Lecture 11 - Ministry of Worship 04/21/2009  

1.                  According to Shields and Butzu, “Twelve of the twenty-two chapters of Revelation contain direct references to or descriptions of worship (page 43). They go on to say that “here, perhaps better than anywhere else, we can see the reality of Christian worship” (page 43).   Chapters 4 and 5 begin with the presence of God, the object of all true worship.  The door of heaven is open in 4:1-6a and John sees God.

2.                  According to Shields and Butzu, “Here is the center of Christian worship—God enthroned; God more captivating than fine jewels; God framed by a jewel-like rainbow; God surrounded by people crowned, clothed in white, occupying other thrones; God with lightning and thunder emanating from the throne; God with seven torch-like spirits alongside, with a calm-as-glass crystal sea reflecting divine glory.”  These descriptive elements appear elsewhere in the Bible, but here John brings them together in a deeply impressive way to draw our attention to the central figure—God (page 44).

3.                  Day and night, according to verses 6b-8, strange creatures, full eyes sing and praise God.  The majesty, strength, wisdom, and mobility of God’s creation are worshiping Him. The twenty-four elders fall down before God and sing “you are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created (4:11).

4.                  Everything, every sign of life, every sign of beauty, goodness, strength, wisdom, are arranged around this the throne of God, while it and Him pulsates with immeasurable glory.

5.                  And from the one sitting on the throne there comes a hand with scroll which has writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.  And angel yells with a mighty voice, “Who is able to break the seals and open the scroll?”  The information is useless because no one can open it by breaking the seals.  Evidently John is grieving because no one can open it, so one of the elders says, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (5:5). The Lion of the tribe of Judah is of all things a lamb—a slaughtered Lamb.  According to Shield and Butzu “Here worship is flavored with the kind of oxymoron (contradiction that produces a witty paradoxical remark) that characterizes the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  A Lamb slain, of all things, is not the only one able to open the seals and read it, but take it from the strong arm of the Lord God Almighty. 

6.                  Now comes the real singing, first the elders and the four creatures sing a new song (why a new song?).  Music is the most appropriate response available to the variety of creatures gathered around the Throne (5:9-10,12, 13; 7:11-12; 11:17-18;). I wonder how much of the Book of Revelation would have been heard as song.  A lot of people won’t feel too comfortable in heaven because they don’t seem to like to sing in worship here on earth.

7.                  According to Shields and Butzu, it appears that synagogue style and charismatic style have been developed and practiced throughout church history, while the apocalyptic style has been less noticeable. There are glimpses of it in the worship of Eastern Orthodoxy and a hint of it in Calvin’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper, but otherwise it appears to have been forgotten (page 48).

8.                  Confessions of faith were a part of early church worship services, especially when there were doctrinal threats and concerns that needed to be addressed.  Read the following scriptures: Romans 1:3b-4; it employs terminology that was not normally used by Paul, so many scholars take it to be confession of faith of the early church which Paul uses. 1 Timothy 3:16 is such a neat, poetic formula that it could be sang as a hymn.

9.                   Prayer formulas, posture in prayer, and praying in public—Lord’s Prayer is the most obvious example of a prayer formula.  There are different prayer postures as well. The following are body postures for prayer that are found in scripture: 

10.              Standing—Standing is a way of honoring the presence of another and giving them your full attention.  Stand before the majesty of God.  1Kings 19:11, “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’”   Mark 11:25, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him.” Genesis 18:22, “Abraham remained standing before the Lord.”

11.              Outstretched Arms—Lifting up our arms or hands directs our awareness toward heaven.  It is a posture that opens up the core of our body toward God.  It is much like if you’re meeting a friend or a loved one you reach out to them with open arms.  1 Timothy 2:8, Christians are encouraged to “pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.”  I like Psalms 141:2, “May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”  Psalm 63:4, “In your name I will lift up my hands.”  And finally, Psalm 77:2, “At night I stretched out untiring hands.”

