I'm really wrestling right now with how to go deeper in corporate worship. There's a discipleship issue here, something for the leader to actually lead the congregation in. Part of it, of course, has to do with music, but the fact is that music is just the frosting on the cake of our overall worship lives.
In John chapter 4, Jesus talks to the woman at the well about worshiping God in spirit and truth. Spirit is the part of our lives where we connect with God the deepest. Truth, of course, is God's word. But it's also the truth of where we line up with God's word.
If we're lacking spirit, the deep personal connection with God, the truth will be there, but will be ineffective in our lives. If we're lacking truth, God's intimate presence will not change us.
Lately I've been filling myself with lots of truth, but I notice that I'm lacking in spirit. The willingness to connect with God, to say "yes" to Him at the deepest level, is what I'm struggling with. My prayers are that God would speak, touch and change my heart.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hi there, your post interested me as it is the "theme" for my own blog on worship at john4v24.blogspot.com. I take your points about the Truth aspect of what Jesus said but I also think that it means our heart attitude. Let me explain, the bible makes it clear that we, in addition to our individual 'walk', are to come together as the body of Christ and worship Him together. When we do that I believe that the act is only fufilled when we recognise our "true" standing in the grace of God, washed in the blood of Jesus, casting aside all other things. To do that goes hand-in-hand with the "spirit" part of the verse in that the Holy Spirit (given to us a 'deposit') makes all of this possible and, in lime with your comments towards the end of the post, will effect change in us if we let it happen. As worship leaders we have a responsibility not to entertain and please the crowd but to facilitate that connection between the worshippers and God, in much the same way as the music itself is a facilitator. We should decrease and He should increase as we create a time and space focussed on Jesus.
God bless you.
William
David,
May I recommend a FV-frindly book to you? The Lord's Service by Jeff Meyers. Just skip the chapter on paedocommunion if you want.
al sends
Post a Comment