What is worship really? - specifically Christian worship? What does real praise to God mean? Can the gospel show us how to deal with stress? Can it show us how to deal with stress, sorrow, hurt, and even tragedy? Can the gospel make a difference in life problems?
There are two ways to live the Christian life, especially when we experience life problems:
(1) in some form of laws, rules, principles and precepts, or
(2) in the gospel.
I've talked to a lot of people about their worship experience, and if their experience isn't what it should be, when I pry deeper I always find they don't have a true grasp of the gospel, and they are living under some form of precepts and principles. Gallop Polls says that a very high percentage of Christians
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ALL things are ours (I Cor 3:21-22). It is living in the reality of the gospel that changes our focus to God, so we can enter into true worship and praise to God. The gospel is meant to be the purpose of life. It is God's gift to us for living this life ABUNDANTLY, as Jesus says. When we live it, God makes all things better (Rom 8:28).
Living the gospel produces real worship. You can't hold it in. It flows from you. Worship is no longer something you DO, but it's just part of who you ARE as a child, and son or daughter of both. Your focus is no longer totally focused on your life problems but instead they are on giving praise to God. It is the gospel that makes this life transformation in you. Do your life problems still exist? Yes! But does the gospel help you by showing you how to deal with stress in your life problems? Yes.
Knowing the gospel, receiving it and living it makes worship become the most powerful experience imaginable. Giving praise to God becomes a lifestyle. If you click on it, the following 'digging deeper' part of this that is on my website will show that we don't worship and give praise to God FOR our life problems, but IN our life problems. There is a big
Recognizing God is a part of our vocation within community can be confusing for us, how can we serve God in the different venues of our life when the world teaches such differing views? We are encouraged to share our witness, testimony, and service within our families, workplace, and our social settings. Family includes the household within our life touching upon each role parent, child, and spouse. It becomes acceptable to compartmentalize the areas of our life and serve in comfortable areas. Consumerism and societal pressures challenge us to withdraw from the Spirit when we feel intimidated, out of place, or even unworthy of God’s involvement in our life. We are called to be “the salt of the earth”, accepting the challenge to unite God’s calling upon our whole-life. According to Migliore, “United in Christ by the power of the Spirit we are one community; we are members of one body and mutually dependent on one another. Recognizing God works with all areas of community unites families, workplace, and social settings together.
The Effects of Marks Gospel on the Lives of Christians on Sundays How do the teachings of Jesus from Marks Gospel affect the lives of Christians today on Sundays? Today Christians should try and behave like Jesus use to on the Sabbath. We know that Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, he would pray, worship, heal and then spend time with his friends and family. Today Catholics worship on Sunday by going to church for mass and then spending time doing what they want after.
whole life to God and the Church. This is one major Cost of being a
Humans can find solutions to their problems by understanding Jesus’s words, which is the same as God’s words, and following his instructions. This process guides humans to reach the spiritual life which is the solution to all human’s problems. Grace and faith play important roles in humans’ salvation. Grace and faith are the first steps of entering a spiritual life. Grace and faith can be achieved through understanding Jesus which is the same as understanding God and believing in both and following their instructions. Grace and faith give freedom of physical life to humans which brings salvation. Since out thoughts determine our actions, transformation process starts from our minds. Basically, transformation is the process of changes that happens in humans’ minds and lives. In Christian worldview, transformation is the maturity of spiritual life. In other words, transformation is the change in mind and self which result in changes in life and lead to achieving the spiritual life. Christians believe that transformation of self and society starts from acknowledging and understanding Jesus’s words and following his words. Christians also believe that this transformation happens when humans accept Jesus as the Son of God and follow his instructions as they are following
Prior to reading this book I have to be honest and say that I had some false conceptions about worship. That sounds kind of scary to say but, through this booked I learned again and at a deeper level the importance of living in communion with God.
In the 1920’s flappers brought a controversial look with the amount of skin they showed, the sorter dresses, the make-up, and the heels they used. The woman wanted to feel free from the hold people had on woman. Woman like Jane Adams and Ellen Gates Star stepped up to show woman about the importance of being clean and valued. Prior to the Social Gospel Movement, women were not allowed to work for themselves. They had no real life of their own. The 1970’s also brought a lot of new views in America. Civil rights were leading to the rise of women powers along with the rise of empowerment for the gays and young people breaking off from their parents. In the 70’s women were granted divorces and had to become the “breadwinners” for their households. They had jobs, went to college, got involved in politics, and made a name for themselves. Homosexuals were forming groups to voice themselves. The young people were looking into other religions rather than their parent religions. They had been influence by the music sensation The Beatles, who had a member that practices Hinduism. They had been looking into eastern religion since the Asian based religions had been moving into America. The Era of protest had many people losing their faith, making them more open minded to other cultures and leading to their rebellion.
