Hear David Mathis’ words about the importance of worship:
Corporate worship is the single most important means of grace and our greatest weapon in the fight for joy, because like no other means, corporate worship combines all three principles of God’s ongoing grace: his word, prayer, and fellowship. It is corporate worship, with its preaching and sacraments and collective praises, confessions, petitions, and thanksgivings, which most acutely brings together the gifts of God’s voice, his ear, and his body. . . .
One important distinction between public worship and the “private worship” of personal Bible intake and prayer is the place of our initiative. initiative. Corporate worship reminds us that our faith is fundamentally receptive, not of our own initiative. In private devotions, we lead ourselves in some sense. In corporate worship, we’re made to receive the leading of others.
In private worship, we’re in the driver’s seat, in some sense. We decide what passage to read, when to pray, what to pray, how long to linger in Bible reading and meditation, what songs to listen to or sing, what gospel truths to preach to ourselves, and what applications to consider. But in corporate worship, we respond. We follow. Others preach and pray and select the songs and choose how long to linger in each element. We’re positioned to receive.
It is a wonderful thing in our personal devotions to make such choices, but it is also good for us to practice engaging with God when someone other than ourselves is making the calls. Corporate worship demands that we discipline ourselves to respond, and not only pursue God on our own terms. It is an opportunity to embrace being led, and not always taking the lead.
David Mathis, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines (pp. 156-157, 162). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
