Wisdom in Worship

This class helped me reevaluate many areas of my philosophy of worship. Gospel Worship helped me refocus on the seriousness of personal preparation in worship, not only that but it caused me to this about the seriousness of worship itself. It should never be taken lightly, nor should we ever settle for mediocrity in it. Give Praise to God and Why Can't Johnny Sing Hymns helped me think through a strong Biblically based/historically informed worship philosophy. Not to mention, it also helped me think through the practical outworking of my worship philosophy. I feel like everything that I have studied in this class has consistently pointed me back to wisdom. There is nothing inherently sinful about worship that is shallow, but it is missing out on it's full potential to fully praise and honor God. Wisdom must be applied to know how to accurately infuse good theological depth to singing in a way that fits the context that you are in. That is my biggest takeaway from the class and a lesson that I plan on implementing in all my worship leading from this point forward.

Scripture is Central

When we think about what the Christian life is all about, we ought to look no further than the Bible.  In it, God has revealed everything we need to know about Himself and our lives.  It only makes sense, then, that our worship material should come from the Bible.  Not only that, but we ought to use it as part of our worship.  Unfortunately, most churches in America do not bother using Scripture reading and Psalm singing as part of their regular corporate worship routine.  Sometimes the most Bible that makes it into a service is in a song where a single line of Scripture is quoted.  It's not like all of this is directly bad, but a Bible-free worship service lacks the very basis for worship- what God has revealed about Himself.

Dr. Burroughs

Jeremiah Burrough is my newest hero in the faith. He brought to light how important and distinct worship should be. I've always brought to God what was left over from the week. Burrough causes me to see myself as I really am in God's eyes. He also shows who God really is and who he should be to the believer and to the unbeliever. The overall theme stood out very clear to me. The name of God must be sanctified. If I am to worship God with my life and actions, in the way he wishes to be worshiped, then I must heed the teaching of this man. He is, as Doc said, a physician of the human soul. He understands how wicked the human heart truly is. He thoroughly explains what the cure is for this sin sickness. His teaching always point to the Christ (the greatest physician of the soul). The last thing I appreciate about Burroughs is his brilliant illustrations. The illustration of the spaniel-human thoughts is an illustration that has stuck with me since I read it. My mind is my battleground. The illustration holds all the more value to me. Burroughs has impacted me and my approach to worship in the most positive way I've experienced so far! 

A Heart in Tune

This course has altered the way I perceive worship and I how I am to come to it. In Jeremiah Burroughs book, Gospel Worship, I was particularly hit by the importance of preparing for worship. I wish to have a heart so set on spiritual matters that at any given moment I could fall on my knees and render appropriate homage to God. It shakes me to think that at times I have placed myself in situations and circumstances where I know I was unfit for prayer. Worse yet, I was ignorant to the fact that my faculties were so unsuitable. I now consciously examine myself to make certain I am in tune with God. Places where I have previously struggled to remain prepared to come before God in prayer, I now recognize as places God has not given me the liberty to be in. I strive to be vigilant over the state of my heart so that at any specific instance I am ready and able to pray.

Essay

The book I enjoyed reading the most was "Give Praise to God" because it had points that forced me to think through my own thought processes when it comes to worship. I want to write about my last blog because that was a turning point for me in my thinking about worship. I read about it in"Give Praise to God" in chapter 15. I actually did not understand the point Godfrey was trying to communicate until it was explained in class. The main point is that worshiping in response to emotions is not wrong as long as that emotion is a result of a thelogically correct doctrine from God's Word. Sometimes when I sing worship songs I feel a strong emotional response, and I would restrain it because I felt that it was wrong. Now I see that if it is in response to a truth from God's Word there is nothing wrong with that. In the future when I worship in a congregation, participate in being part of a worship band, or any time I am worshiping God I want to play and sing music that gives praise to God because it is theologically correct and enables God's people to worship Him in a right spirit.

