Covenant Theology: The Worship of the Church

(Sermon Number Twenty-four)

by

James E. Bordwine, Th.D.

Introduction

This series of sermons on Covenant Theology continues with an examination of the worship of the Church. What is the Covenantal or Reformed perspective on the worship of God? What do we believe is taking place when the congregation gathers on Sunday morning? In a previous sermon, I talked about the mission of the Church and stated that I had in mind the ministry that the Church is carrying on in this world as She relates to fallen man. The worship of the Church, however, is not a matter that concerns fallen man; it is a matter that involves the redeemed of Christ acknowledging the God of the Bible as our God. Therefore, I want to say that my remarks in this sermon are made from the perspective of the Church as She relates to God. And I would add that in this sermon, I will be speaking of formal worship only; that is, my subject is the worship that the organized Church renders at set times and in set places. I am not concerned with private or family worship; what I have to say is to be understood within the context of formal public worship only.

I am going to treat this matter of the worship of the Church under three points. First, I will talk about The Nature of Our Worship. My concern in this first point will be to establish a foundation for the consideration of this subject. I will concentrate on defining worship and on applying that definition to the God of the Bible. Second, I will talk about The Regulation of Our Worship. Under this second point, my objective will be to show that the proper worship of God is a matter of revelation. Third, I will examine The Character of Our Worship. Here I plan to mention a few of the important marks of Christian worship as the Bible describes this duty. Obviously, there is much that could be said on this subject, but I will use these three points to cover some of the most essential ground.

01. The Nature of Our Worship

The very first thing that I must deal with in this sermon is the matter of explaining the nature of worship. This point will be brief and will serve as a foundation for the following two points. In explaining the nature of worship, I want to state that the word “worship” means to ascribe worth to some object. Worship, then, involves the assigning of value, importance and excellence by one party to another party. In the formal sense of the word, when we worship, regardless of what the object of our worship is, we are assigning ultimate worth to that object; we are saying, in essence, that nothing else that we have encountered is more deserving of our devotion. Worship is given to whatever we have discovered is the greatest, the most wonderful, the most inspiring and the most impressive.

When we worship, we are acknowledging the superiority of that to which we are giving our attention and are, accordingly, debasing ourselves in the presence of that object. The very notion of ascribing or assigning worth to some object implies the lesser worthiness of the worshiper. When we worship, we are confessing our dependence upon that to which we are giving our attention and are, by inference, admitting that we have certain limitations; worship, therefore, tends to define roles and functions.

You've noticed, of course, that I have deliberately used phrases that are quite general. What I have said thus far is true of all expressions of human worship, whether the object be a deity, a block of stone or an idea. Using the description of worship that I've just offered shows that human beings have, indeed, worshiped, or assigned ultimate worth, to everything from imaginary deities to figures carved from rock to notions like Darwinism and Marxism. My purpose, of course, is not to continue talking about worship in general; my purpose is to talk about the worship of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Christian worship, the worship of the Church of Jesus Christ, is the ascribing of praise, adoration and thanksgiving to the God who has revealed Himself in the Scriptures. Christian worship is the recognition that this God is holy, sovereign and faithful. Christian worship is directed to this all-powerful and all-knowing God and to Him alone. Christian worship is reflective of His character and seeks rightly to reflect that which God has made known to us concerning our redemption.

This is where any discussion of the worship of the Church must begin. All worship must have a foundation, all worship must have a presupposition. Christian worship has as its foundation the character and works of a holy God who has revealed Himself in His Word and Christian worship has as its presupposition the belief that what God has revealed to us in His Word is truthful.

The God who has made Himself known to us in His Word is uniquely due our worship. This is why, of course, we find as first among the Ten Words of God, this law: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Ex. 20:3) God claims exclusive right to our worship. The background given to this and the other Commandments that follow in Ex. 20 is the display of God's might, purposes and holiness in the deliverance of the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Ex. 20:2) God points to what He is and what He has done to establish a claim of exclusive right to the worship of His people.

