I'll blog over many days on this one. It comes from a document I drew up in August 2006 with the elders of our church, trying to enunciate those Biblical principles that direct the music ministry of our church. Let's begin.
What is worship?
This list of marks that describe public worship at Heritage Baptist Church reflect the work of other churches and our own in seeking to live out together the fundamental principle of John 4:23-24, The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. These convictions, deeper than issues of style and form, inform every part of our corporate worship. As one of our pastors, Ted Christman, writesWorship is both a purposeful and reflexive response of the soul and body of a person who has savingly experienced the grace of God, and is increasingly seeing the glory of God. The worshiper is spontaneously compelled from his very heart to render back to God love, praise, adoration, honor, glory, gratitude, submission, obedience and service. Included in this soul and body reflex is an insatiable longing to know him better and better, to become more and more like him, and never to be satisfied until we are with him in his immediate, glorious presence.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Principles for worship at HBC #1
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I go to HBC and read this blog from time to time and I did see the response by the anonymous poster and the subsequent "no sympathy for "anonymous" but forgive me for also choosing to remain anonymous. I think some of us would be comfortable engaging in a healthy dialogue but doing so without drawing any attention to ourselves. Hopefully more HBC people might eventually open up and we can have some good discussion on worship. Maybe you need to advertise this a little more frequently to the congregation, especially those people--who perhaps aren't totally on board with the changes that have come to HBC worship. Maybe they would be enlightened by some of the things they read here.
ReplyDeleteI must agree with the comment on remaining anonymous. I also attend HBC, and I am aware of the disdain for those who have difficulty with the push toward contemporary styles. For that reason it is unlikely that anyone will post with their identity for fear of being labeled and dismissed.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your post. Perhaps we can find a way through to unity through this kind of discussion. Let's do it! And I will not disdain or dismiss you or anyone else here (or at church, for that matter). We may or may not agree on every point -- but it will be as brothers that we treat each other.
ReplyDeleteFair warning: It must be at the level of Bible principle that work through our differences (I'm thinking 1 Corinthians 1) -- not music style preferences.
There are actually a few "pushes" in our music -- some of which rarely receive comment. Here's one: We intentionally sing a psalm or 2 every Lord's Day! That's new in our life together.