O Great God
O great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore
I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven’s joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace
Help me now to live a life
That’s dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your Name through me
Words and Music by Bob Kauflin.
(Based on The Valley of Vision prayer “Regeneration”)
The Pilgrimage of one Charismatic with a Seat-belt, part 3
Paradigm Shift
I think that is why I have turned to biblical-theological studies in terms of seminary education and vocational ministry. And that is also why for the last CC conference in 2007, I coordinated workshops instead and spoke at the Worship Ministry workshop. I still love singing, and also yearn to lead worship again sometime in the future and rightly at that! However, if there is anything that the past 3 years has taught me, it is that all true worship both begins and ends with His God and His Word. Before any music is involved, a correct understanding of who God is and what He has done must be unveiled before God’s people; and after all times of musical worship, this very understanding should bring substance to lives of brotherly love and godly obedience.
Biblical worship hence must be God-centered, Word-centered, and Christ-centered. The music used in authentic Christian worship should serve and support this three-fold focus of worship that is proclaimed by the lyrics, and further, it must never distract us from the Word but point continually us to it.
Convicted of Sin, Convinced of Grace
Therefore, I am convinced that corporate Worship Leaders must rightly show, and the congregation thus must rightly see, that unconfessed and unrepented sin makes us guilty before God, pollutes our innermost beings, and ultimately hinders our worship to God. Because of the guilt of our sins, we deserve God’s condemnation and punishment; because of the pollution of our sins, our hearts become morally corrupt in God’s sight. Through the Law and the Scriptures, we thus are convicted of our sins.
But thanks be to God — because by the saving work of Christ on the cross, we don’t get what we deserve! We are “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:24-25). “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2). But through the Cross and the Scriptures, we thus may be convinced of His grace!
This is the very thing that our worship, privately first and corporately second, must manifest and promote. It should entail a life that magnifies God in Christ Jesus — preaching the Gospel to ourselves daily, and reminding others to do the same; giving God an all-consuming response for His all-deserving revelation; loving Him with everything we got and loving our neighbors with all that we have left! Without this, our love is only a noisy gong and a clanging symbol (1 Cor. 13:1). But with this, our worship may be reverently loud — a soundtrack to holy Christ-glorifying lives where His name resounds and His praises ring out all over the world!
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The Pilgrimage of one Charismatic with a Seat-belt, part 2
2005
Prior to graduating from college, I served three years in worship ministry for the inter-Chinese Christian Fellowships ministry conference, Campus Challenge, which is held annually in May in the Toronto area. I was Worship Coordinator for the 2005 and 2006 conference — leading on-stage for the 2005 conference, and directed/coordinated the 2006 conference worship team from “behind-the-scenes”.
Looking back, those years were the climax and denouement of my time in worship ministry. I really desired to lead the 2005 conference, because I wanted to take my worship leading to the “next level” and to do something “big” for God. In retrospect, I don’t think that is necessarily the right motive to have for serving in such a large event, even as humble of an ambition as it is. As theocentric and Christocentric as the 2005 conference worship music was, I think I served and led in order to benefit myself in terms of ministry experience. It’s not really a bad thing, but I think there was a self-centeredness on my part that nobody would have noticed — I wanted to “get” something from leading that first conference.
2006
The second Campus Challenge conference I lead (2006) was quite simply, in one word, memorable. A lot of good and yet a lot was learned from that conference. After 2005, I still wanted to be involved in organizing the conference and coordinating worship, but in a sense that was off-the-stage and more behind-the-scenes: leading the team in devotions, providing theological oversight, overseeing the technical audio/visual needs, and leading the congregation in some invocational prayers between sets.
That year, I strived to train up the next generation of worship leaders who would then take over on-stage the ministry, and also reminding the team that as musical as worship can be, there is a theological / doctrinal / Bible / Word -side to worship that music serves. I recall the emphasis of the devotionals I led the team was focused on the truth that God does not care about how good the music sounds if and when the life and the heart was not firstly right with Him and worshipful. Boy oh boy, did that ring true, for numerous musical mistakes happened, technical glitches occurred, and further, I failed to guide the team through those mishaps. And lets just say that much heated discussions ensued after the conference about why it all happened.
