Objectives:

  • Demonstrate the need and necessity of worship from the Bible, both in form and context
  • Examine the difference between the Protestant and Anglo-Catholic understandings of worship.
  • Explain the goals and definitions of worship.

I. Why Study Worship?

  1. Combatting idolatry as the church
  2. The fundamental reason we need Reformation is worship
    1. Evangelism
    2. Discipleship
    3. Cultivation of good doctrine

II. Worship Shapes Our Identity

  1. Can’t make a good Protestant without Protestant worship
  2. Lex orandi lex credendi
    1. How you pray will determine what you believe
    2. How you worship will impact what you believe

III. Why Congregational Worship?

  1. Sydney Anglicans vs. Anglo Catholics
    1. Belief in congregational worship as part of the Old Covenant
    2. Observation that the Old Testament pattern of worship is different from the new
  2. Protestant service reflects completed sacrifice
  3. Catholic service reflects an ongoing sacrifice

IV. What is Worship?

  1. Psalm 29:1-2: “giving to the Lord the glory due to his name”
  2. Engaging with God on the terms that he proposes and in the way alone that he makes possible
    1. Communion and engagement with God
    2. God sets the terms of our engagement with him
    3. God alone makes this worship possible through our mediator, Jesus Christ
  3. Worship in all of life
    1. Jonah 1:9
    2. Romans 12:1
  4. Corporate Worship
    1. Gathered, congregational, and public are all synonymous
    2. Psalm 100:2
    3. 1 Corinthians 14:26
      • God’s word
      • The praise of God
      • Prayer to God

 

Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III

Ligon Duncan (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Edinburgh) is the Chancellor & CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, and the President of RTS Jackson. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or contributed to numerous books. You can follow him on Twitter.