October 2013

At the Salutation and Benediction, the pastor raises his hands before the congregation. What is the meaning of this gesture? The Salutation and Benediction mark the opening and the closing of the service. At the salutation, God, through the minister, pronounces His blessing on the congregation. It is important to recognize that the “grace and peace” pronounced at the salutation is not from the minister but from God. Likewise, the blessing pronounced at the benediction to send people out from the meeting is also a pronouncement from God, not from the minister. The laying on of hands symbolizes blessing. In Genesis 48, when Jacob blessedRead More →

The dialogical principle is one way of talking about our approach to worship. The dialogical principle teaches us that our worship is a conversation, a dialogue between God and His people. Our highest created purpose was fellowship and communion with God as His beloved people, and Biblical worship models that. Biblical worship, therefore, is not just us talking about how we feel about God, or worse talking to ourselves about ourselves. It is talking to God and hearing Him speak to us. So we open with God’s summoning us to worship, which we answer with a hymn (the Gloria Patri) and a prayer to HimRead More →