Our worship is concerned with these two matters. We desire to reflect God's character and God's works in our worship. And, in claiming exclusive right to our worship, God claims ultimate worth. This Commandment underscores the fact that there is only one God, only one Being with His attributes. The God of the Bible is uniquely glorious in all the universe and He is infinitely perfect.

A principle is to be observed at this point: If Christian worship is the ascribing or assigning of worth to the God of the Bible, then the manner in which this is done cannot be a matter of personal opinion or arbitrary practice. Christian worship, if my explanation of it is accepted and if we take seriously God's claim to exclusive worship from His people, cannot depend upon the whims of the worshiper, but must require additional instruction from God. If the God of the Bible demands exclusive worship from us, it is only reasonable to assume that He is particular about how He is worshiped. This leads to my second point:

02. The Regulation of Our Worship

The regulation of our worship follows from the nature of our worship. To put it another way, the object of our worship determines how we will worship. If worship is the ascribing of worth to the God of the Bible, if worship is to be reflective of God's character and works, which is exactly what is indicated by the brief background given for the Ten Commandments, then we must ask: How do we know what reflects the character and works of God? How do we know what pleases God when it comes to worship? Is there anyone who, apart from revelation from God, would be so bold as to stand up and say, “I know what reflects the character and works of God... I know what pleases God when it comes to worship”? Who would be so deceived as to think that he could make such claims without first hearing from the God who has demanded our exclusive worship?

Of course, you are thinking that no one would be so arrogant and bold as to say, “I know how God is to be worshiped and I don't need to hear from God first.” But is that so? Are not the churches of Jesus Christ filled with various elements and innovations that are all labeled as “worship” in our day? We all agree that the God of the Bible demands our exclusive worship and we all agree that we want to render unto the God of the Bible what He requires. But that is where the agreement ends. There is no continuity of worship among Christian churches today.

Even within the same denomination, a believer has no guarantee that all the churches follow a uniform pattern of worship. One church uses drama during its Sunday morning service while another church declares the use of drama unbiblical during the formal worship of God. One church hears a brief encouraging talk from the pastor while another church builds its worship service around the extended preaching of the Word. One church sings upbeat choruses projected upon the wall of the multi-purpose room while another church sings the Psalms only. One church observes the sacrament of the Lord's Supper three or four times a year while another church observes it weekly. One church strives for innovation and is willing to try just about anything to liven up the service and get the adrenaline flowing while another church believes that an emotional “high” for the worshiper is the last thing to be concerned about. The confusion over the question of what constitutes proper worship is a recent occurrence, historically speaking. Nevertheless, this confusion is growing at an alarming rate.

I want to point out three facts that should be considered in light of my description of the modern Church. First, all Christians are bound to worship the same God. Second, this God does not change. Third, the revelation given to us by this God is authoritative in all places and in all times. Do you see what these three simple facts, facts that would be accepted by any evangelical Christian, imply about our worship? They necessarily imply that Christian worship should be uniform. Christian worship should be largely uniform or consistent, not in terms of the time of day or the place of worship, but uniform in terms of what is accepted and practiced as Christian worship.

But, as I've emphasized, this is not the case. This leaves us with two possibilities: either God has left us a great deal of freedom in the matter of how He is to be worshiped, which would, of course, negate much of what I've just said, or God has been specific about how He is to be worshiped, but Christians simply have moved away from recognizing and implementing this truth. These are the only two options we have to explain the disparity of worship in the modern Church. I, of course, favor the latter explanation; Christians no longer recognize that God has been specific about how He is to be worshiped and, therefore, we are left to our own imaginations.

Simply put, the Reformed view, which we claim to hold in this church, is that God may be worshiped only as God says He may be worshiped. This is not a difficult concept to grasp; it makes sense. Only the God who has demanded exclusive worship from His people can tell those people just how they are supposed to fulfill what He has required. Behind this idea is the conviction that God is particular about His worship and has not left open the question as if to allow us the freedom to determine how we are going to ascribe worth to the God of the Bible, how we are going to reflect His character and how we are going to reflect His works in our times of formal worship.