Reaching or Compromising?

I hear a lot of different opinions on what the purpose of the church is.  Michael Horton has some great thoughts concerning the popular ideals of this generation as far as reaching the world goes.  On page 443 of Give Praise to God, he mentions that the problem with the conflict of generations is not that one is necessarily right and the other wrong; but that there is a lack of true evangelism when we only focus on the surface issues (I think that's what he is saying, anyway).

Is our problem that we plan on doing the work of the Holy Spirit ourselves?

Stirred.

Burrough's reveals truth from God's Word in a very convicting paragraph (pg166). In the fourth paragraph, Burrough's exhorts his hearers to evaluate the way they receive the gospel. He goes so far as to compare the humans response to the demons response to the gospel. How often I find myself walking into chapel with a apathetic attitude towards the messages! It's nothing to be proud of when I see it as it really is--sin. The very demons respond in fear and trembling. How horrible it would be to have a spirit that is worse off than the demons! 

Sociological vs. Theological

I really appriciated this particular point that Horton made on page 439: "The sociological 'is' determines the theological 'ought', instead of being challenged by the latter. The question must be raised as to whether the contemporary churches are to exist passively in this evil age or draw a countercultural identity from the Word of God".

I found this very thought provoking and I think a lot of our churches are selling out for the sake of being reactionary to the culture around them.

Joy mixed with Sorrow

Burrough's makes an excellent point on page 248 concerning sorrow or joy over sin. It is very hard for me to come with both  emotions to Gods' throne. In many cases, my sin is overwhelming but I will overlook Gods' forgiveness. In other cases I overlook my sin very much ready for forgiveness but demonstrate true repentance. I feel like I often need reminders such as this to keep me on the right track!

Balance of Emotions

On page 369, Godfrey says: "An accomplished leader in the tradition of Finney can easily manipulate emotions in worship, particularly through preaching and music. An effective preacher can create emotions ranging from reverence to sorrow, from joy to a tangible sense of power."

While I understand the danger of manipulating emotions, I'm wondering how Godfrey would balance this out? Obviously good preaching should stir a response from the hearer, just as good worship should stir emotion based on what one is hearing.

Emotions in Worship

This is not necessarily a provocative question but after doing the reading I was curious as to what the author meant. In GPTG page 370 he talks about offering strange fire to God and worship offered to the golden calf as examples of allowing emotion to judge true religion and worship. Is he saying that contemporary music in the church is manipulating emotions? I was confused by the example and what the point he was trying to get across.

Catechismal Erosion

I remember several years ago learning the Westminster Shorter Catechism with my family.  It was a good cycle of family devotions; possibly the strongest we ever had.  My worry about teaching catechisms from birth comes from my few encounters with Latter Day Saints, who almost always subscribe to a faith that they can define, but do not understand.  They have memorized their confessions of faith.  How should Protestant catechism learning be different?  How do you teach truth without compromising the ability to reason?

Looking Back

  I think in many ways Duncan is spot-on. However, I don't know if I fully agree with his argument (on pg 328). We have progressed tremendously over the years.  He makes it sound like progress is a bad thing. How would we truly define progress other than what has been accomplished over the years?

Family Worship

On page 334 in GPTG it is speaking concerning family worship. The issue is the lack of time family's spend worshipping together and spiritually growing as a family. It is so true when it said that family worship has been replaced with small-group activities. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with small groups. There are actually many benefits, but I think there is something damaging with replacing family time in worship with other activities. Our society speaks of "family values" more now than it probably ever has, yet Christians value family worship and spiritual growth less now than ever before. What is wrong with this picture?

Transformation

GPTG pages 347-348. Transforming by the renewing of your minds is a continual process that the Christian has to do to be like Christ and not like the world. Then why does it seem so hard to do? We are living in the world, but we are not to be like it. We are to be perfect as Christ is perfect, but that is impossible for us to do. It is something only God can do in us, but being a transformed Christian seems elusive. I guess my question is how do we view real transformation as Christians living in a world that is constantly offering other satisfactions.

