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Category Archives: Worship
The Importance of the Collection
I believe that if we do something in Christian worship, we need to be doing it not because we think it might be a good idea or helpful, but because it is something that the bible teaches us to do. … Continue reading
Posted in Old School Presbyterian Churches, The Collection, Worship
Tagged charity, elements of worship, giving, offerings, The Collection, tithes, Worship
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Should We Make Images of Jesus?
Should We Make Images of Jesus? The Relationship between the Second Commandment and Images of Christ The Following is a Brief listing of just some of the Reformed Evangelical witnesses that directly address the creation and use of pictures of … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Denominational Differences, Easter, Holy Days, The Puritans, Theological Declension, Worship
Tagged Holidays, Idols, Images, Images of Jesus, J.I. Packer, Nativity Scenes, Presbyterianism, Reformed Confessions, Reformed Theology, Second Commandment, Westminster Standards
4 Comments
Was Eric Liddell a Legalist?
Chariots of Fire is undoubtedly one of my favorite movies. It tells the story of two runners who competed in the 1924 Paris Olympics. One of those runners was a man by the name of Eric Liddell, a man dubbed … Continue reading
Samuel Miller’s Pastoral Theology
My own first contact with Samuel Miller, Old Princeton’s Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government, came many years ago when I read an essay that had a quote from his “Presbyterianism The Truly Primitive and Apostolical Constitution of the … Continue reading
Posted in Church Planting, Ecclesiology, History, Officer Training, Old School Presbyterian Churches, Ordination, Pastoral Theology, Pastoral Visitation, Seminary Education, Spiritual Declension, Spiritual Gifts, Worship
Tagged Ministerial Training, Old Princeton, Old School Presbyterians, preaching, Samuel Miller, Seminary, The Ruling Elder
2 Comments
Preparing Our Hearts For Worship
Many Christians report that, “they don’t get much out of worship” and that they find themselves listless, distracted, sleepy, bored, and unenthusiastic on Sunday morning. I am convinced, with the Puritans, that a major reason for this is a failure … Continue reading
Posted in The Means of Grace, The Puritans, The Sabbath, Worship
Tagged George Swinnock, J.I. Paker, Puritans, Worship
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Clarifying Addendum to “5 Reasons It Might Be Time to Leave the PCA”
Most of the critiques I’ve seen to date of our session’s post entitled “5 Reasons It Might Be Time to Leave the PCA” seem to misunderstand our points in sections two and four, so I’d like to briefly deal with … Continue reading
The Deceiver’s Top Ten Tips For Making Sure You and Your Family Have a Miserable And Fruitless Experience in Church this Sunday
If you’ve been a Christian for any period of time at all, you may have noticed that the more time you spend in church, the harder it is to fit in and feel comfortable with non-believers or to really enjoy … Continue reading
Posted in Apostasy, Compromise, Old School Presbyterian Churches, Pastoral Theology, Piety, Sanctification, Spiritual Declension, The Means of Grace, The Sabbath, Virtual Church, Worship
Tagged Apostasy, Backsliding, Deceiver, Devil, Going to Church, Hypocrisy, Lack of Growth, Lord's Day, Means of Grace, Sabbath, Satan, Spiritual Immaturity, Sunday
8 Comments
Why Do Christians Worship on Sunday and Not Saturday?
Why do Christian churches meet and worship on Sunday? After all, doesn’t the fourth commandment clearly say “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God?” So is Sunday worship just a Christian tradition? Did we not want … Continue reading
Posted in The Sabbath, Worship
Tagged Christians, Lord's Day, Sabbath, Sunday, Ten Commandments, Worship
4 Comments
What’s the Problem with our Singing?
While I love Old School Presbyterian worship, there is one part of it that seems to a be a problem wherever you go or whichever congregation you visit, and that’s our singing. We Reformed Confessional types do a lot of … Continue reading
Posted in Singing, The Means of Grace, Worship
Tagged Boredom, Church, Grace, Hymnody, hymns and spiritual songs, presbyterian worship, Psalmody, religion, Singing, Worship
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On the Origins of Easter
I noted in a previous post that Samuel Miller, the first professor of ecclesiastical history and Church Government at Princeton, New Jersey had been asked by the Presbyterian Board of Publication to write a book on what Presbyterians believed. When … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Easter, Holy Days, Old School Presbyterian Churches
1 Comment
WHY DO PRESBYTERIANS OBSERVE HOLY DAYS?
WHY DO PRESBYTERIANS OBSERVE HOLY DAYS? Dr. Samuel Miller, Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government at Princeton Seminary wrote confidently in 1835 “Presbyterians do not observe Holy Days.” 1 Yet some 164 years after the book in which Miller … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Easter, Holy Days, Old School Presbyterian Churches, The Puritans, Worship
Tagged Christmas, Easter, Holy Days, Presbyterians, Puritans, Worship
42 Comments
“What should the Church Teach Disciples to Observe?” (or why we don’t observe holy days in worship)
In looking over the posts here at BOSC, it occurred to me that we don’t much material explaining why Old School Presbyterians like myself don’t observe Holy Days like Christmas and Easter. In the following days, I’ll try to remedy … Continue reading
Posted in Christian Liberty, Christmas, Easter, Holy Days, Old School Presbyterian Churches, The Puritans, Worship
Tagged Christmas, Easter, Holy Days
5 Comments
Is a Virtual Church Really a Church?
