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To my brothers and sisters in Christ,
I know that God will work all things out for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. I am not an expert on music worship or would not pretend to be but I know that we have an opportunity and responsibility to grow closer in our relationship to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and to each other as we look at ways in which we can serve the Lord when we are in changing environments (different equipment, building acoustics, team members and styles). I know that in some ways it would be easier for each of you to go lead at your particular church or group, but I feel that the Lord is going to strengthen us as we extend our tent stakes out a little farther. I have taken the liberty to jot down some observations and have included some words from a chapter of a book a friend shared with me.that will give you some understanding of my perspective on the worship services.
The purpose of Harvest Vision Ministries is to bring unity to the body of Christ by strengthening our local church leaders and church families through ministry opportunities that bring Christian brothers and sisters from different church families together.
Our worship services should:
1) Honor the Lord by lifting up our praise and worship to Him.
2) Create an atmosphere of sanctuary (safety) for everyone.
3) Bring unity and Oneness by the way we treat and respect each other as we visit different churches.
4) Encourage smaller church families, their pastors and leadership.
5) Recognize and respect the different worship styles and traditions that each church has.
6) Recognize and respect that individuals have different styles of worship: hands raised, sitting instead of standing, etc.
7) Soft or loud is not as preferential to God as it is to the individual. We need to find the common ground that is the most sensitive to those that attend our worship services.
8) Avoid church practices that traditionally may be practiced differently, such as communion.
9) Recognize different buildings have different acoustical qualities.
10) Be inclusive and not exclusive; welcoming new members, encouraging diversity and especially including someone from the visiting church.
The churches that we visit may not have the equipment that we are used to and may not be adequate for our group. Depending on the needs of our group, we will have to make adjustments, including using our own equipment, as needed. We need always be sensitive to the reality that God has provided the equipment and servants that their church needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To the external world, it may not appear that they can really be honoring God with an out-of-tune piano, a scratchy sound system and an 80 year old woman that can’t seem to “see all the notes anymore”, but we are there to encourage them and celebrate the gifts that God has given them. When we leave a church, they should be more confident that the worship and praise that they do each service is a fragrant aroma to the Lord. If no one from that church family attends another of the worship services at any other church, our having been there should be a life-changing, encouraging, refreshing blessing to them as they continue to serve Christ where He has called them.
We have a very strong group of gifted and talented servants of the Lord that have been called together for this work. For the most part, we have used our gifts and talents for worship in one specific church body and by seeking God’s will have adjusted to the worship that serves where He has called us. Because of the talents of the individual, the church body’s worship style and the resources available, not all worship is equal from a secular viewpoint. Our desire, is that no one have to apologize that they don’t meet someone else’s standards. God grades on the cross, not the curve.
We should recognize the responsibility of the person that will serve as worship leader. The Holy Spirit will direct them toward the music and style for the service. The flow of the service will be affected as the Holy Spirit directs the person that will deliver the message, prays and makes the altar call. Everyone should be comfortable making suggestions on any elements of the worship service, also recognizing that the right direction should be sought through prayer and that we need to submit to the Holy Spirit as He directs the leadership for each service.
Examples might be:
The drummer may sense that the visiting church feels apologetic because their drum set is not that good and decide that the Holy Spirit would have him use the churches instead of his own – could this affect the “quality” of the worship? We need to be aware and not become traditionalist. It may require we all make some adjustments.
A regular participant might be prompted to suggest another person join the team, even though the leader normally does not feel comfortable with more than two guitars. This may involve looking at how much room is available, the sound system requirements and how many on the worship team are familiar with the music and then after prayer, making a decision based on the prompting of the Holy Spirit, not on our own comfort or convenience. We must trust and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, even though the Holy Spirit may feel that He doesn’t have to do the same thing the same way every time.
The following is an excerpt from “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard J. Foster
The Discipline of Worship
“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.”