All of Life fitting into Corporate Worship

In talking about Romans 12:2, William Edgar writes: "The change is nothing less than radical. Again, the notion of worldview expresses the radicalness. But we should take care not to limit ourselves to merely outlook. The optic metaphor in the term worldview can be misleading. It fails fully to carry the dynamic aspect go our vision. We are not limited to having the right idea, even the right doctrine, in Paul's command. We are told to change, to be converted".

How can we incorporate this idea of worshiping in all of life into our corporate worship? How can we use corporate worship to reinforce it and get people to see that worship is more than just what is done corporately?

Worshiping in Spirit

In the book "Give Praise to God" on page 310 it says we should worship in spirit and that we can not do that unless we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit. How do we as Christians know that we are worshiping in Spirit? Are we constantly indwelt with the Holy Spirit or does He only indwell us at certain times?

Regulative and Normative

Before Monday's reading I had never heard of the regulative or normative principles. Whitney gives a very brief explanation of both on pages 297-298 and seems to say that the regulative principle applies to public workshop, but the normative principle applies to private worship. Doesn't the Bible have specific guidelines on the elements of private worship as well?

Which comes first? law or gospel?

On page 207 of Gospel Worship, Burroughs makes the argument that the gospel precedes the law. Isn't man's conscience a form of the law? We know right and wrong from birth. In what way would the gospel precede the law? Am I misunderstanding Burroughs or simply missing an important factor? 

Formality

I appreciated how Gordon challenged our thinking in the area of communicating the seriousness of meeting with God. I think he did a good job of contrasting formality and informality. Coming from a church that is in downtown Scranton and pretty casual, I'm wondering what the solution is to this tension...

How can we solve the issue of people perceiving that meeting with God is a casual thing based on people's external appearance?

Appropriateness

In the book "Give Praise to God" on page 276 Terry Johnson addresses the issue on singing psalms with appropriate tunes. He explains that the Scriptures ask us to use judgment on what is proper not just in tunes, but also in regards to the length of our hair, how we talk, and what we wear. My question is how do we know what is appropriate? Not only for tunes for the psalms, but our decisions in life. I know it is applying wisdom that helps us to make these decisions,but if you were to ask different people what they thought was appropriate tunes to put along with the psalms or even where they should draw the lines to what they consider modesty there would be a huge difference to what they thought was appropriate.

Sanctifying God's name

In reading Gospel Worship, Jeremiah Burroughs speaks of the potential consequences of the one who fails to sanctify the name of God. Can a "true believer"consistently fail to sanctify God's name (in the hearing of the word)? If so, what sets him/her apart from the unbeliever?

Just as I am

T. David Gordon points out that people that dress up for weddings and funerals often don't dress up for church.  In recent American history at least, the idea has been that we dress up for church because we take it seriously, just like we take weddings or commencement seriously.  Many churches discourage dressing up, however, because they feel it can hinder newcomers from feeling comfortable.  I don't think I can find a biblical mandate to dress up for church, but perhaps there is a very good reason outside of Scripture.

So here is my question: should church be more formal, or more comfortable?

God "accepts" our gifts.

Jeremiah Burroughs is "dead on" on how we are to worship God. On pg 143 he states that God, according to His holiness, will make it appear that he has accepts our gifts. I'm not sure I understand what he means by that.  

Materialism/Commercialism

Gordon does a good job of laying out that we often are drawn to rapid change and think in terms of "It's the wave of the future" and "You can't resist progress" (Pg. 104). This started me thinking...

It seems as though we often go over the top with our sound systems, colored lighting, fog machines, etc. (All for the sake of being "state of the art"). Many churches seem to be very materialistic in the amount of money that the sink into have the latest and greatest equipment. In doing that, it also seems as though many churches get sucked into the commercialism of putting on a good performance.

