The Antidote to Anemic Worship

"Evangelical Christians have been especially attentive to worship in recent years, sparking a renaissance of thought and conversation on what worship really is and how it should be done. Even if this renewed interest has unfortunately resulted in what some have called the “worship wars” in some churches, it seems that what A. W. Tozer once called the “missing jewel” of evangelical worship is being recovered.

Nevertheless, if most evangelicals would quickly agree that worship is central to the life of the church, there would be no consensus to an unavoidable question: What is central to Christian worship? Historically, the more liturgical churches have argued that the sacraments form the heart of Christian worship. These churches argue that the elements of the Lord’s Supper and the water of baptism most powerfully present the gospel. Among evangelicals, some call for evangelism as the heart of worship, planning every facet of the service—songs, prayers, the sermon—with the evangelistic invitation in mind.

Though most evangelicals mention the preaching of the word as a necessary or customary part of worship, the prevailing model of worship in evangelical churches is increasingly defined by music, along with innovations such as drama and video presentations. When preaching the word retreats, a host of entertaining innovations will take its place."

Traditional norms of worship are now subordinated to a demand for relevance and creativity. A media-driven culture of images has replaced the word-centered culture that gave birth to the Reformation churches. In some sense, the image-driven culture of modern evangelicalism is an embrace of the very practices rejected by the Reformers in their quest for true biblical worship.

Music fills the space of most evangelical worship, and much of this music comes in the form of contemporary choruses marked by precious little theological content. Beyond the popularity of the chorus as a musical form, many evangelical churches seem intensely concerned to replicate studio-quality musical presentations.

Shepherding the Flock During the Week: Sermon Study Packets

When you visit the dentist they always send you home with what?  A tooth brush, tooth paste, and floss (hint, hint).  I have yet to find a dentist who will come to my home each week to brush my teeth.  Oh  the nerve. :)  Our weekly sermon packets at LCBC are intended, in some ways, to function as a spiritual dental kits.

What brought about the weekly sermon study guides?  When I started my new ministry over a year ago established members graciously shared that they had grown accustom to Pastor Sal’s PowerPoint presentation that went along with his sermons.  Some of these members explained that it would help them acclimate to the new Senior Pastor’s style of preaching if I provided a listener handouts or utilized PowerPoint.  As a new minister you attempt to do what you can to make transitions like this as easy as you can on the existing flock (by God's grace it's been a nearly seamless transition).  Hence the four page weekly sermon packets.

Why invest time each week putting together such lengthy packets and why do we encourage each of you to spend at least one morning or evening reviewing your sermon notes via this packet? We do so to help with these five things: 1) Comprehension, 2) Clarification, 3) Application, 4) Shepherding care, and 5) Praise and Adoration.

1) Comprehension- I want to help the listener follow along as the sermon is being preached. One can’t grasp everything- but I prayerfully desire that my flock will process as much as they can and that they'll understand the key points of the inspired Text.  The meaning of Scripture is the Scripture.  It's why 2 Timothy 2:15 is such an important verse.  If you get the authorial intent wrong you are more likely to offer up the wrong application.  This ties right in with reason number two- clarification.

Does Your Heart Run on Hype? The Emotional Power of Ordinary Sundays

Does Your Heart Run on Hype?
The Emotional Power of Ordinary Sundays by Matt Merker

"Have you ever felt like the odd one out at a church service, the only one who’s not 'feeling it;? Does it sometimes seem like everyone else is on the emotional mountaintop and you’ve been left behind in the valley?

For some time now, many churches have structured worship gatherings to heighten natural emotional stimulation. Dim the lights. Pick songs that tug the heartstrings, despite their thin context. Make sure the choir or band swells at just the right moment. Deliver the sermon to land with a poignant climax, a welling up of feeling that may not even necessitate the new birth.

All of this may be well-intended. But we will not find any evidence in Scripture that a marked emotional “high” is the normative experience for Christian worship. Will we be moved emotionally, and often? Yes. And hopefully with spiritual affections, not simply natural feelings. Can we depend on a weekly jolt of euphoria? I don’t think so.

In corporate worship we find something far better than a typical rush of feeling. Here are three reasons why we shouldn’t expect each Lord’s Day to produce an off-the-charts mountaintop experience, and why we can instead delight in the regular, ordinary, supernatural joy of engaging with God together.

Ordinary Means, Extraordinary God

First, God has ordained that churches worship him through ordinary means. The elements of a Christian service are quite plain: texts recited and preached; prayer; human voices singing out loud; bread and wine; the water of baptism. The churches of the New Testament didn’t model their worship primarily on the rich ceremonies of the temple, with its incense, sacrifices, and golden trappings. Rather, it seems that they adapted the simpler format of the Jewish synagogue meeting, where the focus was on hearing the word of the Lord (Worship: Reformed According to Scripture, 36).

November 12th, 2017 @ Lake Country Bible Church

During our adult bible study I will continue our Rediscovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and contemporary events series.  The title of this eighth lesson is "Judgment, Mercy, and Hope in a Post-Fall Universe." Our primary text is Genesis 3.

In the worship service we will consider part two of the birth narrative of John the Baptist.  The title of my exposition is "O For Grace To Trust You More."  This sermon will cover Luke 1:5-25 (pt. 2).  You can listen to the message here.

After hearing the message I would encourage you to put feet to your faith throughout the week.  The follow portion of our sermon notes might help you do this with greater ease.

For Further Reflection/Application:
How is your prayer life? Is it constant? (1 Thess. 5:16-17; Matt. 26:36-26). Our anemic prayer
lives often expose our sinful self-reliance.

How are trials blessings in disguise? (2 Cor. 12:7-10)

“We have not because we ask not”…and sometimes we ask not because we lack the faith to
believe; (note Matt. 7:7-11).

Scripture also warns of a subtler danger of going through the right motions w/o exercising the
muscles of faith! Compare Acts 12 with Luke 1:18.

Preaching as Worship

When people ask me to describe my preaching style/emphasis I generally say Text-driven, doxological exposition.  

In other words, the primary goal of many/most of my sermons is 'wonder, love, and praise.'  In this regard the Reformers were right when they suggested that the pastor-teacher is the main 'worship leader' on the Lord's Day.

For pastors I think it would be helpful to rephrase Packer's quote this way, "Any preaching that does not lead to doxology and worship, is at a fundamental level, a flawed sermon."