12.              Uplifted Eyes—Looking up to heaven with open eyes draws our attention above earthly realities to eternal realities.  We are not alone. God is watching us.  The following texts mention “looking to heaven.”  “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed” (John 17:1). “Taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves” (Mark 6:41). Mark 7:34 says: “He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him “ephphatha” (which means be opened).

13.              Kneeling—Kneeling is a way to express humility and reverence.  How about bowing your head and closing your eyes in prayer? 1Kings 8:54, “When Solomon had finished all these prayers…he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with hands spread out toward heaven.”   Acts 9:40, “He got down on his knees and prayed.”  See Daniel 6:10 and Mark 1:40 as well.

14.              Prostrate—Lying face down or bowing low to the earth reminds us that we were created from dust and to dust we will return.  It is a posture of submission and obedient worship.  “Abram fell facedown, and God said to him…” (Genesis 17:3).  “They bowed down and worshiped” (Exodus 4:31). “Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord” (2 Chronicles 20:18).  “All kings will bow down to him” (Psalm 72:11).  “All the earth bows down to you” (Psalm 66:4).

15.              Public Prayer—Corporate and private worship are essentially an acts of common prayer.  In fact, corporate worship is essentially about learning to pray and praying in public.  Many of our church members don’t like to pray in public.  I personally believe that my public prayers are lacking…at times…seemly not expressing what I want to express in worship.

16.              What is public prayer?  It is not just a private prayer said publically.  We might think that in public prayer it doesn’t matter what is said just as long it is an honest cry of the heart.  Not true, when a minister leads in public prayer, he or she does not just offer a personal prayer, but is rather leading your congregation in their prayer.  Personal problems, longings, doubts, and fears are not to be aired publically in front of your people, but you are there to lead and teach them to pray.  Our personal concerns only have merit is public prayer if they are relating to the concerns of your people.  Prayer, like preaching, is not a contest for choruses of amens, not for entertainment purposes but to communicate with God, and to ultimately be co-labors for God’s will to be done.

17.              In addition, there are different types of public prayer.  For example, one kind of prayer that we are very familiar with and use almost one hundred percent of the time is free or extemporaneous prayer.  Meaning that with the aid of the Holy Spirit we make our prayers up as we go along.

18.              No matter what kind of public prayer we use in our services maybe we should give our prayers, as well as our sermons, more thought.  Let me explain! I’ve noticed for several years unless I am asked to pray for a specific need, a lot of my public prayers sound very much the same.  Even though my heart is sincere I wonder if my prayers are boring to God just because of sheer repetition. However, I believe that reading other peoples written prayers can also enrich my public, and maybe even private prayer life (see published prayer books for examples).

19.              On the other side of the coin, a written prayer from other sources such as the written prayers in “The Common Book of Prayer” or a prayer book of individual corporate prayers for worship might be read as well.  Liturgical prayers or simply prayers that are written out before hand can save the congregation from the individual minister’s moods and praying weaknesses.   Printed prayers can serve the same purpose as printed music in the hymnal: so that everyone can get into the act so to speak, so that all can be together in their praying.   Also corporate written prayers can also be an excellent way of involving others in the leadership of corporate worship.  The more people you can involve in some aspect of worship the better quality of worship will be for that congregation.

20.              I have been trying to direct my public prayers along the lines of my sermon theme.  But usually it is done just after I read my sermon scripture or before my sermon.  No matter the kind of prayer I might use, I am convinced there needs to be more thought and planning in the corporate prayer life of our church.  Someone spoke of the need for “premeditated” prayer, in which the pastor may compose a complete prayer in his study and then leave it there during the service. 

21.              The following are some guidelines for public prayer, especially for those practicing free prayer (page 33, A Guide to Preaching and Leading Worship by William H. Willimon). 

22.              1. Careful construction of a prayer does not mitigate against the concept of free prayer.  Willimon says that “Prayer is too important for the church to do it without preparing for it” (page 33).

23.              2. Opportunities for congregational participation in public prayer should be explored.   According to him, (and I agree, wholeheartedly) one of the goals of worship leaders is to invite the people into the act.  He suggests that the pastor prepare the congregation for the ideal of offering one-sentence prayers of thanksgiving or petition. 

