The worship of the church is gospel-wrought. ---------------------------------------------------- Theology informs doxology. Doxology without theology is an impossibility. If we knew nothing of God, His greatness, His holiness, His goodness, His gospel, we would have no reason to worship Him. If we dont believe in the substitutionary death of a sinless Christ, we have no reason to worship Him. If we have no understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit, we forsake His role in illuminating truth and leading man. It is vital for worship leaders to have a robust and growing theology. Apart from the revelation of God, worship does not exist. Without a deep and growing understanding of biblical truth, our worship will be uninformed and weightless. Infused with Scripture, however, the worship of God will be vibrant and filled with gravitas. It will be gospel-soaked and powerful. What type of songs are decreed? The songs decreed by Psalm 96 are telling of His salvation, declaring His glory, and declaring His marvelous works. The role and responsibility of the worship leader is to both remember the gospel and to remind others of the gospel. When gospel-reminding becomes common in the culture of our churches, we will be a people who are rooted and grounded firmly in our identity. One of our church members recently sent me a text before his work day that said: I want to encourage you with the gospel. God made you, the all-powerful and all-knowing and all-sovereign God, created you in His image. Yet by Adams sin you inherited sin and therefore were once an enemy of God. But God being rich in mercy and love sent His only son Jesus to bear the punishment of your sin. Thereby you have been set free, being reconciled to God by Jesus. You are no longer an enemy of God but now a child of God. Repent and believe in Jesus that by faith and Gods grace alone you are saved. This text message took the simplicity of the gospel, filled my eyes with tears, and my heart with doxology. Theology propels doxology. The more we come to know God, the more we long to know Him. The more knowledge we have of Him, the more we want to know of Him. Theology prompts our hearts to passionately pursue truth. There is no end to the rhythm of revelation and response. Within the context of corporate worship we have a unique opportunity to tell of his salvation day after day. Through the use of singing, praying, confessing, praising, greeting - we are able to tell of the salvation of God to one another. My friend Tullian Tchividjian encourages us to remember that once God rescues sinners, his plan isnt to steer them beyond the gospel, but to move them more deeply into it.6 Worship leaders are no exception. We need to be daily reminded of, called to, and immersed in the gospel. The more the gospel permeates our hearts, the more able we are to lead our churches to experience its sufficiency and beauty. We sing to one another the gospel, reminding one another of who we are in Christ. The psalmist continues: For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! (Ps. 96:4-9) With a cursory look at the text we find a list of virtues pointing to the character of God: God is great and worthy of worship; He is the only true God, the God of creation; He is majestic, strong, beautiful, glorious; He is worthy of offering; He is holy. Thanks be to God, He has spoken to us! Our theology propels us to ascribe greatness to God (vv. 7-8). The primary reason the church gathers is to glorify God. We gather together for corporate worship to ascribe unto God the worship that is due Him. We declare Gods greatness and truth through the reading of Scripture, through sermon, and through song. While it should be noted there are many other reasons we gather (Heb. 10:23-25), Christ Himself is the centerpiece of Christian worship. D. A. Carson writes, You cannot find excellent corporate worship until you stop trying to find excellent corporate worship and pursue God Himself. Despite the protestations, one sometimes wonders if we are beginning to worship rather than worship God. As a brother put it to me, its a bit like those who begin by admiring the sunset and soon begin to admire themselves admiring the sunset. Theology propels us to bring worshipful offerings to God (v. 8). We must realize that even our offerings are evidences of grace. James 1:17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. Our offerings in worship are grace-enabled, and should lead us to greater dependence upon God, rather than us feeling accepted because of our offerings. Theology propels us to tremble (v. 9). Worship is the rhythm of revelation and response, of gravity and gladness, of theology and doxology. One of the greatest weaknesses of the evangelical church is our disinclination to tremble. We do well in asserting the transcendence and sovereignty of God, but we must also allow these truths to move us to an awe-filled doxology.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 19:23:16 +0000
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