Philosophy of Worship
Our worship services are traditional. A typical service includes announcements, worship music, using traditional hymns from the Trinity Hymnal, prayer, communion or baptism, and expository preaching.
We strive to help the congregation offer scriptural, simple, Spiritual, God-centered, historic, reverent and joyful, mediated, corporate, evangelistic, active and passive, Lord’s Day worship to the living and true God.
The Priority of Worship
God made all things for His own glory: “for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). In particular, as the Shorter Catechism reminds us, “man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” In other words, our reason for being — our purpose — is worship. The design of God in creation is to make us worshippers.
And the design of God in redemption likewise takes aim at God’s praise. In Ephesians 1, Paul explains that the whole sweep of human salvation, from election (1:6), through the present inheritance we have in Christ, having been brought to hope in Him (1:11), to the sealing of the Spirit for a future inheritance in heaven (1:14) is all “to the praise of His glory.”
Our reason for being — our purpose — is worship. The design of God in creation is to make us worshippers.
All things are made to worship. We are saved to worship. Worship is the focus of God’s plan for creation and redemption.
In keeping with this truth, corporate worship at FPCJ is both the instrument of our spiritual nourishment and health, and the ultimate goal of all that we do. It’s not one ministry among many; one activity among many. Much less is it simply the conventional and expected Sunday church routine, while the “real business” of the congregation happens elsewhere. Worship is our highest priority, the center of our Christian lives, and the principal instrument of our communion with Christ and one another.
Our Worship Principles
In light of the teaching of the New Testament our worship seeks to be scriptural, simple, and spiritual.
It is scriptural.
As a Reformed church, we are committed to the regulative principle of worship. That is, only that which is commanded in scripture, either by express statement, or deduced from it “by good and necessary consequence” (WCF 1.6), may be offered to God in corporate worship. Whatever is not commanded is forbidden. The rule of our worship is neither personal taste, nor historic tradition, but the Word of God alone. The Bible shapes our worship and determines every element of our services. Moreover, we are intentional in ensuring that the Bible saturates our services, from the call to worship, through the psalms and hymns sung, to the prayers prayed and the texts read and expounded. As has often been said of Reformed worship, at FPCJ, we sing the Word, pray the Word, read the Word, preach the Word, and see and touch and taste the Word in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Word of God is the center of our worship, because the God of the Word is its only object.
It is simple and spiritual.
Because we are committed to scripturally regulated services, worship at FPCJ embraces the radical simplicity of the New Testament pattern. The outward pageantry and complexity of the Old Covenant Temple services is gone, fulfilled in Christ. Today, in the age of the New Covenant, our worship is empowered and made effective by the fullness of the Spirit. We reject ostentation, and all attempts to manipulate emotion or embrace pragmatic marketing models in shaping our worship. Instead, we look for simplicity in structure and style. We do not want our services to be a performance, but an instrument of spiritual communion with Christ through the means of grace. Our intent is not to impress others with our musical prowess, but to bring glory and praise to Jesus Christ.
Our Worship Practice
At FPCJ we seek to implement these principles in services of corporate worship that are marked by the following characteristics:
Sabbath
We are committed to the weekly rhythm of morning and evening worship, as we consecrate the Sabbath Day to the Lord, beginning and ending the Day together under God’s Word. Often our morning services are spiritual high-water marks in our Christian lives and our fellowship as a church, while our evening services are marked by corporate joy and a deep and growing love for the ministry of the Word of God. Morning and evening worship at FPCJ makes the Lord’s Day a glimpse of heaven.
Gospel Shaped
In scripture, solemn assemblies for covenant renewal featured a pattern of dialogue between God and His people. Our worship seeks to arrange the elements of the service to reflect that pattern. Moreover, in keeping with the best examples of historic Reformed liturgy, our worship services follow the contours of the gospel itself: we begin with God and His glory and praise, then, as we see our sin in His presence, we confess our guilt before Him. Next, through the gospel, we receive the assurance of sin forgiven. Having been forgiven in Christ, we respond in praise and in giving. Then God instructs us by the reading and preaching of His Word, and we respond in prayer and praise. And finally, God sends us out into the world with His benediction.
Transcendence
In an effort to reflect the biblical emphasis on worship that exalts the majesty and transcendent glory of the Triune God, our two morning services are formal and feature a full liturgy, a robed choir, and a pipe organ. We sing the great psalms and hymns of the faith from the Trinity Hymnal. Occasional use is made of brass or strings.
Intimacy
In an effort to reflect the biblical emphasis on worship as the gathering of the family of God, our evening service has a simplified liturgy, and an intimate, more relaxed atmosphere. A young children’s address, acoustic musical ensembles, a blend of traditional and contemporary hymns and songs, and our student choirs are regularly employed in our evening worship.
Excellence
To support and beautify our praises, FPCJ works hard at musical excellence. Committed to training the next generation to love the praise of God, we have choirs for every age group, from children’s and youth choirs, to the weekly sanctuary choir for adults. We have a brass ensemble, various strings ensembles, solo vocalists, as well as several music teams that serve our more contemporary music on Sunday evenings.
Intentionality
FPCJ is purposeful in using and celebrating the musical gifts of our members. We have a long tradition of “special” services when the music and choir take an especially prominent role. Every year, a “Music of Christmas” Sunday evening service takes place. Modeled on the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College Cambridge, this service works with players from the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, our own in-house musicians and sanctuary choir, and proclaims the gospel in song, in the familiar scripture “lessons,” and with a short, evangelistic homily, to very large congregations. In many years, typically in the fall, another special Sunday evening service of choral song takes place, celebrating some specific aspect of gospel truth. Additionally, FPCJ has served the churches of the Mississippi Valley Presbytery by hosting a joint Reformation Day evening service with a joint “presbytery” choir and special accompaniment.
Pastoral Help
If any of our pastors, elders or deacons can be of any assistance to you in any way, please do not hesitate to ask for help. That is what we are all here for and would be delighted to help anyone in need. Please contact us at info@fpcjackson.org. We would love to hear from you.