{"id":458,"date":"2008-06-04T10:58:38","date_gmt":"2008-06-04T10:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2008\/06\/recommendation-5-choose-a-church-that-encourages-you-in-your-worship.html"},"modified":"2008-06-04T10:58:38","modified_gmt":"2008-06-04T10:58:38","slug":"recommendation-5-choose-a-church-that-encourages-you-in-your-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/06\/recommendation-5-choose-a-church-that-encourages-you-in-your-worship.html","title":{"rendered":"Recommendation #6: Choose a church that encourages you in your worship."},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 9 of series: Choosing a Church: Some Recommendations
\n<\/em>Permalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nThis recommendation might seem so obvious as to be almost not worth mentioning. What is a church, if not a place to worship? But finding a place where you can worship, truly worship, is not quite as simple as it sounds.
\nFor one thing, worship isn’t just sitting through a so-called “worship service.” It’s not listening to a sermon. It’s not evening singing songs and reading Bible passages. Worship, at its core, is intimate communication with God. It’s responding to God’s nature and activity by offering to God praise, thanks, honor, love, and, most of all, yourself. (I’ve had much to say about worship over the years, most of all in my series, The Soul of Worship<\/a><\/em>.)
\nSo, when you’re searching for a church home, look for a place where you can worship, where what happens in the service facilitates your offering to God. The main point isn’t the excellence of the sermon or the music. It isn’t even whether you like the worship services or not. Rather, the main point is whether a church helps you to offer yourself to God in the weekly gathering, and, by extension, in the rest of your life.
\nWhat helps people to truly worship God varies widely. I have dear friends who, though once in low-church, evangelical congregations, have found deep inspiration for their worship in Eastern Orthodox worship settings, with its elaborate liturgy and pageantry. I have other friends who grew up in very formal churches, but who have been set free to worship in free-flowing, band-led services full of praise songs and other contemporary expressions. And then there’s everything in between. (Photo: The Festival of Carols at Irvine Presbyterian Church, one of my favorite worship experiences.)
\nI don’t mean to imply that a worship service can be anything you want it to be. A true worship experience is focused on God, God’s grace, God’s nature, God’s activity, God’s love. It regularly holds up the good news of the gospel, in word, in song, in prayer, and in deed. It includes the reading and preaching of Scripture. The sacraments of communion and baptism and regularly shared. But these various elements of worship, which are common to all true Christian worship, can be experienced in a wide variety of genres and styles. I don’t care whether you go to a church that uses a choir and hymns or a band and praise songs or some combination. I do care that you find a church in which you are let to the throne of grace, where you might experience mercy and find grace afresh, and where you might offer yourself to God on a regular basis.
\nI must qualify what I’ve just said, however, if you’re something other than a single person. If you’re a member of a family, then you’re facing a potentially more complicated issue, because you need to find a church that facilitates the worship of your family, and not just yourself. This may be easy, but probably won’t be. These days, it’s quite possible that your spouse is moved to worship through a different style from the one you prefer. And if you have teenage children, as I do, it’s almost certain that their preferences won’t be the same as yours. So you may very well be looking for a church that offers a variety of worship experiences.
\nI’m not interested in debating in this post whether it’s good or not for a church to have diverse worship services. I’ll save this for another time. But, given what I’ve said above, you can probably surmise that I’m less concerned about the style(s) of worship in a church than I am about the understanding of worship and the way it is facilitated. A church with a right theology of worship and wise worship leaders will be leading people to offer themselves to God in their traditional service, their contemporary service, their blended service, their vanilla service, their chocolate-chip service, and who knows what else.
\nThese days, many churches have developed theological statements in which they discuss their understanding and practice of worship. If the church you’re considering has such a statement, it might help you discover whether this church is right for you. You can find an example of such a statement on the website of Irvine Presbyterian Church<\/a>, where I served as pastor for many years. The leaders of this church and I developed this statement primarily as a guide for our own worship. But it also helped potential new members learn what we believed and practiced.
\nIn the end, however, statements will only take you so far. You will only know if you (and your family) can truly worship in a given church by regularly joining the congregation in their worship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 9 of series: Choosing a Church: Some Recommendations Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series This recommendation might seem so obvious as to be almost not worth mentioning. What is a church, if not a place to worship? But finding a place where you can worship, truly worship, is not quite as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-choosing-a-church"],"yoast_head":"\nRecommendation #6: Choose a church that encourages you in your worship. - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}