“Praise” that uses only “upbeat” songs can be extremely destructive to worshipers because it denies the reality of doubts concerning God, the hiddenness of God, and the feelings of abandonment by God that cloud believers going through difficult times. I have counseled...
A visitor gave his impressions of certain worship services carelessly conducted: "People who would hiss a play which was so ill-planned that the order of the acts and scenes was of no importance or would throw into a wastebasket a novel which was so utterly without...
The implication of Christology for worship is that it is to be both fully divine and fully human. Over-divinization and over humanization are always heretical and usually the easiest routes to follow. The balance of fully human and fully divine is always the most...
It is bad theology to say, “You worship that way, but let me worship my way.” We do not worship only as far as we feel comfortable in the same way that we do not make ethical decisions as long as they meet our convenience. The world might do this but not people who...
When a church gathers for worship, “the proclamation of the divine agape is [its] first and fundamental task.” Worship resounds with announcements of the revelation of God upon which it is founded and to which is is a response. from The Gift of Worship
We’re here to be worshipers first and workers only second. The work done by a worshiper will have eternity in it.
God can be the object of our worship only if he is first the subject. from Dynamics of Worship: Foundations and Uses of Liturgy ———————————Gender-neutral version: God can be the object of our worship only if God is first the subject. from Dynamics of Worship:...
If God is to be the first in our life, worship must get top priority. from Music, Worship, and the Ministry of the Church
Christian worship is our affirmative, transforming response to the self-revelation of God… We are not seeking to find or to know an obscure, frightening being who needs to be placated. God makes and continues to make the first move, showing himself in power and in...
The purpose of this Christian society called the “Church” is, first: to glorify God by our worship. We do not go to church just to hear a sermon. We go to church to worship God. from Peace with God