Skillfully combining God's Word
Good music is important in a church, but it means nothing unless it is combined with God's word. You see our churches can't be led by the Holy Spirit unless they are grounded in the Word of God. When we are committed to the Bible we will study, proclaim, and apply God's truth both in our Sunday morning services and in our Monday-Saturday lives. Many people will go to one church because they like the music, and another because they like the teaching. They have separated 'Spirit-led worship' from 'Word-fed' preaching. But "The Word and the Spirit were never meant to be separated. In fact, God's Spirit is the one who inspired God's Word."
2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness."
Without God's word we can't know if what we are doing is inspired by God or if it is just something that makes us feel good about ourselves. Think about it, without the Bible, "we wouldn't know who to thank, who to obey, or who to serve. We wouldn't know how to worship Him. But God does reveal His character, nature, and promisees to us, and we respond with gratefulness and obedience. We respond with worship. At least that's the way it's supposed to work."
Throughout the Bible, worship is centered around God's word. So it is worth asking why worship today can be focused on "sensory experiences, inward feelings, and subjective encounters. True worship is always a response to God's Word."
So how can we makes sure that the Bible is central as we lead this church in worship?
By treasuring the Bible. Bible reading should be a highlight not just of our services, but of our everyday lives. Psalm 119:97 says, "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." "When we treasure God's Word, others will know it. Visitors to our church won't have the impression that the Bible is an optional extra or simply a handy reference book. They'll hear in your voice and see in your eyes that God's Word is your joy."
By singing the Bible. It has been said that 'we are what we sing,' so we need to make sure that we sing God's word. One way of doing that is singing songs that directly quote the scripture. We did that just last week when we introduced the song, 'Your Love Oh Lord.' It also means that the songs that we sing that don't directly quote the scripture are in line with what the Bible has to say. They need to be 'substantive, theologically rich, and biblically faithful.' "A constant diet of shallow, subjective worship songs tends to produce shallow, subjective Christians." All of that being said, that doesn't mean that a simple song can't be profound. Every song we do doesn't need to require a theological degree to understand it, but it must proclaim the truth of the Bible. Another thing we have to be careful of is choosing songs based on the music instead of the lyrics. Great music can make terrible lyrics seem good. On the other hand, terrible music can make great lyrics seem bad. We must choose our songs based on the lyrics and make sure that the music supports it well enough that people will want to sing the truth of the Bible. The songs must be clear, and easily understood by people today.
Nick Page wrote this:
"Worship songs are not solely vehicles for personal expression, they're invitations to corporate worship. If you want to write stuff that only you can understand then keep a diary, otherwise you have to cut the rest of us some slack; you have to help us understand." "The bottom line is this: Sing God's word. Lyrics matter more than music. Truth transcends tune."
Read the Bible. As we plan our services, we have to make sure that God's word is being taught each week. Reading scripture corporately is a great way to reinforce what people are reading during the week, and for some of them, it may be the only scripture they get! It also shows that we are not just making up things and trying to tell them how to live their lives. "People should be aware that the words they are hearing from us aren't ours, but God's."
Show the Bible. We put scripture up on the screens so that people can read along with us as we read the Bible. Other times we ask them to read it out loud in a call and response. Again, this gives people the chance to understand the theme of the day and also realize that "everything we do is under the authority of God's word and is meant to draw attention to His revelation rather than to our creativity or efforts."
Pray the Bible. Spontaneous prayers are great. However praying and calling on promises that God has made to us in the Bible can transform our prayer life. What if we spent time praying through the Psalms rather than merely reading them. Take Psalm 23 and apply it to your life, and pray about it. Over time your prayer life will look much different, it will be much more in tune with the way God thinks. When we pray corporately and we pray using the Bible, it gives our congregation a good example of how to pray.
"A faithful worship leader combines the Word of God with music o magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ. We don't need music to hear God's Word. We don't need music to worship God. But the Bible connects music to worship often enough to persuade us that music might be an important aspect of our relationship with God." As we make music together, let's remember to combine it with His word, and let's remember who we are making music for.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Through the Holy Spirit
Do we really believe that the Holy Spirit is present every time we gather for worship? Are we actively praying that He will fill this place? How much do you pray about that? What would you say is your ratio of faith in God's Spirit vs. faith in your own ability to lead others in worship? Do you pray prayers like, "God, please bless our time today" or do you pray that the Spirit will reveal Christ to all those who are present? If we are truly honest, we are desperately dependent on the Spirit each time we lead. Knowing this takes a lot of pressure off of us. We aren't in control anyway! We can take our mind off of how the service will flow, if the sound system will work, or how many people will be baptized at the end of service.
For many of us, our immediate response is, 'yes of course I believe the Spirit is with us and I rely fully on Him!' But do our actions back up that statement? Do we honestly expect the Spirit to do amazing things each time we gather? If we do, then that means that we will fulfill "our responsibilities with joy, expectation, and faithfulness. No Sunday is a 'normal' Sunday. No meeting is a 'routine' meeting. Every time we gather, we can expect God to do the miraculous, transforming us into His image as we behold His glory."
