Born to Worship

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1John 5:14-15, NIV) On Sunday night, we are going to have the second Night of Prayer at church, praying through our mission statement: “We are a community of Christ-followers longing to glorify God by loving God, loving people, sharing the gospel and serving the world.” We will focus our prayer time around loving people. I have by no means done a thorough study on the topic, but I have been inspired and convicted by my current study of 1 John with Steve Springsted. As we study together, pray together and talk together, we sense God leading our church and us into a season of showing extraordinary love. I’m going to spend some time thinking about this and then will compare notes with Steve as we prepare to lead our church family through a time of prayer on Sunday night. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (1John 3:16) We will begin our time remembering and declaring Christ’s love. It is his extraordinary example of love, laying down his life for us, that is our motivation to love one another. John keeps driving this point home multiple times in his letter. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1John 4:10-11, NIV) “We love because he first loved us.” (1John 4:18-19, NIV) We will declare and remember God’s extraordinary demonstration of love toward us and do so with all of our hearts – in song, in fellowship and through communion by sharing around the table of the Lord together. I’d like to do this in a very different way than usual and in M102 where it’s a bit more intimate. After a time of fellowship & communion, we will think a bit about God’s desire for us to love people. I want Steve to set the stage, sharing how God has been leading him and apparently us into a season of showing extraordinary love. It is interesting that the passage we began with continues with an exhortation to love not with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. “ If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1John 3:17-18, NIV) The first prayer then is that we would see, and that is a prayer that we prayed on Sunday during worship as we had a drama that culminated with a dance to the song, “Give Me Your Eyes,” by Brandon Heath. Once we see people through God’s eyes, we must then wrestle with what we do about what we see. That’s where the ‘deed’ of loving is done. Trinity is for the most part an affluent church family. With the unstable economy and a likely depression, we are on the verge of having many needy people within and without – colleagues, neighbors, friends and family. These times are a chance for God’s church to really behave and look like he intended us to be – not a social club for affluent, well educated, fiscally responsible people. But instead, the church is a refuge for the poor, the hurting, the broken, and the needy. It’s a place where the proclamation of the gospel is demonstrating power unto salvation and then the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is producing transformation. I think that people who have never come face to face with great neediness are about to and the result of us rising to the challenge to love people in an extraordinary way will be a beautiful thing for our church family and to the watching world. I must note at this point that the concept of loving people has implications on how we love each other within the family of God and how we love those who are outside the family of God. The Bible clearly teaches both, and we must do both, but Jesus and the apostles clearly place a greater focus on how we love one another within the church. The context of 1 John is entirely on how ‘brothers’ love each other. I think that while God calls us to love our neighbor outside the church, the clearest call being the parable of the Good Samaritan, his love is best demonstrated when we who belong to him are good at loving one another within the church. It is perhaps our strongest testimony, intended to be the most attractive thing about his people, his church. People will be drawn to Christ be being drawn toward his people who are demonstrating his love toward each other. Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35, NIV) When you read through 1 John, a letter to the church in Jerusalem (and to us), it is clear that the author, John, was unpacking Jesus’ teaching on his new command. This command, stated above, is then followed by Jesus imploring his disciples to abide in him. John concludes that it is our obedience to his commands and doing what pleases him that proves that we are abiding in him. “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” (1John 3:21-24, NIV) It is in this context, that we ask God to help us to love people and we do so with a confidence that he will answer our prayers! First we should focus on how we love our brothers (believers within the church), and then how we love our neighbor (those outside the church). May it all be for his glory!

Bill Born

Below is a copy of my notes for the closing address I gave at the worship ministries workshop on Saturday, 9.13.08. This was a great day together and something that we will repeat again next year. It was wonderful to see people from the various Trinity ministries devoting themselves to bettering their practice of worship. I am so thankful for those who lead, plan and facilitate the worship of God at Trinity Church. I am also thankful for the church family that gathers to worship throughout the week at Trinity Church. These are good times! September 11, 2008 9:33 PM Here is my revised plan for my 15 minute charge to Trinity’s worship leaders, planners and facilitators at the end of the Worship Ministries Workshop.