Where does this idea come from? Where in Scripture does God place restrictions upon His worship? We could turn, of course, to the incredibly detailed information given to us in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. To say that God is not particular about the manner in which He is worshiped is an idiotic statement in light of the information found in that portion of Scripture. There is another place, however, that gives us the essential principle that we are looking for without the extended application. I have in mind the next of the Ten Commandments. In the First Commandment, God requires our exclusive worship; in the Second Commandment, He says:

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Ex. 20:4-6)

Even in the simplest analysis, it is clear that this Commandment has to do with the regulation of the worship of God. God has demanded exclusive worship in the First Commandment and in the Second Commandment He immediately answers the question: Are we free to fulfill the First Commandment as we please? His answer is a resounding, No! God requires that we acknowledge Him as the only true God, but He does not leave up to us the business of expressing that acknowledgment.

Reflecting the culture in which the Commandments were given, God communicates in a manner that was easily understood by the Israelites. The Israelites were forbidden to worship God according to the practices of all the pagans around them. It didn't matter if all the other nations were worshiping their deities in a certain manner; it didn't matter if generations of human beings always had taken to themselves the liberty of determining how their gods would be represented before them and how those gods were to be worshiped. In this Commandment, the God of the Bible, the true God, the God who has just demanded exclusive worship from His people, declares that His worship is not a matter of human invention and He is not subject to whatever men in their creaturely wisdom might wish to espouse.

This Second Commandment, therefore, establishes the all-important principle that only God can tell us how He is rightly worshiped; this Commandment nullifies any thought on our part that we may worship God as we please. As soon as God told the Israelites that they were bound to worship Him and Him only in the First Commandment, He told them that it is not part of their responsibility as human beings to decide how they will worship Him alone. Historically, interpreters have stated that when a commandment forbids something, it also condones the opposite by way of implication. For example, when God commands “Thou shalt not kill,” He is, at the same time, commanding us to preserve and enhance life as much as we are able within Biblical boundaries. If we apply this long-accepted principle of interpretation to the Second Commandment, what do we find? If God forbids us to use our imaginations and creaturely skills to devise His worship, then He must be, by way of implication, also commanding us to rely on some other source; and that source can only be Him since there are only two parties in view here, the worshiper and the object of worship.

There is something equally plain in the Second Commandment. Notice how God draws a direct association between the keeping of this Commandment and His response to His people. On the one hand, the Lord says that the violation of this law will result in the visitation of His wrath upon the guilty and their descendants; on the other hand, the keeping of this law will result in an abundant outpouring of His favor upon those who obey and their descendants. The worship of God is no petty matter. It has immediate and generational implications. The worship of God is inseparable from the covenant experience; that's why is has generational implications. The whole point of Christ's atonement was to return man to a correct relationship with his Creator and redeemed man is supposed to give expression to that newly re-established relationship in the way he worships his Creator.

The way in which people worship betrays their view of God, for the good or for the bad. Our worship reveals what we believe about God and what we believe about ourselves in relation to God. Worship that is designed to please man indicates that man is being viewed as the dominate figure; worship that is designed to please God indicates that God is being viewed as the dominate Figure. This is an indisputable fact. Worship that is responsive to the “wants” of the congregationthey want shorter, more interesting sermons and they want “livelier” music, etc.is misguided. This is not to say, of course, that Biblical worship requires long, uninteresting sermons or funeral dirges in the place of hymns; but it is to say that our worship is not for our sakes, it is for God's sake, so to speak. Our worship is directed toward Him and must meet His standard. Our manner of worship, the level of our concern for pure worship and the place that worship occupies in our congregational life as compared to other issues all tell something about us. We have to be mindful of what that message is; we have to be interested in what legacy we are establishing as a church because those who come after us are going to inherit the consequences.

03. The Character of Our Worship

Under the first two points, I've said that the God of the Bible requires our exclusive worship and that He requires our worship to be according to His revealed will. Given these two ideas, how should Christian worship be distinguished? What qualities ought to be observed in worship that is based upon these principles? Another way to approach this issue is to ask: What are the characteristics of Biblical worship?