I don't think have "state of the art" equipment is necessarily wrong, but it seems like there needs to be a lot of wisdom applied to each situation...

How do we guard against getting caught up in materialism and commercialism in our pursuit of excellence in worship in our local churches?

True Salvation.

On pgs. 127-128, Jeremiah addresses a very common situation with adolescent Christianity. Growing up in the church is considered the "prime" situation in coming to know Christ. I personally have found that growing up in the church, as Burroughs stated, can be very dangerous. Can one accept truly accept Christ at a young age? Can't a young person become a believer and be swayed during teen/adulthood stages? I have heard people say they professed Christ at a young age but "fell away". How much of an understanding of God's glory do you need to have in order to accept Him as savior?  

Natural versus Spirit

On page 104 of Gospel Worship it says, "If men act by natural parts, those will not carry them through difficulties and discouragements. But if you act by the Spirit of God, though you meet with such difficulties and discouragements, you will be carried through them all." How much greater are difficulties when, though we are doing the right thing, we do it by our natural parts, and not by the Spirit? I wonder how often I pray for God to help me through something, but I'm praying not truly believing, just praying because I know that's what I need to do?

Sacred Music

I was raised using the term sacred music, and I thought that that was how everyone thought of music in the church. I quickly found out that not everyone has heard church music called sacred music. It seems to me that music in the church should be thought of as sacred no matter the style, but I'm not sure what people think of when they hear the term sacred music.

Can Johnny Sing and Preach Great Theology....

...without removing himself from the culture he has grown up in?  I appreciate Dr. Gordon's concern for keeping our movement of American Christian churches from throwing away the great gifts God has given us, like a rich theological heritage and church history.  However, I have myself witnessed many serious Christians who promote biblical teaching and use rock music as the primary form of church music.

When you fry an egg, you throw away the shell because you can't eat it.  But you keep what is inside- what the egg actually is.  Is it possibly to do this with rock music?

Is it possible to keep the music and throw away its worthless qualities?

Humility Defined

Jeremiah Burroughs in pages 101-103 addresses the subject of humility. For clarity's sake, how would the Christian distinguish between low self-esteem and humility? Are they altogether the same thing?

The Significance of Worship

In Gordon's book on page 56 it says, "Human creativity is a matter of imitating God the Creator; it may very well be the most significant thing humans do, so it is not "merely" anything, and it is surely not "merely a matter of taste". The worship of God is such a holy matter, something so different than anything else we do in our lives. Yet, we treat it as just another part of our weekly routine, and something that we can decide how we want it done. Why is it so difficult for believers to grasp the concept that worshipping God is not an ordinary or insignificant task?

Contextualization?

In reading through T. David Gordon's section on form and content, I was really struggling to see where he strikes the balance in his progression. As a musician, I totally understand the importance of dynamics of a song (Crescendo, decrescendo, etc.), but I'm having trouble following his argument against "contemporary" style.

How does contextualization fit into all of this?

Is worship just to God?

Jeremiah Burroughs is clear on page 91 that worship is for God alone.  But God doesn't need our worship; He simply deserves it.  It is only fitting for us to give Him credit for everything He is and everything He does, but is that for His benefit, or ours?  I know the New Testament has some places that seem like corporate worship is for the purpose of singing to each other.  Does that take away from the God-alone purpose of worship?  Are they mutually exclusive?

Gospel-centered Worship

In the book "Give Praise to God" on pages 136-137 it is speaking about expositional preaching and how it needs to be evangelistic. Dever also explains that expositional preaching combined with evangelistic preaching should not be apart from Christ, that sin should be lovingly taught to bring the lost to inheriting salvation, and that we are not trying to win the losts' approval but their souls. What would it look like in our worship to God in the church if everything we did from praying to singing to the preaching of God's Word was gospel-centered?

Who's behind this?

