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About
the worship of the Almighty God, the Bible teaches by command and
example, the Westminster
Confession
affirms, and the Session and congregation of Timonium
Presbyterian Church believe the following:
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Worship of the living God is the greatest privilege of mankind.
It is redeemed man striving to fulfill the purpose for
which he was created, namely “to
glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (The
Shorter Catechism, Question 1).
It honors, glorifies, and acknowledges His worth as their
Sovereign Triune God.
-
True worship is initiated by our Triune God who has saved and
claimed us as His own. As
sinners, we cannot approach God unless He acts first.
Only through the work of the Holy Spirit are we enabled
to respond properly to God’s call through the saving work of
Jesus Christ. As the
redeemed of the Lord, we must worship God alone and desire
nothing less than to please Him with our worship (Psalm 73:25).
-
Biblical
worship costs and calls for “clean
hands and a pure heart”
(Psalm
24:4), found only in those covered by the righteousness of
Christ. “Through
him, then, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise
-- the fruit of lips that confess his name.
And do not forget to do good and to share with others,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased”
(Hebrew 13:15-16). Reverent
worship captures the joy of God's grace, God's holiness, and
God's awesome power. Such
worship results in honest confession of sin and needs, praise,
and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through His people,
causing His people to delight in Him.
When His people engage in worship “in
all its several parts with an eye single to His glory,”
the outcome is “the
glorification of God by His people, the perfecting of the
saints, and the addition to the membership of Christ's church
such as are being saved” (BOCO 47-3) “so
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”
(Philippians 2:10-11).
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Biblical worship intentionally engages every aspect of who we
are including our minds, our hearts, and our creativity –
which all must be subservient to Scripture.
God's Word, therefore, must be preeminent in our worship
in order to create the divine-human interaction.
It is God's Word that “…is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in
righteousness”
(2 Timothy 3:16). “For
the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any
doubled-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes
of the heart”
(Hebrews 4:12).
-
In worship we encounter God's sovereignty and holiness, as well
as His love, mercy, and grace.
If the former are neglected, then our worship tends to be
irreverent and trite. If
the latter are ignored, then our worship tends to be lifeless
and lacking in joy.
-
To respect the Lord’s transcendence and immanence in worship,
we affirm what is known as the Regulative
Principle of Worship, as expressed by the Westminster
Confession of Faith which states: “The
acceptable way of worshipping the true God is established by God
Himself. God's
revealed will so defines and outlines proper worship that
neither the imaginations and devices of men nor the suggestions
of Satan are to be followed.
God is not to be worshipped under any visible
representation or in any other way than that prescribed in Holy
Scripture” (Westminster
Confession of Faith, Chapter 21, Modern Version).
-
Scripture condemns
worship based only on human desires.
“The
Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and
honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by
men.’”
(Isaiah 29:13).
In worship, then, it is not enough to have good
intentions or do what we
believe would please God. We
must discern what God Himself has revealed and conform our
worship to His expressed desires.
-
Worship is the highest calling of the people of God.
When we worship we declare the same God who created the
world and everything in it, who came down to live among us, who
sacrificed Himself on the cross, and then rose from the dead so
we might be redeemed.
- At Timonium
Presbyterian Church, it is our desire to worship this Triune God
fully, according to the Word that He has given us and allowed us
to understand through the work of the Holy Spirit.
For more information on
our Worship Philosophy, we invite you to pick up our Sessionally
Approved Worship
documents available in the
narthex.
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Contents copyright Timonium Presbyterian Church (c) 2008. All
Rights Reserved.
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