Worship is fundamental to the mission of the Christian church. To worship God is to act out our obedience to the God who has revealed himself to us, called and claimed us as his people. In worship the initiative lies with God and the focus is on God. God and God's redemptive and creative work are both the object and the subject of worship. To worship is to re-enact the gospel in its fullness and simplicity.
     In worship we discover and express our identity as God's people, we participate in the ongoing redemptive work of God in the world and we offer ourselves anew to the One who has created, redeemed and sustained us. We worship because of who we are and who God is.
     The dominant character of Christian worship is praise of God. Because of who God is, what God has done, and what God has promised to do, it is in order for us to praise God for that steadfast love which is peculiar to God.
     Christians worship in the name of Jesus Christ: in the power of Jesus Christ and in the freedom of Jesus Christ. Jesus through his birth, life, death and resurrection offered up perfect worship to God, and as Christians we are free to participate in that perfect expression of praise. Therefore, the life and ministry of Jesus Christ is central to Christian worship, and all Christian worship seeks to reflect and be shaped by that life and ministry. Jesus Christ is the living Word whose presence and spirit alone make valid all of Christian worship.
     As human beings we also realize that we worship out of a sense of need. We are not sufficient unto ourselves, and we experience a sense of completeness and fulfillment through the encounter with and worship of our Creator. To worship is to be fully human.
     Christians can worship God at any time, for all time has been redeemed by him in Jesus Christ. From the beginning of Christian worship, however, one day has been set aside for corporate worship: the Lord's Day. This day is the first day of the week and it was designated as the proper day for corporate worship of Christians because it was the day Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. It was "on the first day of the week" that the followers of Jesus discovered the empty tomb and met the risen Lord. Hence the day appointed for Christian worship is a remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus. Each Sunday is understood by Christians at worship to be an Easter day; every time of corporate worship is understood to be a celebration of the victory of God acted out through the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
     The Lord's Day also commemorates the first day of creation. On the first day of the week God began creation, and likewise on the first day of the week God began his "new creation." Hence this day is seen as being basic to all good. God created the world and pronounced it good; in Jesus Christ God redeemed the world and claimed it anew for its goodness. Christians worship on the Lord's Day remembering and celebrating God's creation and redemption: God's creating the world and proclaiming it good and God's decisive action in making all things new and good. By designating one day as the Lord's Day Christians show forth what is true for all days and all creation: Jesus Christ is Lord of all creation.