The Westminster Confession of Faith
CHAPTER 21
Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day
“1. The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.
2. Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone; not to angels, saints, or any other creature: and, since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.
3. Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one special part of religious worship, is by God required of all men: and, that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and, if vocal, in a known tongue.
4. Prayer is to be made for things lawful; and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter: but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death.
5. The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear, the sound preaching and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith, and reverence, singing of psalms with grace in the heart; as also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ, are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God: beside religious oaths, vows, solemn fastings, and thanksgivings upon special occasions, which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner.
6. Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, under the gospel, either tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed: but God is to be worshiped everywhere, in spirit and truth; as, in private families daily, and in secret, each one by himself; so, more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly or willfully to be neglected, or forsaken, when God, by his Word or providence, calleth thereunto.
7. As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which, in Scripture, is called the Lord’s day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.
8. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.”
Reformed Worship:
All people were created by God to worship. In fact, all people do worship, even if they never attend church. The question is – who do we worship and how? There is nothing more fundamental and important in our lives than this question. Below is a summary of who and how we worship at Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church.
Our Worship is God-Centered
God’s Word plainly tells us that the chief purpose of every person in every activity is to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31). The same is certainly true in worship. The triune JEHOVAH of the Bible – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – is the one, living and true God whom we gather to worship. When we assemble as God’s people each Lord’s Day, it is not so that we can be entertained but in order to “sing to the Lord” (Ps. 98:1). In worship, the author of Hebrews says that “you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22). Therefore, we are to “offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28).
Our Worship is Scripture-Directed
If we are to glorify God and keep Him central in our worship, we must allow His Word to direct our worship. We refer to this teaching as the regulative principle, for the simple reason that God ‘regulates’ (i.e. directs) what we do in worship. To go beyond the Protestant Reformation teaching of sola Scriptura in this matter is to suggest that we know better than God and to invite His punishment (Lev. 10:1-3; Heb. 12:18-25). We believe that including only those elements in our worship that God explicitly commands or implicitly approves in the Bible protects true Christian freedom to worship in the Spirit and in the truth of God’s Word (Jn. 4:23-24). For this reason, our worship services include the same elements as the New Testament church who devoted themselves to the reading and preaching of God’s Word, to prayer and singing praises, to the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to giving of tithes, and to fellowship (Acts 2:41-47).
Our Worship is Covenant-Structured
In striving to allow God’s Word to direct our worship, we find that the only way sinful people can approach a holy God is through God graciously condescending to enter into covenant with them (Gen. 17:7; Ezek. 37:26-27; Heb. 8:10). Characteristic of the covenant of grace is God initiating relationship with His people by revealing Himself and in turn His people responding to Him in worship (Isa. 6:1-8). We refer to this teaching as the dialogical principle, because there is a dialogue between God and His people in worship. This covenantal structure found in the Bible shapes our worship – God speaks to us through the reading and preaching of His Word and the sacraments, and we respond in praying, singing, and giving.
The covenantal structure of our worship also leads us to welcome entire families to participate in corporate worship. When God entered into covenant with His people, He entered into covenant with both parents and their children (Gen. 17:7; Acts 2:39; 1 Cor. 7:12-14). Therefore, we believe that children should be included in our worship services as much as possible, because this time of hearing from God’s Word and of responding in worship is not just for adults but for young people as well.
