Creatures of habit that we are, it is easy for us to lose sight of why we do many of the things we do. We can certainly be prone to this regarding why we gather for Corporate Worship each Lord’s Day.
The weekly pattern of gathering for corporate worship was established in the Old Covenant with the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11); was transformed in the New Covenant with the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week – the Lord’s Day (Mark 16:9; John 20:19; Acts 20:7; Revelations 1:10); and will be eternally fulfilled in heaven as the entire family of God joins as one assembly to worship before His throne (Revelations 4 & 5.)
A helpful definition of corporate worship is put forth by J. Ligon Duncan, in a book he co-edited entitled Give Praise to God: “It (Corporate Worship) is a family meeting with God, it is the covenant community engaging with God, gathering with His people to seek the face of God, to glorify and enjoy Him, to hear His word, to revel in the glory of union and communion with Him, to respond to His word, to render praise back to Him, to give unto Him the glory due His name.” (p. 60)
This coming Lord’s Day, we’ll be looking more at what God’s Word says about what we are to do in Corporate Worship. I hope you’ll plan to be with us, as we deepen our understanding and application of what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth – for His glory in us and through us!
Pastor Greg
As someone who has been away, I can testify as to how you can feel the difference in in your daily life. After ‘dating’ churches for awhile, it’s amazingly invigorating to be back, not only in a congregation once a week, but with people that I can share life and worship with.