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Ephesians 5:18-21
This morning I am going to talk about worship.
Worship is defined as the value we place on something.
If we worship our husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, we are saying that this person is important to us and has great value to us.
The worship of God embraces this dynamic.
We worship God when we show his importance or value to us.
When we make decisions to honor in the face of differing opinions, we are worshipping God.
When we put money into the offering place, we are showing how much we value God and his kingdom.
When we live our our faith, that life is an act of worship to God.
When we sing songs of the faith, we worship him as well.
The 40 Days of Love is headed up by a group of people who love God.
Gerald Stillman is our fearless leader.
Scott and Bonnie are coordinating small groups.
Darryl McKeen is organizing our prayer events.
Debbie Scates is working with Sandy Keller to provide communication within the group as well as to the church and community.
Patty Vieta is working with me to organize our weekend events.
The weekend events, the worship times, are what I want to speak on this week.
People in general have strong ideas about music.
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”
Albert Schweitzer
Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.
G.K. Chesterton
In the 1700’s a huge battle took place in the music arena.
The church used a hymnbook comprised of Psalms rewritten to be sung.
All the churches used what was called “Rhymed meter.”
When George Whitefield came to America to preach, he used newer songs from Isaac Watts.
The battle was on between using “human inspired” hymns or “divinely inspired” hymns from the psalter.
In my lifetime I have heard many music controversies.
Take the song, “Holy, holy, holy.”
We love the music and love it on the organ.
Many people used to be uncomfortable in a church with no organ.
Then the piano came.
That was contentious as well.
In the 60’s and 70’s the guitar first started appearing i many churches.
Comments ranged from how inappropriate it was to how loud the music was.
The songs were criticized as being shallow and lacking theological content.
One such song popular in the 70’s and 80’s was, “Holy, Holy.”
Included in this song was the radical idea of lifting up the hands.
The fact that people moved their hands from their laps to over their heads generated a lot of heat and discussion, even though the Bible speaks of Old Testament saints doing this very thing.
There were also complaints that many of the newer songs lacked the doctrinal content of the older songs.
They were repetitive and went on for hours.
Then came the congregational responses.
Some people loved the quiet church.
But in the new era people clapped, raised their hands and even swayed to the music.
Now whole churches are defined by their music.
One used to hear of a church that was defined by denomination.
They were Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist or Catholic.
Or they were defined by theology.
They were reformed churches or Arminian churches.
These definitions still fit, but more and more people are choosing a church because of their music.
Years ago we had people leave this church and go to the United Pentecostal Church in Augusta, a church which denies the trinity.
Why?
I believe the first attraction was the music.
Now the criticism goes two ways.
If one goes to a “traditional church that sings hymns...” they are out of touch with the real world.
If one goes to a church that sings “modern praise and worship songs...” they are emotionalist who lack depth and maturity.
One sign of a mature Christian is their ability to fellowship in more than one culture.
The apostle Paul said,
He had no interest in sin or sinning.
But he had the flexibility to go from a Jewish culture to a Gentile culture without raising a fuss.
Why?
Because his love for God made these cultural barriers less important.
Because life for Paul was not about Paul.
Life for Paul was about God.
I may have missed something somewhere.
But I cannot think of one verse in the Bible that makes a judgment on the quality of music.
No where in the Old Testament does it record anyone singing or playing bad.
No where in the New Testament does it every critique the worship style of the church.
The closest I could comes was
So what did happen in the early church?
The early church embraced a diversity of Christian music
Some scholars think this is just repetitive.
But the psalms were from a Jewish background.
It may be that the hymns were Christian songs from a Gentile background.
We know that the Gentiles sang hymns to their gods.
Imagine how these two kinds of music would have blended in that church.
Then add to that spiritual songs which may have been songs that were neither hymns or psalms and there would have been three different kinds of songs sung in their worship.
Yet not a word is ever mentioned about a music controversy.
Why?
Because worship is about God, its not about the style of music.
There are some principles from scripture that have guided me as Pastor of Palermo Christian Church.
The early church focused on their connection to God
This verse was given over a discussion of the right place to worship God, Jerusalem or Samaria.
Jesus gives an answer: Jerusalem.
The reason was not the location, the reason he choses Jerusalem is because Jerusalem was the center for the worship of the true God, the one who sent Jesus to this earth.
Worship is about God.
Worship is about a God we can know.
Worship is about a God that is true.
We worship him in sprit and in truth.
The early church was thankful to God for the gifted people he gave them.
This arrangement comes in two parts.
First he has given individuals gifts and talents to be used in service to him.
Second, he has arranged the people to be where he wants them to be.
Some may be out of place because of disobedience.
Some may not use the gifts God has given.
Either way, the body suffers.
But if worship is us showing God how much we love him, is it possible to do so without a piano?
We have been blessed over the years with Marilyn Kibbe, Emily Siefken, Esther Hatch, Susan Williams and Julie Hubbard.
All have had a great ability and a humble spirit in helping us with worship.
Others have also helped.
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