Different churches have different arrangements for worship, but it usually begins with prayers and hymns, a reading of the testimonies and the Apostles' Creed, followed by a sermon, and ends with the Lord's Prayer and the benediction of the priest.
Some churches emphasize pre-service praise, which can last for more than an hour. But when some young believers go to the meeting, due to laziness or for the sake of saving time, they like to skip the previous parts of the congregation, which include reading the Bible, praying, and singing hymns. For them, the beginning of the service is when the default officiant declares the beginning of the service, so their requirement for themselves is to arrive before the sermon begins.
In addition, some elderly Christians who cannot walk easily or who are in a hurry to get to work always like to get up and leave during the Lord's Prayer session after the pastor's sermon or during the pastor's blessing prayer in order to avoid the crowd at the end of the meeting. That is to say, they have not yet heard the instruction to disperse, and they have already dispersed by themselves.
Whether it is late arrival or early leave, in fact, there is not enough reverence for the party. Little do we know that all the rituals and aspects of our worship count as our worship.
Nianci Yang, the wife of Pastor Hongjie Yu in the Silicon Valley Christian Assembly, said after a meeting, "Every part of the meeting is worship, whether it is the praise before the meeting or the announcement after the meeting. Sometimes, people sing hymns before the meeting, seemingly waiting for the arrival of the congregation, but in fact, this idea is wrong. Worship of God has already begun since the prayer and singing. Poetry worship is not a walk-on, and definitely not for waiting for a late congregation. And the pastors, the fellow workers, the group leaders, and the worshippers are all involved in this, because it is the worship of our Heavenly Father. When we begin to sing with our hearts, the Holy Spirit comes to us."
Yang found that although some people sat in the venue, they were absent-minded while looking at their mobile phones or saying a few words to the people next to them. Besides, their singing is also "inadvertent." She emphasized, "Do not underestimate the pre-meeting worship, because in hymn worship, a stream of the Holy Spirit is brought down. When the flow of the Holy Spirit passes through, even though you are present, you are not in the flow of worship, then the Holy Spirit cannot flow through your heart."
"Therefore, do not attend the meeting, feeling that it is okay to miss the poetry worship session. Let not your heart wander about because the bell of worship has not rung," she continued.
Some co-workers or believers attend more than one church, so they often compare different churches. Some people look critically at the worship services of each church they attend. For example, they feel that the chosen hymn is too old, no instruments can lead people into the atmosphere, and the leader is not professional enough in music. In this regard, Yang's attitude is that everyone should have respect for the rituals of worship in different churches and not arbitrarily criticize the rituals of a church. She advises worshippers to come to worship with the right mindset, "No matter which book the leader uses, whether it's too traditional or popular; no matter what instrument is used; whether the person leading the poem is professional enough or not, as attendees, we just need to immerse ourselves in it."
In addition, Nianci Yang also made two suggestions to the worship team.
Yang said worship leaders need to learn to "hide" themselves and not make worshippers feel like they are attending a concert. The duty of the worship leader is to bring the congregation together to worship God so as to draw them into Christ. Therefore, she pointed out that the leader should also pay attention to their clothes and makeup and not let the followers keep staring at the stage because of their appearances, which will hinder the worship of God.
Moreover, most of the colleagues who lead worship have perfectionist tendencies. Yang believes that "the worship team should be fully committed, faithful, and prepared when practicing."
"When you really worship, you get up there and forget all about it. It doesn't matter if their fellow workers are wrong in their singing or in their gestures. Don't blame each other, because our purpose is to bring glory to God. Members of the worship team must not offend their brothers by pursuing perfectionism in worship."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
对于礼拜的仪式，不同的教会会有不同的安排。但通常是先有祷告和诗歌赞美，宣读启应经文和使徒信经，然后是讲道，结束有主祷文和牧师祝祷。
有些教会很注重会前赞美，赞美可以长达一个小时以上。但有些年轻信徒去聚会时或因为懒惰，或想节约时间，喜欢把前面会众一起读经、祷告、唱诗歌的环节略掉。默认主礼宣布聚会开始才是礼拜的开始，给自己的要求是讲道开始之前赶到。
另外，有些走路不方便的老年基督徒，或着急赶着去工作的基督徒为了避开散会时的拥挤，总是喜欢在牧师讲道之后的共诵主祷文环节或者牧师祝福祷告的时候起身离开。也就是说还没有听到“散会”的指令，就已经自行散开了。
无论是迟到的，还是早退的，其实都是对聚会没有足够的敬畏。殊不知，我们做礼拜的所有仪式和环节都算是我们的敬拜。
在北美牧会的于宏洁牧师的师母杨念慈师母在一次聚会后说，“聚会的各个环节都是敬拜，无论是会前赞美，还是会后的通知。有时候，大家在会前领诗，看似在等着会众的到来，其实这样的想法不对。从祷告唱诗开始，对上帝的崇拜就已经开始了。诗歌敬拜不是跑龙套，绝对不是为了等待迟到的会众。并且，无论是牧者，还是同工，还是小组长，还是敬拜者都要同心参与其中，因为这是敬拜我们的天父。当我们开始用心唱诗，圣灵就已经来到我们中间。”
杨发现有些人虽然坐在会场，却心不在焉，一会儿看看手机，一会儿跟旁边的人说几句话，唱诗也是“有口无心”。但她强调，“不要轻看会前的诗歌敬拜，因为在诗歌敬拜中，会有圣灵的流被带下来。当圣灵的流经过的时候，即使你在现场，却不在这个敬拜的流里面，那么，圣灵就无法流过你的心。”