-----William Temple
To worship is to experience Reality, to touch Life. It is to know, to feel, to experience the resurrected Christ in the midst of the gathered community. It is a breaking into the Shekinah of God, or better yet, being invaded by the Shekinah of God. (‘Shekinah’ means the glory or the radiance of God dwelling in the midst of His people. It denotes the immediate Presence of God as opposed to a God who is abstract or aloof.)
God is actively seeking worshipers. Jesus declares, “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship Him” (John 4:23) It is God who seeks, draws, persuades. Worship is the human response to the divine initiative. In Genesis, God walked in the garden, seeking out Adam and Eve. In the crucifixion Jesus drew men and women to Himself (John 12:32). Scripture is replete with examples of God’s efforts to intiate, restore, and maintain fellowship with His children. God is like the father of the prodigal who upon seeing his son a long way off, rushed to welcome him home.
Worship is our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father. Its central reality is found “in spirit and truth”. It is kindled within us only when the Spirit of God touches our human spirit. Forms and rituals do not produce worship, nor does the disuse of forms and rituals. We can use all the right techniques and methods, we can have the best possible liturgy, but we have not worshiped the Lord until Spirit touches spirit. The words of the chorus, “Set my spirit free that I may worship Thee”, reveal the basis of worship. Until God touches and frees our spirit we cannot enter this realm. Singing, praying, praising all may lead to worship, but worship is more than any of them. Our spirit must be ignited by the divine fire.
As a result, we need not be overly concerned with the question of a correct form of worship. The issue of high liturgy or low liturgy, this form or that form is peripheral rather than central. We are encouraged in this perception when we realize that nowhere does the New Testament prescribe a particular form for worship. In fact, what we find is a freedom that is incredible for people with such deep roots in the synagogue liturgical system. They had the reality. When Spirit touches spirit the issue of forms is wholly secondary.
To say that forms are secondary is not to say that they are irrelevant. As long as we are finite beings we must have forms. We must have “wineskins” that will embody our experience of worship. But the forms are not the worship; they only lead us into the worship. We are free in Christ to use whatever forms will enhance our worship, and if any form hinders us from experiencing the living Christ – too bad for the form.
The Object of Our Worship – Jesus answers for all time the question of whom we are to worship. “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” Matthew 4:10
The Priority of Worship – If the Lord is to be Lord, worship must have priority in our lives. The first commandment of Jesus is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). The divine priority is worship first, service second. Our lives are to be punctuated with praise, thanksgiving, and adoration. Service flows out of worship. Service as a substitute for worship is idolatry. Activity is the enemy of adoration.
Preparation for Worship – A striking feature of worship in the Bible is that people gathered in what we could only call a “holy expectancy”. They believed they would actually hear the Kol Yahweh, the voice of God. When Moses went into the Tabernacle, he knew he was entering the presence of God. The same was true of the early Church. It was not surprising to them that the building in which they met shook with the power of God. Acts 2:2, 4:31.
The Leader of Worship
Genuine worship has only one Leader, Jesus Christ. When I speak of Jesus as the Leader of worship, I mean, first of all, that He is alive and present among His people. His voice can be heard in their hearts and His presence known. We not only read about Him in scripture, we can know Him by revelation. He wants to teach us, guide us, rebuke us, comfort us.
Christ is also alive and present in all His offices. In worship we are prone to view Christ only in His priestly office as Savior and Redeemer. But He is also among us as our Prophet and King. That is, He will teach us about righteousness and give us the power to do what is right. George Fox says, “Meet together in the Name of Jesus… He is your Prophet, your Shepherd, your Bishop, your Priest, in the midst of you, to open to you, and to sanctify you, and to feed you with Life, and to quicken you with Life.”
Further, Christ is alive and present in all His power. He saves us not only from the consequences of sin but from the domination of sin. Whatever He teaches us, He will give us the power to obey. If Jesus is our Leader, miracles should be expected to occur in worship. Healings, both inward and outward, will be the rule, not the exception. The book of Acts will not just be something we read about, but something we are experiencing.
