Saturday, September 11, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Science vs. God
Carrying Christ’s love into the classroom this school year can be a challenge the following story offers some insight for us.
'Let me explain the problem science has with religion.' The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'
'Yes sir,' the student says.
'So you believe in God?'
'Absolutely.'
'Is God good?'
'Sure! God's good.'
'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’
'Yes'
'Are you good or evil?'
'The Bible says I'm evil.'
The professor grins knowingly.
'Aha! The Bible! He considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'
'Yes sir, I would.'
'So you're good...!'
'I wouldn't say that.'
'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?'
The student remains silent. 'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. 'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'
'Er..yes,' the student says.
'Is Satan good?'
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'
'Then where does Satan come from?'
The student falters. 'From God'
'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'
‘Yes, sir.'
'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'
'Yes'
'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'
Again, the student has no answer. 'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'
The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'
'So who created them?'
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them?' There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.'
The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'
'No sir. I've never seen Him.'
'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'
'No, sir, I have not..'
'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'
'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'
'Yet you still believe in him?'
'Yes'
'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist... What do you say to that, son?'
'Nothing,' the student replies.. 'I only have my faith.'
'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat? '
'Yes.’ 'And is there such a thing as cold?'
'Yes, son, there's cold too.'
'No sir, there isn't.'
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. 'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'
Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
'What about darkness, professor.. Is there such a thing as darkness?'
'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation.. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'
'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'
'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'
The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'
'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains.. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.' 'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.' 'Now tell me, professor.. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'
'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'
'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'
The class is in uproar.. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. 'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.' The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter. 'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.' 'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I Guess you'll have to take them on faith.'
'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?' Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it Everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in The multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'
To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'
The professor sat down.
'Let me explain the problem science has with religion.' The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'
'Yes sir,' the student says.
'So you believe in God?'
'Absolutely.'
'Is God good?'
'Sure! God's good.'
'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’
'Yes'
'Are you good or evil?'
'The Bible says I'm evil.'
The professor grins knowingly.
'Aha! The Bible! He considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'
'Yes sir, I would.'
'So you're good...!'
'I wouldn't say that.'
'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?'
The student remains silent. 'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. 'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'
'Er..yes,' the student says.
'Is Satan good?'
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'
'Then where does Satan come from?'
The student falters. 'From God'
'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'
‘Yes, sir.'
'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'
'Yes'
'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'
Again, the student has no answer. 'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'
The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'
'So who created them?'
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them?' There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.'
The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'
'No sir. I've never seen Him.'
'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'
'No, sir, I have not..'
'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'
'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'
'Yet you still believe in him?'
'Yes'
'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist... What do you say to that, son?'
'Nothing,' the student replies.. 'I only have my faith.'
'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat? '
'Yes.’ 'And is there such a thing as cold?'
'Yes, son, there's cold too.'
'No sir, there isn't.'
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. 'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'
Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
'What about darkness, professor.. Is there such a thing as darkness?'
'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation.. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'
'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'
'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'
The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'
'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains.. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.' 'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.' 'Now tell me, professor.. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'
'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'
'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'
The class is in uproar.. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. 'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.' The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter. 'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.' 'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I Guess you'll have to take them on faith.'
'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?' Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it Everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in The multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'
To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'
The professor sat down.
Q and A With Associate Pastor Jerry Goff
What do you do here at WBC? (What are you responsible for)?
Initially my responsibility was to carry the responsibility for the Youth Ministry. As time progressed the ministry took off and I began to recruit paid interns to assist in the demanding needs of our student ministries. This allowed me to take on the ministry of providing biblical counseling and life coaching. Over a year ago I sought a replacement for my position as a youth pastor and transitioned to Pastor of Small Groups and Family Coaching/counseling. The responsibilities continue to grow as our needs continue to expand!
How long have you been here?
I began serving WBC 4 years ago this past June.
