The Gift of Worship

Have you ever thought . . . I don't know what gift to give that person; they have everything.   Well, what gift do we give God?  What can we give God that He doesn't already have?  In a word: worship.  It is the one thing we can do to express our love to God.

Loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength can be expressed in most anything we do that serves Christ and the kingdom of God.  It is not just what we do on Sunday morning.  It includes all and everything about our lives.  It includes both the simple and ordinary and the extravagant.  True authentic worship includes so much more than singing, programs, musical styles, or different kinds of worship expression.  This great commandment is something that goes far beyond these other things.  It is an intimate dialogue and two way relationship.  Put most simply, it is revelation and response.  God reveals Himself to us and we respond to Him in love and obedience to all He has revealed to us.  As said before, worship does not begin with us, but the source of worship is divine initiative.  It has to do with a divine encounter in which God loves us and we love Him with everything that we are.  

This moves us beyond just what we know as worship services into a complete holistic encounter with God that engages  every aspect of our human experience.  It includes everything we do in our weekly gatherings as the body and in our own private worship, both of which overflow into everything we do and become during the six days of the week of living.

Unfortunately in our day, people are more interested in seeking a particular experience rather than actually seeking God.  Authentic, Biblical worship calls us to focus on giving to God rather than getting from God.  The beautiful paradox is that while we seek to genuinely give to God in worship, we become recipients of all that God is in that two-way encounter with the living, holy, God.

Reflection of Life or Worship?

I have told choirs for years that nothing will happen in our performance on Sunday morning that doesn't first happen in rehearsal.  How we sing reflects how we have practiced.  Even professional football players say that their performance is in direct relationship and a reflection of how they have practiced.  Where this is true for some things, it is not true of worship.  With worship, it is the opposite.

In our worship we live all week in direct relationship or as a reflection of how we worship as the gathered body on Sunday and how we worship privately during the week. As we express our praise, thanksgiving, confession, and desire to obey Him, it paves the way for how we will live as a result of our worship.  

Romans 12:1 states "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."  The NIV version translates the last phrase, "your spiritual worship".  When we come before the Lord as a congregation or alone in worship and lay ourselves upon God's altar, we are saying to Him - "Here am I, Lord make me your instrument of glory.  Live your life through me all week long for your honor and your glory.  May everything I do, everything I say, every place I go, every thought I think,  and every relationship I have reflect my adoration and worship before you."

It has been interesting in studying the biographies of great musicians to find that Haydn, Handel, Bach, and even Beethoven knew that all the glorious soaring music, great harmony and transcendent joy of their music originated with the Master Creator and Composer.  Every good gift is from above and always points back to its source.  At our best, we are merely mirrors that reflect His divine light.  Everything about our lives should shout, "Don't look at me!  Turn to Him.  Look up, brother!"  

Could it be that if we would more faithfully turn our eyes toward the light of heaven, we would more quickly be molded into the image of our Lord Jesus?  Maybe if we simply place all that we have and all that we are on the altar of worship before God, He will be faithful to fill it with divine, holy light and we will be transformed by His glory!  Let us look up and celebrate all that we see.  Then, our lives will become a reflection of our worship.  Or, as our Pastor has said in his present series our walk will be affected by our worship.  Worship precedes our walk. Our life is a reflection of our worship.  mjm

The Best Worship Leader

Throw the question of the best worship leader you know out and see how many different answers you get.  But, I contend the best worship leader is the High Priest of Heaven, the Heavenly Liturgist, the Worship Leader of God, . . . Jesus!  

In a way when you look at the gospels and everything He did or was saying, it was all worship leading.    He was leading people into encounters with His Father.  He inspired praise and worship and was the very presence of God ministering constantly to His Father's heart and blessing people.  So, in reality, Jesus was the greatest worship leader ever.  

An example is the Triumphal Entry during the last week of His life.  He entered the gates with praise!  By entering with triumph and celebration, He was teaching us something about worship. 

He is the King of Kings - entering His kingdom with praise, honor, and celebration.  The same way He came into that city is the way He wants to come into our cities.  He wants to come the same way into our neighborhoods, our homes, our churches, our nation and of course, our hearts.

Jesus doesn't sneak into a city, church, or a heart.  He doesn't come into the midst of a dirge of non-participation and unengagement; and He will not be enthroned upon the half-hearted lip service of the people.  He is the King of all creation.  He comes as Majesty and Lord, or He won't come at all. 