I very much enjoy David Gordon's  genuine concern for worship and how it is to be carried out. However, pg. 61 in, Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns, caught my attention. He seems to imply that guitar cannot be a serious instrument. He uses an argument regarding his students using classical music and hymns for weddings and serious occasions. 1-2 years ago my sister got hitched...married. I walked my sister down the aisle to my eldest brother playing guitar. Now, needless to say he was not pulling out a Van Halen lick while she walked (maybe he secretly was). My point is, Does it not depend on the instrumentalist and how he uses that instrument to determine the seriousness of it's form? Let me clarify. Famous banjo-virtuoso Bela Fleck does not use his instrument for mere hill-billy licks. In Musicianship (courtesy of David McGrew), we had the privilege of listening to very serious- sounding classical pieces performed on the banjo. Is Mr. Fleck unwise to do such a thing? Or is it one of many ways to approach a Bach Invention? P.S.- Sorry I couldn't be there. I'm trying to get over a sinus infection! 

A Case of Conscience

Burroughs addressed the issue of postponing a duty because one may feel unfit to perform it. He considered this a temptation from the devil. The ommission of a duty in the present will not make it any easier in the future. In fact, the more you say "no" to something the Lord calls you to do, the easier it becomes to just stop alltogether. It is a very slippery slope. (Pg. 71-73 Gospel Worship)

Corporate Worship and Grace

In the book "Give Praise to God" on pages 96-97 Clowney says, "Corporate worship is a means of grace in the singing of the church". I truly do not know what he means by this statement. How does corporate worship minister grace to the congregation?

What does contemporary mean?

I have noticed from T. David Gordon's book a gap between "contemporary" and "traditional" songs.  Page 47 has a list of criteria that he says fits hymns better than worship songs.  But until the 1950s, did "contemporary" even exist?  I am sure Martin Luther's songs were sung during his lifetime, so shouldn't we base the quality of song on its contents, not its age?


Picture from picture-newsletter.com.  Used by permission.

Resources

I found Gordon's articulation of our skewed view of "traditional" songs such as "How Great Thou Art" very thought provoking (pgs. 41-42). He presents a very good observation that really seems to point out how uneducated we are in the area of church history specifically in the sphere of worship.

What are some good resources to study music history in the church?

Where can we find some of the truly traditional hymns?

Gospel Worship

Gospel Worship is the joyful sanctifying of God’s name by glorifying God as God in the face of Jesus Christ through the enablement of the Holy Spirit.

knowledge about God into knowledge of God

"How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God." J.I. Packer [b. July 22, 1926]

the two beat rhythm of worship: Revelation Response

"It is impossible to honor God as we ought, unless we know him as he is." Stephen Charnock [1628-1680]

Prepare to Worship

In Burroughs book he stated the importance of preparing your heart for worship. He then mentioned the great amount of time that was lost in worship when we do not come prepared. Instead of coming before God ready to worship, we often go to God, and half-way through worship or prayer we are finally at a spot where our hearts are close enough to God's. I know atleast I am often guilty of this. It is sad to think of all the time I have wasted in both church and prayer because I did not properly prepare myself to come before God.

Hymns and Worship Songs

What is a healthy balance for hymns and worship songs in a service?
Sometimes hymns and contemporary worship songs are separated into two services because two different types of people attend service. But I'm of the mindset that I would like to worship God with both, and I often think about and wonder what would be a good mix of the two in a church service.

Expectations

I really appreciated the way Burroughs writes about the need for preparing for worship personally. I think that oftentimes we assess worship band members merely on willingness and talent rather that worthiness of the person's walk with Christ (Hopefully that didn't sound too judgmental). This was a big issue in my church back home...

What would you say are the tangible expectations/qualifications for those who lead in worship?

Assumptions

Whenever I think about subjects such as worship, I am always tempted to assume that my way is the best way.  I keep realizing that this attitude is destructive, whether my way is best or not.  How do we avoid this form of sinful arrogance?