24.              In addition, the pastor might say something like brother and sisters I ask you to pray for our nation (then a moment of silence), for the sick (silence), church (silence), special needs (name one, then silence).

25.              We have a prayer list, in which we receive requests from the congregation.  We might receive requests on paper before the service begins then have the ushers bring them forward to the person that is leading the prayers.

26.              3.  A good service might be a mix of both types of prayer.

27.              4. Generally speaking, the trend in public worship is to include a variety of short prayers of various types rather than one long prayer that attempts to include everything.
 

28.              5. A good worship leader/pastor is a good listener. 

29.               Amen is an interesting subject.  Amen means “truly”; it is a congregational yes to whatever is being said or done. It is not the ending of anything; it is just a resounding affirmation (see 1Corinthians 14:16; 2 Corinthians 1:20).  The reason we say “amen” or “yes” to anything is to the “glory of God.”

30.              Hymns—Luke 1:46-55 may have been at one time put to music, it is called “Magnificat,” from a Latin word that is modeled after the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:11; 2:1-10.  In Luke 2:14, we have the brief song of the angels at the birth of Jesus, usually referred to as the “Gloria.”  Paul gives us two scriptures which most people feel are ancient hymns to the glory of Christ. It is not known whether they are original to Paul or something that he has quoted. 

31.              According Shields and Butzu, “worked into the prose of the opening paragraph of Hebrews is the beautiful and concise statement, ‘He is the reflection of God’s glory and exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.  When he had made purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent that theirs’” (1: 3-4).

32.              Another text that might be a song is Ephesians 5:14, Butzu calls it a baptism hymn. “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”  According to the author it would not be hard to imagine this being shouted or sung at congregation as a new believer is raised from the baptismal waters to new life in Christ (page 53).

33.              Other things that enter into worship are baptism, laying on of hands, anointing with oil, and foot washing. 

34.              Baptism comes from the word “baptizo” meaning immerse.  There is no disagreement about the meaning, but plenty of disagreement about how, on whom the act was performed, and what followed it  (see Segler, page 173-186).

35.              Laying on of hands—Twice we see it following baptism for reception of the Holy Spirit, but both of these instances (Peter and John in Samaria and Paul in Ephesus) can be understood as special circumstances, not necessarily the normal.

36.              1 Timothy 4:14 tells the young leader, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.” To what rite is this referring to? It sounds like ordination, but about such an event we only have clues.  Was it a rite done to receive the Holy Spirit in full (second blessing so to speak) as some would say?

Lecture 12 - Ministry of Worship 04/28/2009 

Order of Service

1.         Spend a great deal of time with the Worship Planning Handout!

2.                  Call to Worship! How do we approach God?  On His terms and at His bidding of course.  However, the surprising grace of God is that, according to scripture, we are to approach God with boldness and confidence (Hebrews 4:14-16).  Where this all starts is that our God calls us to worship him, and really demands that we worship Him.  It is not an option but something we are called to do, yet without Him there to meet us in worship then everything that we try to do is in vain.

3.                  Therefore, we call not only our congregation to meet God in worship but also we call respectively for His presence to be in our midst.  How is that done?  Music, prayer, and scripture reading, to a name a few that most of our churches practice.  It is a way of settling down our people but also in prayer, music, and scripture asking that God be with us as well.

4.                  Most people believe that the call to God for worship should set the tone of the service.  No other meeting is like this on earth.  We who are leading the service must do what we can to convey the importance of what we are trying to do as we come to worship God. How serious is it to call the people of God to come into the presence of God?

5.                  Public Reading of Scripture—Christians read scripture because it is the written word of God and we, like our Jewish spiritual forefathers, want to hear from God.  We believe that Holy Scripture and Holy Spirit are the sources of direction and life in the existence of the believer.  Therefore, scripture reading in worship is both a voicing of God’s Word and a listening to God’s word which, in turn, nourishes our very being.

