Perhaps this is something that women do more than men, but it’s all too easy to spend far too much comparing ourselves to other people… and generally ending up feeling depressed by the comparisons. Despite the fact we know we are all individuals and therefore unique, we regard other people’s personalities, looks and temperaments (not to mention their possessions) with envy, feeling that they simply reveal to us all our flaws, shortcomings or lack. The grass, as the proverb goes, always looks greener on the other side.

It’s pointless to compare ourselves to others: just as pointless as saying that apples are the same as oranges, simply because they are both fruit. We need to recognise diversity and individuality without feeling threatened by it, just as we need to develop a sober view of ourselves, seeing ourselves as God sees us rather than through the filter of our own perceptions (see 2 Cor 10:12-18).

In Garry’s sermon on joy at the weekend, he talked about the comparisons we do need to make:

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18)

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:17-18)

To illustrate this, he produced a 1p coin:

and contrasted that with a £20 note:

The sufferings, hardships and trials we face in this life may seem large to us, but in comparison to the blessings and joy that God has in store for us, they are like the 1p coin. All that God has for us is so much greater, just as a £20 note is 2000 times the value of the 1p coin.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt 5:11-12)

May we learn to overflow with joy, even in the midst of suffering!

I teach languages. I love languages. I’m sorry if you don’t find this as exciting as I do. It never ceases to amaze me that God uses language to communicate to people. When I read the opening words in Genesis, ‘And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light’, I get so excited. Of all the ways God could have used to create, He used words! And Jesus is called the ‘Word’ (John 1) the ‘Final Word’, as Michael Card calls Him!

So today as I was continuing to read Eugene Peterson’s commentary on Ephesians (‘Practise Resurrection’), I was stopped in my tracks by his discussion of the three types of language used in the church:
(1) kerygmatic (preaching)
(2) didactic (teaching)
(3) paracletic (comforting, ‘spiritual direction’)

I was very familiar with the first two: most of us who have been in church for any length of time are. They are the primary ways we use to preach the Gospel and to teach people the truths of God’s Word. But Eugene Peterson goes on to talk about paraclesis (the word paraclete referring to the Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel, translated as ‘Advocate’, ‘Counsellor’, ‘Comforter’, ‘Friend’ in our Bibles), the ‘quieter voice’ which can take place anywhere, ‘conversation directed to the insights and decisions, the behaviour and practices, that emerge from hearing the preached good news and learning the truth of the Scriptures as they then get prayed and embodied in my life where I am now.’

This language, Eugene Peterson says, “is used with men and women who have already received the word of preached salvation and have been instructed in the teaching of the law, but who are in need of comfort or encouragement or discernment in the muddled details of dailiness.”

Isn’t that what we all need… and what we all, by the grace of God, can give? Daily living can be so muddled and we need to receive that language which clarifies, illuminates, gives us direction in the actual practice of living. It has to be more than theory. “Paracletic language is the language of the Holy Spirit, a language of relationship and intimacy, a way of speaking and listening that gets the words of Jesus into us so that they become us. It is not new information. It is not explanation. It is God’s word on our side, within us, working out the details in the circumstances of our lives.”

I think Casting Crowns have captured this language in their song ‘Love Them Like Jesus’. It’s a language I want to become fluent in…

“The love of her life is drifting away
They’re losing the fight for another day
The life that she’s known is falling apart
A fatherless home, a child’s broken heart

You’re holding her hand, you’re straining for words
You’re trying to make sense of it all
She’s desperate for hope, darkness clouding her view
She’s looking to you

Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side
Love her like Jesus
Love her like Jesus

The gifts lie in wait, in a room painted blue
Little blessing from Heaven would be there soon
Hope fades in the night, blue skies turn to grey
As the little one slips away

You’re holding their hand, you’re straining for words
You’re trying to make sense of it all
They’re desperate for hope, darkness clouding their view
They’re looking to you

Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like Jesus

Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands
The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands
He cares for them just as He cares for you

So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus” (Casting Crowns)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuAxzEuzNGg

There are all kinds of things to celebrate: the birth of a baby, birthdays in general, passing exams, getting engaged, getting married, learning to drive… so much that is good in life to celebrate. We celebrate in different ways:
with champagne

with balloons:


with fireworks:

and, especially at Goldthorpe, with cake!:

Celebration is essentially a corporate activity. It is, of course, possible to celebrate all of these things by ourselves, but when you think of these occasions, you tend to think of large gatherings: families, friends getting together to celebrate together. There is togetherness in celebration, because we are called to community. We are not isolated individuals. We are born into a family; we are born again into God’s family.

