We look at Reformed worship as a dialogue. In our church it begins with a call to worship, and we respond in singing praise. There's a benediction, then we greet each other. After the Bible is read, the speaker says, "This is the Word of the Lord." We respond, "Thanks be to God." We hear from God through a minister's sermon, then respond with singing a song that reflects the message. After the benediction, we respond with the doxology or another closing song. Some churches aim for an emotional experience (concert and TED talk), but worship is about God, not us.
Here is our current liturgy at the church where I lead music: (Announcements) -Call to worship (usually an invitational selection from a Psalm, read by the preacher) -Song 1 (almost all of our songs are hymns or Psalms. This opening song will usually be a jubilant invitation to worship kind of song that proclaims our hope in Christ, and pairs well with the Call To Worship theme going on at this moment in the gathering) -Confession of sin and Assurance of pardon led by me. (silent prayer followed by a written prayer of corporate confession, and then a scripture of assurance, sometimes with words added by me to frame the meaning of the verse) -Song 2 (almost always will be a song that particularly responds to the confession and assurance) (Sidebar: sometimes I will do confession>song of confession>assurance>song of assurance/joyous response to that assurance) -Song 3 (this can be anything that we decided will fit well as we transition into the reading and teaching of the word) -prayer led by me, thanking the Lord for the privilege of being included in His body, asking the Lord to prepare our hearts/minds for the teaching of His living Word -reading of the Word (typically the preacher getting up, briefly addressing the congregation, and jumping straight into a recap of where we left off with last week's sermon, and then reading aloud the passage that we will preach through this week) -sermon for 45min-1hr -preacher concludes sermon with a prayer related to what was taught -brief teaching every week at this point about the origins and purpose of the Lord's Supper -administering the elements and taking communion together -post-communion prayer led by the preacher -Song of response (song that particularly ties in with sermon, ties together or wraps up the topic, when possible. If nothing else, just something with gusto and jubilance to gladden and strengthen our hearts as we prepare to go out into the world) -Preacher comes back up and gives a benediction, then we dismiss and fellowship together!
In our church we refer to what you called absolution as the assurance of pardon in part to avoid confusion with the Roman practice. After we have knelt in silent confession and recited a written confession the minister reminds us that it is in Christ alone by grace that we stand forgiven and then he reads an applicable scripture.
Concert + TED talk is a good description, and is unfortunately the direction that a PCA church I was a part of was going. I can’t imagine neglecting a scriptural method for worship and going to that empty formulation.
I really appreciate this video. I’ve seen a lot of reformed pastors explaining why certain songs from certain groups should jot be included in worship service. This is the first one I’ve seen outlining what a reformed service actually looks like 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Thank you for the well done explanation of Reformed Worship. I grew up Methodist, with some Baptist input from my paternal Southern Baptist grandparents... Have been a Catholic since the mid eighties, and am a certified LayPastoral Ministrr, with sn MAR. I have had lots of experience in the Lutheran Church, as well as one large Evangelical church. I really like that your services are so scripturally oriented. If you have ever attended a Catholic mass, you will notice that it is heavily grounded in Scripture, so that is something I am accustomed to. I love your intercession prayer, and how personal it is... I’m sure it is a grest comfort to your congregation. I do wish you had weekly Communiom. That seems to be essential to me, and was a weekly event at the Evangelical church my family attended... I think it is too important to skip. My only criticism of this video is your reference to large Evangelical churches ask”big box churches”.. kind of equating them with big box stores... However I did appreciate that you pointed out the lack of intercessory prayer, and a benediction, both of which are important elements of communal worship. Thanks again.. Fir a very informative video. I do enjoy your videos... You do a good job.
I think of the confession of sins at the beginning of worship is like a cleansing to make me able to worship before God Almighty. I always wondered if any churches encourage confessing sins one to another? Not that I have seen, but there is biblical backing to it.
Interesting! For many reformed churches in Holland the outline is the same (as it has been for centuries). What I don't know is the confession of sins and the absolution. We are used to do read the ten commandments once a Sunday instead. The liturgy is quite strict and most of the churches only sing psalms. So there is almost no singing about the new testament. John piper reacted to this, when he was in the Netherlands a short while back, by saying that is it poor to only sing the psalms and no new songs/hymns. People are so stuck to the strict liturgy that it happens that if a preacher make some small adjustments or add some words to a formal part of the sermon, he will get comments short after. For churches in the Netherlands I think it is wise to evaluate and rediscover the way of having a worship service. Thanks for your video.
