10 Worship Guidelines from the Early Church

By Dr. Lee Martin McDonald


1. Worship Involves Sacrifice
In New Testament times, worship consisted initially of sacrifice (of animals). However, the focus of worship for Christians is on self-sacrifice in honor and adoration of Christ (Mark 8:34-36). Worship appears to be the total response of grateful persons to the grace of God that comes to us in the work of Jesus Christ (see Romans 12:1-2). It is no longer related to the temple notion of animal sacrifice, but rather, in Christ the whole Church has become a temple and a priesthood inhabited by the Holy Spirit or presence of God (see 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:19-22; and 1 Pet. 2:9).

2. Worship Is Spiritual
Even though worship does involve rituals, our worship, from a New Testament perspective, is essentially spiritual (see 1 Pet. 2:5; Rom. 12:2). It was an internal attitude rather than a practice of external rituals. This understanding is also found in Isaiah 1:11-20 and Psalm 51:15-17.


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