The Center of Our Worship

Before the Reformation, Scottish churchgoers did not hear the Word of God in a language they could understand, nor could they read it for themselves.

The Center of Our Worship

This week's devotions are written by my friend Jessica Hermann, former director of our college ministry at Great Hills Baptist Church.

- Pastor Danny

During our Scottish Reformation tour, our guide took us into a local museum which had a section devoted to the Reformation's history.

In the museum, we saw this beautiful wooden pulpit up on the wall. The plaque next to it says, "The Reformers placed the pulpit in the center of the church, bringing the Word of God and the sermon into the center of their worship."

On the same wall as the pulpit hung an hourglass on display that was formerly attached to the pulpit. This was for pastors to time their sermons, most of which were over three hours long! And you know what?

I bet the time flew by, especially for these people who had previously had the Word of God concealed from them for so long. Now it was available to them in their own language and preached to them so they could understand!

Remember that before the Reformation, those who came to church in Scotland did not hear the Word of God in a language they could understand. Nor could they read the Word of God for themselves. Access to the Scriptures was exclusive for an elite group of influential leaders. What evil to withhold the hope of the world and the words of life from people based on socioeconomic status, education, and gender. This meant that the people attending mass in Scotland couldn't even confirm that what they were being told about God and the Bible was even true. As you can imagine, this created mass manipulation and false teaching.

So when the reformers preached, they preached in English, not Latin. And they moved the pulpit right to the center of the church as a powerful visual that the Word of God is central to the gathering of believers. I find this to be an awesome picture to help us orient our hearts toward what really matters in a worship service. Furthermore, what does it look like for the Word of God to be central not only in our church services but in our lives?

Making the Word of God central to your life is a topic we could unpack for days, so I will just offer a few thoughts.

Centering your life on God's Word means to orient your life around Christ–who He is and what He has said. If the Word of God is central in your life, you voluntarily and joyfully choose to submit yourself to it wholeheartedly.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness," so we know the life centered on God's Word welcomes teaching, reproof, correction, and training for oneself, not just how one can correct others.

When life's troubles come and suffering ensues, the life centered on God's Word takes refuge and peace in truths like 1 Peter 5:10, which reminds us of God's power over our suffering, and 2 Corinthians 1:3-9, which speaks to purpose in our suffering.

What else shall we center our lives around? I'm reminded of Peter's words to Jesus when asked if the disciples wanted to leave like the crowds had. "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'" (John 6:68)

It has been a pleasure to relive my Scottish Reformation Tour with you this week. To end the week with a laugh, please enjoy my favorite plaque that I saw in Edinburgh.

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Podcast of the Week

Let's Talk Story, Pt. 2

Everyone loves a good story! God has embedded within the human mind and heart enjoyment of great stories. Jesus knew the power of stories, sharing parables throughout his ministry. In this episode, Pastor Danny continues discussing Paul's account of his testimony before a very hostile crowd, what we can learn from it, and how we can be bolder and better about sharing our own testimony with others.

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