Opening: Thanks to our workshop presenters, to our hospitality team (Jen Derksen and Kim Palermo) and to Sheri Blakey for organizing this whole thing. You all have spent some time working on your artistic or technical skill. A commitment to excellence in your artistic or technical area is most honoring to the One who gave you your talent in the first place. Additionally, you’ve heard a lot today about cultivating your heart of worship. In your service to this church family, that is perhaps your greatest contribution – leading and
serving from a heart that is growing more and more in love with Jesus. I’d like to end our time this morning thinking about our greatest responsibility and privilege as leaders, planners and facilitators of worship at Trinity Church. That is the fact that we are inviting and leading people to worship God together. We are in charge of the corporate worship of the body of Christ. This raises the question: What does corporate worship accomplish that individual worship cannot? Once we discover these things, let’s focus our attention on doing them well, for this is something people do not experience unless we do. I have discovered 3 essentials of corporate worship that I would like to be our focus for the year.

1. Together we celebrate the essence of who God is, what he has done (the gospel), and what he is doing among us (changing us). [sing Everlasting God chorus, into Grace Like Rain last chorus] Take a moment to think about what you just experienced . . . can you describe it? . . . You don’t experience that alone. There is
nothing in this world that matches the unity that comes from many voices declaring the same thing. But I’ll tell you something that comes very close and that is what happened at the Lake at Forest Home last Sunday. We witnessed over 20 stories of God actively moving in people’s lives, drawing them to repentance and faith, imparting salvation and new life, bringing them into this new family, and then we saw these people be baptized as an act of obedience. This was a worship service better than anything you or I could plan. None of you should miss a baptism service. The joy of being a part of a worship gathering
is not only declaring the same thing about God together, but also experiencing God together.

2. Together we look to God – there is unity as we all look in the same direction, at the same Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [sing Lift High verse 1 and chorus and then Show Us Who You Are chorus] There’s something about seeing God together that builds our faith and encourages our hearts to more fully surrender to God’s will and follow his ways. Once again, the joy of being a part of a church family is experiencing God together. This is why it’s so important for those who are on the worship teams to be always present in the life of the church – worship services, baptisms, and corporate prayer times should be a priority in each one of your lives so that we who lead especially have this shared experience. Once we get the first part right, we come to the icing on the cake, something I have only recently discovered as a once missing element of our worship service. The corporate nature of this element is what makes it so powerful.

3. Together we rally around the mission that God has called us to. God calls us to pick up our cross and follow him daily. This is the hardest and greatest thing we will ever do in our lives. The joy and endurance come from the knowledge that we are not alone. We are a part of a kingdom, a family of like-minded people essentially walking the same narrow road that leads to life. An intense focus on our mission is what unites us in our purpose as God’s people. Our worship services must include a reminder of this call, for
it is the call of our Savior. We are the leaders of an army of worshipers moving forward into the battle, but our battle is quite different. Our weapon is our body, hands, feet, and mouths. Our ammunition is love. Our battle cry is worship. Our mission is one of bringing life where there was once death, hope where there was despair, and light where there was darkness. Our mission will not be accomplished until all people worship Jesus Christ. [sing Let the Church Rise v2 and chorus] In conclusion, notice that each of these three essentials of corporate worship are uniquely something we do together. Each of the three results in a powerful unity and a focus that is stronger than any other thing that might cause disunity. I find it amazing that the emphasis of Jesus’ prayer before he went to the cross was the unity of those who followed him. Listen to Jesus’ prayer for his disciples and for us: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23, NIV) Let’s pray. God we cannot do this well without you. I pray that you would take the things that we have learned today and help us to apply those things. Among all of the things that you accomplish in us as we worship together, I pray that we would be one and that it would be a powerful testimony to the world that you love them. I pray that our art would be excellent, as beautiful as we possibly can make it look and sound, because we carry the greatest message on earth – the message of the gospel, that is, the good news of Jesus Christ. But more than beautiful art, I pray for the hearts of each one on these teams. May we be deeply connected to you, growing and bearing fruit for your kingdom. God I pray that you would change our rebellious hearts to hearts that want to please you more than anything else. Most of all, please fill us with your Holy Spirit. May Trinity Church be a church that overflows with the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. [sing Consuming Fire chorus] In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Bill Born

