Purpose and Mission

In the last blog, we stated that the object of our worship must be God, and God alone.  In the Kingdom, we have tended to focus on "parts" of God's mission to the point that different denominations have appeared based on a particular focus or certain areas of ministry sometimes being out of balance with God's call to the church.  Biblically, the purpose or ultimate goal of the church is the worship of God.  Some have tried to say the ultimate goal is discipleship.  Therefore, their focus is on one to one discipleship or small group discipleship to the exclusion of any emphasis on worship or evangelism.  Others have tried to say the ultimate goal or purpose is mission and evangelism.  Again, the ministries of worship and discipleship sometimes suffer because of this mindset.
Once again, the ultimate goal or purpose of the church is worship, both private and corporate.  The Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31) informs us of this.  The mission of the church is found in The Great Commission. (Matt. 28:19-20)  You can't neglect worship and expect to be fruitful in evangelism and discipleship.  Worship feeds and empowers our mission of evangelism and discipleship.  And, if you have true authentic worship, you can only respond, "Here I am, Lord" in obedience to the missions' heart of God.  In the next blog we will discuss some substitutes for worship that we seemed to have created in the church in our time.  mjm

God, and God Alone

We must worship God only.  You are thinking, well that is obvious.  But, this is one of Satan's greatest tricks.  1 John 5:21 states, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols," and in Jonah 2:8, "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."  The mention of idols immediately makes us think of the "golden calf" type idols of the Bible.  But Satan uses "good things" in our lives to become idols in our lives.  What is an idol?  Anything, yes anything, that we put before God in our lives.  Satan subtly says, "Yes, but your work is important, or yes, but your family is important, or yes, but your kids or your grandkids are important, or yes, but sports is important, or yes, but your style of worship or your style of music is most important."  The question is not, "Will you worship?" but, "What will you worship?"
There are all kinds of God-substitutes in our culture.  In 2 Timothy 3:4, Paul refers to a time when people would be "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."  Our culture is addicted to entertainment and our love for pleasure has become a substitute for love for God.  Satan says, "Worship anything but God."  In the church we have people who worship tradition rather than God.  We have people who worship a certain kind of music rather than God, Himself.  If we are not careful, we can even worship worship rather than God.  The great issue of all of history is: "Whom will we worship?"  Let's settle it now --worship God and God alone.  mjm

Soli Deo Gloria

Soli Deo Gloria was one of the five solas that summarized the Reformers beliefs during the Protestant Reformation.  It is the Latin term for Glory to God alone or To God alone be glory.  The doctrine states basically that everything is done for God's glory to the exclusion of man's self-glorification and pride.  Christians are to be motivated and inspired by God's glory - not their own.
Both Bach and Handel put at the end of many of their musical manuscripts "SDG" or "Soli Deo Gloria".  The mission of man is the glory of God!  Last blog we said that the primary worship leader is the choir and their mission is the glory of God.  The signature of every song and of our worship should always be Soli Deo Gloria!
God's first concern after freeing the Israelites from Egypt was to teach them about worship and how approaching Him as worshippers was to be in submission and proper understanding, conscious of His glory.  At the conclusion of the building of the tabernacle, God sanctified the tabernacle by His glory  (Exodus 29:43-44).  Then, God blessed the beginning of the Israelites' worship by displaying His glory and filling the temple (Exodus 40:34-38).  God displayed His glory in these instances, revealing the point and purpose of all true worship - His glory.  When God's people gather, God's glory should be uppermost on the minds of God's worship leaders and God's people.  The whole reason for our gathering together week after week is to glorify God.  Signed, Soli Deo Gloria!  mjm

Who is the Primary Worship Leader?

I believe that as you search and research scripture, the answer to that question is - the choir!  In a day when many churches seem to be disbanding the choir, we need to answer the question: Is the choir man's idea or God's idea?  When things begin in the mind and heart of God, I think it is safe to assume permanence in His plans and principles.  Dave Williamson, long time worship leader and arranger, has been at the forefront of teaching and training this biblical principle.
It is very clear in 2nd Chronicles 5 that the choir is to be God's lead worshipper.  That is a huge responsibility given by God.  It is His intent.  That is the very reason we call our choir, The Worship Choir.  I have taught and believed for many years that the worship choir is not about performance, but leading people to the throne to experience God in worship.  They don't sing for the people but encourage and lead all the people of God to worship Him!
The choir is not only seen as the lead worshipper by God, but as God's lead warrior.  We find this in 2nd Chronicles 20.  In v. 22 we see that when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush.  I have come to the belief that Satan hates praise of the living God.  I even saw evidence of that profoundly on the mission field.  There is victory in praise.  We as God's people need to come to an understanding of that scriptural principle.  Please pray for the Worship Choir Ministry in your church. mjm

Reflecting God's Glory

It is never a "royal waste of time" to reflect God's glory.  Our worship should reflect God's glory in a way that the light of Jesus shines, His glory radiates from our lives, and the Lord uses us to influence those in our sphere of influence toward Christ.  As many of you know, these three points are from today's message by Mike Satterfield.  Worship is the goal of evangelism, and evangelism is the fruit of worship.  In Exodus... "Let my people go, so they may worship Me."  In Isaiah 6, after the prophet sees the Lord high and lifted up, he says, "Go and tell the people." In Matthew, when they saw Jesus and worshipped Him, He said, "Go and make disciples."  When 120 disciples gathered in Acts 2, they prayed, experienced the presence of God and worshipped Him "declaring the wonders of God".  Oh yeah, and three thousand people were saved.
In 2 Corinthians 4, we find Paul saying that the good news of Jesus Christ leads us to an encounter with God's presence and glory.  One writer, Gerrit Gustafson, has said,  "You could say that the Gospel of the glory of Christ is the facts of the Gospel plus the phenomenon of His presence."  There is nothing like the combination of the facts of the Gospel and the power of God's presence.
May we be so "prayed up" when we enter corporate worship that we all reflect God's glory and when we leave worship may we continue to reflect His glory wherever we go.  mjm

"A Royal Waste of Time" ?

