WIXLIB

3. assurance of faith and forgiveness“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Placeby the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through thecurtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house ofGod, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience andhaving our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19–22 NIV)4. reading of Holy Scripture,“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, topreaching and to teaching.” (1 Timothy 4:13 NIV)“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed arethose who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time isnear.” (Revelation 1:3 NIV)5. singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish oneanother with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songswith gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16 NIV)6. the offering of prayer,“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession andthanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority,that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”(1 Timothy 2:1–2 NIV)7. the preaching of the Word,“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebukeand encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”(2 Timothy 4:2 NIV)8. the presentation of tithes and offerings,ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and comebefore him; worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness.(1 Chronicles 16:29 NIV)“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put andwatched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many richpeople threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two verysmall copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widowhas put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of theirwealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to liveon.”” (Mark 12:41–44 NIV)9. confessing the faith,“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in yourheart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is withyour heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth thatyou confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:9–10 NIV)10. observing the Sacraments,“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name ofJesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift ofthe Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who arefar off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”” (Acts 2:38–39 NIV)6

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the nameof the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them toobey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, tothe very end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:19–20 NIV)“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus,on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, hebroke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembranceof me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup isthe new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, inremembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”(1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NIV)11. on special occasions taking oaths and vows,“When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himselfby a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.”(Numbers 30:2 NIV)““Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do notbreak your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tellyou, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by theearth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the GreatKing. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hairwhite or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anythingbeyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:33–37 NIV)12. the charge to the congregation,““Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away thegods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and servethe LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choosefor yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods yourforefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whoseland you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve theLORD.”” (Joshua 24:14–15 NIV)“I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, tokeep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out offavouritism.” (1 Timothy 5:21 NIV)“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and gooddeeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Dayapproaching.” (Hebrews 10:24–25 NIV)13. God’s blessing on His people“The LORD bless you and keep you;the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”(Numbers 6:24–26 NIV)“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and thefellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14 NIV)“May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, sothat you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, theland God gave to Abraham.”” (Genesis 28:4 NIV)7

14. worshipping God in fellowship“Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of foodand to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the wordsthat had been made known to them.” (Nehemiah 8:12 NIV)“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, tothe breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, andmany wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All thebelievers were together and had everything in common. Selling theirpossessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day theycontinued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in theirhomes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God andenjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their numberdaily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42–47 NIV)1-10. It is God who determines how it is that His people worship Him. We arenot to deviate from the commands concerning His worship and prescribed partsthereof. “See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.”(Deuteronomy 12:32 NIV). We are not to introduce new and different elementsof worship not commanded by God and include them in any worship liturgy.This is commonly called the Regulative Principle of Worship.However, we must distinguish between God’s commands in the components ofworship, and that of the ways and means by which we accomplish them. Wemust not take on worship principles or components that have originated fromwithin any given culture. We must instead practice our culture-free worshipprinciples within the confines of our culture. The worship of God will often differfrom culture to culture and from church to church in terms of the expression andcreativity, and yet still comprise the same God ordained components of worship.For example, one congregation may choose to use an organ to accompanycongregational singing, while another might choose to use a contemporary band.The former may choose to use a hymnbook, the latter using contemporary musicdisplayed through projection devices. Some churches may use choirs to lead thesinging, while others may use song leaders. One might have the choir sing aScriptural call to worship, while others might just read a passage from Scripture .A church may choose to use a responsive reading for their confession of sin,while another church has a time of silence before the minister leads thecongregation in corporate prayer. All of these ways of expression areappropriate before the Lord when done with genuine service and worship of theheart but the components of worship never change and are always included insome way. The exceptions are baptisms, which are occasional by nature and theLord’s Supper, which may be celebrated only occasionally. All other elementsshould be present in every service.8

The Sanctification of the Lord's Day2-1. "The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such set timesas He has appointed in His word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holySabbath to himself." (See WSC Q&A 58; WCF 21.7-8).2-2. God commanded His Old Testament people to keep holy the last day of theweek, but He sanctified the first day as the Sabbath by the resurrection of theLord Jesus Christ from the dead. For this reason the church of the newdispensation has from the time of the apostles kept holy the first day of the weekas the Lord's Day.“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit (Revelation 1:10a NIV)“On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money inkeeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will haveto be made.” (1 Corinthians 16:2 NIV)2-3. It is the duty of every person to remember the Lord's day; and to preparefor it before its approach. All worldly business should be so ordered, and allduties deferred as can be, so that there may be no hindrance to sanctifying theSabbath, as the Holy Scriptures require.2-4. The whole day is to be kept holy to the Lord; and to be employed in thepublic and private exercises of religion. Therefore, it is requisite, that there be aholy resting, all the day, from unnecessary labours; and an abstaining from thoserecreations which may be lawful on other days; and also, as much as possible,from such thoughts and conversation as would be usual and ordinary during therest of the week.““If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please onmy holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’S holy day honourable,and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please orspeaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you toride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”The mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 58:13–14 NIV)2-5. The needs and affairs of individuals and families should be so arrangedbeforehand in order that other persons might not be kept from their publicworship of God, or hindered from also sanctifying the Sabbath.(Nehemiah 13:15–22 NIV)2-6. Before attending public worship, every person and family should take careto approach God, by secret and private prayer, for themselves and others, andespecially for the assistance of God to their minister. They should pray for God’sblessing upon his ministry, the reading and preaching of the Scriptures, and aholy examination and meditation of participants as they prepare for communionwith God in his public ordinances.2-7. It is beneficial and desirable for the time not used for public worship to bespent in prayer, in devotional reading, and especially in the study of theScriptures, mediation, catechism instruction, godly conversation on spiritual9