There are two things the church does regularly as celebration. One is the sacrament of baptism, whereby we celebrate a person’s public commitment to follow Christ. Baptismal services are always great celebrations, as we rejoice in the new life Paul talks about in Romans 6.

The other sacrament may not seem like a celebration, but regularly Christians take part in the Communion meal where we obey Christ’s command to ‘do this in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22:19). As we eat the bread and drink the wine, we fix our gaze on the death and resurrection of our Lord, celebrating the victory over sin that they have brought us, focussing on ‘the greatest day in history’, for our hearts are all too prone to forget.

The celebration which God talks about most as a symbol of the life we have with Him is that of the wedding feast. Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding and later said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.” (Matt 22:2)

Throughout the Bible, the relationship between God and His people is likened to that of marriage: Paul talks about this in Ephesians 5; Song of Songs talks about the relationship between two lovers and is generally understood also to be an allegory about God’s relationship with His people; Ezekiel 23 talks about Israel and Judah behaving like prostitutes rather than like wives, clearly showing that the relationship between God and His people is meant to be close, intimate and faithful. And we see in Revelation, of course, that there is going to be a wedding between the Lamb, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His bride.

We worship because of who God is and what He has done. We celebrate because of who God is and what He has done. We do these things together because He has brought us into His family. And we worship and celebrate not only because of what God has done but in anticipation of what is yet to come:

“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:2-4)

Continuing on from the quotations about worship, Sunday evening’s sermon was the final part in the series on a ‘Celebration of Discipline’ which has looked at inward, outward and corporate disciplines.

The word ‘worship’ has so many synonyms (nouns such as adoration, adulation, awe, blessing, devotion, exaltation, glory, honour, homage, laudation, love, praise, offering, supplication, reverence, veneration and service; verbs such as admire, adore, celebrate, esteem, exalt, extol, laud, revere, magnify, love, praise, respect, sanctify, sing and venerate.) We also looked at some of the Greek and Hebrew words for worship used in the Bible (conveying the idea of bowing down or kneeling, working or serving, being in fear of or having reverence towards, kissing or fawning, like a dog licking its master’s hand.) All these words convey the idea of relationship and remind us of the greatness of God and our humility before Him.

Worship is far more than just singing songs. It’s our response to the revelation of God and is what we were created to do. In the words of the Westminster Catechism, ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’

Romans 12:1-2 gives us a clear picture of a life of worship:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)

I like the way the Message translation of these verses talks about “take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.” Worship means there’s no separation of ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’; all we are, have, think, say and do should be given to God as an offering.

Can’t we just worship God on our own, though? How is this a ‘corporate’ discipline?

In a corporate setting, we remind each other of the truth of God’s Word, reminding ourselves of who God is and what He has done so that we have a revelation we can respond to. On our own, we very often fail to see the bigger picture, focussing in on the little details, easily swayed by our own favourite passages of Scripture, ignoring all the parts we don’t like or find difficult to understand. We are swayed by our emotions and our moods, able to praise God when the going’s good, but easily becoming sucked into depression and doubt when things become more difficult. The writer to the Hebrews encouraged people to keep meeting together so that they could be creative in finding ways to encourage each other and spurring each other on to love and good deeds. (Heb 10:19-25) This passage shows us the reasons we have to worship, the basis for our worship and reminds us of the responsibility we have to each other.

Whether we like it or not, we need each other. God has called us into His family, into His house, into His body and we all need each other. In corporate worship:
* we declare together the truths of God’s Word
* we stand on the revelation we have of God, whether we understand it or not
* we declare that He is good and His love endures forever
* we vow to serve Him to the best of our abilities, whatever those abilities are; in whatever fields He has called us to serve Him.
* We offer our prayers and support to each other in our vastly different circumstances
* we acknowledge that God is all to us.
* We understand, however dimly, that God has chosen to work through the church which He will build and all the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

We worship together; we pray together; we learn together; we serve together; we celebrate together. And we can say, on the authority of God’s Word:
“We will overcome
When You are with us, we are strong
And love will be our greatest song.
We’ll keep the faith and stand forever
We’ll live the faith and stand forever” (Tim Hughes, ‘Keep The Faith’)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNvmayt6tq0

We had two birthdays to celebrate yesterday:


God’s richest blessings to you both!