6.                  There are at least three practical questions that arise with regard to the public reading of scripture.  One, how do we choose the Bible passage that needs be read?  Some churches use the lectionary.  If not then how do we decide?  Mostly choose passages that help reflect the theme of the service.  Some might match scripture with sermon, others might match it to the music, or prayers.  If you can get by with it, without freaking people out, consider using a variety of translations, especially one that allows you to see that scripture from a new perspective.  I like changing translations of the Bible because I can often get a fresh perspective on scripture I’ve been reading in one particular translation for a long time.  Congregations don’t always like a fresh perspective on their scripture reading.  J

7.                  Two, what alternatives in format are there? Have different people read the scripture.  Maybe even have the congregation read the scripture in unison.  Read the scripture responsively.  Have two or even three people read the scripture passage in parts.  For example one person be Jesus another person be a disciple, or even the narrator of the Gospels themselves. Have the youth to act the passage out like in a play if the passage gives itself to that.  Be creative, and people might listen to the scripture more.

8.                   Three, how can we learn to read scripture more meaningfully? Read the passage with meaning.  Sharon (my wife), who taught reading in just about every elementary grade, says that anyone can be taught to read with expression and feeling. 

9.                  Try to convey the feeling and the attitude of the passages as well as it words. Get into the spirit of the writer by studying and appreciating what he is saying. Imagine that you are a part of the scripture passage that you are reading. 

10.              Read interpretively; vary the pitch of sound, rate of speaking, volume, all to convey emotional tone. Pause before or after key and important parts in order to build suspense or to let the truth sink into the listeners hearts.

11.              In addition, before you read or someone else reads have a very short explanation of what they are about to hear.

12.              To give more respect to the reading of the word, have the congregation stand as it is being read.  

13.              Read and act as if you believed Isaiah 55:9-11 was true.

Public Prayers

14.              Invocation—is naturally a part of the call to worship. It is requesting God’s presence and blessing, and reminds us that God’s presence in among His people.  An effective invocation helps people think about what God has in store for them today—a kind of Holy anticipation of what hopefully will follow.
 

15.              When a judge enters into the courtroom the court officers calls out, “all rise for the honorable Judge so and so.”  Our invocations, in the same way, are supposed to call out, “Let us lift up our hearts; the Lord God Almighty is in our midst.” 

16.              In addition, the invocation should ask God to prod, lure, guide, encourage, challenge, touch, center, shape, direct, or edify His people.  It should fit into the order of worship service in which it reflects the worship theme and given emphasis of the day.

17.              Pastoral prayer—What is it?  Traditionally, it has been a comprehensive prayer that includes confession, thanksgiving, and petitions; offered by the pastor, usually following the reading of scriptures.

18.                There are critics of the pastoral prayer which say it is usually a very long prayer, in fact too long, and only tolerable by the most spiritually mature Christians. Disturbs the ancient order of the early church by putting it between scripture and the sermon. And makes a good prayer too dependent on the personal gifts and skills of the Pastor.  I personally like it because it helps me to collect my thoughts and set the stage spiritually for the preaching of God’s word.

19.              Benediction—pronouncing the benediction is a privilege, a priestly function of high responsibility. The Pastor speaks God’s affectionate words of blessing over the congregation, not necessarily dismissing the group. Benediction comes from the Latin word benedico which means “to speak well” or to speak words of good omen.” It is a blessing meant to bring good.  In the New Testament, the Greek word for benediction is eulogia, which we get eulogy, literally meaning “good work.”  See page 196 of  Leadership Handbook of Preaching and Worship.

1.                  Music--First part of class was lecture given by Park Deans minister of Music at Abingdon Baptist Church.

2.                  Worship and Entertainment (discussion of book by A.W. Tozer entitled “Tozer on Worship and Entertainment”)

Opening quote:  “In many churches Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine it would not cure anyone.” Great quote from Tozer on Worship and Entertainment, Page ix. It sounds very lukewarm doesn’t it?

3.                  “The essence of spiritual worship is to love supremely, to trust confidently, to pray without ceasing and to seek to be Christ-like and holy and to do all the good we can for Christ’s sake.”