I’m going to take some time this morning to prepare for my charge to my people at the Worship Ministries Workshop this weekend. I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately and I hope I can focus in on a compelling 15-minute challenge for our teams as we forge ahead in leading our church family in worship. I’ve been most intrigued lately by the intended corporate nature of our worship gatherings. I think it is an essential aspect of our purpose as a church that is highly understated and underpracticed. While it is good to come to church wanting and even needing an individual encounter with the living God, I think God created us with another need – a corporate encounter with the living God. In fact, could it be that the life and growth of the church is directly related to whether or not the people are experiencing this kind of worship gathering? I’ve read statistics that suggest that the most important element that attracts and causes people to join a church family is not the preaching or the worship – it is the sense of belonging. Since those I lead have a significant role in planning and producing the worship services for our church family, I’d like to spend some time thinking about what we can do to make sure we get the corporate part of our worship gathering right. Let’s think about the corporate nature of our worship. I’d like to look at the first 2 pictures we see of the first church worshiping. “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” (Acts 1:12-14, NIV) The first picture we see of the gathered church after Christ ascended to heaven is them constantly praying together, waiting for God to pour out his Holy Spirit upon them. This was in fact Jesus’ command to them – he said to wait until this happened, and he had taught them to pray. Can you imagine for a moment being a part of this first worship gathering of the church? They were probably eagerly anticipating what was next, while reveling in the amazing events that had just been – the resurrection, their encounters with the risen Christ, his ascension into glory. Isn’t that a beautiful picture of the first worship gathering of the first church leaders – prayerfully waiting for what’s next while reveling in what had been? Sometimes I think we don’t do either thing well. We just go through the motions of planning, practicing and meeting to worship, and we fail to do those two very basic activities – continual prayer as we wait for what’s next, and eager celebration of what has been. Of course I’m supposing the second part, but I cannot imagine gathering the same day that Christ ascended into heaven, 40 days after his resurrection, and not being overwhelmed to the point of continual conversation with one another and with God about the extraordinary events of the past 40 days. Let’s look at the second gathering recorded in the book of Acts. The believers had been praying continually for a few days when the promised Holy Spirit descended upon them producing incredible signs and wonders that attracted a large group of people from around the town. Peter delivered an incredible sermon explaining how this filling of the Holy Spirit they were witnessing had been prophesied 800 years earlier. But he quickly turned all attention to Jesus, His death and resurrection from the dead, and ascension, identifying him as both Lord and Christ. When confronted with their role in killing Jesus, the Lord and Christ, 3000 people were convicted, repented, believed and were immediately baptized. The mega church was born that day, and we see the first picture of their order of service. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47, NIV) The meeting of the church is entirely corporate in nature. I’ve always been amazed by this picture of the early church, and I’m always saddened when I think how churches rarely look or behave like this now. Usually we get a few things right, but as you’ll see, there are areas where even we at Trinity need to focus our attention. Think of your role as a worshiper, as a planner of worship, leader of worship or facilitator of worship and what God may be calling you to do about it. First we see what they were devoted to four things:

1. The apostle’s teaching – there must have been an incredible hunger and thirst for knowledge of the truth, of God’s mysterious ways. I mean, they were absolutely blown away by the story of the gospel and more so by the Lord and Christ of the gospel. Do you approach the worship service with this kind of hunger and thirst for the knowledge of God and his Word? The teaching of God’s Word is central to the corporate gathering of the church. While many churches are dropping the bar here, I think it is Trinity’s greatest strength. I praise God for our teacher, Gary Inrig, who faithfully brings us the Apostle’s teaching each week at Trinity. We are blessed beyond belief!

2. Fellowship – we see here that the fellowship spoken of was both in the larger setting (temple courts) and in the smaller setting around meals together (in homes). We all experience the larger worship gathering – that is why we are here and this is the function that we serve. Think about the smaller part. Shouldn’t we serve that as well? Our focus as Americans is so much on the nuclear family (my mom and dad, my brother and sister, my wife and kids, soccer, school, activities, entertainment, etc.) that we miss out on the fact that God has given us a bigger family with a bigger purpose. I confess to God and to you that I fall short in this area and I am committed to expanding my home and family to the larger view demonstrated here. a. As a subpoint, I would like to add another hugely missing element to this smaller group fellowship of the church, and it is probably that hardest thing for us to do in our culture. (Obviously it was hard for them as well if you read ahead to the story of Ananias and Sapphira). It means throwing my resources, mainly translated, “possessions and money,” into this mix. “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. “ (Acts 2:44-46, NIV) Notice that the hospitality of the first church gathering did not just include fellowship, entertainment, and good times with friends & family, the people we like, etc. It was a complete giving of possessions to make sure that the new extended family (translated, “very needy people,”) were sufficiently cared for. God is pressing the need for this type of corporate worship gathering on me more strongly than anything else. He is saying, “Worship me this way, and lead your church family into this type of worship as well.” The first church gives us this example of small group worship and I want to encourage all of us not to forsake this type of meeting together. Certainly we must begin by viewing one another as family and care for each other as family. Taking it a step further, I think we should lead our church in hospitality – inviting strangers into our home.

