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power of worship
Started by yianimal on 23 October 2008 - 1:23am
| 23 October 2008 - 1:23am | |
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Ha-loh people- I'm writing a thingy for our church newsletter on the power of worship and I have vague idea on what to write, but I was wondering if anyone might contribute to what I already have. Forms of Worship/what is Worship, why worship is powerful, what worship does, that stuff. thank you! -Yi-Ann |
hey there
if you mean musical worship, i'd definitly add in a bit about how worship isn't about recieveng, but its about glorifying God. Its a topic that im currently stressing to people and it really helps people not be discouraged when they realise that when they sing, they are giving to God, rather than directly inviting him to touch them.
Thats probably not what you're looking for but oh well!!
God Bless
Josh
I don’t mean to be unnecessarily difficult, (which means I am going to be difficult… sorry! I really am just splitting hairs, so feel free to completely ignore me) but the statement “the power of worship” is a bit odd to me. Maybe it seems strange because the word power conjures up images of something that is above the ordinary, or an untapped resource. But I do not think we can worship only in part; worship is one of those all in or all out sort of things. NOW, in Gods great mercy He extends grace to us despite the times when we aren’t prefect in our worship. But just to say, I don’t think it is a matter of degrees, like an untapped resource for the Christian. To be a Christian is to worship, to worship is to worship in full through the gift of God’s grace in Christ.
I think we realize how a total surrender to the worship of God truly benefits us in degrees, (i.e. acting upon our faith) but I don’t feel comfortable saying the worship of a Christian is incomplete. I’d advocate a complete atonement that includes our worship I suppose.
So to make a statement like, “the power of worship” seems to indicate to me that you’re writing a piece directed at the non-Christ-believing crowd to expound on the benefits of worshipping God which are realized by the Christian? Is that right?
The only thing that comes to my mind right now is that worship has the power to transform us. I've been reading N.T. Wright's "Simply Christian" and just read his chapter on worship today and he talks about how we become like what we worship. He puts it by saying:
"When you gaze in awe, admiration, and wonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of the character of the object of your worship" (p. 148, Simply Christian).
He then goes on to parallel this with how when we love money or make it an idol we take on the character of greed, etc. Wright has a lot of other good points. You should check the book out.
The "power of worship" does seem kind of vague though. It seems like a loaded phrase to me. I realize that's the stage of this process you are in in writing this newsletter but maybe try narrowing it down a little bit more to one specific aspect of worship.