Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Mar/90

Contributor - Rev. Art VanderMeulen

Title - Expectations Of Worship

Topic - Worship

When you come to the church to worship, Sunday after Sunday, what do you expect? What do you expect to happen? What do you expect to find, hear, see, or experience? Did you expect things to be pretty much the same as last Sunday, or the last ten Sundays? Do you expect the sermon not to be too long, or too short, yet seasoned with enough stories and 'illustrations to keep it interesting? Do you expect the hymns to be easy to sing, familiar, and yet not the same as last Sunday? Do vou expect the prayers not to be too long, but still offered in beautiful language, and expressive of what you want to say, but don't know how? Do you expect the special music to be polished, error free, suitable for church, and pleasant to the ear?

What do you think God expects from our worship? Is He concerned that we sit in the same place every week? Does He have an opinion about whether we should stand for every hymn, or every other hymn? Is He glad or disappointed with what you have chosen to wear this Sunday?

Perhaps you feel that these questions are beginning to border on the ridiculous. I ask them only to draw your attention to what the proper focus of our worship should be. Worship is the act of recognizing and acknowledging God's worth. Everything in our liturgy, from the votum, (Our help is in the name of the LORD) to the benediction, directs our attention to almighty God. We believe in God as Creator, Redeemer, Comforter, Sustainer, Enabler, and Provider. While this should already be reflected in every aspect of our lives, corporate worship gives us the opportunity to publicly and specifically acknowledge the greatness of God in our rives. In our hymns, prayers, offerings, confessions of faith, and the reading and proclamation of the Word of God, we recognize that God is supreme over all.

Our worship is but a minuscule and finite declaration of the immeasurable and infinite worth of God.

As we come to worship Sunday after Sunday, what are our expectations? Do we expect to bow down before the throne of God? Do we expect to submit ourselves to Him as Almighty God? Do we expect to yield ourselves to Him as Lord of our lives?

Or are we distracted by expectations that do not focus our attention on "our LORD, who made heaven and earth?"

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