Principle Three: In Worship God Speaks And Acts

If worship is truly rooted in the gospel and celebrates Christ, then we can expect a divine action to occur in worship, revealed through words and signs. The Word as Reminder of God's Presence There are a number of passages that accent the importance of the Word of God in worship. Very early in the biblical story we read that in the wilderness at Mount Sinai Moses "took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people" (Exod. 24:7). The people of Israel did not have a Bible in the same sense that we do today. Yet, the Book of the Covenant served as their Scripture because it contained "all the Lord's words and laws" (Exod. 24:3). It represented the living Word of God and the agreement he had made with them. By reading the Book of the Covenant, Israel was reminded once again that God, out of love, had chosen them and called them up out of Egypt to be a holy and unique people for himself. Apparently the reading and comments at Mount Sinai concentrated on a rehearsal of God's savin…