Please ignore my love and over-abundant use of commas, it is an unhealthy tick of mine to write how I speak; which is casually, often, and with little awareness of an end or period.
So, just as expected (and required): my thoughts on the first two chapters of the webber book entitled "Worship Old + New"
ch1.
The idea of combining worship from old and new sections and making it an entity on its own is a concept that I have thought of before but have never been able to eloquently put into words myself. I appreciate the way Webber describes the positive aspects of old and new worship is a refreshing way to explain theologically sound contemporaryism. Is that a word? Contempraryism? You let me know if you can come up with a better way of saying that one.
Moving on, my favorite part of Webber's explanation for old and new worship is the following quote:
" ...Worship old and new is a fully committed to contemporary relevance. because Worship is an act of communication between God and his people, worship must touch the lives of people, stimulate personal and spiritual formation, and bring healing to relationships."This four line statement made me do an inward "uh, yes lawd" and an outward grooving of my head like I was listing to Smooth Jazz 97.8.
Seriously people, why make worship more complicated then that? Thats the long and the short of what church, congregational, communal, CORPORATE worship should be like; despite the denomination, century or country.
God, people, lives-changed, hearts-healed. boom. done. g'night. Jesus can come now.
I think it is so special to bring in tradition from the first churches up through today's traditions. I am one to always value tradition not only because it deserves respect but because it is such a beautiful testament to how hearts can be touched through the ages by the same acts of honoring our God. By committing to memory the four main parts of a traditional service:
- Acts of entrance - The service of the Eucharist (communion)
- The service of the word - Dismissal
It will allow us as constructors of the contemporary service to hold true to old truths while updating the presentations and explanations.
ch 2._______________________________________________
The Biblical Themes of Worship throughout the Testaments
The meeting between the 70 elders of Israel, the young men, Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu with God is a great picture of how God brings us together form different walks of life, different gift-sets and places to create a whole that has one purpose; to honor Him.
This is something I think a lot of church attendees forget, particularly when in search of home church. They look for a worship environment that is "comfortable" or that "fits" the best for them, when really, we as amazing creations by God are designed to have our own particular space within a diverse group.
God called his people together because they're different, because they worship differently for the same reason. This is just another reason why blended worship is such a beautiful picture of God's original intention for the church, to be eclectic for His name sake.
~ That's it for the Daily SmAcken - peace brethren.
