Our Worship Alive

There is nothing that will kill corporate worship like "dead" worship.  Many times the reason people haven't "liked" a particular style of worship is because it is "dead", not because it was not a worthy expression of worship.  I know it sounds a little strange, but nothing will kill worship like a dead worship service.  Whether we are worshipping with a traditional hymn, a new chorus, or an older praise and worship song, if we don't do it with life and passion, it will be ineffective.  Worship must first happen inside us.  It doesn't come from the outside.  Because of the grace we have experienced in Christ, because of the overwhelming goodness of God in our lives, our worship comes from within.  How can we see who God is and what He has done and not express ourselves with life and passion?

In I Cor. 14:15, we are admonished to pray in the spirit  and sing in the spirit.  Now from other passages we are admonished to live and sing in the power of the Holy Spirit.  But, here spirit is not capitalized.  I believe that in I Cor. 14:15 he is talking more about man's spirit, all of who we are, mind, soul, and body and that when we worship (pray) and sing we are to do it with every ounce of who we are, passion from within in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are living in a day where sometimes people are put down for their passion.  We need to be very careful, because I believe God deserves every bit of our passion in worship.  Christ in you, the hope of Glory - Victory is ours!  Does our worship reflect that fact?  I pray our worship as the gathered body will be . . . our Worship Alive!  mjm

Our Worship Aptitude

Aptitude has to do with readiness to learn or the acquired capacity for something; in this case, worship.  What is your worship aptitude?   Are you hungry to learn more and more about worship from God's word and letting his Word guide your experience, growing in those experiences of worship?  In Deut. 6:4-5, we are given the great commandment and Jesus repeats it in Mark 12:30-31.  " . . . You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  This is foundational to the study of worship. 

The Old Testament is full of instruction and hundreds of verses having to do with worship.  The Hebrew word meaning "worship" is translated literally "to bow down".  The worshipper "knows" the Lord and "trusts" the Lord.  The worshipper "seeks" the Lord and His presence.  The worshiper "waits" for the Lord and "intercedes" with the Lord.  All of these are Old Testament worship concepts to be acquired or learned and only a few of hundreds.  

Like the Old Testament, the New Testament contains many terms and concepts that refer to acts and different features of worship.  In a different cultural setting the New Testament writers develop a magnificent vision of the worship of Father and Son.  Jesus Christ, in His appearance as the incarnate Word of God, displayed a personal presence and power that moved people to an awe filled worshipful experience.  Many references to Old Testament worship are brought to bear in the light of Jesus Christ.  Even though there is less material in the New Testament, there are still hundreds of verses having to do with terms, actions, and understanding of worship.  Knowing God's Word and knowing the incarnate Word in Jesus Christ will bring us to worship renewal in our lives.  Do we have a hunger to know Him?  Do we have a deep desire to learn how to worship Him?  Are we growing in our knowing and understanding worship?  It will be our heavenly, eternal occupation.  Let's get with it!  mjm   

Our Worship Attitude

Many places in scripture we find attitude connected to worship.  One of the main passages on attitude in general is found in Philippians 2.  We are challenged in the first part of this chapter to have the attitude or the "mind" of Christ, as some translations say.  In 2 Chronicles 7:3 we find the ultimate attitude of worship in the idea of "prostration before the Lord."  Found in both of these passages the ultimate attitude of worship is none other than humility.

The worship "wars" we have seen in our generation do not reflect what we see in Philippians 2.  In having the attitude of Christ we are challenged to be tender and compassionate.  We are challenged to agree whole heartedly, love one another, and work together with one mind and purpose . . . the glory of God.

Then in v. 3 we are challenged to not be selfish; to not try to impress others and to think of others as better than ourselves.  Don't look only for our own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  In all of this we are challenged to have the same attitude that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had.  

