Worship is…Spirit-Empowered

Dear Worshippers,

We continue our journey through the core values of our worship this week with the third value. As I keep saying, you may be surprised that none of the things the Elders are considering as core values of our worship are necessarily music-oriented. Actually none of them deal with elements at all, but rather with the essentials of worship. They are more the why than the what of worship, if you will.

Last week I mentioned that one of the early cries of The Christian and Missionary Alliance was, “Jesus Only!” While we continue to be true to that, our new brand “Living the Call Together” communicates that commitment to this generation. It is fleshed out in four concise phrases: Ordinary people. Empowered by an extraordinary God. Multiplying communities of Christ. Around the World. It starts with the call of the Father, delivered by the Son and empowered by the Spirit. Let there be no mistaking, as much as we desire our worship to be Word centered and Christ exalting, we also desire for it to be Spirit-empowered. There are any number of Scriptures that speak to this value, here are the ones we are recommending for inclusive in the philosophical document:

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on man’s wisdom, but on God’s power. I Corinthians 2:4-5

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. John 4:24

As individual believers we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit that we might be witnesses of the glory of Jesus Christ. Far too often, we do not yield to the Spirit’s work in our lives, and so we do not enjoy the benefits He offers. How often even on our witness do we try to use “wise and persuasive words” in the absence of the Spirit’s power.

If our lives are made up of one expression of worship after another, forming a sequence of events that when combined make one great act of worship, then we must trust the Spirit’s power to enable these expressions. Our witness and our worship are intrinsically connected as we see in these verses, so let us surrender to the Spirit everyday, and certainly on the day when we come together.

If you have ever heard me pray before corporate worship, you likely have heard me ask the Spirit to have his way in us, even if that means a radical change in our plans. Even if we have to set our agendas aside entirely to experience the power of the Spirit, would that not be preferable to the alternative, our agenda without Him? I believe so.

May our individual lives of worship be Spirit-empowered, so that when we join together in our corporate worship it will be Spirit-empowered as well.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

Worship is…Christ Exalting

Dear Worshippers,

We continue our journey through the core values of our worship this week with the second value. As I said, you may be surprised that none of the things the Elders are considering as core values of our worship are necessarily music-oriented. Actually none of them deal with elements at all, but rather with the essentials of worship. They are more the why than the what of worship, if you will.

One of the early cries of The Christian and Missionary Alliance was, “Jesus Only!” Our four-fold gospel represented in our logo visualizes this Christ-focus: Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. Let there be no mistaking, as much as we desire our worship to be Word centered, we also desire for it to be Christ exalting. While one might say that Word centered and Christ exalting are very similar since Christ is the Living Word, there is certainly a place in worship to specifically exalt the person of our Lord and His life and ministry. There are any number of Scriptures that speak to this value, here are the ones we are recommending for inclusive in the philosophical document:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:16-17

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. Hebrews 1:1-4

I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Verses 17b-18 from Revelation 1:10-18

Clearly the Word, which we desire to have the central place in our worship, declares that we are to exalt the person of our Lord in all we do, whether individually or corporately. This heart of exaltation toward Christ is demonstrated in our individual lives and then certainly in our corporate life. Everything we do must exalt, lift up, magnify, laud, acclaim, pay tribute to, and sing the praises of Jesus.

You have heard the saying, “A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link.” I think this is evidenced in our corporate worship at times, in that our worship, our Christ exalting Word centered worship is only as strong as our weakest link. So I ask you the question, does your life magnify the Lord Jesus Christ? Again, I am not talking about perfection as much as inclination. Is it your aim to exalt Him in all that you do? As we each seek to exalt Christ is our individual lives, we will experience a greater degree of corporate Christ exalting worship when we gather.

May our individual lives of worship be Christ exalting, so that when we join together in our corporate worship it will be Christ exalting as well.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

Worship is…Word Centered

Dear Worshippers,

We spent the last two weeks thinking about how worship is not synonymous with music. Now I would like to take a journey through what worship is. As I said, you may be surprised that none of the things the Elders are considering as core values of our worship are necessarily music-oriented. Actually none of them deal with elements at all, but rather deal with the essentials of worship. They are more the why than the what of worship, if you will.

Consistent with the history and heartbeat of our church, the first value that surfaced was that Worship is Word centered. Probably the most defensible of all the values, it sits right at the top of the list because of the centrality of the Scripture in the life of faith in general and certainly in the gatherings of the people of God in particular. There are any number of Scriptures that speak to each of these realities, but the ones we are recommending for inclusive in the philosophical document are these:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple. Verse 7 from Psalm 19:7-14

I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love,
and I meditate on your decrees. Verse 48 from Psalm 119

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

Clearly the Word must have a central place in our individual lives and accordingly our corporate gatherings. How do we express that? We read the Word. We preach the Word. We sing the Word. We pray the Word. We honor the Word. [Everything that we do in the service must be in line with the Word.]

