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September 27, 2008

Good Sabbath to all,

Unfortunately I have been engaged in activities related to my job and home this week and was unable to put together the next logical message regarding formal worship. But I don’t want to leave you with nothing, so I’m offering an exercise for everyone to work on this week.

This came about in response to emails I’ve received in the past few weeks regarding the new design on the website and in response to the first messages that have already been posted.

Several people have commented that they just don’t know how to worship God and reciting written words just doesn’t seem to work well for them (i.e., the satisfaction level at the end is low). This is understandable. We who have come out of the Church of God tradition have been trained to avoid any form of liturgical service at all. It has been driven home to us that it comes too close to what mainstream Christianity does when they come together to worship God. Therefore we feel we have to avoid it at all cost.

As we continue in the next few weeks to explore the subject of formal worship, we’ll see that the practice of speaking words of praise, confessions, and open prayers is much older than Christianity. It has been a part of worship throughout all of history. It only came into disfavor among the Churches of God in the past century.

There are two ways of offering praise in worship. One is reciting or speaking the scriptures. The second is to speak your own words that follow in the same manner or style as the psalms and prayers of worship found throughout the scriptures.

The exercise for you to work with this week is to sit down, quiet your mind, and write down your own words of praise to God. This will come easily to some and will be more difficult for others. Before beginning, read a few of the Psalms to see a good model that has been acceptable to God down through the centuries. Some good examples might be Psalm 19, 23, 29, 30, 33, 51 (a confession), 65, 66, 84, 89, 92, 93 …

There are numerous others. The object of the exercise is to express in your own words the greatness, the mercy, the tender loving care, the majesty, and other attributes of the Father. This exercise is not about you, but is all about setting self aside and praising God for who and what he is.

Do it as often as you like throughout the week. If your words lead you to end in confession, allow it to happen. Don’t attempt to suppress it because it is not a part of the stated exercise. Let the spirit lead you, but start your words first with praise to God.

I’ll talk more about formal worship next week.

Have a great Sabbath!

Sincerely,
B.J. Lord
www.soundatrumpet.com