WORSHIP WITH THE WORD

The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word. ~1 Samuel 3:21



God reveals Himself to us through His Word, by the illuminating power of His Holy Spirit. Worship, which is emotion grounded in a right knowledge of God, must start at Scripture.

Bible-centered preaching, then, is just as much a part of worship as singing. When the Word of God is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit applies it to the hearts of believers, and joy is a result. Pastors, teachers, and leaders have been given the ponderous and wonderful duty of faithfully proclaiming the Word with the both the minds and hearts of their hearers in view. Jonathan Edwards said of his preaching, "I should think of myself in the way of my duty, to raise the affections of my hearers as high as I possibly can, provided they are affected with nothing but truth." It's what John Piper called "expositional exultation," and its at the heart of biblical worship. Theology always leads to doxology.