As is the case with this, so it is with all the values. The intent of the corporate gathering is that it is a collective demonstration of what we desire to be expressed in each of our lives individually. Living the Call when we are dispersed should certainly be illustrated by Living the Call Together when we gather. And we do that through His power which is ushered in through our knowledge of Him according to His Word.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:3-4

May our individual lives of worship be Word centered, so that when we join together in our corporate worship it will be Word centered as well.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

Worship ≠ Music, Part 2

Dear Worshippers,

As we began this path last week I made two basic points: 1. There is much to worship that is not music, and 2. Music, especially singing, is a scripture-mandated element of worship, though much more varied than we often imagine. I asked these questions at the end of last weeks Tuning, “Which music does God like best?” and “What is God’s favorite song?”

One author has put it this way.

His favorite song of all, is the song of the redeemed.
When lost sinners now made clean lift their voices loud and strong.
When those purchased by His blood lift to Him a song of love.
Nothing more He’d rather hear. None so pleasing to His ear.
That’s His favorite song of all.
“Favorite Song of All”, Words and Music by Dan Dean, © 1992 Dawn Treador Music.
First brought to my attention through the ministry of The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir directed by Carol Cymbala

What do you suppose that song sounds like? Do you suppose it has a particular “style”? Do you imagine that it has a particular orchestration and instrumentation? Do you think it is four-part harmony or simple melody, etc.? You see where I am going with this. The song God most enjoys is the song of love sung by “lost sinners now made clean.”

The song above continues with these words. [I get “glory” bumps just thinking about them.]

It’s not just melodies and harmonies that capture His attention.
It’s not just clever lines and phrases that causes Him to stop and listen,
But when any heart set free, washed and bought by Calvary begins to sing…
That’s His favorite song of all, it’s the song of the redeemed…

I heard a story just last Friday that illustrated this beautifully. A friend was relaying to me how she came to know Jesus, and particularly the role that music played in that. She was attending a special service at her church where a style of music was being used to which she had an aversion. From the opening strains of music she relayed how she dug her heals in determined she would not participate, yet during those same stains of music she began to feel God calling her. There was an opportunity at the end of the service to talk and pray with counselors in a certain room. She went there, looked in, but quickly walked away. The pastor and her friend caught her and asked if she wanted to go to the altar. It was there that she gave her life to Jesus in simple faith, with no musical underscore.

God happened to reveal Himself through music, and a number of other means, but the response was not musical at all, at least not in the way we define music and singing. She did not relay to me that she began spontaneous praise singing _________ [insert favorite or abhorrent song title hear]. But she did tell me that her feelings toward a previously unliked style of music changed. Why? Because God revealed Himself to her when her heart was least expecting it, and that opened her to a whole new world, both spiritually and musically.

All this is simply to say that worship is not music, but music can be worship, when the heart is rightly oriented to God, i.e. redeemed. Thanks again for journeying on with me. I look forward to where the Lord will take us next week.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott

Worship ≠ Music, Part 1

Dear Worshippers,

Last week I wrote about allowing revelation and response so as to exalt the role of the Holy Spirit in each of these and diminish our role as worship leaders. I was planning to drive on it to the Core Values that we are discussing as a subcommittee of Elders, but did not feel a release from the Lord on this. As I have prayed over the weekend and was meditating even today on what the Lord would have me share with you as we go on this journey I wanted to lay at least one more stepping stone along the foundation of this path. It is this, worship ≠ music, or worship does not equal music.

So often when people talk about worship, they are thinking music. If you look at these Tunings, listen closely to what I say, and hear what I hope is the consistent instruction I offer, you discern something entirely different. At least I hope you do. So that I am understood as we begin to talk about the Core Values of our corporate worship I wanted to make you certain I am NOT talking about music.

As we get into those Core Values, what you will notice is that they have nothing to do with music, or rather are not exclusive to musical expressions of worship. Though music may be a means of expressing any number of them, it is not the solitary expression of them, and probably is not even commonly connected with some. For you see, though music is a wonderful vehicle for our worship, it is but one of many choices. Depending on the path immediately before us, one might choose music over another vehicle, just as one would choose a different car based on the terrain directly ahead…

The scripture clearly commands praise. Psalms 8:2 says, “From the lips of children and infants You have ordained praise.” “Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises” declares the Psalmist in 46:6. The Psalms conclude with “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” [Psalm 150:6] Not only the Psalms, but in a number of other places we are instructed to “sing”, i.e. Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19, to name a just a couple. Singing praise is just one vehicle to use as we worship, but there are even many expressions of it, including a variety of styles, no one of which could fully communicate the vastness of our God.

While we will all agree on that, we will not so quickly agree on which is best. Unfortunately, that is often informed more by our experience than the scripture. As the leader, I have to choose the vehicle, hopefully under the influence of the Holy Spirit. In the size of congregation we have there are differences of opinion. Understandably so. But what we need to remember, among other things, is that worship, and particularly in this example, praise, is for God. Certainly we benefit from it, but let us keep Him first or we are on precarious ground, if not unbiblical.

And besides, which music does God like best? Have you ever really thought of that question? It seems kind of absurd when you really ponder it. Of all the tones and timbres that resonate among the people of the earth, which is His favorite. Over the majestic symphonies of ocean waves and the whistling of the wind through pines on mountain peaks, what does He really like to hear? Over the glorious sonnets of the angels as they sing “Holy, holy is the Lamb”. What does God most enjoy among our trifling attempts at praise in song? I will answer that question next week, as I finish this discourse and make my case that worship does NOT equal music.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott