Readings and Psalm

Why do Christians read the Bible in worship? Well, predominantly so that we can understand our story. 

We read the Bible not just to hear the story of people long ago, but to understand our story: how we fit into the story of God, the story of His people, the story of His revelation in Christ, the story of our salvation. 

As Martin Luther said of the Bible: 

‘de te loquitur’, ‘it’s talking about you’. 

In the Old Testament, we learn our own history, are taught about our own creation, hear God addressing us, just as much as He addresses the prophets.

In the New Testament, we journey with St Paul and the other apostles into a deeper understanding of Christ our friend, learn how to be His Body, and hear our own future foretold, as saints in His coming Kingdom.

And in the Gospel, Christ comes to each and every one of us  once more, and says, ‘Follow me.’

We read the Bible together, not just with the people in the pews next to us, but the people of God down the generations, and the people of God who appear in its pages. It is a gift from God.

Hymnody 

We’ve already spoken about singing a bit.

Hymnody, our hymn-singing, is also essential. 

We do it for various reasons—hymns teach us, help commit things to heart and to memory in a way that spoken words alone can’t, hymns build our community and fellowship as together we sing unto the Lord—but perhaps the most obvious and important reason we sing hymns is, simply, worship. 

As we’ve said, our primary call as human beings is to worship our Creator; and how natural it is for heartfelt worship to bubble up into song. And that doesn’t simply mean joy all the time, it can mean lament and confession, as well as thanksgiving, praise  and wonder. Hymn-singing touches something deep within us in a way that words alone barely can.