I don't hold to exclusive psalmody (using only the psalms in worship), but the argument that is used is this: If God intended only the Psalms to be used in the worship of the Church then we are not missing anything by singing only the Psalms because the Psalms would include everything that we would need for worship. For example, people who would argue against using the Psalms would say that the Psalms don't talk about Jesus by name, but if you believe in exclusive psalmody then you would believe that we don't need to use the name "Jesus" because the 2nd member of the trinity is addressed exactly how God intends his name to be used within the Psalms. Again, I don't hold this position but I do see the argument, and in the US the tendency is to completely avoid the Psalms which I would argue is much much worse than only singing the Psalms.
Hello Ptr Matt, may I ask a few questions, would you have Scripture text which points to the elements required in an RPW? How do we then derive its flow in a Worship service? Thank you
Love your videos, Pastor Matt! What device(s) do you use to record your videos? Your setup is refreshingly simple and I was curious about that. Thanks!
Thank you sir! I merely use a very simple logitech webcam mounted to my computer. It was about $70. I find it hard to get the lighting right due to a large window in my office on one side. I use a clear white light on the other side of my face, trying to balance it out. That's it!
@@MatthewEverhard Please come to Trinidad and Tobago please, there is NO reformation churches only prosperity GOSPEL false teachers, we need Spiritual & physical food, my ppl are suffering, Help us in Jesus Mighty name 🙏🏾😭🇹🇹🙏🏾 plz pastor Matt.
Let the reader understand: we are not forgiving sins, or discerning hearts, we are announcing truths such as those in 1 John 1:9, Acts 16:31, John 3:16 etc. Hope that helps!
We look at Reformed worship as a dialogue. In our church it begins with a call to worship, and we respond in singing praise. There's a benediction, then we greet each other. After the Bible is read, the speaker says, "This is the Word of the Lord." We respond, "Thanks be to God." We hear from God through a minister's sermon, then respond with singing a song that reflects the message. After the benediction, we respond with the doxology or another closing song.
Some churches aim for an emotional experience (concert and TED talk), but worship is about God, not us.
Worship is when your mind’s attention and heart’s affection is undivided on Jesus
Here is our current liturgy at the church where I lead music:
(Announcements)
-Call to worship (usually an invitational selection from a Psalm, read by the preacher)
-Song 1 (almost all of our songs are hymns or Psalms. This opening song will usually be a jubilant invitation to worship kind of song that proclaims our hope in Christ, and pairs well with the Call To Worship theme going on at this moment in the gathering)
-Confession of sin and Assurance of pardon led by me. (silent prayer followed by a written prayer of corporate confession, and then a scripture of assurance, sometimes with words added by me to frame the meaning of the verse)
-Song 2 (almost always will be a song that particularly responds to the confession and assurance)
(Sidebar: sometimes I will do confession>song of confession>assurance>song of assurance/joyous response to that assurance)
-Song 3 (this can be anything that we decided will fit well as we transition into the reading and teaching of the word)
-prayer led by me, thanking the Lord for the privilege of being included in His body, asking the Lord to prepare our hearts/minds for the teaching of His living Word
-reading of the Word (typically the preacher getting up, briefly addressing the congregation, and jumping straight into a recap of where we left off with last week's sermon, and then reading aloud the passage that we will preach through this week)
-sermon for 45min-1hr
-preacher concludes sermon with a prayer related to what was taught
-brief teaching every week at this point about the origins and purpose of the Lord's Supper
-administering the elements and taking communion together
-post-communion prayer led by the preacher
-Song of response (song that particularly ties in with sermon, ties together or wraps up the topic, when possible. If nothing else, just something with gusto and jubilance to gladden and strengthen our hearts as we prepare to go out into the world)
-Preacher comes back up and gives a benediction, then we dismiss and fellowship together!
In our church we refer to what you called absolution as the assurance of pardon in part to avoid confusion with the Roman practice. After we have knelt in silent confession and recited a written confession the minister reminds us that it is in Christ alone by grace that we stand forgiven and then he reads an applicable scripture.
Very familiar and it's what I still prefer. I love pipe organs and The Lord's Prayer.
Concert + TED talk is a good description, and is unfortunately the direction that a PCA church I was a part of was going.
I can’t imagine neglecting a scriptural method for worship and going to that empty formulation.
