“It is unfortunately true that this open, free and spontaneous meeting, where joys can be shared and burdens can be borne, is sadly lacking in the contemporary church. There is a great deal of organization and formality, but little opportunity for open ministry and enthusiastic sharing of God’s gifts, and the result is that the majority of Christians have become silent spectators, contributing only the correct liturgical response and singing and occasional hymn.
…Much has been said in recent worship literature about ‘participative’ worship. In my view, some authors identify participation too narrowly with scripted congregational prayers and responses. Participation is something much more than that; it is a whole attitude toward the service. In my opinion, that attitude may well be lacking in churches that have elaborate patterns of responsive sentences, and it may be intense in churches that have a relatively simple pattern of singing, prayer, and sermon.”
~ Gary Inrig, Life in the Body 71
Showing posts with label worship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label worship. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Worship as trinitarian participation
For paid clergy and worship leaders, worship as trinitarian participation means their contribution is measured by the extent to which worshipers are equipped to become participants. If pastors and worship leaders take this role seriously, then the church will continuously reevaluate the accessibility and theological veracity of worship.
Following the Reformers’ model, a contemporary plan of ‘education and adaptation’ would be a regular feature of worship life. While adaptation can and does lead naturally to contemporizing worship, education reminds us that the meaning and significance of some of the most basic elements of the ser-vice of worship (Lord’s Supper, doxology, ‘passing of the peace,’ Lord’s Prayer, giving, etc.) will need to be continually taught.
~ Ted Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, p.97
Following the Reformers’ model, a contemporary plan of ‘education and adaptation’ would be a regular feature of worship life. While adaptation can and does lead naturally to contemporizing worship, education reminds us that the meaning and significance of some of the most basic elements of the ser-vice of worship (Lord’s Supper, doxology, ‘passing of the peace,’ Lord’s Prayer, giving, etc.) will need to be continually taught.
~ Ted Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, p.97
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Mutual edification is the hallmark of corporate worship
Certainly it is true that mutual edification is the hallmark of corporate worship . …And edification must not be understood to be merely the cognitive reception of biblical truth through preaching. Of course, it is true that mutual edification takes place through preaching. But congregational singing, sitting together under the Word as it is read, contemplating god’s Word sung, uniting in Word-centered congregational prayer, corporately confessing our faith, and rebuke and exhortation — all these edify.
~ Kent Hughes in Worship by the Book, 141
~ Kent Hughes in Worship by the Book, 141
Sally Morganthaller on worship
“Essentially, Christian worship is the spirit and truth interaction between God and God’s people. It is an exchange all relationships revolve around response.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 47
“Corporate worship does not just inspire and hope that people will do more than he activate their brain cells. It provides definitive opportunities for response.... The problem is, we are living in a culture that breathes spectators... As pastors and worship leaders, our job is to enable that, to make participants out of spectators. We have to help people pour out what God pours in. Spectator worship has always been and will always be an oxymoron.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 49
“Worship has more than praise, Thanksgiving, and celebration. It is also a lament. It is making ourselves known to God and crying out to God about our fears, questions, needs, hurts, and greed. Worship that witnesses makes room for the brokenness in all of us. And it heals by the power of the gospel.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 113
Worship that is interactive, both vertically and horizontally, is biblical worship. …Interactive worship not only provides pathways of contact with a holy and loving God, but avenues of nurturing, uplifting relationships with those who are called in God’s name.
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, p. 123
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 47
“Corporate worship does not just inspire and hope that people will do more than he activate their brain cells. It provides definitive opportunities for response.... The problem is, we are living in a culture that breathes spectators... As pastors and worship leaders, our job is to enable that, to make participants out of spectators. We have to help people pour out what God pours in. Spectator worship has always been and will always be an oxymoron.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 49
“Worship has more than praise, Thanksgiving, and celebration. It is also a lament. It is making ourselves known to God and crying out to God about our fears, questions, needs, hurts, and greed. Worship that witnesses makes room for the brokenness in all of us. And it heals by the power of the gospel.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 113
Worship that is interactive, both vertically and horizontally, is biblical worship. …Interactive worship not only provides pathways of contact with a holy and loving God, but avenues of nurturing, uplifting relationships with those who are called in God’s name.