4.                  We are saved to worship first and foremost!  True or false?

5.                  We cannot worship today because we don’t have a high enough opinion of God (page 23, Your God is too Small by J.B. Phillips).  Act of Worship ingredients:

Admiration—We can admire without worshipping but we cannot worship without admiring because worship is admiration carried to infinitude” (Page 1).  Have we become so used to coming to church and attempting to worship God that we’ve lost our admiration for God?

6.                  Honor is the next ingredient of worship according to Tozer. He doesn’t believe that it is possible to worship and not honor God.

7.                  Fascination—an old poet once wrote: “In our astonished reverence, we confess Thy uncreated loveliness.”  Love—Is it possible to worship God without loving Him?  We cannot worship without loving what we worship.

8.                  Heaven is meant to exist only to worship God.  Earthly life is learning to practice for heaven.  All of life is meant to worship God.

9.                  We have a crisis of worship today, but yet “a man filled with the Spirit who has met God in a living encounter can worship God in the silence and the storm.”

10.              The problem is that “no worship is wholly pleasing to God till there is nothing in us displeasing to God…”(agree or disagree?).  “You can name the name of Jesus a thousand times; but if you will not follow the nature of Jesus the name of Jesus will not mean anything to you” (both quotes page 7).  When our nature and God’s nature begin to harmonize, the power of the name of Jesus begins to operate within us.

11.              Tozer says this very strongly:  “If you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week.  There is no such thing known in heaven as Sunday worship unless it is accompanied by Monday and Tuesday worship.” Is it really an all or nothing practice?  Tozer reads the church mystics and quotes Brother Lawrence in one of his sermons in saying that: “At the last hour someone asked him what was going on in his thoughts as death approached, he replied: ‘I am doing what I shall do through all eternity—blessing God, praising God, adoring God, giving Him the love of my whole heart.  It is our one business, my brethren, to worship Him and love Him without thought of anything else” (page 27).

12.              He reflects on his own thinking (page 10), “I don’t have to do wrong to get under blistering conviction and repentance. I can lose the fellowship of God and a sense of His presence and a sense of spirituality by just thinking wrong.”  He believes that God dwells in your deep thoughts.  He writes “make your thoughts a sanctuary God can inhabit, and don’t let any of the rest of your life dishonor God. See to it that every hour and every place is given over to God (house on the hill, open doors and windows that let the Spirit of God blow through), and you will worship Him and He will accept it” (page 11).

13.              It seems to me that people who seem to want to run the church are usually people who do not play and who do not worship, but are nevertheless able to run the church and determine the direction that it will take.

14.              Nobody has ever worshiped God and done nothing else.  Our motto for our church for years has been “enter to worship, depart to serve.” Tozer says (page 25) that a truly spiritual worship will result in spiritual people who want to serve God in and out of the church.

Different Styles of Worship

Liturgical Worship

1.                  Formal-Liturgical—According to Paul F. Zahl in Exploring the Worship Spectrum (editor Paul E. Engle), liturgical worship means prescribed worship; service that is required for a given occasion.  In other words according to the author, “you do not make up as you go along.”  Of course, most informal-liturgical styles of worship don’t  feel like they make it up as they go along. They have traditions and comfort levels that give the service form to one degree or another.

2.                  According the author, in formal worship the first principles of worship are its setness, its givenness, and its direction.  He declares that it’s more “vertical worship” which looks up to God first then out to the people. According to the author, it is more “Word-centered” rather that pastor or preacher centered.

3.                  The philosophy of worship is based on a Latin term, “lex credenda lex orandi,” which means:  What we believe determines how we pray.  He rejects the notion that how we pray (worship, etc.) determines what we believe, and maintains that theology has to precede the act of worship.  Do we agree? I think so.  Right-thinking about God, Christ, and condition of the human race is essential in forming and creating worship.

4.                  He is an evangelical Episcopalian maintaining that liturgies that cannot pass Bible scrutiny are worthless and worse than useless.

5.                  Music in the style is also crucial worship.  Music is essential for two reasons. First because it catalyzes emotion as nothing else. It is a part of the “sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).  Music, according to the author, is “a sort of charismatic prophecy, in the sense of 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, by which human being’s true interests, intentions, and aspirations can come out.”