The book of Psalms is, of course, filled with material that was used in the worship of God. I've chosen a few brief examples from the Psalms that deal specifically with the worship of God. These examples illustrate an all-important God-centered characteristic for worship:

92: 1. It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High; 2 to declare Thy lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness by night, 3 with the ten-stringed lute, and with the harp; with resounding music upon the lyre. 4 For Thou, O LORD, hast made me glad by what Thou hast done, I will sing for joy at the works of Thy hands. 5 How great are Thy works, O LORD! Thy thoughts are very deep.

96:7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. 9 Worship the LORD in holy attire; tremble before Him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.” 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all it contains; 12 let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 before the LORD, for He is coming; for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His faithfulness.

100:1 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. 3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name. 5 For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations.

111:1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart, in the company of the upright and in the assembly. 2 Great are the works of the LORD; they are studied by all who delight in them. 3 Splendid and majestic is His work; and His righteousness endures forever. 4 He has made His wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.

These few verses could be multiplied many times over. Notice the themes that run through these passages. They speak of the lovingkindness, faithfulness, magnificence, wisdom, glory, holiness, sovereignty, goodness, mercy, majesty, grace and compassion of God. All the verses are concerned with some aspect of the character or works of God. Thoughts of God dominate these verses. The God-centeredness of these passages on worship leads to several important observations. First, notice that ascribing all these wonderful attributes to God is the worshiper's delight. You can hear the enthusiasm in these words as they are read; you cannot help but feel the writer's eagerness to broadcast the greatness of God. The writer knows who God is and what God has done and he knows that it is his duty and pleasure to recount the character and works of the Lord. True worship, worship that fits the pattern we have here, is worship that is God-centered; it is worship that arises from the heart of the redeemed. Worship is no drudgery in these passages; it is the fulfillment of the soul's longing.

Second, the greatness of God is what motivates the worshiper. The contemplation of who God is and what He has done in these passages drives the worshiper to such lofty expressions. God-centered worship, worship that is concerned with recounting the glory of the Triune God, enlivens the soul because such worship is a fundamentally natural declaration of the creature to his Creator; in one sense we can say that we were made to worship God. Therefore, nothing comes more naturally than for those who were made by God to turn toward Him and proclaim His many honorable attributes.

Third, worship that concentrates on the majesty of God produces a sense of reverence that is fitting for such an occasion. Notice how respectfully the writer describes God and how solemnly he recites the Divine qualities. Worship that is offered according to this Biblical pattern will produce an awareness of God's presence in the congregation and if that awareness of the presence of God is missing, then questions have to be asked. As we sing and pray and read Scripture and hear Scripture explained and receive the sacrament, we should have a sense of God. Biblical worship is directed toward Him and if this sense of God is lacking, how can we defend ourselves? How can we maintain that our worship is appropriate if it fails to confront us with the majesty of God? If we do not have the awareness of God that is so obvious in these passages from Psalms, we have to re-evaluate what we are doing. It is this sense of God that establishes the atmosphere for worship; our attitudes and behavior before and during the service reveal whether we understand that we are coming into the presence of God.

A fourth observation to be made concerning the pattern of God-centered worship given to us in the Psalms is that the worshiper himself occupies a decidedly subordinate position. The worshiper in these passages is the one adoring God; he is the one offering an accounting of God's character and works. No attention is focused upon the worshiper and his experiences and needs are mentioned only in connection with the glory of God; the worshiper never becomes the center of attention according to the Biblical pattern of worship; he always is seen as offering adoration and praise and thanksgiving. This, of course, has implications for the elements included in a worship service. However we incorporate those things that God says may be included in His worship, we must do it in a manner that keeps our attention on God.

Related to this observation is the idea that our worship involves humility on our parts. This quality is directly related to the idea that worship is to be God-centered. When a congregation worships the God of the Bible as He says He is to be worshiped, when their attention is focused upon His character and works, when they gather to rehearse God's act of redemption and have their standing in the Savior reaffirmed, then there will be an accompanying sense of humility. If worship is conducted according to the pattern we've been seeing, we can't help but feel humbled in the presence of our magnificent God.

