We've been thinking about worship this week and perhaps you know if you've ever seen

pictures of the Ligonier headquarters and Reformation Bible College that they are situated

on a small lake called Shadow Lake and across on the other side of the lake stands St Andrews

Chapel the church where Dr. Sproul was minister. I've always loved worshipping with God's people

there for many reasons but one of them is it's the only church that I have ever attended

where the congregation sings the Sanctus. Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, holy, holy,

holy is the Lord, holy is the Father, holy is the Son, holy is the Spirit blessed three in one.

Sometimes we speak about what's called the regulative principle in our worship. Some people think

that it's just Presbyterians who have a regulative principle, actually all of us have a regulative

principle. Sometimes it's more obvious and sometimes alas, it's a regulative principle that

seems chaotic. And we need a regulative principle otherwise every single one of us would end up

starting his or her own denomination. We need principles that guide and govern what we do in

worship. And as we've been thinking sometimes that principle is what do we like or what will appeal

to outsiders which rather suggests that our worship is going to be about us rather than about God.

Now our basic regulative principle for worship is what does God tell us he likes? What does God

tell us he wants? And what does God tell us will be most helpful to us to enable us to

comment his presence and to praise him? And there's only one way to discover the answer to those

questions. It's by searching the scriptures and reflecting on and applying their teaching to the

churches to which we belong. So that ultimately our regulative principle is going to be the one

that God gives to us. If we seek out the scriptures I think we will find two things. First of all we

will see that there are certain constants in worship. What are sometimes called elements? And these

are or should be in every service, no matter who we are, where we are, or how many are few of us

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