Becoming mature is the second element of the mission of WBC. As the associate pastor how do you see the becoming mature part of the mission in action? Becoming mature is an on going process. To grow we must find a way to begin the discipline of growing in our understanding of His Word. Some can do this independent of a program. But many need a support. This would move one to the next step of getting involved in a small group/home group.
What steps should people take this school year to help them accomplish the Becoming Mature Disciples part of our mission?
The steps that everyone in our church should take needs to begin with finding a way to be in the word! I am personally challenging myself to be in the word more; prayer more and sharing the Gospel always!
Initially my responsibility was to carry the responsibility for the Youth Ministry. As time progressed the ministry took off and I began to recruit paid interns to assist in the demanding needs of our student ministries. This allowed me to take on the ministry of providing biblical counseling and life coaching. Over a year ago I sought a replacement for my position as a youth pastor and transitioned to Pastor of Small Groups and Family Coaching/counseling. The responsibilities continue to grow as our needs continue to expand!
How long have you been here?
I began serving WBC 4 years ago this past June.
Becoming mature is the second element of the mission of WBC. As the associate pastor how do you see the becoming mature part of the mission in action? Becoming mature is an on going process. To grow we must find a way to begin the discipline of growing in our understanding of His Word. Some can do this independent of a program. But many need a support. This would move one to the next step of getting involved in a small group/home group.
What steps should people take this school year to help them accomplish the Becoming Mature Disciples part of our mission?
The steps that everyone in our church should take needs to begin with finding a way to be in the word! I am personally challenging myself to be in the word more; prayer more and sharing the Gospel always!
Q and A with Worship Arts Pastor Jay Trull
What do you do at WBC?
I am responsible for developing and implementing the vision Worship Arts ministry of this church. That includes the planning of biblical based worship services and the training and leading of our arts ministry teams. It also includes the production of art presentations for the church, which over the last several months has worked itself out into me leading the development of waxahachiebible.org and becoming the general editor of the Ignite publication. I also oversee some the audio and video equipment here at WBC. More importantly than all of that what I seek “to do here at WBC” is to worship God with all of me as well as love my beautiful wife Ami and our joyful son Jackson with the peace, love and joy of Jesus Christ.
How long have you been here?
I became a member of WBC in 1995. I came on staff as a youth and music intern in November of 1997. My position evolved into worship pastor sometime after that. I have been apart of WBC for 15 years.
What brought you to WBC?
That is a long story. After I graduated college in 1995 I was searching for God and was led to WBC. The worship pastor of WBC during that time (Scott Cunningham) called me at my house and asked me if I would be interested in playing drums for the worship music here at the church. Apparently my mom, who had just started to visit WBC had informed the church that I was a drummer and to call me to see if I would be interested in playing for them. After Scott called me I brought my drums to church for worship practice and my drums and I have been here ever since. God has used the ministry of this church to change my life in many ways from that moment on. One of the ways God bought change to me was in my view of worship. Before WBC my view of worship was at best something that you did on Sunday morning with different attitudes and even different musical instruments than you used on the rest of the week. Worship for me before WBC involved piano and organ on Sunday and my drums and I were living a different life in the bars of the secular music world. God used WBC to blow open the fallacy of the secular and sacred compartments of my life. Shortly after I started playing drums at WBC God began to fuse my whole life together in worship of Him. For me playing drums in the church meant I could for the first time worship God with drums and since drums and music where a big part of my life it began making since to worship God with my whole life. Looking back on it now I think my knew that I needed to be in a church fellowship and the only way that I would go into a church during that time in my life was if my drums were there.
Some if not most worship pastors lead worship in the worship services on Sunday morning. Why do you not lead worship on Sunday?
