When I was solo-pastoring I headed the worship bulletins with the titleThe Service of the LORD. One Sunday I put this short explanation in the back:

What is “the service of the LORD”?

This relates to the heading used right now in our bulletin on Sunday Morning. We commonly think of the “worship service” as something we perform for God. That is an element of worship, but it is a secondary element-—a response to something else which is primary. The Apostle Paul clearly states this fact. “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things” (Acts 17:24, 25). “The Service of the Lord” is not our service to God, but God’s gracious service to us. God ministers to our needs—not the “needs” that we feel we have, necessarily, but to our real needs. We need to be forgiven of our sins. We need to be taught of God and set apart to him again. We need to be nourished. We need to be blessed. We need to be sent out into the world. We need our identity as God’s children reinforced. God graciously condescends in Christ by the Spirit to bring us to himself and to grant us new life.