I guess I have always been aware of the power of the church’s public worship, but something happened in 1984 which helped me to see the mysterious attraction of congregational praise. It occurred one day after a morning service. While introducing herself, a lady told me that she had travelled a hundred kilometres to our church. I was dumbfounded. Why had she come?

“If you really want to know,” she said, “I am looking for a worship service where I sense the presence of God’s Spirit.” It was a lesson that I will never forget. It reminded me of a comment that Mahatma Gandhi once made to some missionaries in India: “Just remember that the rose never invites anyone to smell it. If it is fragrant, people will walk across the garden and endure the thorns to savour it.” There’s a moral here that we shouldn’t miss: the Sunday worship of a church can be a lighthouse whose flash­ing beams beckon weary travellers.

I know it was in my case. Whereas I’d made a conscious decision to follow Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade, it was simply the climax of 12 months’ attendance at weekly Gospel services. In other words, this regular experience of corporate wor­ship was a special evangelistic force in my life. The crusade was merely the trigger for my conversion. All the preparation had been done in church.

The idea that congregational worship can have an evangelistic role in the church’s life is one of the forgotten truths of the last few decades. While nearly every major denomination has been preoccupied with reaching the masses, the emphasis in the past 50 years has been on mass crusade evangelism, personal contact in one-on-one witnessing, and more recently the development of so-called “seeker services”, where unbelievers no longer share in the elements of normal worship services, but instead are treated to a meeting which is consciously shorn of vital aspects such as confession and prayer. Sadly, many seem unaware of the evangelistic power of Spirit-filled cor­porate worship. Instead, worship and evan­gelism are seen as different as cheese and chalk.

However, it was not so in the ancient church. Moses did not subscribe to the the­ory that “seekers can’t relate to worship”. In several places in the Torah, Moses gives clear directions about the worship of the assembly. And in the midst of these instructions, he makes it clear that he expects unbelievers to be present and to participate.

For the generations to come, whether an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the Lord, he must do exactly as you do. Num. 15: 14

He gives a similar instruction in Deuteronomy 26:10, 11:

And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you.

The same was true for David. He believed that God would draw unbelievers to Himself when they became involved with Israel’s worship: “I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations,” he said (Ps. 57:9) “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord” (Ps. 40:3).

Similarly, in the first-century church it was not uncommon for unbelievers to be present when the church met together for corporate worship. Indeed, Paul was con­cerned that everything that was said was intelligible to the outsider so that nothing would stand in the way of an unbeliever’s conversion. Worship had an evangelistic side.

But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while every­body is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, God is really among you! 1 Cor. 14:24, 25

Once again we see how the power of corporate worship can become part of the process of evange­lism.

I can’t think of a better illustration of this principle than in the church at Antioch where the worship of the gathered congre­gation was part of a dynamic process that led to many conversions and new initiatives in mission (Acts 11:23-26; 13:1-3).

Luke tells us some interesting things about the worship in Antioch. First, it was structured. The word that he uses for ‘wor­ship’ is leitourgein, from which we get the word “liturgy” (Acts 13:2). There was obviously some pattern and order in what they did when they gathered to meet with God.

Second, their worship was centred on God. They “worshipped the Lord”. Their minds and hearts were directed by the liturgy to God’s revelation of Himself in Christ. Indeed, they were so gripped by what God had done for them in Christ that they didn’t have time for food (Acts 13:2). Their worship was serious business.

Finally, they were expectant. They believed that the living God would speak to them and guide them into His will. And God did. Not only did many of those attending church in Antioch become believers (Acts 11:23-24), but some also heard God’s call to preach to the nations as they were worshipping the Lord (Acts 13:2). Is it any wonder that the weekly assemblies of the early Christian church drew increasing numbers, and that many seekers came to faith in Christ?

This pattern continued throughout the first centuries with seekers taking part in the public worship of the church. Indeed, Justin Martyr and Hippolytus tell us that from the second century down to the close of the fifth, the church service was divided into the worship of catechumens (seekers), and the worship of the faithful. The former consisted of scripture-reading, preaching, confession, prayer and song. It was open to people who were unbaptized. The latter involved the Lord’s supper. Only believers could attend it. It was during this early period (AD 150-450) that large numbers were evangelised and became members of the church. And it happened in the context of Sunday worship.

Is there a lesson here for the modern church? I think there is. Since the evange­listic power of Sunday worship can be great, we ought to be creating as many wor­ship centres as is practicable throughout the nation. Each centre then has the poten­tial to become a lighthouse to attract seekers. The planting of congregations where the focus is on the worship of God will release a new burst of evangelistic energy.

But there is a cost. Church leaders must make Sunday services their top priority. We can’t skimp on preparation. The day must be covered in prayer, newcomers must experience a genuine welcome, and imagina­tion must be given to the prayers, preaching and music. God must be the focus. We must give our utmost for His highest. If all these things are happening, evangelism is as sure to take place as night follows day. And if it can happen in increasing numbers of centres across the country, then we can expect many seekers to find Christ.