Lessons Learned
Numerous lessons were learned from that May 2006. If there was anything that directed me to step away from any and all musical worship leading or coordinating, it was probably the events of that conference. I learned a lot in retrospect about what I should have done when a worship band – for whatever Divinely foreordained reasons – fails musically more than subtlely and thus hinders corporate worship.
Most importantly, I was convinced of how the image of God in all of us is functionally marred & hampered and structurallydistorted & perverted by our sins: pride, arrogance, selfish ambition, covetousness, envy, anger, and sloth, to name a few. The source of sin within both unbelievers and Christians – even in those of us who are chosen by God to serve Him and lead His people in corporate worship – is in what Scripture calls “the heart”. The heart is the total person involved in the act of making decisions — either obedience to God’s Word which honors him, or sins of omission or commission which dishonor Him.
Whether it be playing the wrong note at the wrong time with the incorrect amount of strength, or saying something thing using the wrong words at an inappropriate appropriate time (Matt. 15:9), or not speaking words of guidance appropriately after a necessary circumstance (Luke 6:45), all this has its source in and involves the inner core of the person and the very center of his being. For sin has poisoned the very fountain of life, all of life is bound to be affected by it (Jer. 17:9).
The Futility of Music
Part of me lost faith significantly in worship music from that time forward, especially in terms of an area for vocational ministry. I simply got fed up with the vainglory that the human heart finds in today’s modern “worship” music — a hypocritical lip-service that many in our generation-x/y/z use to refrain from a holistic life of worship, that which firstly involves knowing God better. Those 30 minutes every Friday night or Sunday morning is inauthentic and futile when our 24/7 relationship to God and our brothers and sisters is not genuinely loving. Music in corporate Spirit-led worship is helpful in sanctifying our hearts through the lyrics, but it certainly does not save anybody, nor does it transform the heart or regenerate any person.
I may be speaking more about myself here, but I hope that me being vulnerable here would be an encouragement to y’all reading this: the passion we exude in our public worship of God (especially on-stage) must never be louder than our private worship alone. And further, our personal relationships with others must not be more passionate than our private relationship with God (Mark 12:30). Without a continually justified and sanctified heart, any “worship” we offer is thus in vain (Psalm 50:7-11; Psalm 51:17). We must preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to ourselves daily in Word and in deed, and consequently, keeping a close watch of our life and doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16).
Part 3 of 3, concludes tomorrow…
Motivating the Church to Worship God
The Bob Kauflin video I mentioned in the previous post is a great example of Reformed Charismatic worship, and how to effectively motivate the gathered church to magnify God in Christ! See below for the Youtube video:
The Pilgrimage of one Charismatic with a Seat-belt, part 1
The recent blog post from Bob Kauflin at Worship Matters shows us how a Charismatic with a seat-belt motivates the church to worship God! It reminds me why I myself benefited and learned so much from leading corporate worship in the past, something I currently do not do nor have any plans to continue to — for I’ve always had a deep desire to faithfully magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by skillfully combining God’s Word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the gospel, to cherish God’s presence, and to live for God’s glory.
Back in the Day
I don’t have any formal musical training, and so when my English Ministry elder of my home church asked me back in 1996 to “lead worship” for our small 20 member English Sunday worship service, I simply accepted the invitation because I was brand new Christian and yearned to serve the Lord in whatever capacity available to me. From those early days in our new church building, cramped into a small Sunday School classroom, I lead worship for at least once a month for about 10 years. At the beginning of college, I began to teach Sunday School at church, and also concurrently led and coordinated the worship music ministry for my campus fellowship(Chinese Christian Fellowship) as the Worship Coordinator. During those years I picked up bass guitar by myself, mainly to spend less time “in the spotlight” and to make room for the younger generation to start learning to lead services.
