Areas Of Challenge In Free-church Worship

Worship renewalists of the free-church tradition face the difficult task of changing their congregations' understanding of worship in a number of key areas. Unhealthy practices present a challenge for those who would restore a more biblical and historic perspective to the worship of these churches. An unreasoned and faulty understanding of the nature and purpose of worship, combined with the influence of the culture in which we live, have produced a variety of unhealthy worship practices which are found most often in churches of the free-church tradition. These forms are often result in weak, dry, or boring worship services and fail to produce a vital encounter between the worshiper and God. This discussion deals with some of the problems to be found in the worship of many such churches. Sermon-centeredness. The sermon has become the most important part of the worship service. Preaching and worship are not synonymous. A worship service is much more than believers gathering to liste…