Anglican worship is modeled after the pattern of worship in the Jerusalem Temple in the Old Testament. Worship has a beginning, middle, and end. Worshippers in Israel would travel along mountain roads (Psalm 121) from their villages to Jerusalem. Going to worship was not easy! Once in the city, they would go to the Temple, where they were welcomed with questions about their readiness to worship (Psalm 24).

Inside the Temple, there were three types of offerings: sin offerings, burnt offerings, and thanksgiving offerings. The first two were necessary – to cleanse the worshipper’s sins and to dedicate oneself to God. The third type of offering was voluntary – to thank God for answered prayers or divine gifts.

While worshippers prepared their offerings, they would listen to priests teach and preach in the Temple courts. People bringing thanksgiving offerings would declare their reasons for thanksgiving in the Temple courts.

Worship continues as priests send people home and encourage them to remain faithful to God in their daily lives. People who come to worship God: travel from home, enter the Temple, draw near to God, then return home to live lives full of faith and hope.

Similarly, Anglican worship invites you to enter into God’s presence, to hear the sermon, to draw closer in prayer, to strengthen faith, and then return to your community with God’s purpose and calling. Jesus offered the ultimate sin offering on the cross, overcoming sin and shame on our behalf. Our worship is both a dedication of our own lives and a thanksgiving offering for what God has done.