3. Breaking bread – this has to refer to remembering Christ as he requested when we eat bread (symbolizing his body broken for us) and drink wine (symbolizing his blood shed for us). This common daily practice of eating was turned into an act of worship in remembrance of Christ with thanksgiving. Meals were never meant to be the same again. Not only was the table filled with a new family, but the meal itself included remembrance, thanksgiving and praise for Christ. It is certain that people did this in their homes together as part of their meal, but I wonder about the large group, the 3000 people gathered in Solomon’s Colonnade. I think we probably get it backwards. I’ve rarely celebrated Communion in someone’s home, but always in the big church setting. Maybe it’s time to reconsider how we do communion, and at least incorporate it into our meals. I think this way all of live becomes deeply spiritual, there is no division between the sacred and the secular – it is all meant to be sacred.

4. Prayer – I feel like such a beginner at prayer – so awkward, so easily distracted, so self-serving, and so undisciplined. But what I am learning is that prayer is an act of love and an act of desperation. It’s the love that is expressed in a personal relationship where we talk to and listen to our Heavenly Father – the dependent child in love with his daddy who happens to be so much more than that – Creator, Savior, Shepherd, and Healer to name a few. It is also love expressed toward others by lifting up their needs above my own. That’s what personal prayer is. But corporate prayer is so much different, and it is only in the past few years that I am discovering and yearning for and leading out in this kind of prayer. Corporate prayer is a combined act of desperation while we wait for what’s next, and praise for what has been. If the first Church had corporate prayer as the foundation of what they did, why don’t we? This quickly translates into, “Why don’t I?” Is it because I’m embarrassed to pray out loud? That begs the question, am I praying to show people that I’m spiritual, or because I’m desperate to see God? I believe that it is the desperation that is missing. When I was in a desperate situation in my home life, my wife and I began praying together regularly. When I felt desperation for our church, I began praying together with a friend and now continue with a colleague. Desperate people pray and they pray together. This aspect of corporate worship pleases God who promises over and over in the Scriptures that he hears our prayers and will grant our requests. I come away from this brief study quite convicted that I fall short in practicing and planning these four essential elements of the corporate worship gathering. While all four are present in both the larger worship gathering and small group gathering, I think that we need to experience both. I’d like to personally do both better and better and see my team leading our church in both well.

Note: I posted my blog titled, Worship Ministries Workshop Closing Address, on September 17th after doing this study. There I considered the benefits of the “big’ corporate worship gathering. In a few weeks I will address some Koinonia (small group) leaders about worship in the small group. I need to do some thinking specifically about that and will try to do that next week.

Bill Born

Before I dive into what’s next, I want to revel in what God has done and is doing this summer. At the end of June we were leaving the “Mission Possible” series where we took a lengthy look at our mission and purpose as a church. The worship services during May and
June and the worship preparation for them were incredibly inspiring, re-igniting in me a personal passion to be ‘all in’ and uniting our church in worship around not only who God is, but on the shared call he’s placed on our lives to be his followers. Needless to say, I felt a huge let down as we left this ‘high’ for the ‘Summer in the Psalms’ series. I admit that I’m bent toward adventure – inspired by the challenges of the Christian life. You don’t catch me sitting in a recliner in front of the T.V. The battle is where I want to be – right in the middle of the action. That said, I think God needed to teach me a lesson – although Psalm 23 was not one of our sermons, this summer was for me a journey through the valley of the shadow of death, learning to cling to the comfort the Lord provides in that lonely place. It was also a time of being made to lie down in green pastures, being led by the still waters, and finding restoration for my soul. I think our church family needed to worship in the Psalms as well – kind of a settling and focusing on authentic expressions of brutally honest worship. In fact, as each weak unfolded, I sensed that the Lord was leading us exactly where he wanted us to go. The unstructured approach where each pastor was responsible to choose the Psalm he would preach, ended up being the clear voice of God leading our church. Afraid that it would be lost, my concern was to keep our mission in front of people. As I reflect now, I realize that the Summer in the Psalms was the perfect bridge, launching us into our fall season of ministry with a stronger than ever focus on our mission, because we are grounded in what goes before mission – relationship. We are called to follow Jesus first, to know and love him, to learn from him and to worship him. This relationship is the basis of our journey of discipleship and it is ultimately out of love, not duty that we end up picking up our cross to follow, even to the point of laying down our very lives.

