Historically, worship seems to be motivated by awe and lament. Awe in the light of the splendour of life and the vastness of the universe. Lament in reaction to the tragedy of suffering, finitude and death. However, worship echoes the belief that life is a gift from God as the creator of the universe and of all humanity. Thus, worship necessitates joy, thankfulness, beauty, glory, celebration, remembrance, trust and hope. In fact, it is a question of transformation. As we worship, God transforms us into a people whose lives speak of God's presence in the world in the context of everyday life. Consequently, discipleship is the outworking of this in our everyday lives. Worship, therefore, is about giving our full attentiveness to the God whom we understand to be both beyond us and yet intimately involved with us. Subsequently, worship necessarily involves ritual and story, which are essential aspects of what it is to be human and made in the image and likeness of God. So ritual should be seen as a communal way of patterning life and story as a way of integrating life within an ongoing narrative of God's ways both in creation and mission.