I think I would say that I do lead worship on Sunday morning. I lead the planning and direction of all of worship services each week as well as play drums on most weeks. Sometimes I think it is easy to limit worship to the activity of singing. So it is easy to say that a worship leader is the lead singer, but I think that paints an inaccurate view of what worship is. When you think about the worship leadership presenting and accurate view of worship on a Sunday morning it has to be more than just a lead singer singing. Here at WBC we have a team based worship leading approach. You will see several different song leaders and instrumentalists who lead the congregation in worship. This not only helps broaden our view of what worship is it also provides a way for the body of Christ to be actively involved in the leading process. When I look at the current team of people that lead the music aspect of our services I see that all have different talents and gifts that God has given them. All of us seek to rely on each other in our efforts of worshipping God rather than focusing our leadership strategy through one main worship leader. Ultimately, God Himself exists in three persons, likewise leading people to Him is more than a one person thing it involves the body coming together under the authority, and intercession of Jesus Christ our exalted head.
Worshipping God is the first element of the mission of WBC. As the pastor of worship how do see the worshipping God part of the mission in action?
Worshipping God is really the foundation of the whole mission of the church. Becoming mature and Carrying Christ love must flow out of the worship of God and are both ultimately defined as worship. Having said that, there is still an aspect of the Worshipping God part of our mission that stands alone. In order for us to see that aspect in action we all need to begin to pursue the reality that worship is a lifestyle and our public worship services need to be seen as an open expression of a body of people whose lives practice the worship of God through out the days of all of our lives. Certainly I am referring to hypocrisy as I say this but not just that. To borrow an analogy from sports when the Dallas Cowboys play a game on Sunday they have spent all week practicing for that Game. Without practice the team does not play well. The Christian life also has practices. These practices are the spiritual disciplines of our faith (Things like personal prayer and bible study). I believe that our worship on Sunday is a direct reflection of how well we have allowed God to use these practices in our daily lives. To take the sports analogy a little further when the Dallas Cowboys play on Sunday to have success they have to play as a team. Likewise, when we worship on Sunday we have to worship as a team. It is easy to see that the worship leaders are a team, but equally important is the fact that the congregation must also see that they are a part of the team as well. Not just a spectator but an active participant. Many times I am involved in discussions about worship. These discussions range from the debates over music styles and even critiquing the quality of the music or the clothing of the worship leaders. I believe that those discussions can quickly become weapons of mass distraction from the awesome truth that we are all a part of the same team and that we all have a role to play in worshipping God with our lives and our worship services.
What steps should people take this school year to help them accomplish the Worship God part of our mission?
I would encourage all of us to have several times of personal worship throughout our days and weeks. These times of personal worship would include times of praying, reading God’s word, confessing sins, and letting God change us on a one on one basis. If we can be that kind of worshipper during the week, then I think that our Sunday services would explode in great worship of God from the all consuming fire that God has fueled us with during the week. Doing that would be my suggestion for a first step. Also, since the whole congregation has a role to play in our public worship services I think it would be good for us to offer worship training to our congregation as to what all of our roles are. If you are interested in that kind of training or help in developing you own life of personal worship please contact me in the church office.
I am responsible for developing and implementing the vision Worship Arts ministry of this church. That includes the planning of biblical based worship services and the training and leading of our arts ministry teams. It also includes the production of art presentations for the church, which over the last several months has worked itself out into me leading the development of waxahachiebible.org and becoming the general editor of the Ignite publication. I also oversee some the audio and video equipment here at WBC. More importantly than all of that what I seek “to do here at WBC” is to worship God with all of me as well as love my beautiful wife Ami and our joyful son Jackson with the peace, love and joy of Jesus Christ.
How long have you been here?
I became a member of WBC in 1995. I came on staff as a youth and music intern in November of 1997. My position evolved into worship pastor sometime after that. I have been apart of WBC for 15 years.
What brought you to WBC?