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, p. 123
Kent Hughes gives an excellent study of Christian worship. He states:
“ …true worship is demonstrative: it pours from your heart, it infuses your inclinations to please God, and it directs your will to serve him. True worship is not the outcome of a moderate feeling or emotion. It galvanizes your whole being. In a word: it is encompassing!”
~ Kent Hughes in Worship by the Book, p. 161-2
“ …true worship is demonstrative: it pours from your heart, it infuses your inclinations to please God, and it directs your will to serve him. True worship is not the outcome of a moderate feeling or emotion. It galvanizes your whole being. In a word: it is encompassing!”
~ Kent Hughes in Worship by the Book, p. 161-2
Worship is the proper response
D. A. Carson defines it like this:
Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so. This side of the Fall, human worship of God properly responds to the redemptive provisions that God has graciously made. While all true worship is God-centered, Christian worship is no less Christ-centered. Empowered by the Spirit and in line with the stipulations of the new covenant, it manifests itself in all our living, finding its impulse in the gospel, which restores our relationship with our Redeemer-God and therefore also with our fellow image-bearers, our co-worshipers. Such worship therefore manifests itself both in adoration and in action, both in the individual believer and in corporate worship, which is worship offered up in the context of the body of believers, who strive to align all the forms of their devout ascription of all worth to God with the panoply of new covenant mandates and examples that bring to fulfillment the glories of antecedent revelation and anticipate the consummation.
~ Don Carson, Worship by the Book, 59
Why the NT church gathered
Peterson…examines afresh just why the NT church gathers, and he concludes that the focus is on mutual edification, not on worship.
Under the terms of the new covenant, worship goes on all the time, including when the people of god gather together. But mutual edification does not go on all the time; it is what takes place when Christians gather together. Edification is the best summary of what occurs in corporate singing, confession, public prayer, the ministry of the Word, and so forth. . . .Peterson, of course, allows that when the people of God gather together corporately, they are still worshipping. What he insists is that the distinctive element of their corporate meetings is not worship but edification.
~ Don Carson, Worship by the Book, referring to David Peterson’s Engaging with God, 1992.
Under the terms of the new covenant, worship goes on all the time, including when the people of god gather together. But mutual edification does not go on all the time; it is what takes place when Christians gather together. Edification is the best summary of what occurs in corporate singing, confession, public prayer, the ministry of the Word, and so forth. . . .Peterson, of course, allows that when the people of God gather together corporately, they are still worshipping. What he insists is that the distinctive element of their corporate meetings is not worship but edification.
~ Don Carson, Worship by the Book, referring to David Peterson’s Engaging with God, 1992.
Why Not Ecclesiology? - excerpts
It is an extraordinary thing that those who profess to care so much about Christ should seem to care so little about what His Word says about the church.
Ought we not to concern ourselves more about this great doctrine than we do? Most certainly!
Christ died for the church. It is His bride, His building, His body. When He left the world He commissioned it to disciple all the nations. How, then, can we conclude that the way we view the church is inconsequential in His eyes? We do not honor the Lord Jesus by ignoring His instructions.
Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that the gathered church is to reach out to the lost in such a way as to minimize the difference between believers and non-believers. But if you will read the New Testament you will see that the purpose of the gathered church was not evangelism. Indeed, it was not even worship.
To be sure, worship can and must take place when God’s people are assembled. But worship, as it is taught in the New Testament, is a daily activity, not something that is relegated to Sunday. The modern habit throughout the twenty-first century church is to downplay this subject. After all, we have our “worship” services, our “worship” guides, and our “worship” leaders. Clearly, however, the New Testament knows nothing about these man-made terms. When, then, should we worship? Anyone who has read Rom. 12:1-2 will know the answer.
