There have sometimes been Sundays when a conversation at my house goes like this:
"What's the matter?"
"I just want to quit."
"Why?"
"Why? Easy. You were there. Didn't you sense it?"
"Sense what?"
"The lack of worship. We were putting out all we had on the stage, and nothing was coming back. Worship just wasn't happening."
"How do you know? Because maybe people weren't singing the way you thought they should? you know the Spirit's presence is about more than that. You can't always see what God is doing. Sitting in my row I saw something you didn't see: a woman who stopped singings because she had begun crying. I think the Spirit may be doing things His way, not yours."
So the questions...what characterizes Spirit-led worship? Are there marks of the breath of the Spirit?
My answer is more of a challenge to myself. I challenge myself to be more amazed at the presence of faith than depressed over possible signs of lack of faith. In other words, what I'm looking for as a marker of the Spirit's presence in worship is this: "by God's grace, redeemed sinners show up seeking more grace."
I believe that there is a radiantly alive presence in our midst when we worship. That presence is Jesus who has become "life-giving Spirit." Grab a hold of that one. Can you imagine how our worship would be transformed if we truly "got that." So worship this Sunday knowing that Jesus' radiatly alive presence is in our midst.
On a side note, not all ads on my blog reflect my values or convictions. I do encourage you to check out some of the ones that interests you. There are some good ones.
Next week's blog: What worship looked like in the 4th Century Church.
Have ideas or things you would like me to address? Let me know.
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I really look forward to each time you add to your blog. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteIn His Service, Pat
I'm bad about not noticing signs of worship in church. I tend to look above the congregation or at you. If I do look to the congregation, I don't really take note of who's singing or not, but I look for all the people I'm excited to see there. True, I should be excited to see everyone there, but you know, there's those select few that it just brings ya joy to see. And unsurprisingly, those people it brings me joy to see are often the ones out there who look excited to be there. Looking to them kinda makes me feel like we're worshiping together, and if there's one thing better than worshiping, it's worshiping "together."
ReplyDeleteThat's me on my best days. Usually I'm too busy thinking about the next note or word to look out at the people though. Maybe Sunday morning I'll try to have one of my best days.
And also, if you're looking for audience participation, I know I don't have to remind you that they're not the audience.
ReplyDeleteI understand how you could be disheartened because worship leading is your job, you feel responsible for the people in the congregation and whether or not they're 'getting it'. But the truth of the matter is that we can't see what's going on in someone's heart, they may be experiencing the best worship ever and not appear to be worshiping at all. And besides that, just because someone may not 'get it' that morning, doesn't necessarily mean that they won't 'get it' during the week in reflection. We aren't responsible for the worship of others, no matter what our job title is. Worship is a matter of the heart and we are responsible for our own worship. If we are experiencing genuine worship, God will make sure that it ministers to the people who need it... which when I think about it, is an awsome responsibility and chanllenge to me...I need to make sure that I'm ready for worship every Sunday and not just going through the motions. Your words of encouragement are wonderful and your heart for God is evident to anyone looking through His eyes. Thank you for blessing me every time we worship together.
ReplyDeleteI recall reading something about a guy with that very same problem. He got out into the world, preached the Gospel and taught people how to truly worship better than anyone else could. He had problems getting people to listen too, though. In fact, they ended up hating him and murdering him on a cross one day... which pretty much totally went against everything he was preaching.
ReplyDeleteThe enemy, who is extremely real, doesn't want us to worship. So Sunday morning comes around and you've run out of night before you ran out of sleep. And the kids are cranky. And your spouse makes a porcupine look cuddly. And the milk that you just knew would make it another day didn't. And what you planned to wear suddenly no longer fits--those dryers shrink things! And to top it all off, the dog had an accident--on the carpet. And so by the time you put on your Sunday morning face and fall into your pew, worship is far from your mind.
ReplyDeleteThat's why the music in a worship service is so important. It helps to focus our spirit and our mind. It helps us to become open to the leading of the Holy Spirit so that His Spirit can intercede with our spirits.
It's His job to draw us. It's the worship leaders' job to set the stage for worship. To make the environment conducive. It's the congregation's job to be open to His drawing. But unless the individual chooses to be open, he will not worship.
Are there marks of the breath of the Spirit? Yes, but they are not always immediately visable. It's the inner quieting that allows us to forget the craziness of the morning and the mile-long To Do list and to be 100% present in the worship service.
Although I don't understand much about this, shouldn't we join as a church family at the very beginning of each worship service to bind Satan so that he has no place inside those walls? So he can't whisper the doubts and fears to us. And choose, by an act of our will, to invite the Holy Spirit to renew our minds. Wouldn't that help us to focus as we gather in the throne room as one body in worship? I wonder what the marks of the breath of the Spirit would look like then.
Interesting topic. My thoughts go something like:
ReplyDeleteWorship is ultimately a lifestyle. Corporate worship is a time to join together in our worship to the Lord.
Do I think that the Spirit moves in ways that we can't always see. Of course! However I believe we use that as an excuse not to move or respond to the Lord sometimes. We say, "The Lord was doing an inner work." That may be true but worship should not just stop there. It is our response to an infinite and wonderful creator. Who somehow chose to love us an use us! Knowing God demands a response from us. I have heard is said, "if you sick your finger in a light socket something is going to happen. it may look different each time but something will happen."
I know there was a turning point in my worship when I realized I yelled, cheered, clapped, even danced more watching LSU football then I did for God. :/
The Lord continues to teach me more about himself and my worship to Him continues to change. I believe our worship should grow as our walk with the Lord does. If we aren't worshiping we might wanna check to see if we are really walking with Him.
What do you guys think?
I'm with you. If it aint all week, it aint on Sunday. Not to say that HIS drawing can and does not change people during that 60/120 minutes a week, but it is or at least there is a lot more time (9,960 minutes) of the week where we can be used by the Lord to impact people. I say - look up - instead of down. Our Sunday morning worship is the, or rather, a response. Who do we want it to be a response too. We should hope that lives are changed through our response. We should hope that our response should overcome our aggravation from stepping in that warm puppy puddle in our church socks or the Sunday afternoon driver who decided to leave the house at "9" am. We should hope that it be pleasing to the Lord.
ReplyDeleteAre we singing to win souls or are we singing in response to what HE has done? Who wins souls? Worse, are we singing for our own praise? There is a fine line there - more profoundly put by CS Lewis.
I think I've probably done all three above.
Why do we sing?
Man!!! All these questions and we still need to answer Destry's..."what characterizes Spirit-led worship? Are there marks of the breath of the Spirit?"
Is it a choir led by the spirit? Is it a choir growing in their sanctification?
Let me first say I'm very impressed with everyone's thoughts. This has become a great outlet for me and I really enjoy reading your comments. It's encouraging to see that God is stretching us and molding us into the worshipers that He desires.
ReplyDeleteDerrick's..."I believe our worship should grow as our walk with the Lord does. If we aren't worshiping we might wanna check to see if we are really walking with Him." I believe this to be right on the mark.
And since we all seem to agree that worship is a response to God's amazing love and grace, then it continues to baffle me that so many "christians" find themselves somewhere else (mentally and/or physically) other than church on Sundays.
Keep it coming. We won't solve any problems here but we sure can get encouragement for the battle.