Worship at Westminster Presbyterian Church
In John 4, Jesus instructed the Samaritan woman about worship as he told of a day when the location of worship would not be an important matter with which to concern ourselves. Instead, the most important focus would be that whoever worships God, must do so "in spirit and in truth." Since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we now have direct access to the Heavenly Father and his throne of grace through our Savior (John 14:6; Heb 4:16) and the testimony of Jesus has become a living reality. We come to worship the true and living God in spirit and in truth. So it is for our church, at least in the ideal that we hold up for ourselves, for our worship individually and corporately can so easily amount to honoring God with our lips while our hearts are far from him. Still, because of and by his grace alone, we strive to come in a way that is pleasing to him.
That we worship in spirit indicates that worship must be more than a mechanical exercise of some particular form or liturgy where we simply go through the motions and then dare to call what we did, "worship." In many churches the atmosphere during worship is so cold and dead that one is left wondering if these people really believe what they sing, say or pray or if God is anywhere to be found. Instead, the order of service must be carried out spirtually with a dependence on the Holy Spirit himself and out of life-giving union with Christ, who alone has granted us access to the one enthroned on high.
That we worship in truth indicates that worship must never be reduced to an anything goes mindset where we whip ourselves into an emotional frenzy and, due to the euphoria we have experienced, conclude that the Spirit must have really descended upon us today. We must also avoid an attitude that concludes that whatever works to give us a felt sense of connection is fine, so long as God has not spoken against it in his Word. Instead, we firmly believe that the Bible alone informs us in our approach to worship. Thus, we seek to be as simply biblical as possible striving to include what God commands and nothing more. For us, this gives us the greatest liberty in worship free from the commands of men. In our services then you will find the following prescribed general elements of worship: the reading and preaching of the Word of God, prayer, congregational singing, and the observance of baptism and the Lord's Supper.
We do not think that we have arrived in our worship and we do not conclude that a church not following the order of service we employ does not truly worship God. May the Lord stir our hearts that we will know by experience more and more what it is to worship in spirit and in truth.