Worship Library Essays & Blog
Explore over three hundred curated essays on the Christian year, ancient-future worship, sacramental practice, and sacred music.
A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Actually Leads Worship
A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Leads How do you lead worship? The Holy Spirit, as counselor and as guide, directs the worship through the worship leader. The leader acts…
An Overview of Worship in the Southern Baptist Convention
The traditional hallmarks of Baptist worship have been the centrality of preaching, fervent singing, and extemporaneous prayer. Worship renewal in the Southern Baptist Convent…
Anointing with Oil
The act of anointing has a rich history in the Christian faith. In the Old Testament, anointings frequently accompanied blessings and ceremonies which indicated a passing of r…
What Is a Collect?
A collect is a prayer that “collects” the prayers of the people in summary fashion, places them in a context appropriate to the seasonal or thematic focus of the day, and offe…
The Daily Office for October 20, 2012
Scripture Readings Old Testament Song of Solomon 1:9-2:7 Psalm Psalm 20 New Testament Acts 28:17-31 Gospel Luke 9:37-50 Reflection In today's Gospel reading, Jesus, Peter, Joh…
The Daily Office for October 19, 2012
Scripture Readings Old Testament Song of Solomon 1:2-8 Psalm Psalm 17 New Testament Acts 28:1-16 Gospel Luke 9:28-36 Reflection Psalm 17 is termed a prayer because the languag…
The Daily Office for October 17, 2012
Scripture Readings Old Testament Jonah 1:17-2:10 Psalm Psalm 3 New Testament Acts 27:9-26 Gospel Luke 9:1-17 Reflection Likely written while still under persecution from Saul,…
The Daily Office for August 31, 2012
Scripture Readings Old Testament Job 9:1-35 Psalm Psalm 17 New Testament Acts 10:34-48 Gospel John 7:37-52 Reflection Today's psalm is David’s prayer to God for divine interve…
The Daily Office for August 26, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 113 Job 4:1-21 Revelation 4:1-11 Mark 6:1-6a Reading (Psalm 113) Psalm 113 Reflection This psalm is one of praise to the unique God of Israel. Like the two pr…
The Daily Office for July 22, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 103 Joshua 6:15-27 Acts 22:30-23-11 Mark 2:1-12 Reading (Acts 22:30-23-11) Acts 22:30-23-11 Reflection God doesn’t expect any one person to do all the work hi…
The Daily Office for July 3, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 126 Numbers 22:21-38 Romans 7:1-12 Matthew 21:23-32 Reading (Psalm 126) Psalm 126 Reflection Jesus said you can’t serve two masters. In this world, you’ll be …
The Daily Office for June 20, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 119:97-120 Numbers 11:24-35 Romans 1:28-2:11 Matthew 18:1-9 Reading (Matthew 18:1-9) Matthew 18:1-9 Reflection One of the most beloved of all Christmas carols…
The Daily Office for June 8, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 40 Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 Galatians 3:15-22 Matthew 14:22-36 Reading (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7) Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 Reflection After watching a documentary or news repor…
The Daily Office for May 30, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 128 Ezekiel 34:1-16 1 John 2:12-17 Matthew 10:5-15 Reading (Matthew 10:5-15) Matthew 10:5-15 Reflection Nothing is beyond God’s capability. This is a principl…
The Daily Office for May 29, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 120 Ezekiel 33:21-33 1 John 2:1-11 Matthew 9:35-10:4 Reading (1_John 2:1-11) 1 John 2:1-11 Reflection Many bad mistakes result from people with good intention…
The Daily Office for May 13, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 93 Leviticus 25:1-17 James 1:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 Reading (Luke 12:13-21) Luke 12:13-21 Reflection Prayers come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. Some, like p…
The Daily Office for May 6, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 24 Leviticus 8:1-36 Hebrews 12:1-14 Matthew 5:38-48 Reading (Luke 4:16-30) Luke 4:16-30 Reflection A missionary in Africa was teaching an adult Bible class, a…
The Daily Office for May 4, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 40 Exodus 34:18-35 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 Matthew 5:27-37 Reading (Exodus 34:18-35) Exodus 34:18-35 Reflection Think about the opportunities you have to reach…