The Purpose of Worship | Hebrews 12:18-29 & Revelation 5 | This Week’s Devotions
This week’s devotions follow up on Sunday’s message from Hebrews 12:18-29 and Revelation 5, the final study in our series Worship by the Book. Each day looks at a different step in the story: the terror of Sinai, the welcome of Mount Zion, the throne room John sees in Revelation 4, the worthy Lamb of Revelation 5, and the new creation where God’s people see his face. Where the series began with a command not to add to God’s word or take from it, these five days end in a place where worship never stops. Worship was never something we start. It’s a song already being sung, and Christ has brought us into it. Take one devotion each day, read the passage slowly, and sit with the questions that follow.
The Purpose of Worship | Hebrews 12:18-29 & Revelation 5 | Worship by the Book
This message is the final installment of Worship by the Book, our four-week study on the Regulative Principle of Worship. After three weeks on who commands worship, what it includes, and how it's offered, this week turns to why. Hebrews 12:18-29 sets the terrifying mountain of Sinai beside the welcome of Mount Zion, where Jesus stands as mediator of a new covenant. Revelation 5 then pulls back the curtain on the heavenly assembly, worshiping the Lamb who was slain. Together these passages show that worship is not something God's people invent or start. It is something we step into, an ongoing, eternal song already underway. The message considers what it means that worship shapes us not only as individuals but together as the people of God, and how each Lord's Day rehearses what we will do forever.
Carry It Home | Worship in Spirit & Truth
Scripture: John 4:23-24 (ESV)
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
A courtier can bow at exactly the right moment and say exactly the right words. You still can't tell if she loves the king.
The Manner of Worship | John 4:19-26 | This Week’s Devotions
This week's devotions follow up on Sunday's message from John 4:19-26, the third study in our series Worship by the Book. Each day looks at a different angle on the same question Jesus raised with the woman at the well: what does it actually mean to worship God rightly? From Saul's disobedience dressed up as devotion, to Isaiah's warning about lips that honor God while the heart stays distant, to David's broken and contrite heart after his sin with Bathsheba, these five days press past location and sincerity alone into what it means to worship in spirit and truth. Take one devotion each day, read the passage slowly, and sit with the questions that follow.
The Manner of Worship | John 4:19-26 | Worship by the Book
This message is the third in Worship by the Book, our study on the Regulative Principle of Worship. It looks at John 4:19-26, where Jesus tells the woman at the well that true worship will no longer be tied to a mountain or a temple, but will be worship "in spirit and truth." We consider what it means to worship in spirit, engaging God with our whole heart rather than merely going through the motions, and what it means to worship in truth, letting God's own revealed word shape how we approach him rather than sincerity alone. Through the golden calf and the account of Nadab and Abihu, we see that sincere worship can still be wrong worship, and that God has graciously told us both who he is and how he desires to be worshiped.
The Elements of Worship | Acts 2:42-47 & Colossians 3:16-17 | This Week’s Devotions
This week's devotions follow up on Sunday's message from Acts 2:42-47 and Colossians 3:16-17, the second study in our series Worship by the Book. Each day looks at a different piece of what God has actually given the church to gather around: the Word, the Table, the prayers, and singing. These aren't decorations added over the centuries, they're the substance of what makes worship worship. Take one devotion each day, read the passage slowly, and sit with the questions that follow.
The Elements of Worship | Acts 2:42-47 & Colossians 3:16-17 | Worship by the Book
Leave the yeast out of the bread and you don't get bread. Some things in a recipe are essential, and no amount of seasoning can make up for them. Worship works the same way. In Acts 2:42-47 and Colossians 3:16-17, Scripture shows what the early church devoted itself to when God's people gathered: the ministry of the Word, the breaking of bread, the prayers, and singing. God did not leave it to us to figure out what belongs in worship. He gave His church these ordinary means because this is how He meets with us, shapes us, and holds us together across time, distance, and differences. They are not decorations we can take or leave.
The God Who Commands Our Worship | Deuteronomy 12:29-32 & Leviticus 10:1-3 | This Week’s Devotions
This week's devotions follow up on Sunday's message from Deuteronomy 12:29-32 and Leviticus 10:1-3, the opening study in our series Worship by the Book. Each day walks through a different passage of Scripture, tracing the same question from a new angle: who has the right to decide how God is worshiped? From Israel poised at the edge of the Promised Land, to the second commandment, to Nadab and Abihu's unauthorized fire, to David's misstep with the ark, to Jesus confronting the Pharisees, these five days aren't meant to be rushed through. Take one each day, read the passage slowly, and sit with the questions that follow.
The God Who Commands Our Worship | Deuteronomy 12:29-32 & Leviticus 10:1-3 | Worship by the Book
If you were meeting a head of state, you wouldn't just show up whenever you felt like it, wander the room, and talk about whatever crossed your mind. There's a protocol, and skipping it wouldn't read as passion. It would read as a threat.
This week we began a new four-week series called Worship by the Book, looking at what's known as the Regulative Principle of Worship: the conviction that God alone has the right to determine how he's worshiped. Not because he's difficult to please, but because he's holy, and because he's told us plainly, out of love, rather than leaving us to guess.