Charismatic with a Set-belt
If you know me, I’m the kind of worship leader who says a little too much than “normal” worship leaders. I always sought ways to “spice things up”, whether it be through biblical written-out prayers with ample alliteration, dynamic invocations, powerful Scripture readings and passionate readings of Spoken Word pieces. In recent years as far as I can remember, I would always try to start the worship service with a slower, familiar call-to-worship type song (my fave to use for this opening slot was the classic “All in All“); people are usually kind of groggy and only half-awake at the beginning of the service (or late!) so this allowed everybody to get warmed up vocally to sing praises to God.
After that, I might pray an invocatory prayer and/or read a Psalm, and then jump right into a powerful, upbeat praise song. I might have a couple of those (possibly medlied), which then was followed by/lead into songs of a slower tempo — namely songs that reflected on the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ for our sins. I usually said a prayer of confession repentance before singing that song, while a soft guitar/piano intro plays, and I’d do my best to include Scripture that speaks of Jesus’ redeeming work on the Cross. (One of my faves here has been the less well-known song, “You Gave Your Only Son (Praise You)” by Martyn Layzell). If I didn’t stack that with another song about the cross, I often followed that by with a song focused more on our need and/or commitment to Christ (my faves here included “Rescue” by Jared Anderson and “What Else Can I Do” by Steve Fee)
With all the worship leading experience under my belt, I longed to take my ministry to the next level, and to further use my gifts for his church and people.
Part 2 of 3, continued tomorrow…
Look Up
“Unless we see God, we cannot worship Him. Worship is what spontaneously flows out of us when we come face to face with Him. It’s the natural response to all of who He is. Our grateful response for all He has done. Sure, we get a massive amount out of the experience of worshiping Him. But at its core, worship is all about God. It’s for Him. Our worship is to Him.
Source: Louie Giglio. The Air I Breathe: Worship As a Way of Life. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2006.
It Doesn’t Start with Us
The key word is “response.” Worship is our response to God. In other words, we don’t initiate worship; God does.
He reveals; we respond.
He discloses; we respond.
He unveils; we respond.
He chooses to show us how amazing He is; we say “God, You’re amazing!”
Our whole relationship with God works the same way:
He loves. We love in return.
He calls. We answer.
He leads. We follow.
Source: Louie Giglio. The Air I Breathe: Worship As a Way of Life. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2006.
It’s Something You Do
Worship is a verb – at least that’s what author Robert Webber says in his book by the same title. I think he’s right. Practically speaking, worship is always a verb. Worship is something you do.
Worship isn’t something you watch, contrary to the thinking of many of us who attend church. That may be hard to believe, given that in most churches the rows of seats (or pews) are arranged with sight lines in mind. The lights also point to the stage. And to help you with your viewing pleasure, you’re handed a program at the door – a line-up card for what’s happening up front in today’s “show,” if you will. After all, it’s all put on for you, is it not? A few ministers even act like actors. Some singers and musicians seem to perform. In many cases you can even watch the whole thing on a big screen. Often there’s even a matinee or evening performance for the non-morning crowd. (more…)
Who, Not Where
God doesn’t require ornate or elaborate expressions. The worship He’s looking for is spiritual and true. Genuine. Authentic. Worship from the heart. That’s how Jesus put it in a conversation He was having with a Samaritan woman one afternoon while resting beside a common well. Soon into their talk, Jesus was disclosing His knowledge of her private affairs. (After she mentioned that she was unmarried, He pointed out that she’d actually had five husbands, and the man she was now living with wasn’t one of them). That immediately tipped her off that this guy had some kind of special wisdom. She might as well tap into it. She quickly posed a question that evidently had been bothering her for some time. Her people (the Samaritans) worshiped on one mountain, His people (the Jews) on another. Who was right? Which mountain was better? Where should she worship? For a total stranger who knew everything about her past, this simple “where” question shouldn’t be too hard. Right? But as we’ve come to expect, Jesus took the subject to another level, answering a basic “where” question with a riveting “who” answer. Here’s His comeback: (more…)
What God Wants Most For You
“God loves you very much. But God also loves Himself, because to do anything less would mean not being God. More than any of us, God knows how valuable He is. He knows He’s God. He knows He’s central. As a result, He values Himself most.
