Worship should be a vital part of your large group fellowship meetings. Meeting God through prayer, song and scripture allows each person and the group as a whole to know God more intimately and to respond to him in love and obedience. The people in your InterVarsity chapter will come from many different traditions regarding worship. Be sensitive to differing traditions and over the course of the term offer a variety of styles of worship in the large group meetings. The goal is freedom of expression without obligation to practice particular styles of expression.
Worship is not:
- a rationalistic or academic exercise – a time to simply meet people’s emotional needs – purely entertainment (a Hollywood show or cultural experience)
Worship is important because:
- God deserves it and requires it – We need it for the healing of our soul and to grow in faith
Worship is:
- “Worth-ship,” ascribing worth to God, the honor due His name – God-centered, not man-centered – Participative, not passive – Presenting ourselves before God for service – Remembering who God is and what He has done in Christ – A part of all of life, but also uniquely represented when God’s people
gather for corporate worship
Corporate worship has various aspects:
(Read Psalm 95 as an illustration of many of these elements)
Call to Worship
Affirmation of Faith
Praise
Confession of Sin
Thanksgiving
Proclamation of the Word
Intercession
Response of Consecration
Scripture reading
Offering of gifts to God
Remembering God’s works
Pronouncement of benediction
Additional resources on worship:
Worship: Old and New, Robert Webber (Zondervan)
Worship in the Early Church, Ralph Martins (Eerdmans)
Furnace of Renewal, Ch. 3, George Malone (IVP)
Dynamics of Spiritual Life, Richard Lovelace (IVP)
