Why do we do what we do in our collective church services? Why do we sing x amount of songs, pray at this time, or preach at this time? Where does it come from? Who decides? And, what are their decisions based on?
These are good questions that thinking Christians ask themselves and others. It is important to know the ‘why’ as well as the ‘what’ when we are thinking about worship.
As 21st Century ‘navely’ orientated folks, often times we look to ourselves and our lives for answers. The traditions we know. The experiences we’ve had.
When we do this we truncate our Christian history. And, we have a rich Christian history.
Enter Bryan Chapell. Chapell is pastoral, theological, and historical. He has the credentials to help people think through these things. He has the ability to write clearly and get our focus off of our collective evangelical navels and to look up, beyond the horizon, at the rich Christian history of worship.
In his book Christ-Centered Worship Chapell starts with the centerpiece of Christianity, the gospel. He shows how the gospel shapes everything. He labors to show that it must shape everything. He shows us that the gospel is to structure the corporate gathering of believers.
Then he walks us through a rich history lesson. He takes us through the years of the Roman Catholic Church and then on to the Reformation. It is fascinating reading as he contrasts Luther and Calvin’s respective convictions and practices with their liturgy (order of service). Both had the same overt goals but went after them slightly different. He then moves on to the time of the Westminster Divines and how things changed but yet stayed the same. Finally, Chapell intersects a bit with what has happened in the last couple of hundred years regarding the corporate gatherings of Christians. It is just fascinating stuff.
Pivoting out of history, Chapell shows the importantance of “representing” Christ’s story (the gospel) in our worship. He does his best to gather together the necessary wood to kindle and sustain Christ-Centered worship.
Pastors, in particular, with find the second half of the book very helpful. In it Chapell gives many examples of various elements of the worship gathering. He gives Scriptural and historical helps for the Call to Worship, Affirmation of Faith, Confession of Sin, etc. From a resource standpoint this is outstanding.
I have always enjoyed Chapell’s writing because he is so Christo-centric. This earns trust from me. I want to read and hear more because we are shooting at the same target. Even though Chapell is Presbyterian and I am more Baptistic he is a very helpful guide. I am always challenged and encouraged by his books. This is no different.
If you combine Christ-Centered Worship with his other book Christ-Centered Preaching you will be greatly aided in ministry. I still say that his preaching book is a top-5 in terms of everyday ministerial impact. His book on worship continues to help as well.
If you want to hear more from Chapell on this book see his video here.
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