We need to draw near unto Him.  Our families and churches are literally withering away from a lack of His manifest presence and power.  The question is . . . are we willing to do things God's way and therefore see His promises?  

May the rocks never have to praise because we have failed to do it!  mjm

Confession in Worship

Unfortunately as Baptists, we have allowed other denominations and traditions to make us shy away from confession and public confession by the body of Christ.  And yet we find that it is an important part of the believers' life and worship.

In Lev. 26:40: "But if they will confess their sins . . .; Num. 5:7: ". . . must confess the sin he has committed"; Ps. 38:18: "I confess my iniquity"; Ezra 10:11: "Now make confession to the Lord . . ."; Rom. 10:9: " . . . That if you confess with your mouth";  2 Cor. 9:13: " . . . obedience that accompanies your confession . . . "; James 5:16: "Therefore confess your sins to each other . . ."; I John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful . . . "   And on we could go with passages that deal with the act of confession.

When Isaiah saw the Lord in Isaiah 6, his first response is "Woe is me, for I am undone.  I am a man with unclean lips . . ."  We should approach our worship in humility, knowing that without Him, we are undone.  We should always be ready to confess how we have fallen short of His glory in our lives day by day and moment by moment and seek and know His forgiveness.  

When we see Him in all His glory and holiness, our response is praise of Who He is, immediately  confessing who we are.  And confession leads to thanksgiving for His redemption and forgiveness.  It is only then that we can continue to be ready to obey His call on our lives to carry out His purpose in and through our lives. 

Yes, confession needs to be a part of our private worship life and our corporate worship life when we gather as the forgiven.  May it be so.  mjm

Hearing God's Music

We will be singing an anthem on Sunday, Sometimes I Hear God's Music, text by the late J. Paul Williams.  It is a reminder that music was God's idea.  We see music in all of creation.  We see music in  life and worship.  In Psalm 40:1-3, we see that music is the new song of redemption, a hymn of praise to God.  We see that new song as the perpetual song of heaven where our purpose and occupation will be strictly the praise and worship of our Lord.  Rev. 5:9 - "And they sang a new song saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people, and nation, ...'"

This new song gives the meaning of continuous, unceasing music.  The theme of this song is redemption, just as in Psalm 40.  There would have never been a need for this song if man had not fallen and the Redeemer had not redeemed him.  Note also, the song says we were redeemed or ransomed by His blood.  We were purchased with His blood.  And that purchase was made for men and women, boys and girls, from everywhere.  He has no favorites.  He bought people from every "tribe, tongue, people and nation."  No one is excluded from the blessing of redemption.  It is extended to every part of the earth transcending all cultures, all racial and national boundaries and borders.  It reaches every strata of society to the outermost parts of the earth.  He purchased all that they might worship Him.

The Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that the earthly worshippers of the first century envisioned themselves participating with the angels in heavenly worship when they read and/or sang this song.  They considered themselves vertical, joining the crowd of witnesses, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the one hundred and forty-four thousand and all the overcomers standing on the crystal sea with the harps of God.  

We see again, worship is all about Him, little about us.  He is the initiator, the giver of redemption and we are the recipients.  Therefore every tongue, tribe, people and nation will stand before Him and sing in worship to Him.  All races, peoples, nations, generations, cultures, and different denominations will stand before Him and sing the new song!  Yes, sometimes I hear God's music.  How about you?  mjm

Worship Evangelism

There was a book that came out years ago called Worship Evangelism.  It had some really great, thought provoking principles and concepts that we needed to hear in the worshipping community.  However, I want to enlarge a bit on it and maybe take things in a different direction.  These are my thoughts.  I want to touch on the intercultural part of our worship theme this year.

First of all, music in general is intercultural.  Music tends to bridge gaps between different cultures and different sub-cultures.  Music is one of the most obvious worship elements for most people.  It speaks across cultural lines, across music tastes, across preferences - if we allow it to.  

One reason we can't just sing all hymns in our churches today, even though that might be my own preference, is because we have people coming into our worship center who need to hear that, but also need to hear something that is more akin to their musical ear.  I am not getting into the weeds of "bringing the world's music into the church", and I do think we have to be very careful at that point; but I do think we have to give something that they are comfortable enough with that they leave singing a phrase or two from something they have heard in worship. God can use that in their lives throughout the next week. We must walk a fine line between being responsive to the culture around us without literally bringing the "world's" music into the church.   This would be something I would term a worship evangelism approach or principle.

