WELCOME

CLICK HERE FOR THIS SUNDAY’S MUSIC

There is nothing more important in life than worship. We all worship something or someone. The only question is whether we will worship the right One in the right way. At URC we want all of life to be worship to God (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 10:31). He is worthy to receive glory and honor and power (Rev. 4:11). In particular, we want our worship services on Sunday to be pleasing to Him. We want our corporate worship on Sunday to inspire and instruct our all-of-life worship Monday through Saturday. To gather with God’s people on the Lord’s Day to worship at God’s throne under the authority of God’s word is our solemn duty and joyful privilege.

It is with that supreme goal in mind that we hold to a number of values when it comes to corporate worship. The list below is far from comprehensive or complete. Rather, it is meant to provide a brief summary of the most important principles undergirding our theology and philosophy of worship.  

1. Glory to God – Worship is ultimately for Him. He is the most important audience at every service. Corporate worship is meant to be an anticipation of the heavenly gathering of God’s people. The grand scenes of heavenly worship in Revelation are both present and future. We too should direct all our attention to the throne. We too should sing of Christ’s work. We too should be earnest and uncompromising in our devotion to God. Our weekly gatherings—whether small or large, beautiful or forgettable—are meant to be a sweet foretaste of the heavenly worship we will one day experience for ages unending.

2. Focused on the Gospel of Christ – The gospel—Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection—is what makes worship possible. The gospel is what we proclaim in worship. The gospel is what we sing in worship. The gospel is what calls a people together in worship, inspires a people to praise in worship, and sends a people out in a life of worship. Every Sunday is another opportunity to sing about the cross, glory in our Redeemer, and marvel at the good news that is Christ for us and in us. Jesus Christ is at the center of all biblical thinking about worship. He is the mediator between God and man. His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross is the propitiation for our sins. He is the procurer of salvation and blessing for the nations. He is the new temple in which and around which all true believers gather. Christ draws us to himself in worship and through him a new relationship with the Father is made possible. While our corporate worship is not specifically focused on unbelievers (as if they were the audience we need to please most), our focus on Christ means that we certainly want the gospel presented credibly and intelligently to non-Christians. We are privileged to have visitors every Sunday, some of whom are not converted. One of our prayers each week is that unbelievers would hear Christ’s call to faith and repentance, and that God would seek and save those who are lost.

3. Biblical – The whole service teaches God’s people, so everything—the prayers, the songs, the preaching—must be biblical. In corporate worship we read the Bible, preach the Bible, pray the Bible, sing the Bible, and see the Bible in the sacraments. Every element in the service must be evaluated based on God’s revelation in the Scriptures: are we singing, saying, and hearing what is true? Because of this conviction, we also affirm that “the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself and so limited by his own revealed will” (WCF 21.1). This “regulative principle” should not be the source of endless conflict and idle speculation, but an opportunity for God’s people to find unity and freedom in worshiping God as he wants to be worshiped.

4. Edifying to God’s people – Corporate worship is set apart from all-of-life worship in its focus on edification. Because of this focus, there are many activities that are appropriate for the Christian in all of life that aren’t appropriate in a worship service. There are many art forms that can be practiced and performed to the glory of God which would nevertheless not be suitable for corporate worship. Paul’s principle in 1 Corinthians 14 is that corporate worship must strive for maximum shared intelligibility. This means, among other things, that the worship service will not only be Word-centered, but also full of words.

5. Emphasizing the ordinary means of grace – God can work in many ways, but he has committed to being with us and transforming us through certain “means of grace.” He communes with us through prayer, through the word, and through the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. Our services emphasize these ordinary means whereby God promises to give us more grace. We come to worship to give God glory, but even more so to meet with him and receive a blessing from his hand (Num. 6:24-26). The central act in the worship service is the preaching of God’s word. We believe this is best accomplished through the careful, Spirit-filled exposition of Scripture. Normally, this means working verse by verse through a book of the Bible. No matter the approach, every sermon should flow manifestly from Scripture and proclaim the gospel of God. Through all this, we hope that every worshiper will want to cry out, “Surely the Lord is in this place” (Gen. 28:16).

6. Congregational Singing – Choosing the appropriate musical composition and lyrical content for corporate worship is a task which requires careful attention to musical principles and even closer attention to theological fidelity. We believe there are new songs to be sung to Jesus. We also believe there is a great heritage of church music that we should embrace. We have no problem projecting words on a screen. But we also believe in the abiding value of using and learning from a good hymnal. Our services use music from different genres and different centuries. We use a variety of instruments, everything from guitars and drums to the organ. In all this, the most important sound is that of the congregation singing.  

