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Archive | Worship in the Church

Posts regarding the direct practice of worship in the context of the local church.

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Songs for Christmas

By on December 7, 2005 in —Choosing Songs, —Christmas

I want to take the next few posts to recommend some songs/CD’s that I think are worth hearing/singing during this season of focus on the Incarnation of our Savior. Andrew Peterson is a gifted songwriter and lyricist who has put out a number of CD’s. Last year, he released “Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ.” The subtitle refers to the Gospel, the Great Story “that is bigger than life, but is astoundingly true.” The CD is filled with creatively written, skillfully performed songs that focus on our need for and God’s provision of a sacrifical Lamb. Most of them are presentational songs, but some could be used …

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Should We Even Celebrate Christmas?

By on December 6, 2005 in —Christmas

I wanted to respond to a question I received in case anyone else had a similar thought. Whit asked if we should even focus on Christmas. He wrote, “As C.H. Spurgeon (one of my spiritual heroes) said about Christmas in his sermon on 24/Dec/1871, “We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas. First because we do not believe in any mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be sung in Latin or in English: Secondly, because we find no scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, …

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Idolatry on Sunday Mornings, Pt. 3

By on December 1, 2005 in —Leading a Congregation, —Leading a Team, —Worship and God

It’s helpful to remember that the world, the devil, and our flesh actively oppose our desire to give God the glory He alone deserves. The real worship wars aren’t about music styles, forms, and practices. They’re secretly waged in our hearts, as idols try to rob us of our passion to exalt God above everything. If we aren’t aware of those worship wars we’ll have a difficult time understanding or experiencing worship that honors God, no matter what we’re doing on the outside. Speaking of experience, here are a couple more idols that can tempt us on Sunday mornings. Experience – As I paged through a Christian magazine last year, …

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Idolatry on Sunday Mornings, Pt. 2

By on November 30, 2005 in —Free Messages, —Leading a Congregation, —Leading a Team, —Worship and God

I tried to come up with a shocking title for these posts to alert us to the difference between a “professed” God and “functional” god. That is, the God we say we believe in, and the god that actually governs our desires and actions. As I mentioned in my post yesterday, idolatry can be active in my heart even as I’m outwardly worshipping God. That’s a sobering thought. Whenever I think I can’t worship God unless “X” is present, I’m making a profound statement. If “X” is anything other than Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, I’ve moved into idolatrous territory. Idolatry is always evil, but the idols we pursue aren’t …

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Idolatry on Sunday Mornings, Pt. 1

By on November 29, 2005 in —Free Messages, —Leading a Congregation, —Leading a Team, —Worship and God

So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. (2 Kings 17:41a ESV) What is our greatest hindrance in worshipping God? We could come up with a number of potential answers. “Our worship leader isn’t very experienced.” “The services are too planned/spontaneous.” “The songs are too complex/simple.” “The band/orchestra/organist/guitarist sounds bad.” “There are too many new/old songs.” “Our church is too big/small.” Ignoring for a moment that all these statements refer to a meeting context, they reveal a profound misconception about the hindrances to true worship. Contrary to what we might think, …

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Avoiding Nonsense in Worship Songs

By on November 23, 2005 in —Books, —Choosing Songs, —Songwriting, —Worship and Music

I don’t even know how I came across a book I read recently called, “And Now Let’s Move Into a Time of Nonsense: Why Worship Songs are Failing the Church.” It’s by Nick Page, a prolific UK author. What I do know is that I’m not aware of another book on congregational song that is as insightful, humorous, helpful, and brief (a real plus from my perspective). In only 121 pages, Nick covers a brief history of worship music, why the words we sing matter, how modern culture has influenced us, the importance of technique, the problem of language, and helpful suggestions for what we can do. Letters from a fictitious worship leader named Kevin Molecule …

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Expressing Love to God

By on November 22, 2005 in —Choosing Songs, —Songwriting, —Worship and Music

Someone coined the phrase “God is my girlfriend songs” to describe contemporary lyrics that express love to God with words that are romantic in nature. They include phrases like “embrace me,” “let me feel your touch,” etc. While this isn’t the first time in history congregational songs have been labeled as sensual (John Wesley had some problems with Charles Wesley’s lyrics at times), it’s an issue that still needs clarification. Why does someone write songs that can be sung either to God or a human lover? The reasons vary. Perhaps the writer is simply a poor lyricist and doesn’t know any better. It might be an attempt to stretch the …

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To Worship or To Lead – Is That the Question?

By on November 18, 2005 in —Leading a Congregation

I’m hoping to follow a similar format each week for this blog. On Mondays I’ll be sharing a devotional, from Scripture or some other source, that will focus on our hearts. If you lead a music team these might be great to share with your group. Tuesday through Thursday I’ll be typically focusing on some theme, although I also plan to do book/article/CD/song/website reviews as well. Of course, since it’s my blog, I might do something totally different. (I’m sure this is helping you.) On Fridays, I’ll take time to respond to a question I’ve received either through e-mail on on the blog comments. This first question is from Phil. “I attended an …

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Songs for the Hard Times, Pt. 3

By on November 17, 2005 in —Choosing Songs

Wisely written worship songs give us words that express faith in God in the midst of tragedy, loss, and crisis. Job expressed it like this: The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21 ESV) When we lose all we have, God still deserves our worship. Matt and Beth Redman have put that truth to music in their well-known song “Blessed Be Your Name.” Blessed Be Your name In the land that is plentiful Where Your streams of abundance flow Blessed be Your name Blessed Be Your name When I’m found in the desert place Though I walk through the wilderness Blessed Be Your name Every blessing You …

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Songs for the Hard Times, Pt. 2

By on November 16, 2005 in —Choosing Songs

What do we sing when evil seems to be rampant and ongoing? This past Sunday Christians across the world observed a Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Over 200 million Christians daily face oppression, discrimination, torture, or worse, simply because they own the name of Jesus. In addition to taking time to pray for persecuted Christians, oppressive rulers, and the rest of the church, we expressed our prayers using Stuart Townend’s song, “How Long.” Those words echo the Psalmist’s struggle with God’s seeming unresponsiveness to the present prosperity and triumph of the wicked. How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile …

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Songs for the Hard Times, Pt. 1

By on November 15, 2005 in —Choosing Songs

I recently heard someone comment that modern worship songs only cover about 3% of the topics found in Scripture. I don’t think that’s entirely accurate, but we surely lack contemporary songs that help the church respond appropriately to disasters and tragedies such as 9/11, the tsunami, or the recent hurricanes. Fortunately, that’s changing. Over the next few days I’m going to highlight some of the songs we’ve used in my home church to give voice to the confusion, sorrow, and hope we experience during these times. I first heard the hymn God Moves in a Mysterious Way (William Cowper 1731-1800) at a conference sponsored by John Piper’s church, …

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