The Heart of Sunday Worship: The Call to Worship
One of my favourite phrases to hear growing up was when my mother would call out, “Dinner’s ready!” It signalled that time of the day when our household of 10 would gather and get fed! It prepared us for what could be called, an ‘order of service.’ We washed our hands, we sat up, we gave thanks, we ate, we laughed, we were dismissed.
Well, our Sunday services are a lot like that. We are a family in Christ who gather and get fed. Each part of the service should forward our enjoyment of Jesus to the glory of God. We’ll look at other elements in weeks to come, but here I want to remind us of the significance of the beginning of our service, the ‘Call to Worship.’
Psalm 95:1-3 says,
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”
On Sunday, we are led into a time of singing through an invitation that mimics this ancient call of God’s people. As the gathered church, we have come in a unique way into the presence of God, and he is a great God – a great King above all! The call to worship reminds us of this. It is the moment that signals we are to drop what we are doing and sit up at the table of Christ’s blessings. It is a time to orientate our minds and hearts towards accepting the graces of God through every succeeding element of the service.
My encouragement from this thought is that as a family in Christ, we should take seriously being on time to receive the Call to Worship. Now I know every Sunday is different and I don’t want us to presume anything about anyone who comes through late. For all we know, they could be the Good Samaritan to someone on the way, not the Priest who passed by to “get to church on time.” What I am saying though, is that ‘a’ way for us to reverence God and love one another is by gathering on time. As a family with 5 kids, we know the morning struggle. What Kat and I find helpful is to prepare our kids the night before. We pray about being eager to meet with Christ and his people, and we prepare the kids’ outfits so there’s no choice to make in the morning.
I hope this encourages us all to likewise, be eager to gather as God’s family and enjoy the meal!
Written by Ben Taylor, Elder