The Slow Death of Congregational Singing

http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/briefing/library/5175/

singing congregationally with a piano has become too important to us

Jeremiah Burroughs reminded me this week that superstition is raising anything higher than it has in it by nature. For instance, singing hymns congregationally with a piano is wonderful. It sort of naturally fits us as a local church, and we have good reasons for singing in this way; however if singing hymns with a piano causes us to become critical of others who sing orthodox, gospel-doctrine perhaps differently than we do, than singing congregationally with a piano has become too important to us, and the seeds of idolatry have perhaps been sown. Freedom from man’s commands is found in worshipping in accordance with God’s Word.

Freedom

"Freedom from human opinions can be found only in the rule of God's good and gracious and wise law. If humans can dictate how we may worship, apart from the word or in addition to the word, then we are captive to their command. The only way we can really experience one of the key blessings of Christian freedom in the context of corporate worship -- freedom from human doctrines and commandments -- is if corporate worship is directed only according to the word of God." Ligon Duncan III, "Foundations for Biblically Directed Worship

superstition: raised in a religious way above what it has in it by nature

Burroughs pp. 1-11

1. The atmosphere of the passage? [1]

2. The position of the sons? [2]

3. Their sin? [2-3]

4. Ordinary fire? [3-4]

5. The heart of Aaron and Moses? [4]

6. God's words? [5-6]

7. In what two ways is God sanctified? [6-7]

8. How has God glorified himself? [8]

9. Aarons's response? [8-9]

10. What is the outline of the book? [9]

11. First of the 20 points [very Puritan] [10-11]

MU 404 Syllabus

Foundation and Issues in Worship 2011 [MU404]
Baptist Bible College, Dr. David Harris, D.M.A.
Monday/Wednesday 1:10-2:00 p.m. B3

I. Course Description

A study of Biblical and historical foundations of Christian worship and their implications for understanding the nature of corporate worship. Through the close reading of seminal texts, the student will examine the Christian’s responsibility to worship in spirit and truth.

II. Six Observations

A. Jeremiah Burroughs [1599-1646]

Jeremiah Burroughs, one of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, wrote Gospel Worship so that the people of God might corporately sanctify God as God in hearing the Word of God preached, in taking the Lord’s Supper, and through prayer. His text for these 14 sermons are the words of Moses spoken after God slew Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, for offering unauthorized fire before the Lord: “Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ And Aaron held his peace.” Leviticus 10:3, ESV. Burroughs writes: Now upon this, when Moses said that God would be sanctified in those that draw near to Him, it was as if He had said, ‘Aaron, though I confess that the hand of God is heavy upon you this day, yet it is fitting for you to submit to God. It is fitting that God should be glorified, whatever becomes of you. You are dear to God, but God’s name is dearer to Him than you are. Whatever the lives of your sons were, yet it is fitting that God should be honored and His name sanctified whatever becomes of your sons or your comforts, and, therefore, let your heart be quieted. You have had a great loss and affliction upon you, but God has had glory. God has glorified Himself.’” from the CD Gospel Worship recorded by the BBC Praise Band [2005]