I really appreciate this video. I’ve seen a lot of reformed pastors explaining why certain songs from certain groups should jot be included in worship service. This is the first one I’ve seen outlining what a reformed service actually looks like 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Good video. Too many churches have lost the reverence for God in their services.
I would love to attend a reformed worship service like the one described. Unfortunately, reformed churches are scarce in the north central Ohio area.
Thank you for the well done explanation of Reformed Worship.
I grew up Methodist, with some Baptist input from my paternal Southern Baptist grandparents... Have been a Catholic since the mid eighties, and am a certified LayPastoral Ministrr, with sn MAR.
I have had lots of experience in the Lutheran Church, as well as one large Evangelical church.
I really like that your services are so scripturally oriented. If you have ever attended a Catholic mass, you will notice that it is heavily grounded in Scripture, so that is something I am accustomed to.
I love your intercession prayer, and how personal it is... I’m sure it is a grest comfort to your congregation.
I do wish you had weekly Communiom. That seems to be essential to me, and was a weekly event at the Evangelical church my family attended... I think it is too important to skip.
My only criticism of this video is your reference to large Evangelical churches ask”big box churches”.. kind of equating them with big box stores... However I did appreciate that you pointed out the lack of intercessory prayer, and a benediction, both of which are important elements of communal worship.
Thanks again.. Fir a very informative video.
I do enjoy your videos... You do a good job.
I think of the confession of sins at the beginning of worship is like a cleansing to make me able to worship before God Almighty.
I always wondered if any churches encourage confessing sins one to another? Not that I have seen, but there is biblical backing to it.
Interesting! For many reformed churches in Holland the outline is the same (as it has been for centuries). What I don't know is the confession of sins and the absolution. We are used to do read the ten commandments once a Sunday instead. The liturgy is quite strict and most of the churches only sing psalms. So there is almost no singing about the new testament. John piper reacted to this, when he was in the Netherlands a short while back, by saying that is it poor to only sing the psalms and no new songs/hymns. People are so stuck to the strict liturgy that it happens that if a preacher make some small adjustments or add some words to a formal part of the sermon, he will get comments short after.
For churches in the Netherlands I think it is wise to evaluate and rediscover the way of having a worship service.
Thanks for your video.
I don't hold to exclusive psalmody (using only the psalms in worship), but the argument that is used is this: If God intended only the Psalms to be used in the worship of the Church then we are not missing anything by singing only the Psalms because the Psalms would include everything that we would need for worship. For example, people who would argue against using the Psalms would say that the Psalms don't talk about Jesus by name, but if you believe in exclusive psalmody then you would believe that we don't need to use the name "Jesus" because the 2nd member of the trinity is addressed exactly how God intends his name to be used within the Psalms. Again, I don't hold this position but I do see the argument, and in the US the tendency is to completely avoid the Psalms which I would argue is much much worse than only singing the Psalms.
What an excellent presentation Ptr. Matt! I really like your informative and inspiring videos! God bless you!
Love your videos. I am in seminary and your videos help me with note taking and a love for various bibles :)
Thank you pastor Mat, Love your videos.
Thank you Pastor Matt
You are correct about evangelical worship. There is no intercessary prayer or benediction.
Hello Ptr Matt, may I ask a few questions, would you have Scripture text which points to the elements required in an RPW? How do we then derive its flow in a Worship service? Thank you
What spiritual songs? Do you have a band or choir?
Love your videos, Pastor Matt! What device(s) do you use to record your videos? Your setup is refreshingly simple and I was curious about that. Thanks!
Thank you sir! I merely use a very simple logitech webcam mounted to my computer. It was about $70. I find it hard to get the lighting right due to a large window in my office on one side. I use a clear white light on the other side of my face, trying to balance it out. That's it!
@@MatthewEverhard Please come to Trinidad and Tobago please, there is NO reformation churches only prosperity GOSPEL false teachers, we need Spiritual & physical food, my ppl are suffering, Help us in Jesus Mighty name 🙏🏾😭🇹🇹🙏🏾 plz pastor Matt.
🙏🏾💔😭
Why does the reformed church worship gathering look more like a funeral?
Only God declares your forgiven of sin, not man!
Let the reader understand: we are not forgiving sins, or discerning hearts, we are announcing truths such as those in 1 John 1:9, Acts 16:31, John 3:16 etc. Hope that helps!