In this day and time with all the different opinions of what worship should be, what style of worship or music should be used and some churches even having "worship wars", one could ask the question, "Is this a waste of time trying to satisfy everybody?"  Marva Dawn in her book, A Royal Waste of Time, says the following to introduce her book.  "My primary concern in various churches' and denominations' struggles over worship is that so many decisions are being based on criteria other than the most essential --namely, that God be the Subject and Object, the Infinite Center, of our worship.  If we keep God as the center of our worship life and worship-full lives, then we will find countless possibilities, endless resources, innumerable ways to encounter and express God's infinite presence.  If we earnestly enter the adventure of weekly gatherings to waste time royally as we explore God's unceasing revelations, then we will stop fighting over the wrong questions, the church marketers' opinions, cultural pressures, unbiblical solutions." In Colossians 3:12 we discover we are chosen by God.  Not because we deserve or earned it.  Our abilities as musicians, or the kind of worshippers we are, doesn't change anything about how God feels about us.  We are chosen. Therefore, everything we do is a royal waste of time.  That awareness frees us to respond to his overwhelming grace with praise and whatever skills we have, with lives of ministry in His name.  We sing and play the greatest music possible, sometimes to the shock of others and ourselves, by the overwhelming grace of God.  With our focus on such a subject, how can we help but be passionate?  Another quote from Ms. Dawn in closing, "Worship is a royal waste of time that spirals into passion for living as Christians and back into more passionate worship.  It is totally irrelevant, not efficient, not powerful, not spectacular, not productive, sometimes not even satisfying to us. But, it is also the only hope for changing the world." Think on that.  mjm

Worship from the Beginning

Job 38 shows us that worship began at the very beginning, with creation.  The Lord describes worship to Job, even talking about the "morning stars singing together".  He is literally saying that worship was everywhere in creation.  The predisposition to worship God was built into every square inch of creation.  In fact scripture says it was built into every rock (Luke 19:40).  Worship was a part of every tree (Psalm 96:12).  It was a part of every hill (Psalm 114:4), and every ocean (Psalm 93:3).  In Revelation 5:13 we find "every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"  Every creature and all of humanity, according to Revelation 15:4.  At the moment of conception our very DNA predisposes us to worship!
Romans 8:18-21 states, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. . ."  All of creation is eagerly waiting for the glory of worship to be seen among the redeemed!  Yes, we were created to worship. mjm

A Peek at Worship in Heaven

Revelation gives us a peek at what worship in heaven will be like.  The main thing we see in Rev. 21:1-3 is that our object of worship will be with us.  Every possible need will be completely satisfied in Him.  
In Rev. 4 & 5 we get a glimpse of the fact that God values the organization of praise and worship in heaven.  Could it be that God expects an order of worship?  In Rev. 4: 8-11 and Rev. 5:11-14, we see that the worship is for all the people, corporate worship, and He is the all in all of the worship.  
Then, in Rev. 5:9-10 and 14:2-3, we see there is actually congregational singing in heaven.  In fact we will sing the song of redemption and the angels will just have to listen.  I kind of chuckled to myself.  What are the people who try to skip congregational singing and just come for the preaching going to do in heaven?  We will sing the Victory Song according to Rev.15:3-4.  We will have seen the last of the enemy and will experience perfect worship in a perfect environment.  It will cause the most timid among us to shout Hallelujah! 
Rev. 19:6-9 show us the Hallelujah Chorus of heaven.  A choir from all nations, a multitude will gather.  And, if you couldn't carry a tune in a bucket on earth, or didn't think you had a bit of talent, it won't matter. We will all qualify for the eternal Chorus. Hallelujah!  Read Rev. 7:15-17... and be home sick.  mjm

Desiring God's Presence in Worship

Our worship teams' goal of the year, beginning in August,  was to "ignite a passion for the presence of God." We continue into the new year with that desire.  A deep appreciation for the presence of God is essential to our worship.  After all, it is about Him!   There are many examples in Scripture about the correlation between worship and the presence of God.  We've looked at several Old Testament examples.  One of the New Testament examples is found in Acts 16:25-26, when Paul and Silas sang their praises in prison and God revealed His powerful presence.  Worship literally ushers in the presence of God.  

Psalm 100:4 says, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise!"  When we worship, it is as if a great, invisible gate opens wide, welcoming us into the very presence of God.  Moses knew the importance of God's presence.  In Exodus 33:15-16,  we find him saying to the Lord, "If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here... is it not in Your going with us, so that we are distinct from others on the face of the earth?"  May God's presence with us make us distinct as individuals and as a church.  The Message says in Psalm 100:2, "Sing yourself into His presence."  We know God inhabits the praises of His people.  May we, in this new year, sing ourselves into His presence!  mjm