The Benediction: God’s Good Word to His People In the rhythm of the church’s liturgy, one element often overlooked is the benediction. Derived from the Latin word benedictio, meaning...
The Song of Response In the flow of worship, the Song of Response follows the sermon, providing a moment for the congregation to respond to God’s Word...
The Sermon: Proclaiming Christ It is not merely a motivational speech or a platform for personal opinions; rather, the sermon is where the gospel message—the good news...
The Prayer of Illumination: Seeking God’s Guidance In the order of worship, the Prayer of Illumination is typically found preceding the sermon. This prayer asks God to illuminate the hearts...
Scripture Reading: Before the Sermon In the liturgy, the reading of the sermon text is a vital moment. It allows the congregation to hear God’s Word directly for...
The Song of Preparation: Anticipating God’s Word Following the Psalm and Scripture Reading in the liturgy, the Song of Preparation serves as an interlude between the public reading of...
Psalm and Scripture Reading: Hearing God’s Voice Following the Confession of Faith, the Psalm and Scripture Reading in the liturgy is where the congregation listens to God’s Word. Public...
The Confession of Faith: Affirming Our Beliefs In the liturgy, the Confession of Faith (often articulated through a creed, confession, or catechism) follows the Song of Thanksgiving,...
The Song of Thanksgiving: Responding to God’s Grace In the liturgy, following the Assurance of Pardon, the Song of Thanksgiving marks a joyful response to the grace we have received. This...
The Assurance of Pardon: The Gospel’s Promise Following the Prayer of Confession of Sin, the Assurance of Pardon provides grace and affirmation within the worship service. It reassures...
The Prayer of Confession of Sin Following the Reading of the Law, the Prayer of Confession of Sin invites the congregation to respond to the revelation of God’s holiness...
The Reading of the Law: Confronted by God’s Righteousness In the rhythm of our worship, the Reading of the Law is the moment where God’s holiness and our sinfulness meet. Positioned early in...
The Song of Adoration: Responding to God’s Glory In the flow of our worship, what is the Song of Adoration? This song typically follows the Salutation (God’s greeting), the Prayer of...
The Salutation: God’s Greeting Positioned early in the service, often following the Call to Worship and Prayer of Invocation, the Salutation is a moment where God speaks...
The Prayer of Invocation: Asking for God’s Blessing As we continue to look at our order of worship, the Prayer of Invocation follows the Call to Worship, serving as our response to...
The Call to Worship: God’s Invitation Every Sunday, you will find that the Call to Worship is the true beginning of our worship service. It is not merely a formality or a signal...
Liturgy: A Gospel Conversation Whether we like to admit it, or not, every church has a liturgy. While many think of liturgy as a simple order of service, correctly...
God’s Work, Not Ours: Understanding Baptism Within many Christian conversations, baptism is presented as an step of obedience, or a symbolic gesture to declare one’s commitment...
What Does It Means to Be Confessional? What It Means to Be Confessional In an age where individualism and personal preferences often dominate the church landscape, the concept of...
The Urgent Need for Gospel Clarity In the swirling currents of much of evangelicalism, there are few issues as dangerous as the intrusion of legalism. Don’t be...
Bruised Reeds and the Gentleness of Jesus Growing up, my brothers and I were typical boys. Armed with sticks, we explored the forest behind our house, taking aim at any plants we...
Grace for Grieving My kids love stories, and honestly, I would argue that we all do. I remember around the age of ten, my dad would read a chapter of the...
The Heart of the Reformation The core concept of justification is being declared righteous in the presence of God, and it represents the pivotal aspect of salvation...
An Exposition of Psalm 8 The eighth Psalm stands out somewhat from the other Psalms, in that it is the first Psalm we find in the way that is organized to stand out...
What is the Kingdom of God? “Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33)[1] may be one of the best know portions of scripture that consider the kingdom. It was...
Is Our “Good”, Good Enough? The following material comes from Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness. ...
More in Heaven than in Hell? The following is an excerpt from Charles Spurgeon’s sermon Heaven and Hell from Matthew 8:11-12. (September 4, 1855) But my...
Does Rowan County Really Need More Churches? Why would anyone think that it would be a good idea to start a new church anywhere in a region that has been named the Bible Belt? Take a...
Many are called, but few are chosen? What did Jesus mean when he said, “many are called, but few are chosen”? Was He explaining that many are called to salvation, but only...
The Blessed Achievement of Failure The Blessed Achievement of Failure No matter which way you slice it, our definition of success is different than God’s definition. The...
Elder-led Congregationalism Church polity, or church government, is not the most glamorous of topics. It could be argued that this is due, at least in part, to a...
Understanding the Judgment Seat of Christ it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Heb. 9:27) A recent Lifeway Research poll cited that 62% of those...
The Church’s Guide to Deconstruction “Ready, Fire, Aim!” This seems to be the battle cry among many evangelicals within the American Christian culture, but what are...
How Can I Have Assurance of Salvation? Why is assurance something that believers seem to struggle with? Because, ultimately, even for believers, it can be hard to believe the...
Little Babels of Legalism In Genesis 11, we encounter a narrative that mirrors the historical trajectory from the garden of Eden, onward. Driven by the ambition to...
Did Paul really say, “It is good for a man not to touch a woman”? “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” As a standard rule for members of the opposite sex through most of my childhood...
“Be still and know that I am God” is actually bad news You better check yo self before you wreck yo self – Ice Cube (1993) I know this isn’t the quote you’d expect to see at the...
“Christian” is not an adjective I’m not going to lie. I hated English class. Being home-schooled by a grammar Nazi pretty much instilled this disdain in me from an...
Praying with Complete Confidence Ms. Clara walks into an emptied closet – her ‘war room’ has been made ready for the battle to begin. If you have seen the...
Evangelism: The Life-Blood of the Church Michael Green made a statement in concluding his look at the evangelism of the early church by saying, “Evangelism was the...