Is Your Worship Service Inspiring?

I recently had the wonderful experience of visiting the Eric Liddell Museum in Tianjin, China. You may remember Liddell as the Christian athlete whose story is told in the movie Chariots of Fire. As I walked through the displays, I could almost hear the theme song playing in my mind, and I wanted to go outside and run around the track he built for the community.

Eric Liddell’s story is inspiring. It not only makes me want to run; it makes me want to serve Jesus more. That is what inspiration does—it moves us to respond.

The idea of Inspiring Worship Service makes sense, and there’s no wonder it is one of the eight quality characteristics of a healthy church. Why wouldn’t we want our worship services to be inspiring?

But what exactly does that mean? Let’s unpack it by asking three questions:

• What is an inspiring worship service?

• What do we want to inspire people to do?

• What does an inspiring worship service look like?

One definition of inspiring is “to fill people with hope, courage, or a strong desire to act, create, or improve themselves.” That definition gets us started, but in worship our focus must shift from simply improving ourselves to getting on God’s agenda and bringing Him glory.

So, what do we want to inspire people to do?

The goal is not simply to inspire people to change, though change will certainly be part of it. We want people to encounter God, respond to Him, and leave with a greater desire to know, love, and follow Jesus.

Why do people come to your church? A myriad of things may initially bring someone through your doors, but whatever brings them there, our greatest hope is that they encounter the living God while they are there.

Imagine a worship service where people genuinely encounter God and are changed by that encounter.

Hopefully, that experience doesn’t end when the service does. Worshipers leave inspired to offer themselves as “a living and holy sacrifice” (Romans 12:1), moving worship from the church building into their homes, workplaces, schools, and communities.

The next question is a little more challenging because there is no single correct answer: What does an inspiring worship service look like?

I’ve been inspired in the weekly contemporary setting of my church, and I’ve also been inspired while singing a Latin Mass with my college choir. One model or style is not necessarily more inspiring than another. Inspiring worship is not primarily about style. But there are some underlying principles we can consider as we plan our weekly worship experiences.

Ask yourself:

• Does your service invite participation or observation? Worship is not something we come to watch; it is something we come to do.

• Does your service lead people to think about and admire Jesus—

  or the people leading the service?

• Is your service built upon a biblical foundation that helps people encounter God and hear Him speak through His Word?

• Does your service include appropriate creativity and variety, or have you fallen into the same weekly routine?

• Do you utilize various people to help lead in worship, or do the same people remain in front of the congregation week after week?

• Is there room in your worship for wonder, expectancy, and awe, or has

  familiarity made the service overly predictable?

• Do people look forward to gathering for worship? Worship may sometimes lead us to tears, conviction, and brokenness over sin, but an encounter with the living God should ultimately leave us grateful that we have been in His presence.

An inspiring worship service is about much more than getting people to show up, sing, listen, or enjoy the service. Ultimately, it helps people encounter God, respond to God, and carry their worship of God into everyday life.

And when that happens, people don’t simply leave saying, “That was a great service.”

They leave wanting to know Jesus more and become more like Him.

What could you change in your worship service that would help people more fully encounter and respond to the living God?