6.                  Second, formal worship (as well as all forms of worship) need music for the communication of teaching.  Literally, our music forms the people who sing them.  According to Zahl, formal-liturgical worship almost always requires music of quality married to words of substance.  As if our music doesn’t  try to do that as well.

7.                  Zahl says that contrary to popular belief formal-liturgical worship does not necessarily quench the Holy Spirit. He defends this misconception of formal worship by stating that “yes at time it does happen” but it also happens in every other type of worship.  What is truly free and what is formal? The Spirit can bless and attend both.

8.                  Another objection to formal worship, according to the author, is that this style of worship is cold and dead.

9.                  Still yet according to the author, the formal-liturgical model is not user-friendly. Specifically it is bad for evangelism.

Traditional Hymn-based Worship

10.              Harold M. Best, in the same above-mentioned book, states that traditionalism is a function both of time and association.  The longer people enjoy a tradition, especially when they grow up with it, the more reluctant they are to change.

11.              Another source of traditionalism grows out of another established perceptual need to which they have culturally become accustomed.  Much like music, generally speaking we enjoy the same kind or style of music in worship that we do in our secular music.  If we enjoy secular music, which some people never would admit to.

12.              Best defines true worship as godly and Christ-centered worship which comes only as we give ourselves to Christ.  We are supposed to give ourselves to Christ in an “unceasing worshiping”—a continuous outpouring to the one who has made and remade ourselves and our world that we are living in.

13.              The traditional hymn-based form of outpouring of our souls to Christ takes the following form:  Sung text and instrumental music, instructional and responsive sentences said or sung, selected scriptures, prayer in three general kinds (invocations, Pastoral, and congregational prayers of confession, praise, and intercession). In addition… sermons, offerings and periodic celebrations of the Lord’s Supper.

14.              The hymn book is one of three texted sources (Bible and prayer books) without which authentic hymn-based worship in impossible. It is a temporal and artifactual servant of the Word of God.  The hymnbook is a remarkably diverse stylistic archive with musical content.  The hymnbook and hymn-based worship thrive on hands-on printed material.  It is portable, readable, and a concrete body of work.   The words are easily at hand and the music is printed to accompany it.  The history of choral music is tightly interwoven with the hymnbook. The hymn book is a working history of creative struggle to go beyond the singing of pure scripture.  Hymnody is a testament to something else, something of supreme importance:  Thinking biblically allows ordinary people to think alongside the Scriptures, in direct faithfulness to them, while setting its truths to their own poetic frames of reference. The hymnbook is a magnificent instrument for private devotion. Finally, the hymnbook is a scholarly undertaking and respected professional discipline.

Contemporary Music-Driven Worship

15.              According to our author—Contemporary worship was not born simply out of a desire to swap the organ for a guitar, but out of an intense longing to somehow more from the causal, disinterested reciting of creeds and singing of hymns into an authentic time of loving and grateful interaction with the One who shed His blood for us.

16.              This style of worship endeavors to use modern instrumentation, contemporary musical styles and freshly written and arranged songs, in the language of this generation to lead people into authentic expression of worship and a genuine experience of the presence of God.  In addition, contemporary worship often combines form with other creative elements, such a Scripture, prayer, liturgical elements, and visual aids in an effort to help people engage their hearts in worshiping God.

17.              According to our author, the move from traditional to contemporary worship involves very visible changes, in which we hear “we’ve never done it that way before.”  It is tempting to do things for change sake rather for the sake of the Savior and the people that are supposed to be adoring Him.

18.              In fact some people get so attuned to change and growth that they forget what worship and church is about.  In other words, “we can get so strategic that we worship so our church will grow, not because He is worthy. But we’re doing all this because God is worthy and we want to worship Him (page 104, Paul E. Engle, editor).

19.              People of this generation are longing to experience the genuine presence of God.  And God is longing to move in and among the hearts of His people (Number 14:11).  According to the author “if we learn to worship  from hearts that are fully engaged, God will be glorified and set free to move in us and among us” (page 104).