As we enter each weekend service, may we be excited knowing that the Holy Spirit is present with us, and may we ask Him to do amazing things in our midst.
Enjoy the Journey
Do we really believe that the Holy Spirit is present every time we gather for worship? Are we actively praying that He will fill this place? How much do you pray about that? What would you say is your ratio of faith in God's Spirit vs. faith in your own ability to lead others in worship? Do you pray prayers like, "God, please bless our time today" or do you pray that the Spirit will reveal Christ to all those who are present? If we are truly honest, we are desperately dependent on the Spirit each time we lead. Knowing this takes a lot of pressure off of us. We aren't in control anyway! We can take our mind off of how the service will flow, if the sound system will work, or how many people will be baptized at the end of service.
For many of us, our immediate response is, 'yes of course I believe the Spirit is with us and I rely fully on Him!' But do our actions back up that statement? Do we honestly expect the Spirit to do amazing things each time we gather? If we do, then that means that we will fulfill "our responsibilities with joy, expectation, and faithfulness. No Sunday is a 'normal' Sunday. No meeting is a 'routine' meeting. Every time we gather, we can expect God to do the miraculous, transforming us into His image as we behold His glory."
As we enter each weekend service, may we be excited knowing that the Holy Spirit is present with us, and may we ask Him to do amazing things in our midst.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
In Jesus Christ
In 586 B.C. the temple was destroyed and the Israelites carried into captivity. They did come back and rebuild (although it didn't come close to the greatness of the previous temple), and the temple was once again the center of their spiritual lives. It is where the sacrifices for sins were made, it was where God lived! With that in mind imagine what a shock it was for the people to hear Jesus say, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!' Of course now we realize that He was talking about His body, but have we stopped and really thought about what that means. Jesus was saying that He is the new temple. He is the place where worship is centralized. He confirmed this when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well and said that a day is coming when people won't worship on 'this mountain' or in Jerusalem, but in Spirit and in truth. "Jesus was saying that our meeting place with God would no longer be limited to physical structures, geographical locales, or specific times. It would no longer require animal sacrifices, Levitical priests, or holy places. In a sing conversation He relocated the place of worship from the Jerusalem temple to Himself."
D. A. Carson writes: "To worship God 'in spirit and in truth' is first and foremost a way of saying that we must worship God by means of Christ. In Him the reality has dawned and the shadows are being swept away. Christian worship is new-covenant worship; it is gospel-inspired worship; it is Christ-centered worship it is cross focused worship."
Scripture says that Jesus came to be a mediator between God and man. "A mediator is a person who intervenes between opposing parties to help reconcile them. Without a mediator, there's no hope of the two connecting or being restored." Most of us don't spend much time thinking our need for a mediator in our relationship with God. That is because most of us underestimate the severity of sin in our lives! C. J. Mahaney says: "When you tell non-Christians, 'God loves you,' they aren't surprised, they aren't perplexed, they aren't stunned. Regrettably, the same is true among most evangelicals, who simply assume this gracious disposition of God-and therefore presume upon it. And we'll continue to do this until we learn to see our condition more fully from God's perspective."
Sin is a huge deal to God. So huge in fact that it required the death of His Son for forgiveness to even be thought about. You and I sin everyday, are you beginning to get the picture here? The cross is central to our worship. Without it, we would have no access to God. Before Jesus, only the holiest man from the holiest tribe of the holiest people on earth could enter God's presence. Even then only once a year and even then only with the perfect sacrifice. Any other way and it would mean death (Lev 16:2). Jesus has made a way for us to come before God everyday! It is only through Jesus that people can come before God. So before we get too caught up on which style of worship brings us into God's presence, remember that worship itself can't bring us into God's presence, only Jesus Himself can! He did that through His death on the cross!
Without the cross our worship wouldn't even be accepted by God. Why? Because we are full of sin. God condemns worship that is associated with idolatry, unbelief, disobedience, and evil motives. "All our offerings are humbled by the work of Christ because they would be unacceptable without Him. All our offerings are exalted because when they are joined to the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, god accepts them as though His own Son were offering them. Nothing against skill, practice, complexity, nuance, musicianship, or sincerity, but only the finished work of Christ makes our offerings of worship acceptable in God's eyes. That doesn't mean that what we do in corporate worship is unimportant. But when we overemphasize our own actions in worship, we can inadvertently create the impression that our contribution makes our worship acceptable to God. We think God is persuaded to listen to us because of our sophisticated musical arrangements, our polished performance, or even our heartfelt sincerity."
"If we help people focus on what God did 2,000 years ago rather than what happened 20 minutes ago, they'll consistently find their hearts ravished by His amazing love."
Too often in our gatherings is the cross an afterthought. Sure it may get mentioned during the Communion meditation, but not a ton of time is spent on its significance. This is not the case in heaven. Just take a look at Revelation! The worshipers in heaven say that Jesus is worthy to open the scrolls BECAUSE HE WAS SLAIN, and by his blood ransomed people for God. Heaven never 'gets over' the cross. Heaven in both Christ centered and cross centered.
