The Approach to God in Worship
As I stated in previous blog posts, the morning service at Circle Church was built around a purpose sentence which was carefully written by whoever was scheduled to preach. In a single statement this captures the thrust of the sermon.
A characteristic, or attribute, of God was then chosen which corresponded with the selected emphasis. The choice of this attribute was extremely important because the entire first part of the service would be centered on that specific attribute.
For example, if the purpose sentence was “Building on the foundation of obedience to Christ’s teachings will result in stability during life’s storms,” the attribute chosen would probably have been that God is trustworthy.
Here’s another example. To emphasize God’s jealousy fits the purpose sentence from the Jonah story: “With grand designs for this world, God assigns exceptional abilities to His stewards and jealously expects these favors to be used by them in accomplishing His purpose!”
I will plan to share with you in a future blog post a list of God’s qualities for which He most certainly deserves our praise.
As the ingredients for the first third of the Sunday morning service were planned, we would ask ourselves, “In what way can we, as a congregation, best express to God our appreciation for this specific attribute? How do we attribute worth to (worship) God that He is by nature just, or holy, or everywhere present, etc?” If any unsuspecting member happened by the office during a staff meeting, he or she was often commandeered to share ideas with us. It was also not unusual for dinner guests to be asked, “If you wanted to praise God that He is love, how would you go about it?”
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You can learn how to develop highly relevant Sunday sermons that grab the attention of your congregation and help your listeners respond effectively to the deep truths of God’s Word. David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