In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul is very careful to lay out principles governing Christian gatherings. He makes it plain that believers did not gather for public witness to the outside world. These were not evangelistic services at all. Rather, the church gathered for fellowship and mutual edification. It was a type of gathering in which believers came together with differing gifts. Just read 1 Cor. 14 and you will see that this was a bona fide fellowship meeting. Everything that was done was done in order to build up the church. Whether you came to this meeting with a psalm, a teaching, or some other contribution to make, you exercised your gift in the interest of those around you. “Let all things be done for edification” was Paul’s watchword. This same view of the church is to be found in Ephesians 4, where Paul emphasizes that the church is built up only as each member of the Body does its part. He is emphatic that the fullness of Christ can never be attained by any one Christian. Each believer has a gift, and each one must give that gift away to the whole church.
Paul’s teaching sheds a flood of light on what the gathering of the people of God looked like in the early church.
1 Co 14:26 clearly states [writes Steve Atkerson] the prerequisite for anything that goes on in a church meeting: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
The word “strengthening” is from oikodome and means “edifying, edification, building up.” Certainly as we worship God corporately we are indeed strengthened. However, the ultimate focus of the meeting is to strengthen the church. It is not the Lord who stands in need of strengthening, but the Lord’s people. In this sense, the weekly assembly is for the benefit of the people present. A church gathering is to be designed to edify believers and to this end it is to be man-centered as well as God-centered.
~ David Black, Why Not Ecclesiology? web article
Ought we not to concern ourselves more about this great doctrine than we do? Most certainly!
Christ died for the church. It is His bride, His building, His body. When He left the world He commissioned it to disciple all the nations. How, then, can we conclude that the way we view the church is inconsequential in His eyes? We do not honor the Lord Jesus by ignoring His instructions.
Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that the gathered church is to reach out to the lost in such a way as to minimize the difference between believers and non-believers. But if you will read the New Testament you will see that the purpose of the gathered church was not evangelism. Indeed, it was not even worship.
To be sure, worship can and must take place when God’s people are assembled. But worship, as it is taught in the New Testament, is a daily activity, not something that is relegated to Sunday. The modern habit throughout the twenty-first century church is to downplay this subject. After all, we have our “worship” services, our “worship” guides, and our “worship” leaders. Clearly, however, the New Testament knows nothing about these man-made terms. When, then, should we worship? Anyone who has read Rom. 12:1-2 will know the answer.
In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul is very careful to lay out principles governing Christian gatherings. He makes it plain that believers did not gather for public witness to the outside world. These were not evangelistic services at all. Rather, the church gathered for fellowship and mutual edification. It was a type of gathering in which believers came together with differing gifts. Just read 1 Cor. 14 and you will see that this was a bona fide fellowship meeting. Everything that was done was done in order to build up the church. Whether you came to this meeting with a psalm, a teaching, or some other contribution to make, you exercised your gift in the interest of those around you. “Let all things be done for edification” was Paul’s watchword. This same view of the church is to be found in Ephesians 4, where Paul emphasizes that the church is built up only as each member of the Body does its part. He is emphatic that the fullness of Christ can never be attained by any one Christian. Each believer has a gift, and each one must give that gift away to the whole church.
Paul’s teaching sheds a flood of light on what the gathering of the people of God looked like in the early church.
1 Co 14:26 clearly states [writes Steve Atkerson] the prerequisite for anything that goes on in a church meeting: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
The word “strengthening” is from oikodome and means “edifying, edification, building up.” Certainly as we worship God corporately we are indeed strengthened. However, the ultimate focus of the meeting is to strengthen the church. It is not the Lord who stands in need of strengthening, but the Lord’s people. In this sense, the weekly assembly is for the benefit of the people present. A church gathering is to be designed to edify believers and to this end it is to be man-centered as well as God-centered.
~ David Black, Why Not Ecclesiology? web article
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The purpose of the NT church meeting
Most Christians assume that the purpose of church meetings is to worship God. That assumption is understandable when we consider that most churches refer to their meetings as "worship services." It is important to note, however, that the New Testament never speaks of a worship service, although it does mention a "service of worship": "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (Rom.12:1). When Paul urged the Roman believers to present to God their service of worship he was not instructing them to meet together to sing hymns and songs of praise to God. On the contrary, he was urging them to continually offer to God their bodies as living sacrifices. That was to be their service of worship — the daily and continual dedication and surrender of their lives to God.
