One of the primary challenges that modern-day Christians face is that the secular worldview which permeates American culture is continually working to move Christ from the throne in our lives and push him to the periphery. The good news is as James K. A. Smith writes: Christian worship is the imagination station the church needs to be leveraging to keep our lives centered on God and His Kingdom. In this video, Dr. Eaton presents five steps that pastors and church leaders can implement to cultivate God-centered worship and encourage the realization of the historic Christian worldview in the twenty-first century church.
- Employ biblical principles in corporate worship along with teaching the biblical message.
- Keep God the central agent of worship.
- Plan worship for God and His glory.
- Foster a God-fearing atmosphere.
- Gain an historic Christian understanding of beauty and meaning in the arts.
Recommended Reading
Block, Daniel I. For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014.
Chapell, Bryan. Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009.
Johnson, Terry. “God-Centered Worship.” Tabletalk Magazine. Accessed on June 29, 2020. Available from https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2005/01/god-centered-worship/; Internet.
Keller, Timothy. Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism. New York: Viking, 2015.
Lawson, Steven. “Worshiping the Triune God.” In Light and Heat: A Passion for the Holiness of God. Ligonier Ministries, 2011, DVD.
Smith, James K.A. You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2016.
I especially like the comments about reaching the culture around us when we worship but we are not to make the culture’s ideas misplace Christ as the center. That is happening too much these days. The rationale is we need to use the worlds ways to bring the people in so we can introduce them to Christ. Jesus said if you lift HIM up, He will draw people to himself so we need to be very careful to keep Christ as the center of worship and allow people to see us worship Him. He us worthy of ALL our praise.