7. Liturgical (Worn Lightly) – Almost every church has an order of service and a familiar pattern of doing things, which means almost every church has a liturgy. Even though we wear our liturgy lightly, we still want it to be rich, rooted, and biblical. Our service has four parts: praise, renewal, proclamation, response. We see this pattern in the covenant renewal ceremonies of Scripture and in various divine encounters. In Isaiah 6, for example, Isaiah comes before God and praises him; then he confesses sin and seeks renewal; God then speaks his word to Isaiah; and finally Isaiah responds with commitment to God. This is also a gospel pattern: we approach God in awe, we see our sin, we hear the good news, and we respond in faith and obedience. Our services do not look the same every week, but neither are we trying to invent something new every Sunday. Within these four “acts” (praise, renewal, proclamation, response) can be found basic liturgical elements like a prayer of confession and assurance of pardon, a long pastoral prayer, Scripture readings, and flexible forms used for Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

8. Reformed – The Church has been thinking about how to worship for centuries. We want to learn from our spiritual ancestors and build on their models. To that end, we are eager to employ the Ten Commandments, creeds, confessions, catechisms, responsive readings, and other forms that have been common in church history. We want our services to be comprised of more than an opening worship set, a sermon, and a closing song (See Appendix 7: Is the New Evangelical Liturgy Really an Improvement?). As a PCA church, we resonate with the guidelines outlined in The Directory for the Worship of God (The Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America, Chapters 47-63). We want our worship to be winsomely—that is to say, not archaically or obnoxiously—Reformed, rooted in history and true to the Scriptures.

9. Prayerful – Our services include many different prayers. Often you will find a prayer of confession because we sin every week and need gospel mercy every week.  We usually have a longer congregational prayer, which is an important time to pray for the needs of our church family and for the world. Other prayers are common too: a prayer of adoration at the beginning of the service, a prayer of illumination before the sermon, and a brief prayer after the sermon. We typically have a prayer service on the first Sunday evening of the month. It will be hard for God’s people to know that they must pray, or see that they can pray, or learn how to pray if prayer is not a significant part of what we do when we gather for worship.

10. Undistracting Excellence – In corporate worship, the focus should be on the gospel and the all-surpassing glory of Jesus Christ. If the guitars are out of tune, and the sound system screeches, and the preacher fumbles over his sentences, and those leading up front make everyone else feel a bit nervous, then our focus will be in the wrong place. Because doing things decently and in order is helpful to others and pleasing to God, we should seek to “do worship” with excellence (1 Corinthians 14:40). But it must be undistracting excellence. If the guitarist goes off on some fantastic riff, and the sound system includes sub-woofers under every seat, and the preacher waxes overly eloquent, and those leading up front make everyone else feel a bit like they are enjoying a performance, then our focus will be equally in the wrong place. The goal is to lead in such a way that we are neither so clumsy nor so clever that the glory of God is all but forgotten.

Feel free to explore the music on this site to prepare for worship or continue it at home. Below is an explanation of how each element is incorporated into our services. Also, feel free to read more extensively about worship at URC here.

At University Reformed Church, we structure our services around:

• Preparation
• Praise
• Renewal
• Proclamation
• Response

 

This part of the service has meaningful implications for our gathered worship. It is easy to allow it to pass by without much thought. We must be careful not to approach a worship service as if our hearts and minds will be ready by default to meet the Creator of the universe. (Exodus 19:10-18) God prescribed every aspect of the Israelite’s worship and there were grave consequences for deviating from his commands. While we don’t experience the “fearfulness” of God in the same manner that Moses and Isaiah did, (see also Isaiah 6:1-6) we must remember that God is unchanging and no less majestic and glorious now than he was in the Old Testament.

Now, in the new covenant in Christ, we know that we can approach our heavenly Father due to the union we have with his Son. The scene is no less extraordinary, though. God is still a quaking source of perfect power and justice and we are shielded from the blazing inferno of his wrath only because we are covered by Christ’s righteousness. So, while we may not feel fear in the same way, (no mountains shaking, no lighting) we should have an absolute sense of reverence and awe when we come to gathered worship before the eternal, triune God. In addition to reverence, it is also appropriate to approach with hearts full of gratitude, knowing that it is only Christ’s death that has atoned for our sins and granted us access to the Father.

These are some of the main things we should meditate on as we prepare for the rest of the worship service. Other things that might serve us well as we prepare our minds and hearts are to ponder and thank God for his steadfast love. It has never wavered from his chosen people. His love for the church is deep and brimming with mercy. The announcements are at the beginning of the service as an effort to refrain from interrupting our time of vertical worship and mutual edification with unnecessary “house-keeping.” The time of silent prayer is to align our minds with the truth of Who we are meeting with and to prayerfully seek to rid our minds of the trite distractions of our week/day/hour.

