Advent is upon us! That means Christmas music will abound wherever you go, and especially in the church. To help you gain better understanding of one of these great hymns, we are talking about "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" in this episode. Learn about it's authors, music, and what the lyrics mean.

Welcome back to "Tune My Heart". Good Sunday worship begins on Saturday, so I'm glad you are here to prepare yourself. Given the state of the world right now (let alone where your heart might be at this moment) it's safe to say you might be fearful. I believe that Sunday morning worship holds the remedy to our fears.

Closing out our series on the various elements of liturgical worship, we come to the end of the gathering, the benediction.

Throughout church history, it has been a common worship practice for the church to recite together in unison summaries of the christian faith and of the doctrines of scripture via creeds, confessions, and catechisms. Why is this necessary and what are some helpful lenses through which we can see what is happening during this portion of the liturgy?

We move on to the next phase of the liturgy after the confession of sin to the Absolution. What is this all about and why is it necessary in worship?

Moving forward in breaking down each element of the liturgy, we move on to the Confession of Sin, what it is, and why it's vital in the worship of God.

Continuing on in our series of breaking down each portion of the liturgy piece by piece, we come to the very beginning and what is known as the the call to worship. Is this just a formality? Is how a church begins its gathering really all that important? What's a stake if we misunderstand this first portion of worship? I'm glad you asked...

Sunday isn't the only time we worship. In fact, God isn't the only one we worship either. This is because our hearts are (as John Calvin said it) "idol factories". But, how do we change this? How do we ensure that, more and more, our worship is given unto the true God and not the idols of this world?

Over the next few episode we will be breaking down the various parts of traditional Christian liturgy piece by piece to gain a better understanding of what is happening in any given Sunday gathering. Today, we begin with an overview of liturgy in general - the meaning of the word itself, and different ways of looking at how and why liturgies are formed the way they are.

Yet another season of the liturgical calendar is upon us! But, what is the church calendar anyway? What is Lent? What's up with all the ashes, fasting, and feasting? What does this all mean?