20.              According to Joe Horness, the worship that the Bible describes “was meant to be a dialogue, flowing from the outpouring of a relationship with God” (page 104).  Do you agree, based on our understanding of worship is it a dialogue or is it simply us offering ourselves to God?  But God is always speaking to us?  Does the worship experience always need to be a dialogue?

21.              According to Sally Morgenthaler, the problem with modern-day worship is “we are not producing worshipers in this country. Rather, we are producing a generation of spectators, religious onlookers lacking, in many cases, any memory of a true encounter with God, deprived of both the tangible sense of God’s presence and the supernatural relationship their inmost spirits crave” (page 104).  However, again is it an accurate observation based on Biblical understanding of worship or simply a reaction to the over-stimulated entertainment expectations that our culture has?  Must we experience something, must we be moved in order to say we have worshiped God?

22.              William Hendricks has documented what the occasional church attendee asks the most:  “Where is God?  According to Hendricks, this question “lies at the heart of why people come to church?” They expect to find God there.  According to Horness, the goal of contemporary worshipers is a relationship to God. 

23.              Jack Hayford writes:  “Worship is God’s gift to man. Worship has never been intended by God to be an occasion for proving one’s expertise in religion, but for satisfying one’s hunger and thirst for God.  A Bible-centered approach to worship reveals that worship is not a God-built device to somehow get man to stoke a heavenly ego. Scripture consistently shows God calling his creatures to worship in his presence that he might release, redeem, renew, and restore them.”  What is worship primarily concerned about the most, God or mankind?  Is worship about what we get out of it, or what we give to God?
 

24.              In addition, while “worship is God’s gift to man”, we must remember that life-changing experiences with God are matters of Grace rather than works.  Grace is something that God bestows on His people as He sees fit, and when He sees fit.  While I can pray for it and try to nurture it with my obedience, I cannot turn it off and on like a light switch.  Consequently, the temptation in the contemporary church seems to be to try to produce these experiences artificially, rather than patiently waiting upon God.  The artificially produced movement of the “spirit of god” is nothing more or less than religious entertainment.

 

Blended Worship

25.              Blended worship is a synthesis of the liturgical and contemporary worship renewal movements of the twentieth century, according to the Robert Webber article, page 175, Exploring the Worship Spectrum.

26.              According to Webber, blended worship is about the triune God. We worship God the Father in the language of mystery, God the Son in the language of story, and God the Spirit in the language of symbol.

27.              Language of mystery—the unknowable nature of God.  1 Corinthians 13:12 is Paul’s understanding of the mystery of God.

28.              Language of story—while the essence of God is unknowable, at least to where our little minds might say we understand, God’s actions in history are known. The story from creation to fall, slavery in Egypt to the promised land, prophets to destruction, restoration to the time of Christ’s birth, death, resurrection, ascension.  The story is the meaning of the known universe.  The story is also the story of learning to worship God.  The story is the story of Sunday worship.

29.              Language of symbol—according to Webber, symbol is how we experience the worship of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is in every believer and the Spirit gathers us for worship, attends the reading and the preaching of the Word, and is released through the signs of bread and wine.

30.              According to Webber, this is what worship does.  It acknowledges the wonderful nature of God.  It tells the story from the beginning to the end and it unleashes the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in the assembled people, in the ministry, in Word and Sacrament, and it connects God and people in a relationship.

31.              According to Webber (page 182), the content of worship is inseparable from its structure or order.  The structure of order of worship is this: 
            1) it gathers the people in God’s presence 
            2) it tells and proclaims the story in song, in Scripture, preaching, and prayer, 
            3) it in acts the story in water, bread, wine, oil 
            4) it sends the people of God forth into the world to love and serve the Lord.

32.              This fourfold pattern is repeated in every covenant of the Old Testament; it is the pattern of New Testament worship described in Act 2:42.

33.              The blended worship that he advocates calls for the return to this biblical and historical order of worship. It recognizes that four different worship acts underlie the Sunday celebration: the gather, the Word; the Table and the sending forth.

34.              It there a God-ordained style of worship? See page 185.  When you focus on style of worship rather than substance, the style dates rapidly, its appeal fades and the crowd begins to thin.