For almost twenty years a cadre of brave, but largely unheeded, commentators such as David Wells and Udo Middelmann have been striving to alert Christians to the fact that church marketing gurus have fundamentally changed the pattern of evangelical churches. … Continue reading
Vestments
The Elements of Public Worship Appendix: Vestments “Under the apostles there was great simplicity in administering the Lord’s Supper. Their immediate successors made some additions to the dignity of the ordinance, which are not to be disapproved. Afterwards came foolish … Continue reading
Posted in Old School Presbyterian Churches, Worship
1 Comment
Some Meals Can’t Be Eaten “take-out”
Sometimes people ask if might be possible to take the elements of the Lord’s Supper to those who were not in the worship service or to simply have the pastor do a small “Lord’s Supper” service with the sick and … Continue reading
Occasional Elements of Worship: Religious Oaths, Vows, Solemn Fastings, and Thanksgivings Upon Special Occasions
The Elements of Public Worship Part VIII Occasional Elements of Worship: Religious Oaths, Vows, Solemn Fastings, and Thanksgivings Upon Special Occasions “Stated festival-days, commonly called holy-days, have no warrant in the Word of God; but a day may be set … Continue reading
Posted in Old School Presbyterian Churches, Worship
2 Comments
The Due Administration and Right Receiving of the Sacraments Instituted by Christ, Pt. 2 of 2
The Elements of Public Worship Part VII The Due Administration and Right Receiving of the Sacraments Instituted by Christ Pt. 2 of 2 “Q 169: How hath Christ appointed bread and wine to be given and received in the sacrament … Continue reading
Great Article by Sean Lucas on the “Church Calendar”
Sean Lucas of Covenant Theological Seminary has posted an excellent article on his blog on the essential incompatibility of Sola Scriptura and the Regulative Principle with the practice of observing invented Holy Days in the worship of church. Lucas notes … Continue reading
Posted in Worship
3 Comments
The Due Administration and Right Receiving of the Sacraments Instituted by Christ, Pt. 1 of 2
The Elements of Public Worship Part VII The Due Administration and Right Receiving of the Sacraments Instituted by Christ Pt. 1 of 2 Q92: What is a sacrament? A92: A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, … Continue reading
Posted in Baptism, Sacraments, The Means of Grace, Worship
3 Comments
Public Confession of Our Faith
The Elements of Public Worship Part VI Public Confession of Our Faith “The first part of 1 Timothy 3:16 runs: “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion’ (R.S.V). The Apostle then proceeds to quote the hymn in … Continue reading
The Singing of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs with Grace in the Heart, Part 2 of 2
The Elements of Public Worship Part V The Singing of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs with Grace in the Heart Part 2 of 2 “IT is the duty of Christians to praise God publickly, by singing of psalms together in … Continue reading
The Singing of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs with Grace in the Heart
The Elements of Public Worship Part V The Singing of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs with Grace in the Heart Part 1 of 2 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one … Continue reading
Posted in Old School Presbyterian Churches, Worship
7 Comments
The Attentive Hearing of the Word
The Elements of Public Worship – IV The Attentive Hearing of the Word Q. 160: What is required of those that hear the word preached? A. 160: It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they … Continue reading
The Preaching of the Word
The Elements of Public Worship – III The Sound Preaching of the Word “Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed, and … Continue reading
How Did Presbyterian Worship Become Episcoterian?
It would be a grave misunderstanding of Old School Presbyterianism (OSP) to think that it is essentially a reaction against contemporary theological movements in the church, or simply a conservative theological position that maintains that when it comes to the … Continue reading
Posted in Old School Presbyterian Churches, Worship
11 Comments
On Episcoterianism and Why Old School Presbyterians Reject Liturgies
Introduction: I decided some time ago to publish an article examining the appearance of a form of worship that incorporated the liturgy, church year, and worship practices of the Anglican church into Presbyterianism. This blended form of worship that I … Continue reading
Posted in Old School Presbyterian Churches, Worship
2 Comments
The Collection
The Elements of Public Worship The Collection “What Ought To Be Done in Meetings for Worship. Although it is permitted all men to read the Holy Scriptures privately at home, and by instruction to edify one another in the true … Continue reading
Who Should Do the Reading?
I received a private email this morning asking a follow-up question to the previous article on the reading of the scriptures in worship: “Who should be reading the scriptures in worship – “the minister” or “some other person” (PCA BCO … Continue reading
Posted in Old School Presbyterian Churches, Worship
7 Comments
The Reading of the Scriptures
The Elements of Public Worship Part II – The Reading of the Scriptures “READING of the word in the congregation, being part of the public worship of God, (wherein we acknowledge our dependence upon him, and subjection to him) … Continue reading
Prayer – Part 1
The Elements of Public Worship Part I – PRAYER “Offering prayer in public is an aspect of leading in worship that deserves focused attention. Because the Lord’s Day worship service is a public service, the prayers in these services are … Continue reading
Posted in Old School Presbyterian Churches, Prayer, Worship
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Building Old School Churches 