Worship Part 1

Worship Preparation

How much time do you spend spend preparing for the service (prayer and focusing on God)?

What role, if any, does prayer take in your worship service?  Is there a prayer for the service or is it for many things?  Is there more than one prayer?

Preparation is an often overlooked part of worship.  Many people believe that it is something only for the pastor, worship leader, and choir to do.  You're not out of the ordinary if you don't pray for the service or prepare for it in some way.

Just as a student prepares for a test or an athlete trains for an event, we should be ready for worship.  In the Old Testament, the priests had numerous things to do before they could approach God.  On the Day of Atonement, the one day a year when the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, if he hadn't prepared properly, he would be struck dead when he entered.

We obviously will not be struck dead when we enter the church and we have not prepared ourselves but the principle is still the same.  We will get out of worship what we put into it.  If we bring a bad attitude or all the baggage the we picked up from a week at work into the service, we probably won't get much from it.  While it's true that worshipping God will help lift us up from our problems, imagine what it will do when we are already in a good mood and ready to meet God when we enter the church!

Worship Styles

Almost all services contain singing, a sermon, and an offering.  What other elements occur in your worship service? (a drama, choir song, soloist, praise band, testimony etc.)

Do you (or members of the congregation) raise their hands during singing or clap during songs?  Possibly even dance?

Are hymns, choruses or both used during the service?  Who leads them?

There are five main styles of worship services

Liturgical - Several scriptures read.  Sermons follow a predetermined calendar.  Choir often sings a classical song.

Traditional - Probably only one scripture read.  Hymns are used.  Choir often sings a hymn.

Revivalist - Preaching is powerful and emotional.  Emphasis is on conversion and repentance.  Altar calls are given most weeks.

Praise and Worship - Numerous choruses used.  Service often emotional, coming from singing, dancing, clapping, raising hands.  Sermon often takes a back seat to singing.  Charismatic churches include speaking in tongues, may include miraculous healings, being slain in the spirit, etc.

Seeker (Seeker sensitive or Seeker driven) - Service is packaged to draw in the unsaved and the emphasis is on exposing them to the gospel.  Few Christian references are made so that the feel isn't "churchy".  A seeker driven service is not an actual worship service as worship by the Christians will occur during a Wednesday service or some other time.  A seeker sensitive service will have some elements designed especially for non-Christians but will also have some things for Christians.

Based on these definitions, how would you best define your worship service?

Liturgical
Traditional
Revivalist
Praise and Worship (charismatic)
Praise and Worship (non-charismatic)
Seeker (sensitive or driven)
Blended (contains some aspects from more than one style, most likely traditional and praise and worship)

Are there any aspects of your service that do not fall into the category you chose?  (If your service is blended, explain what parts from each style your church contains)

All of this is a survey of our worship styles.  It is necessary to identify what our worship style is however before we go any further.  In the next class, we'll discuss the effectiveness of our worship services and whether our style of worship is the most appropriate for our congregation.  We'll also look at some of the tension between contemporary worship and more traditional styles.

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