Finally, Christ is the Leader of worship in the sense that He alone decides what human means will be used, if any. Individuals preach or prophesy or sing or pray as they are called forth by their Leader. In this way there is no room for the elevation of private reputations. Jesus alone is honored. As our living Head calls them forth, any or all of the gifts of the Spirit can be freely exercised and gladly received. Perhaps a word of knowledge is given in which the intent of the heart is revealed and we know that King Jesus is in charge. Perhaps there is a prophecy or an exhortation that puts us on the edge of our seats because we sense that the Kol Yahweh has been spoken. Preaching or teaching that comes forth because the living Head has called it forth breathes life into worship. Preaching that is without divine unction falls like a frost on worship. Heart preaching enflames the spirit of worship; head preaching smothers the glowing embers. There is nothing more quickening than Spirit-inspired preaching, nothing more deadening than human-inspired preaching.
With all this lofty talk about Christ as the Leader of worship you might conclude that human leadership is unimportant. Nothing could be be further from the truth. If God does not raise up inspired leaders who can guide people into worship with authority and compassion, then the experience of worship will be nearly impossible. This is the reason for the leadership gifts of the Spirit (Eph. 4:11). Worship leaders who are called out by God must not be shy about their leadership. People need to be led into worship: from the Outer Court to the Inner Court and finally into the Holy of Holies. God anoints leaders to bring people through this progression into worship.
Avenues into Worship - The first avenue into worship is to still all humanly initiated activity. Praise is another avenue of worship. Singing is meant to move us into praise. God calls for worship that involves our whole being. The Bible describes worship in physical terms. The root meaning for the Hebrew word we translate worship is “to prostrate.” The word bless literally means “to kneel”. Thanksgiving refers to “an extension of the hand.” Throughout Scripture we find a variety of physical postures in connection with worship: lying prostrate, standing, kneeling, lifting the hands, clapping the hands, lifting the head, bowing the head, dancing, and wearing sackcloth and ashes. The point is that we are to offer God our bodies as well as all the rest of our being. Worship is appropriately physical. What we must see is that the real question in worship is not, “What will meet my need?” The real question is, “What kind of worship does God call for?” It is clear that God calls for wholehearted worship. And it is as reasonable to expect wholehearted worship to be physical as to expect it to be cerebral. Having said this, I must hasten to add that the physical response to worship is never to be manipulated in any way. We are to give each other freedom to respond to the moving of God upon the heart.
Steps into Worship – Worship is something we do. First, learn to practice the presence of God daily. Second, have many different experiences of worship. Third, find ways to really prepare for the gathered experience of worship. Fourth, have a willingness to be gathered in the power of the Lord. That is, as an individual I must learn to let go of my agenda, of my concern, of my being blessed, of my hearing the word of God. The language of the gathered fellowship is not “I”, but “we”. There is a submission to the ways of God. There is a submission to one another in the Christian fellowship. There is a desire for God’s life to rise up in the group, not just within the individual. Fifth, cultivate holy dependency. Sixth, absorb distractions with gratitude. Seventh, learn to offer a sacrifice of worship.
The Fruits of Worship – Just as worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience. If worship does not propel us into greater obedience, it has not been worship. To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change. Resentments cannot be held with the same tenacity when we enter His gracious light. As Jesus says, we need to leave our gift at the altar and go set the matter straight (Matthew 5:23,24). In worship an increased power steals its way into the heart sanctuary, an increased compassion grows in the soul. To worship is to change.
Willard Sperry declares, “Worship is a deliberate and disciplined adventure in reality.” It is not for the timid or comfortable. It involves an opening of ourselves to the adventurous life of the Spirit. It makes all the religious paraphernalia of temples and priests and rites and ceremonies irrelevant. It involves a willingness to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)
In Love and Service to Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
Pastor George Henson
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