How Shall We Worship? (Vital Questions)

How Shall we Worship? by Marva Dawn. Library section 6C: Church Growth and Planning, Worship. In this book, the author explores why Christians too often fight over worship. So think for a minute. What is our primary evangelistic tool? Is it......
....our worship style (blended contemporary-traditional)?
....the type of music we sing and play?
....an electronic church sign (if only we could afford it)?
....an attractive building and grounds?
....reading hymn lyrics on the altar wall rather than in hymnals?
....our church communications like our newsletter, brochures and social media?
....an active evangelism team?
....reaching out to the community?
....our pastor’s bubbly personality, her age or gender?
....our musicians?
....our bible show more studies?
....our prime location?
....how worship meets our needs?
....how worship meets the needs of our visitors/newbies?
....a wide variety of ministries?
....a well-attended youth program?
....small group activities for singles, seniors, the bereaved?

None of these. Marva Dawn says our primary evangelical tool is the corporate life of our believing community. What does this mean?
If our worship is rich with the splendors of God; full of blessing and praise to God; when it is aimed toward God, not toward fulfilling our own or our visitors’ needs; when we celebrate fellowship with the Triune God through Holy Communion; when we praise, lament, and pray to God as one body, when we hear God’s Word proclaimed, then we are evangelizing. Many of us, including me, hadn’t realized this; we get so caught up in the list of so-called evangelistic “needs” above.
This corporate life is very attractive to others because when we worship we invite others to worship as part of us. We teach each other, our neighbors, guests, and our children what worshiping God is, so we’d better have a very clear idea of what worship means, how to properly worship, and where the focus must always be (on God, not on us). God equips us not just to GO to church one hour a week, but to BE the church all day long, week in, week out. When we are thus equipped, we are part of the corporate life of our believing community, each of us an evangelist. I guess we can cross an electronic sign off our list of needs! show less