因此，参加聚会不要觉得错过诗歌敬拜环节没有关系。也不要因礼拜的钟声还没有响起，就任凭自己的心四处游荡。
有些同工或信徒参加过多所教会的敬拜，因此很容易会去比较。有人每到一个教会就用挑剔的眼光来看待这个教会的敬拜仪式。比如觉得诗歌选择过于老旧，没有乐器不能带领人进入氛围里，带领者在音乐上不够专业。对此，杨的态度是，对于不同教会的敬拜的仪式，每个人都要有敬畏，不要随意指责一个教会的仪式。她建议敬拜的参与者应该带着正确的心态参加敬拜：“无论带领者使用哪一个诗歌本，是过于传统，还是比较流行；无论使用什么乐器；无论带领诗歌的人是否足够专业，作为参会者，我们只需要让自己融入进去。”
此外，杨念慈师母也给敬拜团队提出了两点建议。
杨说，带领敬拜的人要学会“隐藏”自己，不要让信徒感觉自己在参加音乐会或演唱会。因为带领敬拜的人的职责是带领会众一起敬拜上帝，是要引人进入到基督里。因此，她指出，带领的人也要留意自己的服饰和妆容，不要让信徒把目光放在台上，那样反而阻挡了信徒对上帝的敬拜。
其次，带领敬拜的同工大部分都有完美主义倾向。 该师母认为，“敬拜团队在练习的时候要全心投入，忠心服事，做好预备。而真正敬拜的时候，站到台上就要忘记所有，全身心投入。无论同工们唱对唱错，手势对错，都没有关系，不要互相指责，因为我们的目的是叫上帝得荣耀。敬拜团队的同工切记不要因为在敬拜中追求完美主义而得罪弟兄。”
于宏洁师母说礼拜的所有环节都是敬拜
Different churches have different arrangements for worship, but it usually begins with prayers and hymns, a reading of the testimonies and the Apostles' Creed, followed by a sermon, and ends with the Lord's Prayer and the benediction of the priest.
Some churches emphasize pre-service praise, which can last for more than an hour. But when some young believers go to the meeting, due to laziness or for the sake of saving time, they like to skip the previous parts of the congregation, which include reading the Bible, praying, and singing hymns. For them, the beginning of the service is when the default officiant declares the beginning of the service, so their requirement for themselves is to arrive before the sermon begins.
In addition, some elderly Christians who cannot walk easily or who are in a hurry to get to work always like to get up and leave during the Lord's Prayer session after the pastor's sermon or during the pastor's blessing prayer in order to avoid the crowd at the end of the meeting. That is to say, they have not yet heard the instruction to disperse, and they have already dispersed by themselves.
Whether it is late arrival or early leave, in fact, there is not enough reverence for the party. Little do we know that all the rituals and aspects of our worship count as our worship.
Nianci Yang, the wife of Pastor Hongjie Yu in the Silicon Valley Christian Assembly, said after a meeting, "Every part of the meeting is worship, whether it is the praise before the meeting or the announcement after the meeting. Sometimes, people sing hymns before the meeting, seemingly waiting for the arrival of the congregation, but in fact, this idea is wrong. Worship of God has already begun since the prayer and singing. Poetry worship is not a walk-on, and definitely not for waiting for a late congregation. And the pastors, the fellow workers, the group leaders, and the worshippers are all involved in this, because it is the worship of our Heavenly Father. When we begin to sing with our hearts, the Holy Spirit comes to us."
Yang found that although some people sat in the venue, they were absent-minded while looking at their mobile phones or saying a few words to the people next to them. Besides, their singing is also "inadvertent." She emphasized, "Do not underestimate the pre-meeting worship, because in hymn worship, a stream of the Holy Spirit is brought down. When the flow of the Holy Spirit passes through, even though you are present, you are not in the flow of worship, then the Holy Spirit cannot flow through your heart."
"Therefore, do not attend the meeting, feeling that it is okay to miss the poetry worship session. Let not your heart wander about because the bell of worship has not rung," she continued.
Some co-workers or believers attend more than one church, so they often compare different churches. Some people look critically at the worship services of each church they attend. For example, they feel that the chosen hymn is too old, no instruments can lead people into the atmosphere, and the leader is not professional enough in music. In this regard, Yang's attitude is that everyone should have respect for the rituals of worship in different churches and not arbitrarily criticize the rituals of a church. She advises worshippers to come to worship with the right mindset, "No matter which book the leader uses, whether it's too traditional or popular; no matter what instrument is used; whether the person leading the poem is professional enough or not, as attendees, we just need to immerse ourselves in it."
In addition, Nianci Yang also made two suggestions to the worship team.
Yang said worship leaders need to learn to "hide" themselves and not make worshippers feel like they are attending a concert. The duty of the worship leader is to bring the congregation together to worship God so as to draw them into Christ. Therefore, she pointed out that the leader should also pay attention to their clothes and makeup and not let the followers keep staring at the stage because of their appearances, which will hinder the worship of God.
Moreover, most of the colleagues who lead worship have perfectionist tendencies. Yang believes that "the worship team should be fully committed, faithful, and prepared when practicing."
"When you really worship, you get up there and forget all about it. It doesn't matter if their fellow workers are wrong in their singing or in their gestures. Don't blame each other, because our purpose is to bring glory to God. Members of the worship team must not offend their brothers by pursuing perfectionism in worship."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Don't Skip Any Part of Church Service, Says Wife of Pastor
