{"id":95567,"date":"2026-05-11T15:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T20:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=95567"},"modified":"2026-05-11T15:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T20:12:15","slug":"the-five-acts-of-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-five-acts-of-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"The Five Acts of Worship?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Gardner Hall
\nvia\u00a0Sentry Magazine<\/em>, Vol. 21 No. 1, March 1995\n

It seems that some have begun to treat what are commonly called the “five acts” as if they were a heavenly checklist that God has given to local churches. Occasionally, one hears someone announce with solemn tones, “We have now completed one act of worship. Now let us move on to the next.” Such smacks of ritualism, more characteristic of Catholic liturgy than of first-century Christianity.<\/p>\n

The Bible does not officially categorize worship into five acts. Of course, there is nothing wrong in and of itself in talking of five acts of worship as long as one realizes that such is an arbitrary classification. By dividing or joining categories, other classifications could be given, both scriptural and the traditional “five acts.” For example, consider:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. partaking of the bread,<\/li>\n
  2. partaking of the fruit of the vine,<\/li>\n
  3. giving for poor saints,<\/li>\n
  4. giving for gospel preachers,<\/li>\n
  5. singing hymns of praise,<\/li>\n
  6. singing psalms,<\/li>\n
  7. praying for the sick,<\/li>\n
  8. praying to praise God,<\/li>\n
  9. being edified through sermons,<\/li>\n
  10. encouraging others to love and good works, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    That unofficial list contains ten “acts of worship,” and all are authorized in Scripture. Of course, some items in the list could be combined and others divided or categorized differently, but that’s just the point! Such classifications, whether they contain five, ten, or any other number of “acts,” are optional. What is important is that, however we classify various acts, everything we do for God must have His divine approval from the scriptures.<\/p>\n

    A Word of Caution<\/h2>\n

    Some who ridicule the idea of “five acts” seem to have questionable motives. They want to justify their choirs, parties, blessings of animals, Karate for Christ, etc. The fact that they may be right in stating that the Bible gives no official classification of five acts does not excuse them in their efforts to cheapen worship with gimmicks, stunts, and side shows.<\/p>\n

    We can respect the word of God and avoid presumptuous attitudes towards worship, even as we caution against those who would bind traditional classifications as a kind of liturgy.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Gardner Hall via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 1, March 1995 It seems that some have begun to treat what are commonly called the “five acts” as if they were a heavenly checklist that God has given to local churches. Occasionally, one hears someone announce with solemn tones, “We have now completed one act of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-95567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17928,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-go-to-a-youth-group-or-chapel-service-during-the-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":95567,"position":0},"title":"Is it a sin to go to a youth group or chapel service during the week?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I saw that the church only met on the first day of the week to gather and worship. Does this mean that I sin if I go to youth groups on Wednesdays (while still going to church on Sunday), or if my school has weekly mandatory chapel services on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16466,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sabbath-is-mentioned-more-than-the-first-day-of-the-week-so-isnt-that-the-day-we-should-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":95567,"position":1},"title":"The Sabbath is mentioned more than the first day of the week, so isn’t that the day we should worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to say that you err on Sunday as God's true Sabbath. The Sabbath is mentioned 60 times in the New Testament as to 7 to 8 times for the first day of the week, which none of the first day of the week is about worship.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24573,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-worship-have-to-be-on-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":95567,"position":2},"title":"Does worship have to be on Sunday?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was discussing with someone about coming to church on Sundays. What day should we meet? Does it matter which day during the week? Under persecution, you might not be able to meet Sundays, so I was wondering: does it matter the day the church meets? I do know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25420,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":95567,"position":3},"title":"Notes on Worship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"What is worship? Worship is something distinctly done. Worship is not accidentally given. - Matthew 2:11; 4:8-9; 9:18; John 4:20; Revelation 9:20 Jesus\u2019s definition of worship - John 4:21-24 It requires a worshiper (the existence of a rock is not worship. Animals do not worship). It requires an object of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14252,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-the-word-day-added-to-acts-207\/","url_meta":{"origin":95567,"position":4},"title":"Isn’t the word “day” added to Acts 20:7?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Acts 20:7, in the original Greek, the word \"day\" is not there. It was later added by men.\u00a0 Adding to!\u00a0 I worship (adore, give praise. honor) each and every day, 24\/7. I can't believe you limit worship to a day.\u00a0 One of Satan's greatest accomplishments has been to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36174,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-virtual-assemblies-count\/","url_meta":{"origin":95567,"position":5},"title":"Do virtual assemblies count?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, brother in Christ, I hope you are doing well. My question comes from Hebrew 10:25.\u00a0Now I fully understand what assembling together means, but there seem to be those who say that assembling can be of anything and anywhere.\u00a0So, does \"virtual assembling\" count as assembling as described in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95567"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95570,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95567\/revisions\/95570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}