Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice [Hardcover]

Bryan Chapell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

The church's worship has always been shaped by its understanding of the gospel. Here the bestselling author of Christ-Centered Preaching brings biblical and historical perspective to discussions about worship, demonstrating that the gospel has shaped key worship traditions and should shape today's worship as well.

This accessible and engaging book provides the church with a Christ-centered understanding of worship to help it transcend the traditional/contemporary worship debate and unite in ministry and mission priorities. Contemporary believers will learn how to shape their worship based on Christ's ministry to and through them. The book's insights and practical resources for worship planning will be useful to pastors, worship leaders, worship planning committees, missionaries, and worship and ministry students.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Christ-Centered Worship calls people to go beyond 'contemporary worship' without being polemical in spirit. It takes historic worship traditions very seriously but uses the gospel itself as the way to critique and design orders of worship. It is full, balanced, and extremely practical. This will now be the first book I give people--or turn to myself--on the practice of understanding, planning, and leading in corporate worship."--Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church; author of The Reason for God

"However tempted I am to indulge in a few critical reflections, in this case it is far more important that I tell you that this is an astonishingly helpful and useful book. It is theologically rich, especially when it comes to showing, in detail, how the nature of the gospel ought to shape our public services. Yet this is far more than an essay arguing for a theological corrective. It includes many historical summaries, many lists in the needed categories. Toward the end Chapell includes examples of entire corporate worship services. No one will agree with everything he has written here, but only the most ignorant could not profit enormously from this thoughtful and stimulating book."--D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"A biblically informed, historically rooted, practical guide to the public worship of God. Bryan Chapell first builds an architecture for worship that is structured by the story of the gospel. He then provides a treasury of resources that can refresh the worship of any congregation and encourage greater unity across the evangelical church. The result is a book that seems destined to become one of the best resources available for improving the practice of Christian worship."--Philip Ryken, Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia

"So many books about worship unfortunately assume that the structure or pattern of worship is not important, failing to realize that some pattern is inevitable and that no pattern is neutral. This book is a wonderful exception. It radiates with gratitude for the gospel of Jesus. It promotes both confessional orthodoxy and vital piety. But it also probes how well-grounded patterns and structures can become wellsprings for faithful, sustainable, and vibrant worship renewal."--John D. Witvliet, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary

About the Author

Bryan Chapell (PhD, Southern Illinois University) is senior pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois. He previously served as chancellor, president, and professor of practical theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a widely traveled speaker and the author of numerous books, including the bestseller Christ-Centered Preaching and Holiness by Grace.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Baker Academic (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801036402
• ISBN-13: 978-0801036408
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.9 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Worship & Devotion > Rites & Ceremonies
  • #25 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Church Leadership > Church Institutions & Organizations

More About the Author

Bryan Chapell (PhD, Southern Illinois University) is president and professor of practical theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, where he has served in various capacities since 1984. In addition to his work at Covenant, Chapell is the author of numerous books, including Christ-Centered Preaching and Holiness by Grace.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow..... October 23, 2009

By Mike Graham

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't believe I am the first to review this book. Perhaps the rest who have read it are still sitting with their mouth open in praise or mental gears grinding or bent knees in repentance or contiuing to experience some Aha moment.

Usually I will express my gratitude to Dr. Chapell privately. As his former student, and one who has read just about everything he has written, sometimes multiple times (Christ Centered Preaching), Christ Centered Worship did not just inch up my favorites list, it pole vaulted to first place.

Being a young pastor, I have learned so much about worship and its importance from many other of my heroes. I have not had the benefit of working as associate pastor and learning that way. It has been most trial and error, with lots of error and confusion (Thank God our church is so gracious), lots of podcasts by Tim Keller, DA Carson, John Piper, and others (thank God for the internet and these pastors who continue to teach me about the Gospel and Worship), and through lots of reading (thank God for kindle though I crashed it three times this morning trying to highlight and make too many notes in this book). I almost copies the whole thing!

