IBC Session 4: Mark Dever – “Worship in the New Testament”
“The nature of worship is offering your whole self to God as a living sacrifice. That may be the most important point in this message – the offering of yourself. When we restrict worship to church buildings and singing songs, we miss the point. The NT does not use the word worship the way we do in English. You can avoid a lot of trouble in your church if you define worship for your people the way the Bible does – offering yourself as a sacrifice.”
“Ten questions to test for true NT worship of God:
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Are you being transformed?
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Are you thinking about yourself soberly?
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Are you using your gifts?
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Are you loving others?
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Are you persevering?
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Are you sharing?
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Are you blessing?
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Are you sympathizing?
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Are you being humble?
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Are you overcoming evil with good? More from this session…
IBC Session 3: Roger Bergs – “Choosing Music for Corporate Worship”
“Every prayer has a form and content that is appropriate for where it falls into the service. The same is true with songs. We need to think through these choices carefully. If you would not be speaking what the hymn says at this point in the service, then don’t sing it!” More from this session…
IBC Session 2: David Barker – “Worship in the Psalms”
Bono said, “To kiss the heavens, you have to learn to kneel …”
Petersons says, “Worship must come under the criticism and control of the revelation on which the Church is founded.”
“For several decades worship has been the divisive mantra of the church. People have been trying to find “meaningful worship.” The theologian of the community must guide public worship. Pastor dons the mantle of priest, prophet, and sage in the New Covenant context. Too often we have passed off this responsibility to musicians who may or may not be theologically informed.”
“The Psalms are a unique Biblical genre. The Psalms speak for us, whereas most of the Scriptures speak to us. This does not lessen the authority or the inspiration of the Psalms. The Psalms are answering God (Peterson). They give us our words when entering the throne room. It gives the church a common form of prayer.”
“Bring the Psalms back into the worship life of the community of faith. Not lines, phrases, and ideas that are there, but all the words as they are. We need new music to get these ageless voices of the Psalms into the church in new and fresh ways.”
“Understand that the task of worship is to bring a new orientation – a reorientation! People are saying, “Give us some hope.” So we need to begin where they are.”
Bonhoeffer said, “Whenever the Psalter is abandoned, an incomparable treasure vanishes from the Christian church. With its recovery will come unsuspected power.” More from this session…
IBC Session 1: What is Worship? – Joe Boot (Director of Ravi Zacharias Ministries – Canada)
“Worship is a contraction of the old Anglo-Saxon worthship. To love, admire, or idolize. When the world looks at the church, they should be able to see something of the God we love and adore. They should perceive what is worth most to us”
Pascal said, “Unless you love the truth, you cannot know it.”
“Our prayer should be for an increase in love for God so that our worship would grow. So, worship is love. We cannot be worshipers in name only – otherwise it is pure theatre. A person’s ultimate love directs their lives and highlights their value structure. What kind of love you have distinguishes the kind of person you are – you become like what you worship.”
“We worship God alone since only God can make us truly happy. True worship is the one vocation that is everlasting. We all worship something and we will be conformed to it. True rest is in worship of God.” More from this session…
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