How Does Trinitarian Theology Shape Christian Worship?
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise him above Ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
As we sing the Doxology, we give all glory to the Father for what he has done, for what he has created and for his omnipotence. Then we mention the Son and the Holy Ghost. Is this trinitarian worship? Is trinitarian worship only when we sing songs about the three persons of God in one phrase or work or is it more than this? Is it only about what we sing and say in our worship services or is it about how we worship?
For worship to be true and authentic it must be trinitarian throughout. Worship is about God the whole. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God has brought us into a relationship through salvation and redemption provided by his Son, Jesus, and then we have work in our lives through his Holy Spirit. Worship is a response to all of these things and each of these are integral in the biblical story of love, grace and redemption.
Most of our worship today seems to be Jesus centered, gospel centered. Nothing is wrong with this because we want to thank him and celebrate his gift and sacrifice, but we wouldn’t have his redemption story without God the Father. We wouldn’t have the changing power in our lives without the person of God the Holy Spirit. I believe there are moments in our worship that we unintentionally point back to God the Father more than the Holy Spirit so how do we bring more of our worship direction to the person of the Holy Spirit?
“The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church. He is God present and active in the life of every believer.” Wayne Grudem: Systematic Theology
The Holy Spirit is the person that God has left here on this earth to be our advocate and connection to the Father and the Son. He is the one who brings conviction in our lives and an invitation to come to him. As the worship leader, it is our job to help guide our congregation and we can help them offer praises to the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. Are we doing this or are we generalizing the name of God when each person has such specific attributes? Are we giving praise to the right persons of God? Are we ignoring a portion of the deity of God?
“At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.” Luke 10:21
So how does it look to worship God the Holy Spirit? In Luke 10:21, Jesus himself rejoiced in the Holy Spirit in order to praise the Father and give him thanks. We can approach God the Father through His Holy Spirit. Through prayer, scripture, song and other elements in our services, we can speak to God the Holy Spirit asking him to open our eyes to what his Word will reveal to us today. We can thank him, God the Holy Spirit for moving in our lives during the week and through circumstances that were obviously God’s Holy Spirit working in our lives. He is our connection on earth that the Father has left in his Son’s place. Let’s remember to worship all the 3 persons of God in our worship services. Let’s take time to make sure that our congregation understands the difference between the 3 persons of God as they enter into worship each week.
“For through Jesus we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” Ephesians 2:18