No, He’s not egotistical, thinking more highly of Himself than He should. He’s the only God, thinking of Himself as He truly is. But God’s centrality hasn’t stopped Him from loving you with the greatest love known to man. And through the death of His Son, God has made a way for you to return to His loving arms, washed clean and forgiven because of the price He paid at the cross of Jesus Christ. (more…)
A Gifted Response
This is a gifted response
Father we cannot come to You by our own merit
We will come in the name of Your son
As He glorifies You
And in the power of Your Spirit~
We have come to something so mysterious
Too deep for minds to comprehend
Through the open door
Where the angels sing
And the host of heaven are antheming…* *
And we’ll sing the glory of Your name
Celebrate the glories of Your fame
We will worship You, We will worship You!
And we’ll make Your praise so glorious
Singing songs of everlasting praise
We will worship You, We will worship You!
“Two themes run through this song. Firstly, that worship is a ‘gifted response’. We cannot do it in our own strength, or offer it by our own merits. Anything we ever bring to God belongs to Him in the first place. If we sing a song to Him, he gave us the breath we sing it with. If we tithe some money, it was already His. If we help an elderly lady across the street, he gave us the strength in which we carry out that act of service. (more…)
Worship through Questioning and Doubting
Why have you rejected us forever, O God?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
How long will the enemy mock you, O God?
Will the foe revile your name forever?
Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
–Psalm 74
O LORD God Almighty, how long will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?
–Psalm 80
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
–Psalm 85
How long, O LORD ? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all men!
What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave? Selah
O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
–Psalm 89
These prayers, daring as they may be, are still very much worship. They are not the cries of people who have given up on God. They are not sarcastic or rhetorical questions. Instead, they are songs of intercession, from a people whose only hope is found in their God. They are honoring to Him, because they show their need for total dependence on Him. The Psalmists cry out with these searching questions because they know God is powerful enough to change the situation. And they also know He is a God whose heart is full of compassion for his people. In other words, he is strong enough to intervene, and he is kind enough to do so too.
–Matt Redman
How Loud is your Love?
I may be just ranting here. But I have heard people say, actions speak louder than words.
But it seems in today’s church environment of ours, all we ever do is at most sing out lives of love to God. Maybe it is just that our culture that hinders us from freely expressing our love to God — in action.
We love because He first loved us. And thus, love flows from God into our lives, and it simply shouldn’t end there. From our hearts, our “cups runeth over”. Love flows out from our hearts, out of our mouths, and spills over through our bodies into action — holy and acceptable spiritual worship to the Lord. In our hands, in our feet, and in our faces — our behavior becomes humble acts of worship: actions of love; love in actions.
More than just words of love to God, over these last few months I’m really beginning to embrace worship in action. Not just songs or melodies and harmonies, it is simply not enough to express my self-worthless-ness and God’s worthiness in songs and words. Worship must be more than just the “heart”, for our feelings must overflow to deeds. Like faith without actions is futile and worthless, so also is love without actions.
The same goes for the words we say to each other.
Words cannot fully express what the heart feels and mind knows: we ought to show it in how we treat each other and live with one another. Just as the Apostle Paul would say, Christians are called to build up brothers and sisters in Christ with honorable intentions — striving to “outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10).
“Preach the gospel at all times — and if necessary, use words.”
(It is always necessary — Romans 10)
Worship is a Global Thing
Psalm 67
Make Your Face Shine upon Us
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!
We talk a lot about worship being a corporate thing. A personal thing. A lifestyle thing. A modern thing. A musical thing. A prophetic thing. But we must not forget that worship is also a global thing. By that I mean that we cannot be immersed in the presence of God without our hearts eventually turning to the lost peoples of the world.
In other words, it’s another way of saying that true worship may bless us, but it never ends with us. Authentic worship in the presence of God always compels us beyond the walls of our lives, leading us outward to the waiting world. For if God is as awesome as we say He is, and if He alone does the wonderful things we attribute to Him, then we will soon find our hearts inextricably linked to His, longing for every single soul on planet earth to sing His praise.