. . . Please do not misunderstand me to be affirming, however, that the church should not worship God through song when it assembles. The Scriptures declare that one important aspect of our gatherings should be "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with our hearts to the Lord" (Eph.5:19; Col.3:16). However, the New Testament never identifies the main goal of the gatherings of believers as worship. Consequently, neither should we.
~ Brian Anderson, Discovering the Purpose of church Meetings (web article)
. . . Please do not misunderstand me to be affirming, however, that the church should not worship God through song when it assembles. The Scriptures declare that one important aspect of our gatherings should be "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with our hearts to the Lord" (Eph.5:19; Col.3:16). However, the New Testament never identifies the main goal of the gatherings of believers as worship. Consequently, neither should we.
~ Brian Anderson, Discovering the Purpose of church Meetings (web article)
More talk about worship today than in NT
We are talking more about worship today than possibly ever before in Church history, certainly more than the Scriptures do. We need to remember that when we make worship too much the subject, we risk destroying the very thing for which it is intended. The subject can never be worship until the subject is first of all the Lord. To the extent that attention is overly drawn to worship, to the extent that it becomes the primary object of our work, the overriding protocol, within which the Lord and His work are subjects, we can only assume that we have begun to worship worship, or at least, to worship about worship, therefore to worship about God.
… While, interestingly enough, there are no definitions of worship in the Bible, there are innumerable ones in just as many books and tracts, many of them sheer poetry. Useful and rich as they are, and with due respect, virtually all of are limited, to put it bluntly, to what goes on in church. This misses, or at most pays lip service, to a fundamental law of worship, which is the beginning of the secret to the difference between authentic and inauthentic worship. It is this: Worship is not a special event or any sequence of them. Worship is fundamental to humankind itself, so much so, that we must assume that it goes on all the time, all around us, inside of us, and, in a paradoxical way, in spite of us.
~ Harold Best, Former dean of Wheaton conservatory, on the topic, Authentic Worship & Faithful Music Making
… While, interestingly enough, there are no definitions of worship in the Bible, there are innumerable ones in just as many books and tracts, many of them sheer poetry. Useful and rich as they are, and with due respect, virtually all of are limited, to put it bluntly, to what goes on in church. This misses, or at most pays lip service, to a fundamental law of worship, which is the beginning of the secret to the difference between authentic and inauthentic worship. It is this: Worship is not a special event or any sequence of them. Worship is fundamental to humankind itself, so much so, that we must assume that it goes on all the time, all around us, inside of us, and, in a paradoxical way, in spite of us.
~ Harold Best, Former dean of Wheaton conservatory, on the topic, Authentic Worship & Faithful Music Making
The variety of forms the basic biblical elements
John Frame in Worship in Spirit and Truth:
~ Tim Keller in Worship by the Book, p. 199
…shows how great a variety of forms the basic biblical elements can take. Some have argued against the use of choirs and solos on the basis of the ‘regulative Principle.’ Namely, that they are not prescribed by Scriptures.
But Frame asks, ‘If some are allowed to pray aloud while the rest of the congregation meditates, why can’t some be allowed to sing or play aloud while the rest of the congregation meditates?’ (p.129).
Why would song be regulated in a different way than prayer and preaching? Some have argued against using hymns and non-scripted songs on the basis of the Regulative Principle.
But Frame also asks, If we are allowed to pray or to preach using our own words (based on Scripture), why can we not sing using our own words (based on Scripture)?’ (p.127).
Why would song be regulated in a different way than prayer and preaching? Some have argued against the use of dance n worship, but aside from many apparent references to dance in worship in the Psalter, Frame asks, If we are exhorted to raise hands (Neh. 2:8; Ps 28.2; 1 Tim 2:8), clap hands (Ps 47:1), and fall down (1 Cor 14:25), is it not expected and natural that we accompany words with actions? (p.131)
We can’t preach, surely, without using our bodies to express our thoughts and words, so how can we arbitrarily ‘draw the line’ to exclude dance? Frame points out that the real way to make decisions about these issues (such as dance) is wisdom and love — namely, what will edify?
In other words, if you think that the dancers in leotards will be too distracting and sexually provocative for your congregation, just say so — don’t try to prove that the Bible forbids it. It is a bad habit of mind to seek to label ‘forbidden’ what is really just unwise.
