Journey of Worship

Posts Tagged ‘Music’

We began our second series of the year this past Sunday called “be People of Prayer.” If you are the observant-type, you may notice that the title and look is similar. This is by design, as the previous series (Be People of the Word) and this one (Be People of Prayer) are designed to work together. We’ll be taking the next four weeks looking at some different aspects of prayer and helping people to begin to establish or continue a pattern of prayer.

The first week was focused on looking again at the example of Jesus and the time He spent in prayer. We looked at Mark 1:35-39, Luke 6:12-13, and Luke 22:39-46 as Jesus prayed often, He prayed hard, and He prayed through. Click for more info and video! Read the rest of this entry »

What does worship look like?  As the practical, pragmatic, and action-oriented Americans we are, how do we do this thing that is supposed to draw our attention to God so that we can give Him all glory and honor with our whole being?

The event of worship takes many forms.  One of the biggest ways that worship happens is through music.  This is true today and has been for centuries.  Psalm 69:30 tells us that “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”  Music, in its various forms, provides an avenue where worshippers can open their hearts to God and one another.  There is power in the corporate application of music.

Martin Luther (the one who nailed the 95 theses to the door and kicked off the Protestant Reformation), was a huge proponent of the role of music in worship.  Charles Moss in The Musical Reforms of Luther writes that “Martin Luther viewed music as having powers to repulse evil and to glorify God at the same time.”  In the forward to his Symphoniae, Luther himself wrote that “next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.  It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits. “

As vital as music is, there is a downside to the association of music with worship.  Unfortunately, we have made worship about music and the two have become synonymous in our minds.  Instead of music being an aspect of worship, worship is music.  Then we find ourselves in a place that says we can’t worship without music.

The fact of the matter is, as songwriter Paul Baloche says, “worship has more to do with relationship than with music.  Worshipping God with music is simply a tool to help us connect relationally to a living God.”

So, we return to our original question of what does worship look like.  We know one way is music.  But what other ways can we connect with the living God?  How about things like reading, hearing, and applying the Word of God, tithing, living generously, serving, loving others, meditating on who God is, making our prayers more than just requests, developing an attitude of thankfulness, surrendering full control of our life to God, and responding to the truth of God by living it out in our daily lives.

There’s a reason why the event we attend each Sunday is called a “worship service.”  All of the elements that take place in it should facilitate our whole self connecting with God and choosing to live for Him.  It’s not called a “music service” as music is but a part of the whole.

Worship looks like a lot of things. We can connect with God in a variety of valid ways both corporately and personally.  We should not be limited in our ability to worship the living God based on whether there is music available or not.

What does worship look like to you?  What helps you connect with God?  Let me know in the comments.

We’re in the third week of the “Be People of the Word” series as we focused on the value and benefits of the what the Bible offers us as an owner’s manual for life. We tackled Psalm 119 (all of it), and approached it be first focusing on the blessing of obedience that comes from studying the Word and then presenting a number of “tips” based off of the main themes in Psalm 119.

We began with Welcome and Announcements, and then as part of the Call to Worship, I took a teachable moment focused on why we sing when we gather (because we are instructed to and because it helps us to remember and declare the truth of who God is and what He has done). I mentioned that the songs we sing are from Scripture, some of them exactly, and that the reason we often put verses on the screen during musical interludes was to help people connect the songs with their Scriptural basis. I then read a medley of Scriptures (Col 1:19, John 3:35, Phil 2:9-11, Eph 1:21, Col 1:16, Rom 14:9, Col 2:10, John 1:16). Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post about our Sunday worship services. Not intentionally, it’s just that when things get busy, some things don’t get the attention they did before. Blogging happens to be one of those things. Which is probably why I’ve had a whole bunch of posts over the last few days – getting some stuff out that’s been waiting.

Anyway, with the new year, we started a new series called “Be People of the Word.” Each year, our senior pastor wants to focus people back on the importance of the Word and prayer in our spiritual journey.

This week we focused on what it means to be truly blessed and the role the Word of God plays in that. I tried video-taping the service this week, so click to check out the video and for more info. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re into our Christmas series for 2009 called “Catch the Christmas Spirit.” This year, we are focusing on helping people remember and capture the true meaning and spirit of this time of year. As soon as Halloween is over, we are thrust into the season of red, green, and sales.

The rush to get the right stuff for the right people is all that many people know and experience at this time of year. But, when we settle for that, we settle for a cheap substitute of what this time of the year is really about.