The topic of worship is so far-reaching that it can’t possibly be covered in one sermon or one blog post. But here are some thoughts on the subject from the Bible, from writers, theologians, worship-leaders and songwriters to stimulate our thinking on the topic.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Rom 12:1-2)

“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognise what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (Rom 12:1-2, The Message)

“A time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)

“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” (Westminster Catechism)

“Worship is the total alignment of our heart, soul, mind and strength with the will of God. It is our whole-hearted response to God’s extravagant love and mercy.” (Worship Central)

“Worship is a deliberate and disciplined adventure in reality.” (Willard Sperry)

“Worship is… our response, both personal and corporate to God – for who He is and for what He has done – expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.” (Louie Giglio)

“Worship is not primarily man’s initiative but God’s redeeming act in Christ through his Spirit.” (Nikos A. Nissiotis)

“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” (William Temple)

“Worship is centering our mind’s attentions and our heart’s affections on the Lord.” (Bruce Leafblad)

“Worship of the true and living God is essentially an engagement with Him on the terms that He proposes and in the way that He alone makes possible.”(David Peterson)

“Worship is an active expression of our love towards God. It is vibrant and visible by our deeds and not only by the words we speak.” (Darlene Zschech)

“Faith is at the root of all true worship, and without faith it is impossible to please God.” (A. W. Tozer)

“Our worship services need to immerse us in God’s splendour.” (Marva J. Dawn)

“Worship must be vital and real in the heart and must rest on a true perception of God.” (John Piper)

“The fuel of worship is the truth of God; the furnace of worship is the spirit of man; and the heat of worship is the vital affections of reverence, contrition, trust, gratitude and joy. The Holy Spirit provides the ignition and fire.” (John Piper)

“We live as worshippers of the otherly in a culture of the ordinary… In worship, explanation gives way to mystery. And mystery leads us to reverence and awe.”(Matt Redman)

“The core of worship is when one’s heart and soul, and all that is within, adores and connects with the Spirit of God.” (Darlene Zschech)

“The real issue in worship isn’t so much about songs and style but the larger issue of Story: the story of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” (J. D. Walt)

“An authentic life is the most personal form of worship.” (Sarah Ban Breathnach)

“Worship is kindled within us only when the Spirit of God touches our human spirit.” (Richard Foster)

“Every once in a while remind the worshippers of God that competence isn’t a fruit of the Spirit – and watch freedom walk in the room.” (quoted by Chris Tomlin)

“Worship means to seek after God, to chase after a glimpse of His glory.” (Tim Hughes)

“Worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth.” (John Piper)

“Worship pours from the overflow of our hearts.” (Tim Hughes)

“Worship without mission is self-indulgent. Mission without worship is self-defeating.” (Bishop Graham Cray)

“At the heart of worship, we as God’s creation choose to centre ourselves around God, our creator. We live to bless Him.” (Tim Hughes)

“It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men.” (C. S. Lewis)

“Extravagant worship means to be elaborate in our offering of admiration to God… Excessive, abundant, expensive, lavish, costly, rich, priceless, valuable.” (Darlene Zschech)

” The revelation of God is the fuel for the fire of our worship. And there is always more fuel for the fire. When we open the eyes of our heart, God’s revelation comes flying at us from so many different angles.” (Matt Redman)

“Worship is inviting people to pursue God wholeheartedly and in so doing mature into lifestyles that are in themselves a living sacrifice and which reflect God-worship as a way of life.” (mission statement of www.worship.com)

“I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.” (A. W. Tozer)

“You and I were made to worship;
You and I are called to love;
You and I are forgiven and free.
When you and I embrace surrender,
When you and I choose to believe,
Then you and I will see
What we were meant to be.”
(Chris Tomlin)

“Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come’.” (Revelation 4:8)

I’d love to hear your definitions of worship. Leave a comment and we can continue exploring what worship is and means to us all.