Second, I still believe that the principle found in Psalm 40:1-3 still applies to our worship.  I think just as important as to style of music or kinds of sounds is what they see in the lives of believers when a seeker or non-believer comes into our worship services.  It very clearly states in this passage that the redemptive work of the Lord is seen in our lives as we sing to Him.  It also shows that we keep singing that song no matter what is going on in our lives, the good and the bad.  They need to see us faithfully singing because the verse says plainly that when they see us "sing the song" they will fear and put their trust in the Lord.  That is the bottom line to worship evangelism.  As I have said, in worship we are being watched by not only our children, generation to generation, but also we are being watched by the seeker who needs to find redemption through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Our responsibility in worship is to be faithful to sing to Him that all may know!  So, let's stretch and sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in many varied musical languages for His glory!  mjm

Faith, Prayer, and Worship

Our faith is built up by a two way conversation with our Lord.  We've talked about God speaking to us through His word in building our faith, but through prayer we speak to Him and in that conversation we come to know Him and therefore trust Him and are better able to faith Him in every circumstance.

I want to reiterate eleven things that the great R. A. Torrey listed as reasons for prayer:

  (1)  because there is a devil and prayer is the God-appointed means of resisting him;

  (2)  because prayer is God's way for us to obtain what we need from Him;

  (3)  because the apostles, whom God gave as our pattern, considered prayer to be the most important business of their lives;

  (4)  because prayer occupied a very prominent place and played a very important part in the earthly life of our Lord;

  (5) because prayer is the most important part of the present ministry of our Lord, since He is now interceding for us (Heb. 7:25);

  (6)  because prayer is the means God has appointed for our receiving mercy from Him and of obtaining grace to help in time of need;

   (7)  because prayer is the means of obtaining the fullness of God's joy;

  (8)  because prayer, with thanksgiving, is the means of obtaining freedom from anxiety and, in anxiety's place, the peace that passes all human understanding;

  (9)  because prayer is the method appointed for obtaining the control of God's Holy Spirit over us;

(10)  because prayer is the means by which we are to keep watchful and alert at Christ's return; and

(11)  because prayer is used by God to promote our spiritual growth, bring power into our work, lead others to faith in Christ and bring all other blessing to Christ's church. (How to Pray, by R. A. Torrey, 1900)

Our individual and corporate faith and worship is certainly impacted by how, and how faithfully we pray.  May we continue to be a people of the Book, but also a people on our knees.  We will see and experience results in both our worship and our faith living. mjm

Center of Worship

Jesus Christ is always to be at the very center of our worship, both our private and public worship.  When the Church gathers for worship we remember and rehearse the redemptive gospel and all its fulfillment in Christ.

When Jesus speaks of satan's fall, He is saying that evil itself has been overthrown.   When we see Him cast out demons, we see the authority given by God and God's sovereignty.  When we see Jesus healing the sick, He is demonstrating the doing away with physical defectiveness.  When we see Jesus feed the five thousand we are reminded of God's great abundant giving to a hungry world.  When we see Jesus calm the storm we are reminded of His lordship over all of chaotic, fallen creation.  When we see Him stand up to religious leaders and stand silent before political leaders, we remember that the gospel has great affect on all our world systems.  When we see Jesus forgive sin and raise the dead, we remember that the gospel is about each person being born again, and that He has conquered sin and death.  

The work of Christ,  the work of the gospel, is central to our worship.  When we gather, we celebrate all that He has done and is doing among us as worshippers. We remember and remind each other, edifying one another in Him.  He is the centrality of all our worship.  mjm

Don't Be Anxious . . . Worship

We live in a world full of anxiety and unfortunately, sometimes we can't tell the difference between a believer and a non-believer when it comes to anxiety and worry.  If we are believers in Jesus Christ who fulfill His purpose in us, then we should worship, not worry.

Beginning in verse 25 of Matthew 6, we are challenged to not worry about or give thought to the needs of our lives and are assured that God will take care of it all.  He says rather than our worrying about all these things, we are to, "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

This means we have to fully trust Him, put our confidence in Him, give glory to Him because He is calling us to rest in Him---in all essence worship Him and the truths of His righteousness and we will have no worries, only worship.  

Are you anxious about things, or tomorrow?  Worship.  Every time we gather as the body to worship, we are reminding one another that He is trustworthy, that He is sovereign, that He is worthy of our worship.  We gather, trusting in Him and seeking His righteousness in obedience.  Proclaiming our trust and obedience pretty well sums up our worship of Him.  mjm