B. John Piper [b. 1946]

“Jonathan Edwards was criticized in response to that book [The Essay on the Trinity] for trying too hard to understand the Trinity, and removing mystery. His response to that was two things. The Bible reveals vastly more than we imagine about God as Three in One. And we have scarcely begun to probe the depths of what really there is for us to understand by revelation. And secondly, he said that there is plenty of mystery left when I’m done with my little efforts. He said we will intensify our worship more if we press in and up as far as we can, rather than stopping early and saying, ‘Isn’t it a mystery? Let’s all bow down and worship. Now the way that landed on me 30 years ago was very significant because there were people in my class in seminary [Fuller] who had a very anti-intellectualistic, anti-rational, ‘stop questioning, probing, digging, trying to understand, because worship comes from the great unknown [mysterious] and if you can understand God, why would you want to worship Him? He’d be equal to you!’ And that never quite sat right with me. You can’t sing [very] many worship songs about what you don’t know about God. I mean one or two. You can write one or two songs about how little you know of God and feel really little and worshipful. But you can’t write more than two or three. Worship does not primarily flow from what you do not know. Worship primarily flows from what we have been able to see of the wonder. And it just seems so strange to me that people would be pushing on ignorance for the sake of worship. ‘Just don’t go there, don’t rise there, don’t climb there, because when you get to the top you won’t worship. You’ll stand on top of God.’ And I just thought, ‘there is no danger of that happening.’ In fact, I have a conception of eternity, of spending about 10,000 years climbing the Alps of God’s all-satisfying glory, discovering new things all the way, and at the last year of the 10,000th, pulling myself over the crest and looking – and there stretches another mountain range disappearing into the sky and you spend another 10,000 years climbing and discovering new things about the glory and wonder of God. And you pull yourself up over 20,000 years into eternity and there’s another mountain range – and that will happen forever and ever. You will never be bored in heaven. An infinite God revealing Himself to a finite mind requires eternity. It’s the knowledge of God, not the ignorance of God that inspires God-exalting awe and worship.” September 2003, Capitol Hill Baptist Church [transcribed].

C. Bob Kauflin

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/kauflin-on-singing-and-preaching-and-2-other-conference-interview-clips

D. The Cambridge Declaration [1996]

“Whenever in the church biblical authority has been lost, Christ has been displaced, the gospel has been distorted, or faith has been perverted, it has always been for one reason: our interests have displaced God's and we are doing his work in our way. The loss of God's centrality in the life of today's church is common and lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful. As a result, God, Christ, and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and rest too inconsequentially upon us.”


E. Paragraph XVIII [Worship] Statement of Faith, Grace Baptist Church [2006]

We believe that the Word of Christ should dwell richly in the corporate worship services of Grace Baptist Church. The Word should be prayed, sung, read, and preached. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. So we desire that the Word should also dwell in fullness among His people. When God’s Word fills His people, true religious affections filled with grace and truth will rise to the praise of His glorious grace. Colossians 3:16; I Timothy 2:1; I Timothy 4:13; Romans 10:17; Ephesians 5:19; John 1:14; Ephesians 3:19; Ephesians 1:6.

We believe that the people of God will learn to love the glory of God as the ministers of God teach them to see and savor the Word of God. God’s self-revelation is found in His Word. The self-love and relativism of our “ungodly” and “unrighteous” culture have negatively affected the church’s corporate worship. A change of audience has occurred. Worship is often shaped more by what people desire than by the nature of God’s self-disclosure found in the Bible. We will be changed only as we discover in the Word what God must be like for our joy in the face of Jesus Christ. Exodus 32:7-10; II Timothy 3:1-5; II Corinthians 3:17-18; I Corinthians 14:26-33.

We believe that the singing of theologically based and historically informed hymns and songs will free us to rejoice in our God. Unison singing unites us with one voice as we sing with “one accord.” Part singing expresses musically the unity of substance and tri-unity of persons within the Godhead. Part singing reflects the unity of purpose and difference of roles within the congregation. All the music used in our worship services will be measured against the standard of sound doctrine. James 5:13; Psalm 149:1; Titus 2:1.