~ Tim Keller in Worship by the Book, p. 199
Monday, November 10, 2008
What of New Testament Worship?
By Daniel Thompson
There are few doctrines in the New Testament that give us as much surprise as the doctrine of worship. One might even say we are stunned. Although there are references to worship in the Gospels, the book of Acts and Revelation, the New Testament Epistles -- the doctrinal/explanatory part of the New Testament - -is completely silent as to worship. This is all the more incredible when we consider: First, 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14 is an extensive treatment of church life and interaction with no mention of worship. Second, 1 Timothy was an epistle written to make known "how thou [Timothy] might behave thyself in the house of God." Surely one would expect a reference to worship here, yet there is none. Third, our Lord tells the Samaritan woman that "the hour is coming ... and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him" (Jn 4:21-23). With such a definitive statement of future devotion, it is inconceivable that worship would be passed over completely in the instructional part of the New Covenant, the Epistles, yet this is exactly what we find.
A quick examination of "worship" in the Gospels and Acts finds worship of individuals to Christ, deceitful or false worship and, with reference to Acts, worship directed towards Jerusalem. But there is no direction as to Christian worship. This leads us to one of two possibilities; either the church was to continue Old Testament worship (or the "synagogue" worship developed in post- exilic Israel, ca. B.C. 200), or we might be looking in the wrong place for our direction regarding New Testament worship.
The difficulties with the first option are that the issues of "place," "time," "sacrifice," and such terminology in the law which formed the essential ingredients of Old Covenant worship ceased to have meaning because God has established a New Covenant. Now, under the New Covenant, a holy place is where two or three are gathered (Mt 18:20); time is always special, such that God calls upon us to redeem it (Eph 5:16; Col 4:5); and our sacrifices are ourselves (Rom 12:1), giving (Phil 4:17), and praise (Heb 13:15).
There are few doctrines in the New Testament that give us as much surprise as the doctrine of worship. One might even say we are stunned. Although there are references to worship in the Gospels, the book of Acts and Revelation, the New Testament Epistles -- the doctrinal/explanatory part of the New Testament - -is completely silent as to worship. This is all the more incredible when we consider: First, 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14 is an extensive treatment of church life and interaction with no mention of worship. Second, 1 Timothy was an epistle written to make known "how thou [Timothy] might behave thyself in the house of God." Surely one would expect a reference to worship here, yet there is none. Third, our Lord tells the Samaritan woman that "the hour is coming ... and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him" (Jn 4:21-23). With such a definitive statement of future devotion, it is inconceivable that worship would be passed over completely in the instructional part of the New Covenant, the Epistles, yet this is exactly what we find.
A quick examination of "worship" in the Gospels and Acts finds worship of individuals to Christ, deceitful or false worship and, with reference to Acts, worship directed towards Jerusalem. But there is no direction as to Christian worship. This leads us to one of two possibilities; either the church was to continue Old Testament worship (or the "synagogue" worship developed in post- exilic Israel, ca. B.C. 200), or we might be looking in the wrong place for our direction regarding New Testament worship.
The difficulties with the first option are that the issues of "place," "time," "sacrifice," and such terminology in the law which formed the essential ingredients of Old Covenant worship ceased to have meaning because God has established a New Covenant. Now, under the New Covenant, a holy place is where two or three are gathered (Mt 18:20); time is always special, such that God calls upon us to redeem it (Eph 5:16; Col 4:5); and our sacrifices are ourselves (Rom 12:1), giving (Phil 4:17), and praise (Heb 13:15).
Thoughts On The Mandate For Corporate Worship
Thoughts On The Mandate For Corporate Worship In The NT (or lack of it)
Unknown author
The dynamic of our relationship to God—that it is a corporate one, not just an individual one (1 Cor. 12)—necessitates a corporate expression and the corporate dialogue of revelation and response.
It’s inconceivable that believers would gather together, those whose only real unifying link is the One who redeemed them, and would then talk only to each other and not to Him.
Hebrews 2:12 (quoting Psalm 22:22):
I will proclaim Your name to my brethren
And in the midst of the congregation (ekklesia!) I will sing Your praise.