topics, the singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and holy resting .Recalling the teaching of Jesus that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath,activities such as visiting the sick, relieving the poor, teaching one another, andother such duties of love and mercy are also appropriate.“Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand wasthere. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched himclosely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with theshrivelled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, tosave life or to kill?” But they remained silent.He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts,said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand wascompletely restored.” (Mark 3:1–5 NIV)The Ordering of Public Worship3-1. When the congregation is to meet for public worship, people (havingprepared their hearts beforehand) should all join together; not absentingthemselves from the public ordinances through negligence, or to meet in smallerprivate and exclusive groups instead. “And let us consider how we may spur oneanother on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, assome are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the moreas you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24–25).3-2. It is important for everyone to be punctual, so that all are present at thebeginning to unite with one heart in all the parts of public worship. And it isimportant that they stay until after the blessing is pronounced at the conclusionof the service.3-3. Everyone should be encouraged to be seated well in time for the service tobegin, in a decent and reverent manner. It is good for them to engage in a silentprayer for a blessing upon themselves, the minister, and all present, as well asupon those who are unable to attend worship.3-4. All who attend public worship should come in a spirit of reverence andgodly fear, refraining from any conduct unbecoming to the place and occasion.Since the family, as ordained by God, is the basic institution in society, and God inthe Covenant graciously deals with us, not just as individuals but also as families,it is important and desirable that families worship together.The Call of God To Come And Worship4-1. It is God who calls and saves us and the Lord God calls all his people tocome and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. The call to worship comes from avariety of Scriptural sources the minister or appointed worship leader may use .The gathering of God’s people is not limited to a building or other “sacred space”10

as the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it. God’s call for His people to come andworship brings with it the understanding of preparation beforehand of eachworshipper, readying themselves to come before the Lord God in thecommunion and fellowship of His saints.4-2. The minister or appointed worship leader should use appropriate Scripturetexts that enjoin God’s people to come and worship Him. These texts will usuallyinclude the imperative forms of the biblical language.Confession of Sins5-1. Having been called into the presence of God, people must realise the natureof a holy God compared to their own sinful natures. The Lord God calls His saintsto confess their sins and be cleansed by the infinitely precious blood of the La mb.This can be done in a number of ways using Scriptural confessions, formconfessions, prayers of confession, or even songs and hymns.5-2. Confession of sins should regularly have a national and local aspect, andmost certainly a focus on an individual’s personal and corporate sins.Recognition should be given of the finished work of the Saviour Jesus Christ onthe Cross as the payment required of the Father for ours and the sin of the world.Enjoining the continuing presence and work of the Holy Spirit in us to recreateus to be more like Jesus is encouraged.The Assurance Of Pardon6-1. Prayers for confession of sin are often done separately. When completed,an important component of worship involves the minister speaking as themouthpiece of God and using Scripture giving the congregation of saints anassurance of God’s pardoning grace in Christ Jesus. There is great spiritual valuein letting people know the import of the Gospel’s grace in their lives and the lifeof the congregation.6-2. The assurance of pardon also provides another avenue for the proclamationof the Gospel and the evangelism of those not yet in the Kingdom of Christ Jesus.The Public Reading of the Holy Scriptures7-1. The public reading of the Holy Scriptures is performed by someoneauthorised to do so by the Church, as God's servant. Through it God speaks mostdirectly to the congregation, even more directly than through the sermon . Thereading of the Scriptures is to be distinguished from the responsive readin g ofcertain portions of Scripture by the leader and the congregation. In the formerGod addresses His people; in the latter God's people give expression in the wordsof Scripture to their contrition, adoration, gratitude and other holy sentiments .The psalms of Scripture are especially appropriate for responsive reading .(See WCF 21.5)11

7-2. The reading of the Holy Scriptures in the congregation is a part of the publicworship of God and should be done by the minister or some other appointedbeliever.7-3. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be read from agood and suitable translation, in the current language of the people, that all mayhear and understand. (See WCF 1; WLC Q&A 3-6)7-4. How large any portion of Scripture to be read during a service is left to thediscretion of every minister; and he may, when he thinks it expedient, expoundany part of what is read; always having regard to the time of the service as awhole, that neither reading, singing, praying, preaching, nor any other ordinance,be disproportionate such that their importance is minimised or impoverished;nor should the reading of the whole Scripture be rendered too short, or so longthat it becomes tedious to the hearers.The Singing of Psalms and Hymns8-1. Praising God through the medium of music is a duty and a privilege.Therefore, the singing of hymns and psalms and the use of musical instrumentsshould have an important part in public worship.“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and makemusic in your heart to the Lord,” (Ephesians 5:19 NIV)“Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music,strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.” (Psalms 81:1–2 NIV)8-2. In singing the praises of God, we are to sing in the spirit of worship, withunderstanding in our hear

The worship of Almighty God by His people is an exercise in conversational . The Holy Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice, and as such, the principles of public worship must be derived fr