Most of us have attended worship services from infancy, but do we really know and understand the various parts of our Reformed liturgy? When we do the same thing over and over for some length of time we often do it without much thought, and worship may be one of those things. We know why we worship, but we may not have a good understanding of all the parts of our order of worship. There are two excellent resources that explain Reformed worship. Rev. Jonathan Cruse wrote a short and easy-to-understand book, What Happens When We Worship, published by Reformation Heritage Books. Rev. Cruse takes a look at every act in the liturgy of Reformed worship, including communion and baptism, and simply explains each act. Reading his book was beneficial, and I found things I hadn’t known or even thought about.

Another beneficial book on Reformed worship is Meeting with God, a study guide to Abraham Kuyper’s Our Worship, written by Michael Kearney and published by Reformed Fellowship, Inc. Kearney condenses what Abraham Kuyper in his book wrote on the various acts of Reformed worship. One might not agree with Kearney’s personal comments on some things, but overall it is a beneficial book in helping to understand this Dutch Reformed theologian’s advice on Reformed worship.

Mr. Myron Rau is past president of the Reformed Fellowship board.