The use of “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) implies a corporate gathering.
Perhaps the problem in our age is that the gathering has been institutionalized, whereas it seems to have been quite natural (even daily!) in Acts.
The testimony of 1 Corinthians 12 & 14 and Hebrews 10:19-25 speak pretty clearly of gatherings which at least included worship.
Romans 15:5-6: How else but gathered together could we “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”?
Perhaps another reason for our difficulty is how so many Protestants (probably as an overreaction to Catholic abuses) have played down the importance of the Lord’s Supper (which for most of church history was celebrated in some fashion every Sunday, if not more often). The Lord’s Supper is by definition a communal act (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:17-18, 33-34; 14:23: “come together;” Wainwright says that this expression became a technical term for the corporate gathering). Could not our neglect of the Supper be one reason we have trouble justifying our “coming together”?
Unknown author
The dynamic of our relationship to God—that it is a corporate one, not just an individual one (1 Cor. 12)—necessitates a corporate expression and the corporate dialogue of revelation and response.
It’s inconceivable that believers would gather together, those whose only real unifying link is the One who redeemed them, and would then talk only to each other and not to Him.
Hebrews 2:12 (quoting Psalm 22:22):
I will proclaim Your name to my brethren
And in the midst of the congregation (ekklesia!) I will sing Your praise.
The use of “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) implies a corporate gathering.
Perhaps the problem in our age is that the gathering has been institutionalized, whereas it seems to have been quite natural (even daily!) in Acts.
The testimony of 1 Corinthians 12 & 14 and Hebrews 10:19-25 speak pretty clearly of gatherings which at least included worship.
Romans 15:5-6: How else but gathered together could we “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”?
Perhaps another reason for our difficulty is how so many Protestants (probably as an overreaction to Catholic abuses) have played down the importance of the Lord’s Supper (which for most of church history was celebrated in some fashion every Sunday, if not more often). The Lord’s Supper is by definition a communal act (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:17-18, 33-34; 14:23: “come together;” Wainwright says that this expression became a technical term for the corporate gathering). Could not our neglect of the Supper be one reason we have trouble justifying our “coming together”?
Thoughts On The Mandate For Corporate Worship
Thoughts On The Mandate For Corporate Worship In The NT (or lack of it)
Unknown author
The dynamic of our relationship to God—that it is a corporate one, not just an individual one (1 Cor. 12)—necessitates a corporate expression and the corporate dialogue of revelation and response.
It’s inconceivable that believers would gather together, those whose only real unifying link is the One who redeemed them, and would then talk only to each other and not to Him.
Hebrews 2:12 (quoting Psalm 22:22):
I will proclaim Your name to my brethren
And in the midst of the congregation (ekklesia!) I will sing Your praise.
The use of “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) implies a corporate gathering.
Perhaps the problem in our age is that the gathering has been institutionalized, whereas it seems to have been quite natural (even daily!) in Acts.
The testimony of 1 Corinthians 12 & 14 and Hebrews 10:19-25 speak pretty clearly of gatherings which at least included worship.
Romans 15:5-6: How else but gathered together could we “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”?
Perhaps another reason for our difficulty is how so many Protestants (probably as an overreaction to Catholic abuses) have played down the importance of the Lord’s Supper (which for most of church history was celebrated in some fashion every Sunday, if not more often). The Lord’s Supper is by definition a communal act (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:17-18, 33-34; 14:23: “come together;” Wainwright says that this expression became a technical term for the corporate gathering). Could not our neglect of the Supper be one reason we have trouble justifying our “coming together”?
Unknown author
The dynamic of our relationship to God—that it is a corporate one, not just an individual one (1 Cor. 12)—necessitates a corporate expression and the corporate dialogue of revelation and response.
It’s inconceivable that believers would gather together, those whose only real unifying link is the One who redeemed them, and would then talk only to each other and not to Him.
Hebrews 2:12 (quoting Psalm 22:22):
I will proclaim Your name to my brethren
And in the midst of the congregation (ekklesia!) I will sing Your praise.
The use of “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) implies a corporate gathering.
