Most Christians agree that God cares that we worship Him. But far fewer stop to ask how He wants to be worshiped. In today’s episode, we explore what Scripture actually teaches about corporate worship—worship gathered with the body of Christ—and why our worship must be shaped by God’s Word rather than cultural preferences or personal tastes.
Drawing from Scripture and guided by the insights of Ligon Duncan’s Does God Care How We Worship?, we’ll walk through three major pillars: the sufficiency of Scripture, God’s deep concern for His worship, and the helpful framework known as the regulative principle.
I. The sufficiency of Scripture
A. Scripture, not preference, must shape our worship.
B. 2 Timothy 3:16–17
C. 1 Corinthians 4:6
II. God cares deeply about how he is worshiped.
A. Worship must be willing, God-centered, and ordered.
B. God cares about the attitude behind worship.
C. Worship was the purpose of the Exodus (Ex. 3–5)
D. Worship is tied to the first Two Commandments (Ex. 20)
E. Bad Worship Examples
• Golden Calf (Ex. 32)
• Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10)
• King Saul (1 Sam. 13)
F. Jesus and Paul care about worship.
• Pharisees (Matt. 15:3; 23:23)
• Woman at the well (John 4)
• Paul to Colossae (Col .2)
• Paul to Corinth (1 Cor. 14)
III. The regulative principle of worship.
A. Substance — what worship Is made Of
B. Elements — what we are commanded to do
• Read the Word (1 Tim. 4:13)
• Preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:2)
• Pray the Word (Matt. 21:13)
• Sing the Word (Col. 3:16)
• See the Word — baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:26)
C. Forms — how we carry out the elements
D. Circumstances — practical logistics
Know & Do Application
• Sometimes the knowing is the doing.
• Know what Scripture teaches about worship.
• Find a church that worships biblically—and join joyfully in giving God the glory due His name.