A fifth observation to be made about God-centered worship has to do with the prominent element of joy that we find in passages that describe such worship. The passages to which I referred as I began this third point describe gladness for the worshiper and, at the same time, appropriate reverence for God. You will recall that the writers speak of being “glad,” of “singing for joy,” of “rejoicing” before the Lord, of “shouting joyfully to the Lord” and of “singing joyfully.” If we think that reverent, carefully planned worship must be, by definition, lacking in heart-felt joy, then we don't understand what worship is and we don't understand what real redeemed joy is.

The worship of God is festive, it is a reverent and holy celebration of who He is and what He has done for us. God-centered worship constantly directs our attention to God and it is the contemplation of God that produces the great joy that we read about in the book of Psalms. As we read such examples, we have to conclude that the manner in which this joy is expressed is not contrary to the solemnity of the occasion, nor is it disruptive in any fashion. These passages are describing the joy of the soul, joy that finds its primary and most significant expression in the heart of the worshiper. This doesn't exclude smiles on our faces as we contemplate God; it doesn't exclude all outward manifestations of gladness, such as the raising of hands at times. Worship should produce tremendous joy in us, but it is joy that is reverent; it is delight created in the soul as the worshiper pays honor to God.

Application

In the application, I first want to follow-up on several matters mentioned in this sermon. For example, I said that worship has a tendency to define roles and functions. I mean that our worship of God, when it is done correctly, reinforces our relationship to God as it is defined in the Bible. Biblical worship has all glory and all interest directed to God because He is God and because He is our Creator. When all the elements of our worship, from the Call to Worship to the Benediction, keep our eyes turned toward God, then we are going to be reminded throughout our service that we are the “lesser” in the relationship between God and His people; that is, we are the ones who are bound to give worship and God is the One who is entitled to receive it. In this way, we have our roles and functions in life reinforced each week and this, in turn, bears fruit throughout the week.

It's not difficult to see the implications of worship that is not done correctly. If our worship doesn't direct our attention to God, then it must direct our attention to man. There are only two parties in the event of worship. And if our attention is directed toward manhis needs, his wants and his pleasuresthen that will have regrettable repercussions for the rest of the week. Worship that is primarily man-directed will reinforce the wrong concept of our relationship with God; it will reinforce our “natural” tendency toward independence and rebellion. If a Christian doesn't submit himself to God during worship by putting aside his wants for the sake of paying proper honor to God, then we need not expect that he will set aside his wants at any other time during the week.

Another matter that I want to mention is the fact that there is an amazing lack of concern for purity in the worship of God among Christians today. Little by little, we have accepted this idea that as long as God doesn't directly forbid something, we can include it in our worship services. This philosophy has a tendency, over time, to progressively lower the standard for worship so that what was condemned by our fathers is acceptable to us and what is condemned by us will be acceptable to our children.

As modern believers have paid less attention to the Reformed principle of worship, certain consequences have arisen and those consequences have arisen ever so slowly because the principle in question hasn't been abandoned over night. As the consequences of drifting from a Biblical perspective on worship have arisen in the Church, they have been interpreted as a better doctrine than what was held by previous generations. This is how and why doctrinal error does so much damage in the Church. It doesn't immediately appear as error; it appears as a “freedom” once we begin to remove the theological shackles of prior generations. We end up thinking that we have discovered a more spiritual approach to God; we end up believing that our looseness is really more Biblical; we end up condemning those who worshiped God before us as too stern, lacking in joy and so forth.

Another word of application has to do with what the Second Commandment teaches us about the connection between the worship of God and the continuation of His covenant favor upon our children. In that Commandment, God promises to bless multiple generations following those who, as I understand it, take seriously His requirement of exclusive worship and His restriction upon how He may be worshiped. Given what we've learned about the importance of rightly worshiping God, given the generational implications of acceptable versus unacceptable worship, let me ask you: What should be the chief concern of a local congregation? What issue should be on the minds of those who comprise a church? If you were to ask these questions across the Church, you might be told that our chief concern should be how we are perceived by unbelievers or that our chief concern should be how many seats we can fill on Sunday morning or that our chief concern should be ensuring that those who attend our worship service leave with a particular sense of satisfaction. I would say that all of these things have their place in the ministry concerns of the local church, but they all take a subordinate position to the matter of how God is to be worshiped. That has to be our primary interest.

