Heart of Worship Series

New Sermon Series: Heart of Worship

We just celebrated the 50th episode of our Midweek Podcast with some lighthearted “50-themed” trivia—but beneath the fun, this episode launched something much deeper: a church-wide move to strip back our Sunday services to the simple, biblical heart of worship. Over the next four weeks, we’re going to use the Psalms to help us see what genuine worship looks like, how it’s fulfilled in Christ, and how it reshapes us as a people of prayer, obedience, and praise.

In this special conversation, Pastor Kevin Wilson, Pastor Michael Carter, and Caroline Feary shared where we’re headed—and why.

When Simple Things Get Complicated
The episode opened with a simple question:
What’s something basic that you tend to overcomplicate?

Answers ranged from:

• overthinking where to eat or what movie to watch,
• obsessing over protein and macros,
• to the absurd complexity of something as simple as a store return.

From there, the team made an important connection:
The same thing happens in the church.
You see it in Acts—the early church gathering in very simple, essential ways. But over time, our modern church culture has layered on preferences, production, and expectations. None of those are necessarily bad, but they can easily crowd out the heart of what we’re doing.

We can unintentionally make worship more about:

• the experience than the Savior,
• the production than the presence of God,
• our comfort than our response to His mercy.

How Our Hearts Are Being Shaped
Throughout the conversation, the team returned to this idea:
We are always being shaped by something.
Some of those shaping forces are obvious. Others are subtle.

1. Experiences and Traditions

Repeated experiences become traditions. We grow to rely on them—often without realizing it. When those rhythms are removed or changed, we feel the loss, not just of the practice, but of the way it has quietly formed our expectations of worship.

2. Spaces and Buildings

Church architecture itself tells a story and shapes our hearts:

• Historic cathedrals (like Notre Dame) were built for space and transcendence—you walk in and instinctively feel, “God is big. He is bigger than me.”
• Later, church buildings centered around a pulpit, emphasizing the Word preached.
• Today, many churches resemble arenas—built for sound, lights, and a stage. That form quietly teaches us to expect a performance.

We may not consciously think, this building is discipling me, but it is.

3. Media and Production

Outside the church, we’re formed by media and technology:

• Auto-tune and studio perfection have changed our ears. When we hear a natural, uncorrected human voice, it can now sound “off,” even though it’s actually normal.
• Modern worship music can trend toward the highly produced and vocally demanding, which can nudge congregations into becoming spectators more than singers.

As Pastor Kevin put it, our people often walk into church already shaped by what they’ve experienced on the radio, on streaming platforms, and online.

4. Content and Attention Span

Our discipleship habits have also been shaped by an age of pre-processed content:

• We’re used to having truth broken down into short, easily digestible pieces.
• Our capacity for longer, weightier doctrine and sustained attention can suffer.

Even TV and streaming platforms script shows with the assumption that viewers are half-watching while on their phones, constantly re-explaining what’s happening so nobody gets lost.

All of this forms us long before we sit down in a Sunday service.

Why the Psalms, and Why Now?
Our upcoming series is not simply “a series about the Psalms.”
Instead, we’re using the Psalms to recover something deeper:
the core shape of a worshiping heart.

Here’s the guiding idea:
The heart of worship calls us beyond mere ritual and into genuine and simple responses to God’s mercy. This is described in the Psalms, demonstrated in Christ, and produces within God’s people sacrificial service, obedience, prayer, and praise.

Through this series, we want to:

• Listen to how the Psalms describe true worship—honest, raw, God-centered.
• Trace how that heart of worship is fulfilled in Christ—our perfect worshiper and our substitute.
• Be formed into a people marked not just by rituals, but by sacrificial service, obedience, prayer, and praise.

Caroline shared that, as a member of Gen Z, she sees many in her generation longing for:

• Real, genuine worship,
• Deep theology and discipleship,
• And a move away from “just a show” toward something rooted, simple, and honest.

Some are even turning toward more liturgical traditions because they sense that longing being met there. Our hope is that, as we walk through the Psalms together, our church family—across all generations—will experience that same refreshing simplicity and depth in Christ.

What Will Be Different in Our Services?

For four weeks, we’re going to intentionally simplify our Sunday gatherings.
Instead of a long list of elements, we’re going to focus on what Scripture clearly calls us to do when we come together:

1. We will pray.
2. We will sing together.
3. We will sit under the reading and preaching of God’s Word.
4. We will observe the sacraments—the Lord’s Supper and baptism—twice over these four weeks, as part of our normal rhythm.

And that’s it.

This does not mean:

• That “body life,” local and global missions, or discipleship opportunities are unimportant.
• Or that communication about these things will disappear from church life altogether.

It does mean:

• That for this focused season, our gathered worship time will be aimed squarely at beholding Christ—without as much noise or clutter.
• That we want to feel what happens when some of our familiar “extras” are removed, so we can see more clearly what has been shaping us all along.

To borrow the image from the conversation:
It’s like turning on the defroster so the windshield clears and you can really see the road.

What This Isn’t—and What We Hope It Will Be
This series is not a way to earn a spiritual promotion.

We’re not saying:
“If you do these four things perfectly for four weeks, you’ll finally make the A team of Christians.”

Instead, we’re affirming:

• Christ alone removes our sin.
• Christ alone provides the righteousness that gives us a place in God’s presence.
• Christ is both our example and our substitute.

These simple practices—prayer, singing, the Word, and the sacraments—are not ways to earn God’s favor. They are graces given so that, as people already loved and redeemed in Christ, we can walk in His ways and delight in Him.

Our hope is that, for the average Westover member who “just comes on Sunday,” this series will be:

• A breath of fresh air and rest in a noisy world,
• A reconnection with God,
• And a gentle but clear call to re-engage—not as consumers, but as worshipers.

Looking Ahead
As we step into this series together, we invite you to:

• Come with open hands and open expectations.
• Notice what feels missing—and ask why that feels so significant.
• Lean into the simplicity and ask God to use it to reshape your heart.

Discipleship is more than just Sunday morning.
But what we do on Sunday deeply affects how we live, work, play, and learn the rest of the week.

Over these next four weeks, may the Lord use the Psalms—and the simple, beautiful basics of gathered worship—to help us see Him more clearly, respond to Him more honestly, and worship Him more fully.

Additional Resources:

Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Liturgies) 
by James K.A. Smith

Worship: The Reason We Were Created-Collected Insights from A. W. Tozer

Heart Of Worship: How To Live A Life That Reflects Your Allegiance To Jesus
By Bryan Keller