One of the things that has been so hard for me as a pastor is to see the historical flow of worship liturgy and its relationship to the gospel and why we do the things we do. Many of these things I learned at Covenant. But after preaching for 8 years, and having them "represented" so clearly pushes understanding and appreciate and freedom deeper and broader.

In so many ways this was very practical. Let me give you three, in my words (not Dr. Chapell's), that will give you some "lived body detail" of the effect this book has had just in its first reading (definitely a re-read).

I was telling our associate pastor who leads worship about this boosk and the movement in the LORD's Supper from Luther to Calvin to Knox. We were talking about the fellowship aspects (In Scotland they sat around tables to share the meal), and greeting one another. In many churches, we often wonder what to do with greeting at the beginning of a worship service before a call to worship. It never occurred to me that a welcome and greeting could take place in worship. We also have a time of testimony in our church. As I was reading about the historical unfolding of these liturgies, I had my own convergence of thoughts applying what I was learning. Would it be possible, after the LORD's prayer, and before the LORD's Supper, to have a time of greeting and welcoming one another in love to a shared meal (the reconciliation that takes place at the cross)? Could this also be a family way of fencing the table? "As you greet one another, if you've got something against a brother or sister, make sure you go to them before coming to the eat from this table of grace."

Another running thought as I read came with Luther's emphasis on celebration, in contrast to Rome, and the reality that Jesus is not recrucified every week, and we do not re-propitiate God in worship or the LORD's Supper. Rather, worship is a gift from God to us, the Sabbath is for us. We don't have to repropitiate God by coming to him in worship assuming he is angry with us for messing up this week. Rather, God has been propitiated in Christ once for all, and invites us to come not to Sinai but to Mount Zion.

Thirdly, just a reorientation to the idea of the "priesthood of all believers." I have mostly thought about that in terms of all vocations being valuable, but mostly my thinking about this has been outside worship. I don't know why. Perhaps it is all the reformed emphasis on worldview. It was very helpful just to consider the participatory implications of the priesthood of all believers on the worship event itself.

These are not all things Dr. Chapell explicitly said in his book. This is just sort of "lived body detail" of the cascading refreshment of this waterfall of worship running through my own heart that this initial reading has had on me. I'm not an academic, just a pastoral practioner wanting to learn how to lead God's people in worship. We will probably not we make quick changes. My current response to the book is to order three additional copies for our worship leaders. We are going to read it together and see what happens. Buy the book! Hope this review is helpful!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Here's the historical/philosophical/theological backbone for Christian worship!!! January 5, 2010

By Zachary M. Hicks

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

People in my generation and down are prone to exaggeration. It's part of our cultural ethos. "That was the awesomest thing I've ever seen." "That was the nastiest thing I've ever tasted." "That was like a million times worse than anything I've experienced before." So in light of my generation's over-indulgence in superlatives, I preface what I am about to say by pointing out that this is one of those times when my superlatives actually should be taken at face value.

Bryan Chapell's Christ-Centered Worship is one of the best books on worship I have ever read. It now rests firmly in my top three (not sure what the other two are, but I'm giving myself some wiggle room). Some may not want to read the lengthy review which follows, so I'll start with overall bullet points that I hope will be helpful to people.

* Pastors, worship leaders, and worshipers who cherish a robust understanding and experience of the gospel should read this book.
* Evangelical worshipers interested in incorporating "liturgy" into their worship should start with this book.
* Evangelical worshipers not interested at all in liturgy should still read this book because it will wake them up to something profound about their worship practice.
* Liturgical worshipers interested in understanding the basis for their liturgy should start with this book.
* Liturgical worshipers who think they know all the what's and why's of their liturgy should still read this book, because I bet you'll be hit with at least one profound "aha" moment.
* The book is split into two parts, and the first part (pages 1-155) is the book's meat and potatoes.
* If you didn't get much out of Chapell's Christ-Centered Preaching (I'm one of those), don't count this book out. This book's "Christ-centeredness" has a whole new approach.
* The book is not angry and critical, but embracing and critical.
* The book's subtitle "Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice" is actually an excellent summary of the entire book.
* Though Chapell is the President of a major Reformed seminary, the book does not express worship from a necessarily Reformed angle. It is a book about and for Christian worship at large.

