Quote from Forum Archives on May 8, 2002, 9:48 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I wonder how often we really think about ourselves in relationship to
God. Recalling what I was thinking when I first saw and wrote about
the contentment that the apostle Paul wrote about, I know that one
reason I am not always content is that thoughts about my present
circumstances compete for my time.

The Bible, however, records that this present life is but a dot on the
map of our lives. That's why thinking ahead is important. As
eternity unfolds, the real object of our attention is Jesus Christ. I
get frustrated when I find myself mired in self centered thoughts,
behaviors, and actions - particularly when I know that where I'd like
to be is completely focused on Christ. This is most definitely a
spiritual battle for the mind.

This message deals with true worship, as God intends us to worship.
It is all about who is worth our complete attention. The word worship
essentially means that, "worth" "ship".

So I confess to you my own need to center my thoughts, behaviors, and
actions upon Jesus Christ. I will also ask you to consider what has
been consuming your thoughts, behaviors, and actions (that includes
time) this week. As you think about that, read the message from this
week's edition of Worship Matters, a Crosswalk.com publication.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

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Worship Matters
practical help for worship leaders
spiritual.crosswalk.com

How to Worship Like the Angels, Part Four
By Mark Mullery
Senior Pastor, Fairfax Covenant Church, VA

The book of Revelation has much to say about our times of corporate
worship.

This week, Worship Matters continues a five-part series by Mark Mullery
based on the revelation of the Lamb of God found in Revelation chapters
4 and 5. We find in this passage the ultimate representation of
corporate worship in the physical presence of the Risen One. Worshipers
of God who learn from this section of Scripture will find immediate
fruit in their own worship lives, and will better equip themselves for
that incredible day when we join countless others of the redeemed before
the throne of Him who is "Holy, Holy, Holy."

Mark Mullery serves as senior pastor of Fairfax Covenant Church in
Fairfax, Virginia. This series was adapted from a teaching he presented
in August 2001 at PDI's annual Passion for the Glory of God worship
conference.

Lessons from the Heavenly Worship

Who is worthy? The Lamb. Why is He worthy? Because He was slain. How
must we respond? With thunderous worship! Worship is what you do when
you see the Lamb who was slain. This is why we must preach the gospel to
ourselves each day, so that we might see Him afresh and worship Him
anew. This is why our preaching must be Christ-centered and
cross-centered, so that our churches will be filled with people ready to
respond with worship to the Lamb.

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Chapter 5 of the book of Revelation has much to say about our times of
corporate worship. There are six implications, and here are the first
three:

1. Their worship is responsive.

God has made human beings to respond in appropriate ways. Remember where
you were on 9/11 when you heard about the terrorist attacks? Remember
how you felt and responded? I remember hearing gasping followed by
stunned silence. We are also designed to respond to the magnificence of
God -- and specifically to our awareness of the cross -- with songs of
praise and thanksgiving. What do Christians do when we see the Lamb who
was slain? Worship is what we do. We never initiate worship, or make the
first move toward God. He created us, revealed Himself to us, redeemed
us, and awakened us to the gospel. Now it's our turn to respond. When we
come to God in times of corporate worship we're coming not to initiate
something but to respond to Him.

2. Their worship is loud and continuous.

This is a loud chapter. The angel who asks 'Who is worthy'? does so with
a loud voice. John weeps loudly. The worship brought to the throne is
loud. That's an understatement, I'm sure -- the worship is thunderous!
It is also ceaseless. Chapters 4 and 5 describe the activity around the
throne with phrases such as 'day and night they never cease to say'? The
elders fall down before the throne repeatedly (4:10; 5:8; 5:14). This is
just a way of saying that worship is a way of life. So for us, times of
corporate worship are opportunities to bring songs of praise to our
Savior. The remainder of our lives are opportunities to obey our Savior.
Both times are worship.

3. Their worship is God-centered.

Many popular worship songs start with the word 'I.' Now, there's
nothing inherently wrong here, if, in starting with ourselves, we finish
by looking up to God. But there is always a danger in becoming
man-centered in our worship, so that when we're finished singing we're
more aware of ourselves than of Him. In Revelation, there is no danger
of that. 'Worthy are you- you were slain - you have made them.'

If we step back and look at the whole of Revelation 4 and 5, we find
that humanity is unimpressive at best, and more often irrelevant. If you
accept, as I do, that these elders are not human at all, but angelic
governors, then people don't really get into the act here until the very
last song (noting, of course, that it was for people that the Lamb
died).

You see, this chapter isn't about men, it's about the Lamb who was
slain. Once you grasp this, you've grasped the key to understanding the
whole book of Revelation. You don't need a secret decoder ring to
understand this book: it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's from Him
and about Him. He's the center.

Next time we will look at final lessons we can learn from the example of
heavenly worship.

* PDI's A Passion for the Glory of God worship conference
Join Bob Kauflin as he hosts our annual worship conference from August
7-10 and experience biblical teaching, practical seminars, passionate
worship, and fellowship with other worship teams.

link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A3.24.6189.1.293748

* Fairfax Covenant Church
Learn more about the church where Mark serves as senior pastor.

link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A3.24.6189.2.293748

* Visit PDI Ministries
Stop by our website and learn more about the vision of PDI.

www.pdinet.org/

* How to Worship Like the Angels, Part Three
Read last week's column on the example of heavenly worship.

link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A3.24.6189.3.293748

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=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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