In Isaiah 9:1-7, God promised an amazing gift for the people. If we can catch the true Christmas spirit, our holiday celebration will not be the same, and neither will we.

Click to find out about the first two weeks of the series.

Read the rest of this entry »

Paul Baloche is getting ready to release a new CD – “Glorious” – tomorrow, November 3. I’ve long been a fan of Paul’s music and ministry. I’ve gotten to see him live a few times and experience his teaching. He is a humble man who is passionate for God. His songs have been a huge part of the worship repertoires of the various churches that I have been able to serve at. He is committed to helping worship leaders lead their local churches in authentic worship. His website at www.leadworship.com offers a ton of resources, many of which are free.

You can get the album digitally at AmazonMp3.com here, or you can head over to a couple of worship blogs I read and enter a contest to win a copy of the CD.

www.richkirkpatrick.com
www.chrisfromcanada.com

However you do it, I hope that you check out this latest offering from Paul.

Imagine this scenario with me…you’ve arrived at the church building for a Sunday morning service. You’ve made your way in and found a seat. The service begins as usual with a welcome and announcements about important things. Perhaps you hear a missionary share about the work they are doing. Maybe there is a video conveying a spiritual concept. Then the music starts. You’re invited to stand with everyone else as the leader encourages you to express praise through singing. You’re singing along with the words that declare the truth of who Jesus is, and then it happens. The words disappear off the screen, and there is just music playing. What do you do now?

In our modern gatherings where the same types of things happen regularly and we know the routine, it can be hard to know what to do in those “free” moments. Our natural tendency is to look around, wonder what’s going to happen next, or think about where you’re going to eat lunch. Read the rest of this entry »

I had the opportunity to hear many new songs while at the National Worship Leader Conference a few weeks ago. One of those songs was by the group Leeland from their new album releasing on August 25. It’s called “Follow You” and is a great song about allowing our worship to overflow into our daily life.

I heard them do it both in an acoustic version and a full-on rock version. Check out the video below of them doing it acoustically, and let me know what you think.

I’ve been sharing some song stories this summer with my congregation, and wanted to focus on the new song, “Praise the Father, Praise the Son” that we sang for the first time on August 9. Check out what Chris Tomlin has to say about it, take a look at the lyrics, and watch the video to hear Chris Tomlin and Ed Cash (who co-wrote the song) talk about it. Allow this great song that focuses the heart and mind on the triune nature of God be a part of your worship expression.

Praise the Father, Praise the Son

“There are always those songs that you hold an extra special place for inside. This is one of those for me. Ed Cash and I wrote this song on the last night of recording my vocals for the record. All of the songs were already recorded, and we were happy with where we were. But I am always open to God possibly breathing another song along the way. On this night, Ed grabbed his guitar and told me he wanted to play this melody that he felt was special and that he had been using in some times of ministry with his church family. It kind of reminded me of how the Bible teaches that David would play, and it would bring peace and healing. Ed sang a few lyric ideas for the verse, and I immediately just began to sing out the chorus you hear on the record. It was one of the moments where you knew you were not in charge, and we both just sat there with tears in our eyes, stunned at what was happening. I do feel this song, in particular, is one that any church, with any style of worship can sing. It continues to be my heart to write songs that give voice to the generations now and the ones that are to come; and I sense this is one of those songs.” –Chris Tomlin

Praise The Father, Praise The Son

Written by Ed Cash and Chris Tomlin

O sovereign God, O matchless King
The saints adore, the angels sing
And fall before the throne of grace
To You belongs the highest praise

These sufferings, this passing tide
Under Your wings I will abide
And every enemy shall flee
You are my hope and victory

Praise the Father, Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit, Three in One
Clothed in power and in grace
The name above all other names

To the valley, for my soul
Thy great descent has made me whole
Your word my heart has welcomed home
Now peace like water ever flows

Yours is the kingdom
Yours is the power
Yours is the glory
Forever

© 2008 worshiptogether.com Songs (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) / sixsteps Music (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing / Vamos Publishing (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) (ASCAP) / Alletrop Music (BMI)

Today ONLY (Monday, April 27), GreatWorshipSongs.com is giving away 40 songs from their artists in recognition and celebration of the recent Dove Awards. These include songs by people such as Aaron Shust, Jars of Clay, Bebo Norman, Laura Story, and others. The giveaway includes downloadable mp3s, chord charts, and lead sheets. There is a variety of songs.

You have to register for an account (it’s free), and then you can download as many as you want. But it is for today only.

Enjoy!