Mike Cosper, who is worship pastor at Sojourn Church in Kentucky, has a great article about the significance (and theological accuracy) of some of the phrases we use when leading people in worship.
I admit I’ve used some of these phrases, and this article was very eye opening. Check it out.
For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt
As I continue to learn about worship history in my online class, the focus recently has been symbolic actions that have been a part of worship expression. The two most obvious things that fall into this category, and that are widely accepted as sacrements across Church lines, are baptism and communion (or the Eucharist).
To me, symbolic actions are a huge way of expressing truth, worship history, and our connection and engagement with Christ. Continue Reading…
It was the fifth week of our Irresistable Influence series. The focus this week was from Isaiah 58:1-12 when God speaks to the Israelites as a whole through Isaiah about how they are totally missing what is important to God. They are so caught up in doing their religious rituals, that they have missed the true heart of God in expressing justice and mercy to the people around them. They are making a mockery of God even in their religious expressions because they have nothing to do with God at the heart of them. Because of that, God is not answering them when they call and tells them that if they truly worship Him the way He wants to be worshipped, He will show up and empower them in a huge way.
I had the opportunity to preach the message this week, Continue Reading…
For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt
We’ve developed this church perspective that worship = music. While music and singing are a huge part of worship expression, worship is far more than music. It’s something that I am discovering both in the Bible and in looking at the history of worship expression in churches across time. Two of those expressions that we should revisit are those of prayer and scripture.
The worship languages of prayer and Scripture have always been important to me, and I have been privileged to be a part of churches that have valued those things, even if maybe not to the point of the Church of the past. These languages played a huge role in the life of the early church, both corporately and individually. For them, life drove prayer. Continue Reading…
This was week four of our series on “Irresistable Influence.” It’s a series about being a church that fulfills the calling of Christ to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). This week we focused on the idea of defending the cause of the powerless, speaking up for and showing mercy to those without a voice or who just need help. The idea was we need to actually do it, instead of just having pity or compassion. Mercy is an action word, Continue Reading…
For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt
I’ve been thinking (and learning) about the value of remembering lately. God repeatedly told the Israelites to remember what He had done for them, and they repeatedly forgot and got into trouble. I have found myself making fun of the Israelites and wondering what their problem was, only to realize that we do the same thing. It just looks a little different.
Dan Wilt has said that “one of the greatest evidences that we are a fallen race is our tendency to forget.” I know that’s true in my own life, and in the life of the people I minister with and to each week. That’s why as a worship/creative person, I at times what to have people do something physical or take something home to engage with and remember a concept. How many of us have rocks and cloth and little crosses from past spiritual experiences? Continue Reading…
I’ve been pondering something lately. A comment was made to me a few weeks ago that during the years of Jesus’ ministry on earth, whenever He responded to people, it was because they had come to Him. When the people came, He met them.
I really began to roll that around in my head and think about the implications of that truth. We don’t read stories where Jesus is running through the streets yelling, “Come out if you want to get healed!” He never tells John, “Go round up a crowd for me, I have a story to tell.” They didn’t put up posters, “Jesus Crusade – on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee.”
The people desiring to meet Jesus, to hear His wisdom, to be in His presence, and to receive healing came to Him. Think about the women who had been bleeding of years, the paralyzed man and his four friends, the demon-possessed man, the blind, the weak, the lepers, Jairus and others. The crowds gathered wherever Jesus went to hear His truth and wisdom. Those desiring a touch from Christ came to where He was.
Jesus didn’t force Himself on people. He didn’t make them come. And He doesn’t work that way today.
So I began to wonder, are we missing out on the abundance of life that Jesus offers in Him because we are waiting for Him to “show up?” Have we come to the place where we believe that if we just go through the motions, Jesus will mysteriously shower Himself upon us?
Jesus has already told us that He will never leave us. He has told us that when we gather in His name, He is already there. He has told us that if we ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, we will receive. He has told us that if we ask, seek, and knock, it will be given, we will find it, and the door will be opened.
If I want to experience the fullness of Christ in my life so that the Kingdom of God will be present through me, I have to initiate. I have to want it. I have to come to Jesus. As I submit to Him, He will meet me along with my hurts, my baggage, my pain, and my weary soul.
How many times have you heard someone say after a worship gathering, “I didn’t feel the presence of the Lord today. Jesus just wasn’t here.” Beyond the theological issues with that statement, could the reality be that we didn’t want to hear Jesus that day? That the Holy Spirit wasn’t given freedom to work and minister because we hadn’t opened our hearts and called out to Him? That we were closed?
Can it really be that simple? Can we really experience every spiritual blessing that God has promised through Jesus? I’ll simply leave you with this statement to ponder: “draw close to God and He will draw close to you” (James 4:8).
This Sunday at Cody CMA, we were in week three of our six-week Irresistible Influence series. We’ve been focusing on what it means to be people and a church of Irresistible Influence in the world around us according to Christ’s command in Matthew 5:14-16. Our focus this morning was on the Sanctity of Human Life, a topic that we have not really focused on a whole lot before. It was a challenging topic, but one that was handled well by my senior pastor.
Our morning looked like this:
Welcome/Announcements
Greeting
Call to Worship from Zephaniah 3:14-17
Mighty to Save (G) (Fielding, Morgan)
How Great Is Our God (G) (Tomlin, Reeves, Cash)
How Great Thou Art (G-A) (Hine)
Prayer
Agnus Dei (A) (Smith)
Offering
Glorious (A) (Tomlin, Reeves)
Video: “99 Balloons” from Igniter Media
Message from Psalm 139
Video: “Psalm 139” by Amena Brown from Bluefish.tv
Reflection and Prayer
Blessed Be Your Name (A) (Redman)
Dismissal
Our first few songs were designed to flow together as a medley. It worked really well. In the first service, we had the prayer focus (dealing with confession) after Agnus Dei, but in the second service put it in between How Great Thou Art and Agnus Dei, We then hung on to the A chord as we introduced the offering and moved in Glorious. MIghty to Save is new for us, but the team is doing a great job with it, and I think the congregation is catching on.
The video we used, 99 Balloons, is a great story and really connected with people. If you’ve never seen it, you should watch it. We chose it because it communicated the value of life through a story and choices, and we didn’t want to inundate people with facts about conception which we felt they already knew.
The end video, Psalm 139, helped people reconnect with the Scripture. Amena Brown is an awesome poet. You should check her stuff out.
If you’re interested in other Sunday Set-lists, be sure to check them out over at Fred McKinnon’s blog.