All of that being said, we must be clear as to what the cross means. Sometimes we like to think that the cross is a symbol of how important we are to God. While it is true that we are important to God and that He loved us enough to send His Son to die on the cross for me, the cross ultimately reminds me not of how important I am to God but of the greatness of my sin. "Yes, if I were the only person in the world, Jesus would still have come to die for me. But that's because my sins would require the shedding of His blood unto death."
Our thoughts on Sunday morning should be this: "Will our time together cause people's view of, trust in, and desire for God's glory in Christ and Him crucified to increase?" Nothing is more important.
In 586 B.C. the temple was destroyed and the Israelites carried into captivity. They did come back and rebuild (although it didn't come close to the greatness of the previous temple), and the temple was once again the center of their spiritual lives. It is where the sacrifices for sins were made, it was where God lived! With that in mind imagine what a shock it was for the people to hear Jesus say, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!' Of course now we realize that He was talking about His body, but have we stopped and really thought about what that means. Jesus was saying that He is the new temple. He is the place where worship is centralized. He confirmed this when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well and said that a day is coming when people won't worship on 'this mountain' or in Jerusalem, but in Spirit and in truth. "Jesus was saying that our meeting place with God would no longer be limited to physical structures, geographical locales, or specific times. It would no longer require animal sacrifices, Levitical priests, or holy places. In a sing conversation He relocated the place of worship from the Jerusalem temple to Himself."
D. A. Carson writes: "To worship God 'in spirit and in truth' is first and foremost a way of saying that we must worship God by means of Christ. In Him the reality has dawned and the shadows are being swept away. Christian worship is new-covenant worship; it is gospel-inspired worship; it is Christ-centered worship it is cross focused worship."
Scripture says that Jesus came to be a mediator between God and man. "A mediator is a person who intervenes between opposing parties to help reconcile them. Without a mediator, there's no hope of the two connecting or being restored." Most of us don't spend much time thinking our need for a mediator in our relationship with God. That is because most of us underestimate the severity of sin in our lives! C. J. Mahaney says: "When you tell non-Christians, 'God loves you,' they aren't surprised, they aren't perplexed, they aren't stunned. Regrettably, the same is true among most evangelicals, who simply assume this gracious disposition of God-and therefore presume upon it. And we'll continue to do this until we learn to see our condition more fully from God's perspective."
Sin is a huge deal to God. So huge in fact that it required the death of His Son for forgiveness to even be thought about. You and I sin everyday, are you beginning to get the picture here? The cross is central to our worship. Without it, we would have no access to God. Before Jesus, only the holiest man from the holiest tribe of the holiest people on earth could enter God's presence. Even then only once a year and even then only with the perfect sacrifice. Any other way and it would mean death (Lev 16:2). Jesus has made a way for us to come before God everyday! It is only through Jesus that people can come before God. So before we get too caught up on which style of worship brings us into God's presence, remember that worship itself can't bring us into God's presence, only Jesus Himself can! He did that through His death on the cross!
Without the cross our worship wouldn't even be accepted by God. Why? Because we are full of sin. God condemns worship that is associated with idolatry, unbelief, disobedience, and evil motives. "All our offerings are humbled by the work of Christ because they would be unacceptable without Him. All our offerings are exalted because when they are joined to the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, god accepts them as though His own Son were offering them. Nothing against skill, practice, complexity, nuance, musicianship, or sincerity, but only the finished work of Christ makes our offerings of worship acceptable in God's eyes. That doesn't mean that what we do in corporate worship is unimportant. But when we overemphasize our own actions in worship, we can inadvertently create the impression that our contribution makes our worship acceptable to God. We think God is persuaded to listen to us because of our sophisticated musical arrangements, our polished performance, or even our heartfelt sincerity."
"If we help people focus on what God did 2,000 years ago rather than what happened 20 minutes ago, they'll consistently find their hearts ravished by His amazing love."
Too often in our gatherings is the cross an afterthought. Sure it may get mentioned during the Communion meditation, but not a ton of time is spent on its significance. This is not the case in heaven. Just take a look at Revelation! The worshipers in heaven say that Jesus is worthy to open the scrolls BECAUSE HE WAS SLAIN, and by his blood ransomed people for God. Heaven never 'gets over' the cross. Heaven in both Christ centered and cross centered.
All of that being said, we must be clear as to what the cross means. Sometimes we like to think that the cross is a symbol of how important we are to God. While it is true that we are important to God and that He loved us enough to send His Son to die on the cross for me, the cross ultimately reminds me not of how important I am to God but of the greatness of my sin. "Yes, if I were the only person in the world, Jesus would still have come to die for me. But that's because my sins would require the shedding of His blood unto death."
Our thoughts on Sunday morning should be this: "Will our time together cause people's view of, trust in, and desire for God's glory in Christ and Him crucified to increase?" Nothing is more important.
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