In that  attitude . . . there is no place for "prima donnas" in soloists, worship leaders, or worship leading choirs.  There is no place for saying, "My style of worship, or my style of music and personal taste is better than yours."  I believe strongly that because the body of Christ is intergenerational, that both young and old need to practice the attitude of Christ in worship.  God is a multifaceted God and we are a multifaceted people.  Why would our worship not also be very multifaceted?  We all can learn and grow as we yield to one another in our worship practices; as we humble ourselves before the Lord.  These attitudes of worship among God's people will culminate in every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father! (v.11)  May we all check our worship attitude with the principles in Philippians 2.   mjm

Our Worship Altitude

"My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord, in the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up" (Psalm 5:3).  Our worship altitude is completely dependent upon whether we are looking down at the circumstances surrounding us or if we are "looking up" toward our Lord.  If we get bogged down in our momentary afflictions, we tend to forget to "look up" and remember that we are "kept in His love" as the old hymn, "Moment by Moment," says.

One of my favorite books of the New Testament is Philippians.  Paul deftly deals with a great question in this book.  When life is so hard and difficult, how can I worship God?  We are shown by Paul that we can worship with joy and gladness when we simply lift our eyes above our moment by moment tribulations and keep our focus on Him and the innumerable blessing of eternity.  Paul uses an ancient hymn in Philippians 2:5-11 to show us that when we suffer, the vision of Christ's ultimate victory and glory will carry us, sustain us and fill us with joy and gladness.  

Paul goes on to remind us in chapter 4 to rejoice in the Lord.  Then, also in that chapter, he challenges us to think in new ways.  Paul challenges us to "think on such excellent and praiseworthy things" therefore  our attitude will lift our worship altitude.  I think it was John Maxwell who said, "Our attitude determines our altitude".  

If we focus on, meditate on and occupy our minds and hearts on God and His gifts, it will enable our worship, no matter what our circumstances.  And the very act of worship, both private and corporate, in which we consider God's glory, fills our hearts with joy and will certainly lift our worship altitude.   mjm

Sweeter than the Day Before

That was probably one of the first choruses I sang as a child.  Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.  As we enter this new year, I want to ask the question . . . Is it!  Is the passion of your heart like Paul's . . . to know Him more and more and therefore to love Him more and more every day?  How does that happen?  Actually, it is so simple that we in the church today trip over it.  The simple fact is if we want to know Him more and love Him more; we need to spend time with Him every day getting to "know" Him as He speaks directly to us from His Word and as we pray, laying out our heart's desires, confessing before Him, and praying for others.



If every person in our congregation attending corporate worship with the body of Christ here locally were to simply worship Him every day this week, it would revolutionize our worship experience together next week.  Our worship together will never surpass or go anywhere beyond the private, individual worship of those who gather.  If we want to grow in worship as a church, it has to begin with every individual that is part of this local church.  May the testimony of our hearts be . . . Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.  If so, we will see the presence and power of the Lord in our church gathered as never before.  mjm

Then Will the Rocks Cry Out

In both Scripture and music, we see the use of imagery of the "rock" alluding to Jesus.  Our Easter music that we have begun to prepare, reminds us . . . that "No Stone Could Hold Him" . . . the living, eternal Rock of our Salvation.  In fact in the ESV Bible we find "foundation or cornerstone" used some 68 times. We see "rock, rocks, stone, or stones" used some 535 times in the Word.  Many of these are alluding to Him!

In Luke 19 when we find the crowds giving praise and glory to the King of Kings, the Pharisees telling  Jesus to rebuke or shut your disciples up and Jesus says, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."  He must be praised or the rocks would immediately cry out.  This would literally be fulfilled at the cross when His disciples fell silent; the earth quaked and the rocks cried out.

In our worship, we should never allow our passion and our joy in praise of Him to be repressed.  We live in a refined culture where some would say, "Rebuke those folks" because they are getting a little too caught up in their praise of Jesus.  There is a phrase in our coming Easter musical that says, "Rocks, keep silent! Jesus comes to set me free. Rocks keep silent! I'm gonna shout in victory! Rocks keep silent! Jesus reigns in majesty.  Ain't no rock gonna shout for me."  (words by J. Paul Williams)  I am also reminded of the words of an anthem our choir has sung, written by Gary McSpadden, Bill George, John Thompson and Randy Scruggs.  "If we keep our voices silent, all creation will rise and shout. If we fail to praise you Father, then will the very rocks cry out . . . from a world of tribulation come and let your voice be raised . . . let the living God be praised!"  