That is a long story. After I graduated college in 1995 I was searching for God and was led to WBC. The worship pastor of WBC during that time (Scott Cunningham) called me at my house and asked me if I would be interested in playing drums for the worship music here at the church. Apparently my mom, who had just started to visit WBC had informed the church that I was a drummer and to call me to see if I would be interested in playing for them. After Scott called me I brought my drums to church for worship practice and my drums and I have been here ever since. God has used the ministry of this church to change my life in many ways from that moment on. One of the ways God bought change to me was in my view of worship. Before WBC my view of worship was at best something that you did on Sunday morning with different attitudes and even different musical instruments than you used on the rest of the week. Worship for me before WBC involved piano and organ on Sunday and my drums and I were living a different life in the bars of the secular music world. God used WBC to blow open the fallacy of the secular and sacred compartments of my life. Shortly after I started playing drums at WBC God began to fuse my whole life together in worship of Him. For me playing drums in the church meant I could for the first time worship God with drums and since drums and music where a big part of my life it began making since to worship God with my whole life. Looking back on it now I think my knew that I needed to be in a church fellowship and the only way that I would go into a church during that time in my life was if my drums were there.
Some if not most worship pastors lead worship in the worship services on Sunday morning. Why do you not lead worship on Sunday?
I think I would say that I do lead worship on Sunday morning. I lead the planning and direction of all of worship services each week as well as play drums on most weeks. Sometimes I think it is easy to limit worship to the activity of singing. So it is easy to say that a worship leader is the lead singer, but I think that paints an inaccurate view of what worship is. When you think about the worship leadership presenting and accurate view of worship on a Sunday morning it has to be more than just a lead singer singing. Here at WBC we have a team based worship leading approach. You will see several different song leaders and instrumentalists who lead the congregation in worship. This not only helps broaden our view of what worship is it also provides a way for the body of Christ to be actively involved in the leading process. When I look at the current team of people that lead the music aspect of our services I see that all have different talents and gifts that God has given them. All of us seek to rely on each other in our efforts of worshipping God rather than focusing our leadership strategy through one main worship leader. Ultimately, God Himself exists in three persons, likewise leading people to Him is more than a one person thing it involves the body coming together under the authority, and intercession of Jesus Christ our exalted head.
Worshipping God is the first element of the mission of WBC. As the pastor of worship how do see the worshipping God part of the mission in action?
Worshipping God is really the foundation of the whole mission of the church. Becoming mature and Carrying Christ love must flow out of the worship of God and are both ultimately defined as worship. Having said that, there is still an aspect of the Worshipping God part of our mission that stands alone. In order for us to see that aspect in action we all need to begin to pursue the reality that worship is a lifestyle and our public worship services need to be seen as an open expression of a body of people whose lives practice the worship of God through out the days of all of our lives. Certainly I am referring to hypocrisy as I say this but not just that. To borrow an analogy from sports when the Dallas Cowboys play a game on Sunday they have spent all week practicing for that Game. Without practice the team does not play well. The Christian life also has practices. These practices are the spiritual disciplines of our faith (Things like personal prayer and bible study). I believe that our worship on Sunday is a direct reflection of how well we have allowed God to use these practices in our daily lives. To take the sports analogy a little further when the Dallas Cowboys play on Sunday to have success they have to play as a team. Likewise, when we worship on Sunday we have to worship as a team. It is easy to see that the worship leaders are a team, but equally important is the fact that the congregation must also see that they are a part of the team as well. Not just a spectator but an active participant. Many times I am involved in discussions about worship. These discussions range from the debates over music styles and even critiquing the quality of the music or the clothing of the worship leaders. I believe that those discussions can quickly become weapons of mass distraction from the awesome truth that we are all a part of the same team and that we all have a role to play in worshipping God with our lives and our worship services.
What steps should people take this school year to help them accomplish the Worship God part of our mission?
I would encourage all of us to have several times of personal worship throughout our days and weeks. These times of personal worship would include times of praying, reading God’s word, confessing sins, and letting God change us on a one on one basis. If we can be that kind of worshipper during the week, then I think that our Sunday services would explode in great worship of God from the all consuming fire that God has fueled us with during the week. Doing that would be my suggestion for a first step. Also, since the whole congregation has a role to play in our public worship services I think it would be good for us to offer worship training to our congregation as to what all of our roles are. If you are interested in that kind of training or help in developing you own life of personal worship please contact me in the church office.
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