Overall Comments

Christ-Centered Worship is unifying, ecumenical, and irenic in spirit as it straddles various worship traditions. But the remarkable thing is that it does so without going down the road of theological liberalism. Its ecumenism arrives not by compromising theological distinctives but by observing the core of every truly Christian worship expression--the gospel. Since the dawn of Tim Keller and like-minded gospel preachers, I have longed to see how such radical and biblical views of the gospel as the good news of God for everyone (non-Christians and Christians) informs Christian worship and practice. I have found it in this book. If you're familiar with Keller's teaching on the gospel, you will then know what I'm implying when I say that this book could easily be titled "Gospel-Centered Worship."

Now, I am no Bryan Chapell crony. In fact, I was hoping that his previous book, Christ-Centered Preaching would be along those same Keller-lines (i.e. preaching the gospel in every sermon). Some believe Chapell succeeded in that former work in doing so, but I found myself disappointed. If you're in that same boat about Christ-Centered Preaching, trust me, don't count out Christ-Centered Worship.

My final overall observation is a word of appreciation for how obviously hard Chapell was trying to be peaceable. I scoured footnotes, just waiting for him to take a jab at a tradition with which I knew he would not fully agree. I could not find a single place. Even in his penetrating remarks about contemporary worship, the usual traditionalist vitriol is utterly absent. In this sense Chapell walks the talk of the gospel. Peacableness, in general, is not all that refreshing in modern writing, as I think the "PC-ness" of modern culture has made our writing and argumentation too limp-wristed. But from a Reformed writer like Chapell, and writing on a topic such as worship, a peaceable spirit is extremely refreshing. Coming just off the heels of reading a 1997 article on worship by one Presbyterian ripping into another, dripping with arrogance and condescension, Chapell was a shocking contrast. Hey, Reformed folk can be nice! :)

Walk-Through and Comments

The book is split into two parts. Part 1, "Gospel Worship," is Chapell's building of his case. Part 2, "Gospel Worship Resources" is Chapell's helpful application of his case. It's easy to see that the 150 pages of Part 1 should be where one spends the bulk of their time, while viewing Part 2 as a resource to turn to at various later points. Because Part 1 comprises the main material, that's where I'll spend my time...

The rest of this review can be found at:
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Re-presenting the Gospel in Worship October 6, 2010

By Michael H. Smith

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

There are numerous books on worship printed; most of which take a side in the continuing and often heated discussion about worship. Having read many of these books, it is obvious that most conversations about worship center on style. Even well-meaning theologians try to back up personal preference with scripture. The reality is that worship is not about style, it is and should be about the story of God and how we have been invited to participate.

In Christ Centered Worship by Bryon Chapell, a well-known theologian, we are taken on a journey to investigate the worship practices and service outlines from church history. It is through this investigation that Chapell shows us that from the earliest inception of the organized church there has been a common story to tell in worship; the story of God. He points out that corporate worship is a model of our personal journey, a continuation of our daily conversation with God that is brought to a grander scale when believers gather.

In one area of the book Chapell writes that worship can be seen in two simple words and how we respond to these words. The words: Glory and Grace. God reveals His glory, we are given the chance to respond. God reveals His grace, we are given the chance to accept and then respond through a surrendered life.

As I read through the first part of the book I was waiting for the `shoe to drop.' As Chapell exposes history I was waiting for him to say we needed to get back to the old ways, follow the liturgy of the historical church, including the songs and style of days gone by. The `shoe never fell.'

Chapell simply stated that it is not about style but about the story of God and how we expose the pieces of the story in worship and allow our congregations to respond. Chapell even gives examples of how contemporary songs and other elements can be used in the telling of the story.

If I were teaching young worship leaders I would use this book as a required text book. We learn from the history and we are challenged to begin the worship planning process by asking the question: `how will we tell the story of God, The Gospel, in this service.