Worship in the Biblical Context

“The earliest description of Christian worship is given in Acts 2:42. Think about this description of worship in Jerusalem and reflect on its structure: ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and to prayer.’ The two central foci of early Christian worship were the apostolic teaching (the story) and the breaking of the bread (the feast). And these two acts were performed as prayer and in the context of fellowship. Later, as descriptions of Christian worship began to emerge, the church paid attention to how people gathered and how people were sent forth.” (Renew Your Worship 24-25)

“Second, we are able to identify a worship in the Corinthian church that may be best described as body life worship. This worship is presented in 1 Corinthians 12-14…we can readily see from this passage of Scripture that the worship of the church is one—each person bringing a particular gift to worship and exercising that gift within the body.” (Renew Your Worship 32)

“The biblical clue for the acts of entrance came from the Old Testament example of the gathering for the dedication of the temple found in 2 Chronicles 5:11-14. Here we see the importance of the approach to God and an example of how a large crowd of worshipers came together and assembled for worship.” (Renew Your Worship 41)

“The earliest stories of Christian worship tell of worship in the synagogue and worship in homes. Synagogue worship focused on the Word while home worship was ordered around the breaking of the bread. In these two institutions of worship, we find the origins of both our Service of the Word and our Service of the Table.” (New Worship Awakening 40)

“While worship celebrates Christ, it takes a community of people to do that work of celebration. The study of the origin of the faith makes it clear that the unique event of the living, dying, and rising of Christ was marked by the coming into being of a body of people, the church, the people of the event. Peter explains it in these word: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God—“ (1 Peter 2:9 NIV). These words do more than describe the church. They point to its calling to worship. You are a people, a church, a community, writes Peter, “that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” The link between the Christ-event, the church, and worship is clear: the work of the church is to celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection. That is the very event which brought the church into existence, shapes its people, and defines its meaning and purpose in the world.” (New Worship 77)

“Since New Testament times, we have testimony of Christians gathering to celebrate what Paul calls “the Lord’s supper” (1 Corinthians 11:20). For many Christians, this is the archetypal form of Christian worship. Only a small minority avoid celebrating it in outward dorms. In many churches, it is a weekly, or even daily, experience.” (White 21)

“Hymns and canticles are implicit to the Jewish and Christian traditions as the use of songs is evident through the practices of the two communities as well as through the incorporation of songs in the texts of their scriptures. In the first Christian communities, the apostle Paul instructs church to include music as a core activity in the assembling of the local church (1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 5:19-20; Colossians 3:19). And numerous outbreaks of songs are scattered through the New Testament including the prologue of the Gospel of John (1:1-18), a hymn of Christ in Philippians (2:6-11), and another song in 1 Timothy (3:16). Although music from non-biblical sources is evident as early as the second century, it is assumed that this music did not only include “singing” verses from scriptural text but also the creation of new music, new hymns, new lyrics.” (Marti 11)