in a worship service. If we as believing parents are not careful, we will teach our children that worship is boring and incomprehensible. For our children, the worship service becomes a place where they go to sit still and draw until they are permitted to leave. There is no reason children cannot be involved in helping to lead worship on occasion. Older elementary children can certainly read Scripture, sometimes along with adults. For example, children and their grandparents might read passages particularly appropriate to different generations, such as Psalms 100 and 103 or 1 Samuel 3. Children can lead in prayer at appropriate times or help with the receiving of the offering. Certainly any age group can sing. On occasion, children can participate in simple dramatic sketches illustrating a point or principle, perhaps as the opening illustration of a sermon. Or the "?children's sermon?" could provide an illustration that families can use for a discussion following the worship service. If times of worship are conceived as authentic expressions of love for God, then both children and mature believers should grow through worship in their understanding of God and their faith in God. In real worship, the Holy Spirit is at work. Worship is the most dynamic work a church can do, and affects small groups, evangelism, education, the influencing of children, or other related areas of church life. Through worship that is in spirit and in truth, the power of God is released to accomplish its creating and transforming work.