Faith
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Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.
Thinking, praying, and living the faith is at the core of ministry in the Office of Theology and Worship. In the following videos, learn more about what thinking, praying, and living the faith means to the leadership of the Office of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters and what difference it makes in our lives, work, and worship.
Charles Wiley
Barry Ensign-George
David Gambrell
Christine Hong
Karen Russell
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- Back to Basics on Ash Wednesday
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Please and Thank You
The primary purpose of Christian worship is, of course, simply giving glory to God. But worship also provides us with regular opportunities to practice the theological habits of grace and gratitude. Like learning to say “please” and “thank you” at home, worship seeks to shape us in a way of life that befits God’s holy realm, our eternal home.
The baptismal font and communion table are especially connected with the practice of grace and gratitude in worship:
- around the font we gather for worship, confessing our sin and asking (please) for God’s mercy;
- remembering our baptism with gratitude (thank you), we rejoice in the promise of God’s grace;
- at the table we pray for the church and world, asking (please) that God’s “will be done on earth as in heaven”;
- celebrating the Eucharist (thank you), we rejoice in our deliverance from sin and death through Jesus Christ.
These theological patterns, practiced in worship, are meant to spill over into daily life, to nourish habits of grace and gratitude all week long:
- seeking (please) peace and reconciliation with family, friends, and neighbors, forgiving others as God has forgiven us;
- welcoming the gift of each day (thank you) as a child of God, chosen, claimed, and called through baptism;
- seeking (please) the will of God in every aspect of our lives, joining the liberating work of the Spirit in the world;
- living with gratitude (thank you) for the gift of daily bread, giving our lives in love and service to God, the giver of life.
As Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:4). May your life be shaped by grace and gratitude, this day and always, both in the service of worship and in the service of daily living.
- Posted at 3:24 p.m.
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