If that’s not where our hearts are today, chances are we have not truly worshipped. (more…)
Return to Worship: A God-centered Approach
The following is a book review of
Owens, Ron. Return to Worship: A God-centered Approach.
Nashville: B&H, 1999. 210 pp. $14.99.
Copyright © 2008 by Alex S. Leung. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Worship is something that is hard to define, even as we try to seek out a theology of worship from the Scriptures. There are many worship leaders today who are leading churches into corporate worship even though they have spent little time trying to understand what they are doing, never mind what Scripture itself prescribes. It may be a tedious task to ask ourselves what it is we do every Sunday, and further, to ponder how our corporate gatherings of worship are any different than our daily life worship. Nevertheless, this is something that we all must do as a preliminary step before we actually do worship.
Return to Worship by Ron Owens is a helpful tool for worship leaders and church leaders alike. Addressing theological and practical issues concerning worship, Owens presents an encouraging yet brief volume on God-centered worship that is organized as a series of letters addressed to the church and to worship leaders. What results is a unique book that confronts contemporary worship issues head on. (more…)
I Need You: Like Water, Breath, and Rain
I don’t need a lot of things, I can get by with nothing
With all the blessings life can bring, I’ve always needed something
But I’ve got all I want when it comes to loving You
You’re my only reason, You’re my only Truth
You’re the hope that moves me to courage again
You’re the love that rescues me when the cold winds rage
And it’s so amazing cause that’s just how You are
And I can’t turn back now cause you’ve brought me too far
For I need You like water, like breath, like rain
I need You like mercy from Heaven’s gate
There’s a freedom in Your arms that carries me through
I need You
Book Review: Worship by the Book
The following is a book review of
Carson, D. A., ed. Worship by the Book.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. 256 pp. $16.99.
Copyright © 2008 by Alex S. Leung. All rights reserved.
Introduction
What is worship? If worship in our daily lives means a consecrated lifestyle that aims to glorify God, how then should our corporate gatherings look like? And further, what makes our corporate gatherings any more worship than glorifying God in the other six days of the week? Worship by the Book is a compilation of essays that seeks to respond to such issues that concern today’s church. By looking back into the past to see how previous generations have done corporate worship aright, the authors look forward into the future to what biblical corporate worship should look like.
Edited by D. A. Carson (research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), this book incorporates a biblical theology of worship in the opening chapter by the editor, which is then followed by three application chapters written by pastors from differing denominational backgrounds who set out to show how they have applied the principles of such a theology of worship in the practices of their local church. In unveiling the varying practices of different church traditions, what arises from the pages is a portrait of what worship by the Book looks like. (more…)
$6 CDs from Sovereign Grace Music
As announced by their Director of Worship Development, Bob Kauflin:
Sovereign Grace Ministries will be selling all their music CDs for $6 in February, with free shipping in the US! (For those outside the US, complain to Bob)
Preview their CDs at Sovereign Grace Music, and be ready to stock up in February at their online store.
Screening our Screens
Ever since joining a good Baptist church here in Louisville, I have grown accustomed to corporate singing via the Sunday Service bulletin and Baptist Hymnal. In the Chinese church I grew up in Toronto, both the Cantonese and English worship services have completely reverted to the video screen instead of using hymnals or lyrics printed in the bulletin. In fact, my home church was built for digital projection — on the left side of the stage and high on the wall, there sits a built-in rear projection screen for which a LCD/DLP digital projector displays videos and lyrics for corporate worship. It’s truly a massive screen, on which secular movies have even been played for “fellowship times”. (more…)
Touch Not the Glory!
A few years back when I used to ‘lead worship’ on stage at my home church, there was one time after a Friday night corporate worship time that my Missions Deacon gave me a big hug after the service. It was our church’s annual Missions Conference weekend, and the songs I had lead with my worship team were very well executed that evening with little noticeable mistakes, and quite simply, the Spirit really worked to convey the message that Jesus alone is the hope of the nations.