...agreed with, some that frustrated, and some that embarrassed me when my personal preferences defied logic or biblical mandate. I would recommend this reading to any who impact church worship (employee or volunteer). Not as a firm guide, but as thought-provoking advice on how corporate worship can impact an ever-changing culture. I think any worship leader would be impacted by Dawn’s questions:
Growing up in Jamaica, I enjoyed worship. I remembered looking forward to church. We clapped our hands and stomped our feet and made a joyful noise unto the Lord. We didn't have keyboards and drums. We clapped and sounded like timbrels. I remembered when I learned to testify and it helped me and several others to build our confidence. I would sing in the local churches when they have special events. I watched young people being filled with the Holy Ghost and I wanted it so badly that I would pray and ask God to give it to me. I remembered watching my mother and my sister speak in tongues and I so wanted to do it.
“Human beings are made for worship. Everyone worships someone or something” (Calhoun 2005). The above statement is so true. Some people worship money, themselves, other people or pagan Gods. As for me I worship God the Almighty Father of Heaven and Earth. “True worship of God happens when we put God first in our lives” (Calhoun 2005). Worship isn’t just singing at the beginning of a church service on Sunday. Worship is a daily surrender where we put God first in everything such as our marriage, work life, friendships, family, money, and lifestyle. Worship is where we totally surrender and trust God with everything in our lives.
into a richer experience of worship and a more effect life of service" (Crabb, 1977, p.31). The method to establishing an
What will you do now? Will you fall down before your Creator and worship? Or will you listen to the voices in your ear that accuse God, and then get angry at Him? Will you worship or will you curse?” – Suffering gives you a chance to prove to yourself and to God that you really want Him. That when you go to church on Sunday or when you pray in the morning, you do not do it out of a routine but that you truly mean it. In another book, Bob Sorge wrote about intimacy with God, he said, “God-worshipers are those who come to God first in their time of need. They seek God’s face and wait on Him to receive directives for the course to take. The secret place becomes the threshold where we wait upon God, seeking His powerful intervention, and crying out to Him for wisdom and
For those of you who are going on to another Christian community, I challenge you to be the different ones. Christian groups too often say, "yeah, praise God," and then not always walk in His steps. They see Christianity as just obeying the big rules instead of a daily faith relationship with God. They might even ask you to do subtle things that break God's rules. Take that extra step and really be a leader. Be the one person that everyone can look up to and say that you have the love of Jesus in your heart. Show them that you are truly on fire for God.
The shepherd and sheep relationship is the best illustration for the relationship between pastor and parishioners. When Jesus asked Simon Peter does he love him three times and said to him “Feed my sheep”, the shepherd and flock relationship has been set. Since Jesus is our good shepherd (Jn. 10:11a), he laid out a good example for us to follow - to lay down his life for the sheep. (Jn. 10:11b) Thus, the wellness of both in and out of the parishioners should always be the concern in the pastors’ hearts. Soul care for the people is essential. Christian friendship is the foundation of Christian soul care. Pastoral ministry including preaching, teaching, and worship forms the broad context of pastoral counseling. Pastoral care is within pastoral ministry but broader than pastoral counseling. God’s love is the source and motivation. Within the pastoral care, there are spiritual direction and pastoral
...have begun the process of becoming a better person. Those who practice Christianity boast of having higher levels of joy and happiness in life no matter what circumstances they may be facing. “A person that is truly Christian, one who studies, practices and teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ on a regular basis, has a fullness of joy regardless the difficult adversities that they may face in their life”(Smith). To help guide many people of the world in finding joy and happiness associated with becoming a christian, churches have worked hard to make it their top priority to “Strive to be an "open-door" church, actively reaching out and welcoming all persons”(NBUMC).
More people are there for the actual sermon I feel, because a lot of people don’t understand true praise and worship. What I have come to learn is Praise and worship, is a cleansing and realization of self, and what God has done for you and is not intended to be a “feel good” experience. This is a perfect example of how some worship experiences have been dumbed down to appease the masses. The worship experience should open our minds. It ought to go against the “character” offf a culture that takes for granted God and praise. Praise and worship is a different kind of relationship, which exists between man and God, a relationship of complete adoration and praise. Far too often, in this emerging new culture, we want to treat God as friend, and not as creator and sustainer. Humans are flawed fleshly beings, therefore whenever in the true presence of God a transformation from old to new should occur. We should feel so convicted about our transgressions until we have an earnest desire to change. The flesh dies and slowly loses control of our lives, leaving the Holy Spirit to