Perhaps the problem in our age is that the gathering has been institutionalized, whereas it seems to have been quite natural (even daily!) in Acts.
The testimony of 1 Corinthians 12 & 14 and Hebrews 10:19-25 speak pretty clearly of gatherings which at least included worship.
Romans 15:5-6: How else but gathered together could we “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”?
Perhaps another reason for our difficulty is how so many Protestants (probably as an overreaction to Catholic abuses) have played down the importance of the Lord’s Supper (which for most of church history was celebrated in some fashion every Sunday, if not more often). The Lord’s Supper is by definition a communal act (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:17-18, 33-34; 14:23: “come together;” Wainwright says that this expression became a technical term for the corporate gathering). Could not our neglect of the Supper be one reason we have trouble justifying our “coming together”?
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Enter to Serve, Depart to Worship
By David Alan Black The Covenant News ~ December 24, 2004
“We must have a new reformation. There must come a violent break with the irresponsible, amusement-mad paganized pseudo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their end.” – A. W. Tozer
A popular church sign reads, “Enter to Worship, Depart to Serve.” It is a well-known saying, but it is unscriptural. It might better read, “Enter to Serve, Depart to Worship.”
We live in a day when many Christians have their priorities backwards. The church has been disgraced by the multitude of its membership that marches all week long in step with the world and shows up on Sunday to pay God a vain token of respect. Most of us neither worship nor serve. We need a refresher course in ecclesiology to straighten out our warped thinking.
In the first place, the New Testament teaches that we should “Depart to Worship.” New Testament worship is a way of life. It is not a Sunday morning religious exercise. The New Testament never describes a gathering of Christians as a “worship service.” The reason is simple. According to Scripture, worship cannot be confined to a particular time or place (see John 4:23-24). God designed worship to happen at all times and in every place. Everything in our life should be an act of worship (Rom. 12:1).
In the second place, the New Testament teaches that we should “Enter to Serve.”
One of the marks of the early church was its highly participatory nature. Whereas our Sunday morning services tend to focus on one man (the “pastor”), the New Testament focuses on “one another” in the building-up process. Hebrews 10:24-25 indicates that “assembling ourselves together” means much more than sitting still and being entertained for 60 minutes (and God help the preacher who goes past 12:00 noon!). The Old Covenant priesthood involved only a relative few saints, but the New Covenant priesthood included all the saints (1 Peter 2:5, 9). All members of Christ’s Body are to function as priests when the church gathers (Rom. 12:1-8).
If the New Testament makes a distinction between the people and their leaders (1 Thess. 5:12-13), it nowhere creates the false idea that only “ordained ministers” are qualified or responsible for ministry. All of us have some “ministry” through the exercise of spiritual gifts. According to 1 Corinthians 12, ministry in the church should never focus on one or two members, but on the “many.” Each member of the body has a vital function. This means that pastor-teachers are not to bear the entire burden of the edification process. They are to equip the saints so that they can minister also (see Eph. 4:11-12).
Elders minister within the context of the general ministry of all believers. Elders serve as a vitally important element in the building-up process, but they do not constitute the sole sources of edification. 1 Corinthians 14 indicates that when the entire church gathered the service was open to anyone who had something from the Lord to contribute. Nowhere can you find a pulpit centrality that focuses on one man. Edification was not limited to the instruction provided by the leaders. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, others spoke unto edification – “admonishing one another” (Rom. 15:14), “comforting one another” (1 Thess. 4:18), and even “exhorting one another” to live more godly lives (Heb. 3:13).
In light of the New Testament emphasis on mutual ministry, should we not return to the “one another” ministry in our gatherings as a church? How much longer we will squelch the priesthood of all believers? Elders who try to “do it all” or even attempt to do most of the ministry are failing in their responsibility to the Body of Christ. The real “ministers” in the church are the individual members of the family of believers.
Remember, it is God who has determined that His church should function in this manner. It was He who said, “When you assemble...let all things be done for edification.” It is an immature and disobedient church today that fails in its priesthood responsibility.
Blessed is the man who “enters to serve and departs to worship”!