Of all the things that we can do as Christians and as a Christian church, our worship of God has the greatest potential for affecting our children and their children. Do you realize that the Second Commandment, the one dealing with how God is to be worshiped, is the only one that specifically includes a generational application? This is the only Commandment in which God specifically speaks of the blessings or curses that will come to future generations based upon how the present generation responds. This is something to pause and consider because it has implications for everything we do and everything we plan as a church. The spiritual well-being of future generations rests in our hands. If we will keep this in mind, maybe we will be eager to give a bit more attention to our worship and maybe we will be anxious to learn more even as we move cautiously in this matter.

Finally, I want to comment quickly on each of those five observations that came from the Psalm passages. The first observation was that God-centered worship is the worshiper's delight. Worship is not labor for us, nor is it something to be dreaded. Worship is something we should look forward to; it is an event that should be the highlight of each week. Whether worship is viewed in this manner by us says a lot about our lives and our spiritual conditions. When we easily find excuses for missing worship and when missing worship doesn't really bother us that much, something is wrong. The pattern of Biblical worship that we examined in those few passages from the book of Psalms hardly accommodate a neutral view of worship; those verses lend no support to the believer who doesn't consider the worship of God to be his chief weekly priority.

The second observation was that the greatness of God is what motivates the worshiper. If we were honest about this, we all probably would have to admit that the greatness of God is not always what motivates us in worship. We sometimes are moved by our surroundings or the music or other such matters. These all have their place in the event of worship, but they should not be ends in themselves; they should be means by which we further contemplate our magnificent God. We should sing with zeal and pray with passion and listen to the Word with expectation, but we should do so only because we are singing about God and praying to God and hearing from God.

The third observation from those Psalm passages was that God-centered worship produces a sense of reverence. The time that we are assembled for worship should be a time of order, respect and self-control. We are in God's presence when we worship and that is not the time for talking or fidgeting or day-dreaming; it is not a time for whining to our mommas or making faces at a friend across the isle or slouching in our seats. Worship is the time for our very best behavior, whether we are children or adults! We are in God's presence, so we should sit up straight, pay attention and participate by singing and reading and listening.

The fourth observation was that God-centered worship requires that the worshiper take a subordinate position and exhibit humility. This is what is truly difficult for fallen creatures. But there is no way to rightly worship God without acknowledging that we are but creatures who owe everything to a kind Creator. Worship is a time for us to forget about ourselves, in a sense, and see ourselves as part of the wonderful body of the redeemed. It is a time for us to honor God, not honor ourselves, a time to lift up His name and not our own.

The fifth observation was that God-centered worship is joyful worship. Communion with God is heaven; our worship is a foretaste of that everlasting communion we all will enter some day. Certainly worship should make us glad, but too often, Christians want this joy, they know they should have this joy when worshiping God, but they are confused about how it is to be produced. The joy and gladness described in the book of Psalms doesn't come from “catchy” songs or entertaining anecdotes from the pulpit. This joy doesn't flow from the external elements in the worship service; it comes from the heart of the sinner as he contemplates the greatness of his God and the wonder of his salvation.

Conclusion (preparation for the Lord's Supper)

As we come to the Lord's Table, let us recognize that the observance of this sacrament is an element of worship. This sacrament portrays our experience of redemption as it reminds us of how God sent His Son to live, die and live again for us so that we might have our fellowship restored. It is so appropriate to conclude our worship with the sacrament. We are here today because God has brought us back to Himself through Jesus Christ. All that we have done and heard this morning is indicative of our favorable relationship with God and that relationship stems from the atoning work of the Savior.

Give thanks for the restoration of your soul as you receive these elements. Give thanks for the fact that we who were lost are now able to worship God.