Praise

The call to worship reminds us that God, not you or I, is the main “actor” in corporate worship. We can also think of this call to worship as a call to continued worship, for we have been commanded to worship in all of life. Yet, God invites us to something truly sweet and sacred when he gathers his chosen people to be filled up on his Word and to respond to that truth in praise. Taking the call to worship seriously is a direct way to acknowledge the supremacy and sovereignty of God in all things. Singing songs of praise is a perfect way to respond to the call to worship. As we do so, we acknowledge to God and remind ourselves of his “otherness.” Why would we adore and revere someone just like us? We are exclaiming to ourselves and the world around us that our God is holy, unchanging, all-powerful, patient, and infinitely loving. We say it to him, and we say it to each other. We do this not only because it is good for us, but also because God lovingly commands it.

There are at least fifty Scriptures that speak to this specifically. (See Ps. 33, 96 and Eph 5:19-20 as examples) Reading Scripture has both a praise and a teaching function. We see in the old Testament that the Law was read aloud as people gathered for worship. Paul exhorted Timothy to read scripture publicly in the New Testament Church. (1Tim 4:13) Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. For this reason, we often read Scripture responsively as part of our praise time. It is most commonly a Psalm which exalts God or reminds us of his steadfast love even when we are surrounded by pain and struggles. We also try to have songs that are based on the Psalms since Eph. 5 speaks to that directly.

Renewal

Renewal is the point in our liturgy (order of service) where we react to the reminder of how different we as creatures are from our Creator and claim the promises of God to brought near. We are neither holy, or unchanging, or all-powerful, or perfectly patient, and certainly not infinitely loving. However, these are God’s attributes (among many others) and his law requires perfection to be in his presence. This is why the Israelites had to go through extensive ritual cleansing to be in his presence. What do we do in light of recognizing this difference? We run to Christ and the promises we have in the gospel. We repent for our sins – both personally and corporately – and rejoice in the pardon we receive at the cross of Christ. This is our renewal. Martin Luther rightly said that the Christian life is one of constant repentance. A Christian’s justification is once-for-all and complete, but their sanctification is ongoing. For this reason, we continue to plead the merit of Christ’s blood and thank him for our forgiveness and new identity.

Tim Keller often says, “Christ lived the life we could not live and died the death we should have died.” Because of this, we experience mercy instead of judgement. Each week as we confess our sin and receive assurance of pardon, we are renewing ourselves in the new covenant we have in Christ. As with all true repentance, there is an aspect of turning away from sin and praying for the Holy Spirit to enable you to live a life that more fully reflects Christ to others. We should be living out the gratitude we feel as pardoned, adopted children of the King of kings. We also obey God’s Word and demonstrate trust in him when we give our tithes and offerings as an act of worship each Sunday. (Lev. 27:30, Mal. 3:8-10, 2 Cor. 9:7)

Proclamation

Read 2 Tim 3:16 – 4:2. Preaching is the pinnacle of our time together each week. The Word of God is powerful. It is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. It makes us complete and equips us for good works. God commands our leaders to preach the Word to us, and since worship is glorifying God, expounding upon his greatness is the most effective way of leading us to worship. The preaching of God’s Word is truly a matter of life and death. It carries eternal weight. People come to God by hearing his Word – all the more so when it is carefully and responsibly explained. That being said, even a person who sits under the best teaching any human can offer has no chance of seeing and coming to God unless the Holy Spirit draws him through the words of Scripture.

Response

When we hear Christ’s exaltation and the gospel message proclaimed in the sermon, it is fitting to respond in both reflection and praise. We normally sing a song afterwards, seeking to express an appropriate reaction to the truth we have received. The singing is followed by the benediction which is a pronouncement of God’s blessing on his people. In an age of “bless you” after a sneeze or “#blessed,” we can lose sight of the significance here. When God blesses someone, it carries weight. It comes with the provisions for the “wishes” being carried out. In the Hebrew culture, the blessing given to the firstborn also included an identity, an inheritance and security.

Let us not miss the grace and hope in this crucial element of worship. Our liturgy is a purposeful interaction with the Triune God as we see the Bible instructing us to carry it out. We do these things because they are commanded of us, but we remember that every command God gives comes with inherent blessing when we obey. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism so succinctly summarizes, “Q: What is the chief end of man? A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” May we all strive for that by the power of God’s Spirit both in our personal lives and our gathered worship!