“We must have a new reformation. There must come a violent break with the irresponsible, amusement-mad paganized pseudo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their end.” – A. W. Tozer
A popular church sign reads, “Enter to Worship, Depart to Serve.” It is a well-known saying, but it is unscriptural. It might better read, “Enter to Serve, Depart to Worship.”
We live in a day when many Christians have their priorities backwards. The church has been disgraced by the multitude of its membership that marches all week long in step with the world and shows up on Sunday to pay God a vain token of respect. Most of us neither worship nor serve. We need a refresher course in ecclesiology to straighten out our warped thinking.
In the first place, the New Testament teaches that we should “Depart to Worship.” New Testament worship is a way of life. It is not a Sunday morning religious exercise. The New Testament never describes a gathering of Christians as a “worship service.” The reason is simple. According to Scripture, worship cannot be confined to a particular time or place (see John 4:23-24). God designed worship to happen at all times and in every place. Everything in our life should be an act of worship (Rom. 12:1).
In the second place, the New Testament teaches that we should “Enter to Serve.”
One of the marks of the early church was its highly participatory nature. Whereas our Sunday morning services tend to focus on one man (the “pastor”), the New Testament focuses on “one another” in the building-up process. Hebrews 10:24-25 indicates that “assembling ourselves together” means much more than sitting still and being entertained for 60 minutes (and God help the preacher who goes past 12:00 noon!). The Old Covenant priesthood involved only a relative few saints, but the New Covenant priesthood included all the saints (1 Peter 2:5, 9). All members of Christ’s Body are to function as priests when the church gathers (Rom. 12:1-8).
If the New Testament makes a distinction between the people and their leaders (1 Thess. 5:12-13), it nowhere creates the false idea that only “ordained ministers” are qualified or responsible for ministry. All of us have some “ministry” through the exercise of spiritual gifts. According to 1 Corinthians 12, ministry in the church should never focus on one or two members, but on the “many.” Each member of the body has a vital function. This means that pastor-teachers are not to bear the entire burden of the edification process. They are to equip the saints so that they can minister also (see Eph. 4:11-12).
Elders minister within the context of the general ministry of all believers. Elders serve as a vitally important element in the building-up process, but they do not constitute the sole sources of edification. 1 Corinthians 14 indicates that when the entire church gathered the service was open to anyone who had something from the Lord to contribute. Nowhere can you find a pulpit centrality that focuses on one man. Edification was not limited to the instruction provided by the leaders. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, others spoke unto edification – “admonishing one another” (Rom. 15:14), “comforting one another” (1 Thess. 4:18), and even “exhorting one another” to live more godly lives (Heb. 3:13).
In light of the New Testament emphasis on mutual ministry, should we not return to the “one another” ministry in our gatherings as a church? How much longer we will squelch the priesthood of all believers? Elders who try to “do it all” or even attempt to do most of the ministry are failing in their responsibility to the Body of Christ. The real “ministers” in the church are the individual members of the family of believers.
Remember, it is God who has determined that His church should function in this manner. It was He who said, “When you assemble...let all things be done for edification.” It is an immature and disobedient church today that fails in its priesthood responsibility.
Blessed is the man who “enters to serve and departs to worship”!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Early worship
Worship in the NT church was not some celebration and worship service, it was a life lived out.
"Worship stands at the heart of Christian community. This is doubly true because the word "worship" has a double meaning. First, the word refers to that attitude of heart and mind which is the only appropriate attitude of a creature toward its creator. In this sense "worship" implies wonder and humility, attention and obedience, confession and self-offering. Such worship is not contained within the walls of a church building and is not restricted to what happens within a worship "service." Indeed this root meaning of "worship" is an attitude of life and a way of being Christians" ~ Christopher J. Ellis
Romans 12.1 - I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
"Worship stands at the heart of Christian community. This is doubly true because the word "worship" has a double meaning. First, the word refers to that attitude of heart and mind which is the only appropriate attitude of a creature toward its creator. In this sense "worship" implies wonder and humility, attention and obedience, confession and self-offering. Such worship is not contained within the walls of a church building and is not restricted to what happens within a worship "service." Indeed this root meaning of "worship" is an attitude of life and a way of being Christians" ~ Christopher J. Ellis
Romans 12.1 - I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
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