Immediately after the last song had finished and the congregation was dismissed, the Missions Deacon quickly came up to me and hugged me, thanking me for leading such a great time of singing. While I know he meant well, I tried to shrug it off, humbly thanking him for his thankfulness, and replying that I was only doing what I was called to do and that the one who had really led us all to praise God was Jesus Himself. (more…)
Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship
The following is a book review of
Peterson, David. Engaging With God: A Biblical Theology of Worship.
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992. 317 pp. $24.00.
Copyright © 2008 by Alex S. Leung. All rights reserved.
Introduction
As the principal of Oak Hill Theological College in London, England for the past 11 years, David Peterson has been a significant vessel that God has used to elevate that seminary to be one of the largest in the United Kingdom and in the Church of England. Only recently succeeded by Michael Ovey as Principal, Peterson has shown himself to be an astute interpreter of the biblical text, being formerly a lecturer in New Testament at Moore College in Sydney, Australia. As such, it is no wonder why Engaging With God is another first-rate example of Peterson’s careful exegesis and gospel-centered hermeneutic.
Subtitled A Biblical Theology of Worship, Peterson’s Engaging With God is the author’s attempt at a biblical theology of worship that is evangelical and generally free from denominational bias. Students of biblical worship would be happy to see an extensive exegetical volume finally released, as Peterson provides a full-orbed examination of what worship is according to the whole counsel of God and the entirety of Scripture – both the Old and New Testament.
Serving God through our Services
Since I had a mid-term this morning, I didn’t get a chance to post this last night. After our last discussion on what worship actually is, let’s take some time to discuss the corporate worship service — how to plan worship “sets” and services.
Biblical Times
While the Old Testament is filled with examples of of corporate singing, the Tabernacle and Temple and its sacrificial cultus were central to the corporate worship life of the Jews. Since Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Tabernacle, Temple, High Priest and sacrifices themselves, it is no wonder why the New Testament never prescribes to us a set order of elements to include in corporate worship gatherings. While Scripture does command that all Christians should pray, sing praises to God, read the Word and preach the Word, share in the Lord’s Supper and be baptized, nowhere in the New Testament do we find a liturgy or order of when certain these things should be done. (more…)
Defining Worship
This morning, I started a week-long “j-term” class. I am taking The Worshipping Church, and as it says on the syllabus, the course is “a study of Christian worship, its biblical roots, its historical development, the impact of the Reformation and the liturgical revival; a comparative study of denominational worship patterns, the selection of worship materials, planning orders of worship, inner-staff participation in worship in relation to preaching, evangelism, music, and spiritual growth in participants.”
For the next couple weeks, I’ll be discussing worship / church music related issues on my blog here. Before starting at Southern, I had been leading worship for… let’s just say a long time. I have always enjoyed the corporate singing of His praises, and the joyful responsibility of leading people to recognize their position in Christ. I do miss leading corporate worship, but since being called to the ministry of the Word, I still find myself yearning to spread a biblical theology of worship. (more…)
Jesus is the New Temple
I am reading Engaging God by David Peterson (Principal at Oak Hill Theological College in London) for my January class, The Worshipping Church. I am trying to read through it quickly, but it is a heavy book on the biblical theology of worship where every page is packed full of insightful analysis and exegesis of Scripture through a redemptive historical view of worship! I’ve read just over a third of the book so far, and I’m highlighting & taking notes on almost every paragraph — I really need to speed up my reading here :@ If you’re a worship leader or know of one, look nowhere else than Engaging God for a concise book on the theology of Christian worship!
In Chapter 3 (Jesus and the New Temple), Peterson explains that the gospel according to Matthew and John are expressly focused on emphasizing that God’s presence and glory are fully and finally experienced in Jesus Christ. For Jesus came to bring Judaism to its destined end in the worship of the new age, rather than coming to destroy it. Furthermore, Jesus Himself transferred the significance of the temple from Jerusalem to another entity — not in the messianic community, but primarily in his own persona and work. Christ replaces the temple as the well-spring of life and renewal for all the world, as Jesus Himself is the eschatalogical destination to which all nations journey to for worship.
(more…)