F. Michael Horton

“Creeds, confessions, a good systematic theology can all help us to see the limitations of our own narrow range of ideas, presuppositions, experiences, and longings. We must rid ourselves of the notion that it matters little what others have said in their reading of Scripture through the ages . . . The choice is not between following ‘mere men’ and Scripture directly; it’s a choice between interpreting Scripture with the larger church rather than thinking of ourselves as omnicompetent. It is a sign of humility when we are able to conclude that we, like the Ethiopian eunuch, are hampered by our own blind spots. ‘So Philip ran to him [the Ethiopian], and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him . . . Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture [Isaiah 53.7-8], preached Jesus to him [Acts 8.30-31, 35 NKJV].’ Instead of pretending to start from scratch, join the conversation already in progress since Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of Christ-Centered Worship [2003]

III. General Objectives

A. The student will see the Bible as the final authority for the practice of Christian worship.
B. The student will interpret the Scripture with the larger historical consciousness of the Christian church for the practice of Christian worship.
C. The student will recognize anthropocentric worship, performance based worship, and methodically based worship as compared with the practice of Christian worship.
D. The student will appreciate the value of reading seminal texts on the practice of Christian worship.

IV. Specific Objectives

A. The student will read seminal texts on the practice of Christian worship
B. The student will evaluate relationships between Old and New covenant practices of Christian worship.
C. The student will evaluate relationships between historical writing and contemporary writing on the practice of Christian worship.
D. The student will participate in class discussions on the practice of Christian worship.
E. The student will blog on the practice of Christian worship.

V. Requirements

A. Knowing
B. Enjoying
C. Reading
D. Remembering [quizzing] 40%
E. Blogging [on subjects covered in the reading] 40%
F. Final essay assessment on subjects of interest to class members 20%

VI. Texts

Burroughs, Jeremiah. Gospel Worship. Morgan, Pennsylvania: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1990.

Gordon, David T. Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns: How Pop Culture Rewrote the Hymnal. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2010.

Ryken, Philip Graham, Thomas Derek W.H., and Duncan J. Ligon III, editors. Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2004.

VII. Calendar

August
22 Course Introduction
24 GPTG 1-16, GW 1-11

29 GPTG 17-32, GW 12-23 Quiz 1
31 GPTG 33-48, GW 24-33 Blog 1

September
5 GPTG 49-64, GW 34-44, WJCSH pp. 9-18 QUIZ 2
7 GPTG 65-80, GW 45-56, WJCSH pp. 19-28 Blog 2

12 GPTG 81-96, GW 57-66, WJCSH pp. 29-38 Quiz 3
14 GPTG 97-112, GW 67-78, WJCSH pp. 39-51 Blog 3

19 GPTG 113-128, GW 79-89, WJCSH pp. 53-57 Quiz 4
21 GPTG 129-144, GW 90-100, WJCSH pp. 59-63 Blog 4

26 GPTG 145-160, GW 101-110, WJCSH pp. 65-73 Quiz 5
28 GPTG 161-169, GW 111-124, WJCSH pp. 75-87 Blog 5

October
3 C.S. Lewis on Church Music, GW 125-135, WJCSH pp. 87-93

10 GW 136-146, WJCSH pp. 95-101 Quiz 6
12 C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory 25-35, GW 147-157, WJCSH pp. 103-113 Blog 6

17 C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory 35-46, WJCSH pp. 113-127 Quiz 7
19 GPTG 241-256, GW 158-174, WJCSH pp.129-132 Blog 7

24 GPTG 257-272, GW 174-191, WJCSH pp. 133-139 Quiz 8
26 GPTG 273-288, GW 191-2o2, WJCSH pp. 141-147 Blog 8




November
2 GPTG 273-288, GW 191-2o2, WJCSH pp. 149-156

7 GPTG 289-304, GW 203-215, WJCSH pp. 156-168 Quiz 9
9 GPTG 305-320, GW 215-225, WJCSH pp. 169-177 Blog 9

14 GPTG 321-336, GW 225-236, WJCSH pp. 179-186 Quiz 10
16 GPTG 337-352, GW 236-247 Blog 10

21 GPTG 353-368, GW 247-258 Quiz 11

30 GPTG 369-374; 222-240, GW 258-280 Blog 11

December
5 GW 158-166; GW 280-291 Quiz 12
7 GPTG 436-448, GW, 291-299 Blog 12

12 Final essays read in class