In discouragement and victory, let us praise . . . or the very rocks will cry out!  In distress and worship, let us praise . . . or the very rocks will cry out!  mjm

Created to Worship and Creating Worshippers

When God created the first man, Adam, He didn't do it with the purpose of creating one to serve Him.  He already had a host of angels who would serve Him and do it perfectly.  Neither did He fashion man for the purpose of expanding His wealth or source of counsel.  Because God is all in all, complete in Himself, and counsel is not needed by all wisdom.  God created us in His own image, giving us the ability to know Him and in knowing Him, to worship Him.  We were created to worship.  

A.W. Tozer, pastor, teacher, and author wrote these words:  "The purpose of God in sending His Son to die and rise and live and be at the right hand of God the Father was that He might restore to us the missing jewel, the jewel of worship; that we might come back and learn to do again that which we were created to do in the first place - worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness to spend our time in awesome wonder and adoration of God, feeling and expressing it.  We're here to be worshippers first and workers second."  

Work that does not grow out of worship is like sticking a tree limb cutting in wet dirt.  It may stay green for a day or so, but will then die because of a lack of a living root system.  

We were created to worship first and work second.  What is our work?  Jesus said, . . . "in the same way the Father has sent me, I send you.  Then He breathed on them and said to receive the Holy Spirit for the work of redemption." (Manley paraphrase of John 20:21-23.)  Being rooted in worship and praise, our work is to create new worshippers. That concept sounds familiar - "Love the Lord thy God . . . and thy neighbor as thyself."  Created to worship and in the power of His Spirit to create worshippers!  mjm

Our Worship Remembered ???

A strange thing to say,  "Will our worship be remembered?"  . . . or is it?  In the table of nations found in  Genesis 10, vv. 8-9, we find, "Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.  He was a mighty hunter before the Lord."  He was remembered for something.  

Have you ever thought, "How will I  be remembered after I  leave this earth?  What will people say about me?  What will be my legacy or contribution remembered?  Will I be remembered as a success or a faithful disciple?  Will I be remembered as a workaholic, or an approved worker for the kingdom?  Will my legacy be one of trivia, or a life invested in the Lord's mission and my worship of Him?"  

Our prayer should be, "Lord help me to live and worship in such a way that my life may be remembered as one that was lived fully and faithfully."  

What is your passion?  What do you live for?  What is most important?  What is paramount? 

Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) made the following statement during his life.  "I have one passion only:  It is He!  It is He!"  May the same be said of our passion.  

If so, our worship will be remembered.  mjm

In the Beginning. God . . .

"In the beginning. God . . . "  Worship begins with God, not with us.  Our so called worship wars over style of worship and style of music have proven that we try to make it about us.  Worship is simply responding to a creating and redeeming God who brought us and bought us.  He seeks to have fellowship with us.  It is the desire of His heart that we worship Him with all that we are.  The word genesis means "beginning".  It is an appropriate title for the first book in the Bible.  In it we see God create man and woman.  They rebel against Him and a sad history of human brokenness begins and yet we see the joyous plan of God's salvation begin in Genesis as well.  We see that man was created to worship.  We see that God has a plan to redeem man so he can worship.

This is the beginning of a new year.  We as believers and worshippers need to recommit ourselves to our private worship time as well as our gathering together for corporate worship by the body of Christ.  Our private devotional life feeds the worship life of the church.  It is a new beginning.  God is a God of beginnings.  Our human tendency is to seek selfish gain rather than God's glory.  But, may we begin this new year as children of God through faith, who worship God by living obediently, so that His sovereign will and purposes might be fulfilled in us and through us for His Glory in 2012!  Amen and Amen!  mjm