It's a little big change - or a big little change. I'm not sure which.
The worship service will be a bit different on Sunday, although not radically so. And yet, the concept behind it is something I've not seen anyone do before. We will structure the service based on Mark 12:30, where Jesus tells a scribe that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." We will structure our worship around this statement as a way to live it out together in worship.
With all of our heart: We will worship together in music as the worship team leads us through songs and prayer all related to the theme of the week. The worship leaders work hard to consider the passage and theme in order to select music that draws our attention to the same truths, so that we are teaching the same things, whether by music or by the message.
With all our soul: Dan will lead us in corporate prayer for one another. This is also a time for us to worship through the offering. We often think of the offering as the practical necessity of running a church, but it can truly be another act of worship. The word offering itself suggests the spiritual act of giving of ourselves for the ministry of the church.
With all our mind: We will have our normal short message for the kids, and then send them off to Children's Church and Junior Church. Then we will open up the Word together to worship God with our minds (and hearts, souls, and strength, but moreso the mind).
With all our strength: The last part will include sharing events plus ministry opportunities and needs with the family business of a few announcements. The worship team will send us off with a final song, and then rather than a normal benediction, we will have more of a commissioning to send us all into the week with our mission to the world firmly in mind.
So, the worship service won't be radically different than we're used to, but a few things have been moved around from our norm, plus we want to better reinforce the various aspects of worship as Jesus describes in the Great Commandment, with our final thought being on the Great Commission.
We'll give this a spin for a few weeks and see what we think. Again, it's not a huge change, but I do want you to be aware of the thoughts that have gone into how the worship service will be put together.
The worship service will be a bit different on Sunday, although not radically so. And yet, the concept behind it is something I've not seen anyone do before. We will structure the service based on Mark 12:30, where Jesus tells a scribe that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." We will structure our worship around this statement as a way to live it out together in worship.
With all of our heart: We will worship together in music as the worship team leads us through songs and prayer all related to the theme of the week. The worship leaders work hard to consider the passage and theme in order to select music that draws our attention to the same truths, so that we are teaching the same things, whether by music or by the message.
With all our soul: Dan will lead us in corporate prayer for one another. This is also a time for us to worship through the offering. We often think of the offering as the practical necessity of running a church, but it can truly be another act of worship. The word offering itself suggests the spiritual act of giving of ourselves for the ministry of the church.
With all our mind: We will have our normal short message for the kids, and then send them off to Children's Church and Junior Church. Then we will open up the Word together to worship God with our minds (and hearts, souls, and strength, but moreso the mind).
With all our strength: The last part will include sharing events plus ministry opportunities and needs with the family business of a few announcements. The worship team will send us off with a final song, and then rather than a normal benediction, we will have more of a commissioning to send us all into the week with our mission to the world firmly in mind.
So, the worship service won't be radically different than we're used to, but a few things have been moved around from our norm, plus we want to better reinforce the various aspects of worship as Jesus describes in the Great Commandment, with our final thought being on the Great Commission.
We'll give this a spin for a few weeks and see what we think. Again, it's not a huge change, but I do want you to be aware of the thoughts that have gone into how the worship service will be put together.
Oh, if only we could muster the enthusiasm to worship God the way we cheer for our favorite sports team! I want seats on the 50 yard line of your church, Colby!
ReplyDeleteAnd where does love your neighbor as you love yourself come in?? We were just writing about that.
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