Theology and Philosophy of Worship and Music

As Christians, true worship is glorifying God in every aspect of our lives (Romans 12:1-2).  It is not just what we do at church on Sunday.   “Biblical worship is the due response of rational creatures to the self-revelation of their Creator." 

It honors and glorifies God by gratefully offering back to Him all the good gifts, and all the knowledge of His greatness and graciousness, that He has given.  His servants praise Him for what He is, thank Him for what He has done, desire Him to increase in glory through continuing acts of mercy, judgment, and power, and trust Him with their prayers for their own and others’ well-being. 

Learning from God is worship too: attention to His word of instruction honors Him, while inattention is an offense.  Acceptable worship requires ‘clean hands and a pure heart’ (Psalm 24:4), and a willingness to express devotion in works of service as well as words of adoration” (The Reformation Study Bible, p. 580).  Biblical worship is God-exalting and God-glorifying (Psalm148:13; Isaiah 42:8).  Biblical worship is not self-exalting or focused on generating religious feelings or fervor.

Corporate worship is the worship of God by a gathered body of believers.  Our corporate worship is:

God-centered, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-dependent.  God-centered corporate worship focuses on the astounding revelation of the God of the Bible and asks the question “How must we conduct our lives and shape our meeting together in order to glorify God?”  We declare the supremacy of Christ and rejoice in His redeeming work on the cross (Colossians 1:15-20).  True worship is dependent on God the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand and believe the Biblical truths about which we are speaking and singing (John 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16).

Biblical.  The Bible, God’s Word, is the final authority for all Christian faith and life.   Biblical worship is permeated with and governed by Scripture (Psalm138:2; Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 4:13).  Thus every element of our corporate worship service-public reading of the Word, Scripture-saturated hymns and songs, Biblically-informed prayers and readings, expository preaching-is a ministry of the Word of God (Colossians 3:16-17). 

We emphasize that participating in sound expository preaching is corporate worship. We will, therefore, dedicate considerable time and effort in corporate worship services to listen to, study, and learn from God’s Word through expository preaching.  God uses His Word to transform our minds, glorify Himself, and fulfill His desire for the Church (Romans 10:14-17, 12:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 4:1-5; Hebrews 4:12-13).

Grounded in the truth.  True worship reflects Biblical truth and is sincere and real, not showy.  While corporate worship usually includes music, music in itself is not worship.   We must be careful not to exalt in the emotional responses that come from singing or listening to music, but to exalt only in God, the Creator of music.  Worship of anything or anyone other than the true God is idolatry (Exodus 20:3).

Wholehearted, expressive and reverent.   Corporate worship should accurately reflect who God is and that we relate to Him as His redeemed creatures, bought with a price because of His mercy (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Our emotional responses flow from a deepknowledge of God.  Thus our corporate worship will often reflect our joy in God and our thanksgiving to Him for what He has done (Psalms 33, 47:1-2; Romans 11:33-36). 

Scripture is filled with examples of people whose emotions flowed from their true knowledge of God.  In the Psalms, for instance, David expresses many emotions including reverence for God, sadness and contriteness for sin, fervent pleading to God for help, and thankfulness for His mercies and blessings.  It is fitting that some corporate worship services include times of silence so that we may ponder God’s character and deeds in order to properly respond to them.

Balanced.  We recognize and embrace the heritage of the Church.  At the same time, we recognize the value of contemporary Word-informed expressions of corporate worship.  We believe in forging a form of corporate worship within a framework of Biblical theology that takes seriously both our history and our contemporary reality.  

This is not an attempt to appease those who prefer hymns and those who favor contemporary songs.  There is value in the use of Word-informed historical and Word-informed contemporary expressions of corporate worship for every member of the congregation.  We will, therefore, use expository preaching, Psalms, historic hymns, doctrinal creeds, confessions of sin, Scripture readings and prayers (such as “The Lord’s Prayer”), as well as more contemporary spiritual songs, hymns, poems and other Word-informed forms of corporate worship.

By the congregation. Our chief instrument of praise is the congregation’s voice in song, reading, creed and prayer. This impacts our choices of music and the instrumentation of songs.  For example, while we may sometimes incorporate small groups and soloists into corporate worship services, most of our music will include the entire congregation. 

The congregation should commit themselves to sing heartily, listen intently and learn eagerly from God’s Word (Psalms 111:1, 149:1).  Although our worship is directed to God, our songs will be accessible (understandable and usable) by the congregation.  By this we mean that corporate worship leaders will teach not only the lyrics and tune of a new song, but also its background and Biblical theology if necessary.  Songs sung in a foreign language will be supplemented with an English translation so that the congregation can participate with minds as well as voices.   During congregational singing, the congregation’s voice is to be primary.  Instrumentation and corporate worship leaders will enhance the congregation’s voice, not cover it up. 

Prepared and skillfully led.  According to Psalm 33:1-3, those who compose, sing, and play are to do so skillfully to the Lord.  For this reason, we will use proficient musicians and leaders from our congregation.  At times we may use Christian brothers and sisters from other congregations in supporting roles.  Our services must be carefully planned, adequately rehearsed, and led by people who have prepared themselves before God (1 Chronicles 25).   The leaders’ purpose is to direct the congregation’s focus to God.

Genuine and personal.  We encourage the use of live music over recorded music when possible.  Live music allows more of our congregation to bring an offering unto the Lord.   Special musical numbers are not performances; they are a ministry of the Word of God.  Whether or not recorded accompaniment is used, musicians are to direct the attention of the congregation to God who has revealed Himself in the Bible.