Tuesday, July 18, 2006
a question for the protestants
Posted by at 12:57 PM
I was wondering this past weekend, in part due to conversations with a friend, what most protestants would consider to be the focus of a protestant worship service? Is there something to which everything in a service is centered upon, or does the service need to be taken as a whole and not broken up into pieces of greater or lesser importance? If there is a focus or center or climax to a general worship service, what is it or what should it be, and why (is it the focus)?
Obviously, we could all say that Christ should be the focus, but for the sake of the question I was taking this as the granted and understood foundation of everything in worship. The question is more directed at what in the actions of the church is of primary importance, if anything?
I am personally interested in feedback from those who would attend protestant services, mainly because it is perhaps more ambiguous for me what their focus is; but I will be happy to open up the floor to other traditions sharing their perspective assuming that some of the resident protestants will also speak up. :)
Obviously, we could all say that Christ should be the focus, but for the sake of the question I was taking this as the granted and understood foundation of everything in worship. The question is more directed at what in the actions of the church is of primary importance, if anything?
I am personally interested in feedback from those who would attend protestant services, mainly because it is perhaps more ambiguous for me what their focus is; but I will be happy to open up the floor to other traditions sharing their perspective assuming that some of the resident protestants will also speak up. :)
To be a sacrament, Lutherans have 3 requisites:
1. Established by Jesus
2. Confers Grace
3. I can't remember how they put this one, but practicable by all believers. (e.g. This is why marriage is not a sacrament for Lutherans, because not all believers can or should be married)
I'm still pretty confused by "conferring grace"and the nature of the Lord's Supper.
Sacraments are pretty much a mystery to me.
-Worship to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit alone.
-Prayer with Thanksgiving, in the name of the Son, with reverence, humility, etc...
-The reading of Scriptures with godly fear, sound preaching and conscionable hearing of the Word, with understanding, faith, reverence, singing of psalms with grace in the heart, as also the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ...
So it seems the main thrust of it is: Worship, Prayer, and the Scriptures, along witht the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper...
I do wish that worship was more fundamental to the service.
With regard to sacraments, we're very simple. If Jesus said to do it, we do it. We know that there's some theological stuff about Baptism conferring grace, but for the most part we don't understand it, and we trust that if we do what Jesus said to do He'll look after us. He promised He would.
Is preaching not worship? How do you define worship? Are you just thinking of worship "songs"?
All: Laura cited the Westminster Confession of Faith, which I have read and which my church is in agreement with. I don't rightly understand who is and is not "Reformed" in protestantism, and who would and would not agree with the Westminster Confession of Faith, so, for other Reformed and non-Reformed folks, are there other confessions your church is in agreement with? (Enlighten me! :) )
Council of Trent for RCC?
Heidelberg anyone?
Canons of Dordt?
...?
The Lutheran Church uses the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed (with the "and the Son" bit), and the Athanasian Creed.
Then there are confessions. They have a whole mess of them in the Book of Concord, but the main one is the Augsburg Confession.
I'm not sure what the difference is between a Creed and a confession, but I know that Luther and all the Lutherans after him did not write any new creeds.
I was raised Evangelical, and there, too, the focus of a Sunday service was the sermon. Hymns are good and fine, Sunday School very important (we even called the older equivalent "Adult Sunday School"), but in the end, what one really came to hear was what Pastor had to say.
This approach has a lot of problems, but I do find that, in general, non-Evangelical sermons/homilies tend to be far less substantial and, therefore, generally less interesting than those sermons I was raised on. I learned a lot of great theology that way.