I believe that worship, as defined by Harold Best in his book, “Unceasing Worship,” is a continuous outpouring of all that we are, all that we do, and all that we could ever become in light of who Jesus Christ is. Our worship should be unceasing and relentless because God is continually and unchangeably the I AM THAT I AM. Our worship of Him should not turn on and off like a faucet dependent on the choices that we make. Our worship of Jesus should follow the example of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus. The room was filled with the fragrance of the perfume because she poured all of it out. She was not careful and calculated. In brokenness and humility she was genuinely relentless and she could not stop. She poured out the whole bottle. Despite what some of the disciples thought, the waste was magnificent and wonderful. Jesus Christ’s own perfect sacrifice was a ‘once for all’ pouring out of his incarnate self on the cross which the world might say was a waste but is what his followers identify as, perfume for His Father’s feet.
Bob Kauflin, the author of the book, “Worship Matters,” says, “on Sundays God wants us to do more than sing songs together and have wonderful worship experiences. He wants to knit the fabric of our lives together.”
In other words, God wants us to be a family. “For many, church has become all about me - what I’m learning, what I’m seeking, what I’m desperate for, what I need, how I’ve been affected, and what I can do. We see ourselves as isolated individuals all seeking personal encounters with God, wherever we can find them. Rather than seeing ourselves as part of a worship community, we become worship consumers. We want worship on demand, served up in our own way, at our own time, and with our own music. A worshiping community is made up of individuals whose lives are centered around the Savior they worship together each week. A worshiping community expects to encounter God’s presence not only on Sunday morning but every day. A worshiping community recognizes that passionate times of singing God’s praise flow from and lead to passionate lives lived for the glory of Jesus Christ.”
Music is only a part of our individual and corporate worship. It is a piece of the pie. It is unique because God commands us to sing. Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The one instrument that God created directly is the human voice and everybody has one. My vision for the sunday morning services is to cause this congregation as a whole to sing the praises that God has ordained in the shadow of our mission, “Leading People to Become Committed Followers of Jesus Christ.” We must practice continually outpouring ourselves in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24) and not turning off our worship because of musical style, balance, or human error. The leaders must decrease and the congregation must increase in its level of participation.