The Corporate Worship of God
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
The corporate worship of God lies central at my heart. I study about it, pray over it, and as a pastor, I am often making changes to it.
The desire is to make it as Scriptural, God-glorifying, and saint-edifying as I can.
It is one of the subjects that my friend Brad says I can get a little “salty” over.
The gathering together of the people of God on the Lord’s Day is of paramount importance.
In fact, we are instructed in the Bible to do so. “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another;
and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25, NASB).
When you stop to consider all that Christ has accomplished on Calvary in order for our worship be accepted by God, gathering on the Lord’s Day should be done with eager anticipation and joy.
It is, after all, the greatest privilege on earth and what we will do for the rest of eternity.
However, my fear is that we have done the very same thing Isaiah rebukes Israel over.
Isaiah wrote, “Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by repetition’”(Isaiah 29:13, NASB).
Today we struggle with so many things that hinder our worship.
We cannot see the glory and greatness of God because our lifestyles have made us so dull toward the worship of God.
We need to be reminded of many important things, but let’s just talk about three.
First, we have forgotten what Christ has accomplished for us in order for our worship to be accepted by God.
In John 4, Jesus tells the woman at the well that genuine worship can only be accomplished “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23).
The word “spirit” does not mean emotions or even from the heart.
It is not “spirited” worship He is after.
Since God is spirit (4:24), we must worship Him as He is.
We are of the flesh and must be born again, born of the Spirit.
Worship is only accepted by God from those who have been born of God.
Which brings us to the second word, truth.
The only way to be born of God is to receive the truth about Jesus Christ.
Jesus referred to Himself as “the Truth” (John 14:6).
Therefore, the only way to come before God is through the Son.
Both of these words that Jesus uses to describe the type of worshippers that the Father seeks are fulfilled in faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To worship God apart from faith alone in Christ alone is to make one’s worship null and void.
Second, we have forgotten that corporate worship is one of those graces that God has given us to encourage and strengthen us in the faith.
I have found it to be consistent that when a person falls into sin, they fall away from church.
It is something the enemy has certainly deceived us about.
We can only battle our sin in the strength that God provides. Corporate worship is one of those places that we can be strengthened for putting our sins to death.
But it is not just sin
. There are many difficult and discouraging moments in this life, and we need the encouragement that corporate worship brings to the people of God.
There is a unique and powerful working of the Spirit when the church gathers for worship.
Last, we have forgotten that through the work of Christ, we have been made brothers and sisters in Christ.
When the eternal Son of God died in our place for our sin, we were made one with the Father and the Son.
And we were also made one with each other.
As Christians, we are bound together through the work of Christ in a perfect and eternal way.
Now certainly that unity will not be fully experienced until we arrive in the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is something we must pursue now.
