This document discusses the philosophy of worship. It begins by explaining that humans were created by God to be in relationship with Him and worship Him. However, sin disrupted this relationship. The document then examines why we worship (to be in relationship with God), what we gain from worship (healing, formation), where worship can take place (not just buildings), and how worship should be structured (with a four-part pattern of gathering, hearing, responding, blessing). The goal of Christian leaders should be to guide congregations in meaningful worship that strengthens their relationship with God.

1. Christopher Hines
Professor Jason Rowinski
Professor Stephanie Rowinski
Christian Corporate Worship
April 29, 2015
Philosophy of Worship
“…the LORD God formed the man…” (Genesis 2:7, NLT) and thus begun our story of
life made to worship. We were created to be in relationship with the Father as seen in the story of
Adam and Eve in the garden. Our purpose of being is to worship God for all He has done, is
doing, and will do in the future. However, we have sinned, starting with Adam and Eve in the
garden wanting knowledge. We started worshipping gods instead of God and started to run away
from true worship.
Worship is a must for humans. We can fall into worshipping the wrong things: money,
sex, status, spouse. Even leaders of the church can fall into the trap of worshipping something
other than God. We must be ready to purposefully lead our congregations, families, and our own
lives in worship and that includes understanding our philosophy of worship. We must understand
why we worship (biblical reasoning), what we gain from worship (goals), where we worship and
the message (context), and how we worship (our pattern).
Why We Worship
Why do we worship? “God’s invitation to and purpose of creation is so that all things may
participate in the very love and intimacy of the triune God” (Peterson, 32). We were formed by
God to spend time with Him. It all started with Adam and Eve in the garden. We were formed by
the very breath of God. He entrusted us with watching over and taking care of His garden and the

2. animals of the earth. We betrayed that trust and went against the one rule that was established.
However, within this one rule seems to be a second rule. The first rule was “You may freely eat
the fruit of every tree in the garden – except the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis
2:16b-17, NLT) but Jesus himself spoke the second rule that was within this first, “You must
love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind” (Matthew 22:37,
NLT).
We were created to be in the love of the triune God; however, Adam and Eve broke of
this love when they disobeyed God. When your spouse says there is one thing he/she is not
comfortable with you doing, you do not go and do it anyway. You respect his/her wish and avoid
such activity. When Adam and Eve broke the first rule, they did the one thing God was not
comfortable with.
God did not give up on us. Just like in a marriage, we will have fights within love and we
must be willing to work on the issue. God took the first step by helping the Israelites out of
Egypt and into the wilderness. The wilderness could seem like a punishment, but rather it should
be look on as a forming experience. We needed to train in how to love, alone and communal. He
gave us specific instructions on what He desired, as seen in Leviticus 4. Yet again, we failed to
do what God had instructed of us and we had failed in love. Finally God did the final act of love
for us. “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so
that we might have eternal life through him.” (1 John 4:9, NLT). We missed the mark repeatedly
and finally God did what we could not. Instead of meeting in the middle, God made it easy for us
by going 99% and now all He asks is that we take the last 1%, which is accepting His Son. We
were given this gift freely now all we have to do is reach out and grab it.

3. My “Biblical Theology of Worship” is that we must worship Him because He was
continually forming us and working on us as one person and a body of believers until making it
as easy as He could for all of us to love Him.
What We Gain from Worship
We have looked at why we must worship communally and alone but what do we want to
accomplish from being together in worship? What comes from getting together and worshipping
our God together? “While God can be encountered in all times, in all places, and among all
peoples, God birthed the church by the Spirit for the primary task of encountering God in
communal worship. Thus an encounter with God that empowers me to be present to God and
others can be a moment of dynamic healing and transformation.” (Peterson, 39). Peterson also
wrote on how this is not only physically healing, but also spiritually healing. We come together
to be healed and revived. Many churches will pray over others and there are accounts of
miraculous healings, but we also come to be spiritually healed. I would argue this does not just
have to be a restoration of relationship with God but also a break from normal life. Even God
rested on the seventh day. We were created to worship and to rest. We are worshipping when we
rest. This should not be used as an excuse to be lazy, but God tells us we need to take a break
and, by following His commands, we are worshipping. We go to church on Sunday to be with
fellow believers and come out revived and refueled to face the world the rest of the week.
We come to church to be formed as well. Peterson states “those given leadership in the
church are called and empowered to minister in the body of Christ to help every Christian
become a minister of the gospel in the world.” (Peterson, 49). The church is a practice ground of
how we are to be the other six days a week. We are being formed into ministers. When we come

4. together we gain healing, physical and spiritual, and practice to be ministers of the gospel in our
jobs, compassionate ministry, or school.
Where We Worship and the Message
We know why we worship and what we gain from worshipping but where does worship
happen? Worship does not only happen in a building as Stephen brought up in Acts and Boone
points out, “However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands.” (Acts 7:48,
NLT; Boone, 20). Boone also makes another great point about the church as a building, “The
architecture of our buildings can be a wonderful reminder to us that we are God’s people…God
resides in the middle of the gathered church, not in the building.” (Boone, 20). We worship in all
settings where we are gathered as a people. The church building is a context where everyone
knows you can go and be gathered as a people.
The context of worship can bring a whole different feel to the service and require a
different plan. If we are outside, we must plan accordingly with a tent (in case of rain), chairs or
blankets, and if the service is only done outside once a year, then you might want to reference to
Creation and the wonders of His work around us. Context does not just have to be the place. It is
also the time of year. If we are in a season of Advent, talking about the missional work of Paul
may not be the best message for the context of time. We need to plan for the season of the
Christian calendar and this could mean changing the look of our sanctuary with banners and
other images. Our message should always take into context of time and we should be planning
for the space we have.
How We Worship
Each church has their version of a pattern. You will hear some say that there is not a
pattern just the way they have always done it. There is always a pattern. The pattern that I like

5. most is a mixture of the fourfold pattern of worship that we discussed in class and Boone’s
pattern in The Worship Plot. The difference between these two types is that Boone breaks down
the hearing into two parts. I have used this pattern for years and it has been very effective for me.
I would argue that most Evangelical churches use a form of this pattern, some without even
knowing that they are. We must (1) gather/enter a place of worship and prepare ourselves. As a
worship leader we must guide this stage with appropriate songs and/or passages that relate to the
message. (2) We move into the hearing/good news/bad news portion where the pastor preaches
the message that fits with the context of the calendar and with the congregation. (3) The response
of the people comes after this message. This usually includes communion and another song that
appropriately fits as a response. (4) Finally we move to the blessing, where the pastor and leader
called by God to guide the church gives the blessing of God on the people to go out. This is the
fourfold pattern of worship that I find most effective.
“…the LORD God formed the man…” (Genesis 2:7, NLT) to be in intimacy with him.
We as the spiritual leaders must understand why we worship, what we gain from worship, where
we worship and the message, and how we worship. We must be able to guide our people through
worship on a yearly, weekly, and daily basis. The importance of knowing our own philosophy of
worship is to know and understand that leading people through this biblically based showing of
love that has been wanted from us from the beginning of time. We are participating in the
relationship that our Father has desired and as leaders we are helping our congregants to
participate in an effective way as well. We are responsible for the spiritual healing of these
people that God has entrusted us with. As God entrusted Adam, the congregation that is before
us is our own Garden of Eden.