Thoughts Along The Journey

Okay, I’ll admit that I have a ‘liturgical bone’ in my background and that from time to time I enjoy the richness of a community time centred on certain practices which originated in the early years of the Christian faith.  Liturgy, though, is actually another form or expression of worship; a form that focuses on declarations and response to those declarations.

It is worship that is more than just music.

For me, the reciting of the Nicene Creed (first written in 325 AD) is one of those worshipful declarations of faith:

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

I am not arguing for a liturgical element in the worship of the communities of believers that we establish.  I just want to highlight the fact that believers over many centuries and from many different cultural contexts have discovered acts of worship that express for them their growing understanding of who is this great God they serve.

Worship is declaring what we know of this God.  It is making music to celebrate who He is.  It is talking with Him about His promises.  It is serving others because we have experienced His grace and love.  Worship is reflected in all of our life.

Filed under: Core Values, Prayer, Worship | Leave a comment »

Recently, I asked a number of WT workers if they could share in less than three minutes how our core values are being worked out in their personal, team and ministry lives.  Last week you heard from Caressa about the Gospel.

This week, Daniela, one of our workers in Asia, shares how she sees prayer and worship worked out in her context.

Filed under: Core Values, Prayer, Worship | Leave a comment »

I grew up calling it: “The Lord’s Prayer”.  However, in French it is more often referred to as “The Our Father”.   I like that title because it puts the focus on where it should be in prayer, on God.

It seems only natural that out of the overflow of the Gospel would surge the desire to spend time with God our Father who has redeemed us by the work of Christ and applies forgiveness and righteousness to our hearts by the work of His Spirit.  It seems only natural that we would long to talk with Him, think about Him, and seek to discover how to make everything revolve around Him.

The reality is that often we are very weak when it comes to engaging God our Father in prayer.  A.W. Tozer wrote: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  The trouble is that what often comes into our minds when we think about God is us, and what we need from Him.  Maybe that is not your problem, but the largest segment of my prayer time often seems to be my prayer requests, what it is I am asking for from God.

Prayer is about centring ourselves anew on God.  It’s about basking in what it means to know God as “our Father” (Matthew 6) in its “breadth and length and height and depth”.

I’m trying to figure out more and more what that looks like as I talk with Him.  If nothing else, I certainly need to slow down and consider what it means that God is my Father and what expression of praise, of worship should spring from my heart as a result.

Filed under: Core Values, Prayer, Worship | Leave a comment »