So now we have entered ‘Connect Month’ with a focus on discipleship. I love the challenges that are being placed before our church family – namely the multifaceted challenge toward intentional growth in our relationship with God. But it all begins with “Loving God.” That
is where the Psalms have centered us. Out of the foundation of loving God and being loved by God (the practice of our relationship with him), we are moved and empowered to love people, share the Gospel and serve the world. I walk with anticipation toward the season ahead, with a huge ‘thank you’ to God for what is behind.

Bill Born

A few weeks ago, I prepared a talk on Personal Worship for some interns in our youth ministries at Trinity. This turned out to be a sweet time together and was a good reminder for me of the importance of an intentional personal worship practice throughout the week. Here are some of my thoughts and the discoveries I have made along the way of seeking to live a life of worship.

“ O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. “ (Psa. 63:1-2, NIV)

Corporate worship is not a substitute for personal everyday worship. Personal worship happens during corporate worship, but flows out of a 24/7 lifestyle of worship to God. What is personal worship? It is a response that flows out of a hunger and thirst to know God. We see it demonstrated in the lives of Biblical characters who knew God and who were most influential in turning people toward God and his ways. It is also demonstrated in the heroes of the faith and well as contemporary influential people in our own journey of spiritual growth. I find the people who are demonstrating the kind of spiritual life of faith that I desire and sure enough it is overflowing with personal worship to God. This personal worship was captured so well in the Casting Crowns song, Lifesong, that shouts, “May my lifesong sing to you.” How do I practice a life of personal worship?

1. It begins with prayer for the desire to know God – to see him, to thirst and be satisfied by him. All too often, we see the way it ought to be and we want it, but we don’t do the work required to grow in our faith. We are overwhelmed by the gulf between where we are and where we would like to be and become so defeated that we quit. Worse yet, we know we ought to desire to know God, but this world has a stronger pull on our affections and our
personal worship is wasted on worldly things. I have found that a prayer to desire the right things is the place to start. I have never prayed such a prayer and not seen God answer it. In my life it sounds like this. “God, give me the right desires. Help me choose the things that please you and draw me closer to you and to your ways. Give me a hunger to know your Word and spend time in study & devotion . . .” and so on. The Bible is clear about what pleases God. When we pray for those things God answers because they are undeniably his will.

2. The second step of growth in my life of personal worship was to pray that God would
make me mindful of his presence all day long. I have had times in life where I have spent a whole day, a horrible day of frustration, anger, wrong responses, failure, and at the end realized that I never once thought of God, nor cried out to him, “HELP!” I remember once in college lying on my bed at night after such a day and the words of an old song drew me back to God. “What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sin and grief to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. O what grief we often forfeit. O what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” I prayed that God would help me to be quick to say “thank you” for the blessings, and “help” for the tough stuff (and thank you as well). That God would be a part of every thought and activity. Sin becomes pretty ugly once God answers that prayer and rightfully owns every area of my life. I find that I am much quicker to identify, hate and then confess my sin. God forgives and is pleased with this type of personal worship.

3. The biggest challenge in my personal practice of worship has always been a true quiet time with God. We live in the world of multitasking. Of course multitasking with God is a wonderful thing and ought to be done all of the time. How else do we fulfill the command to “pray without ceasing?” However, spending time alone with God that is not multitasking, but deeply focused on listening to and responding to him is next to impossible. It is another opportunity to ask God to produce that desire and discipline in my life. I call this making space for God. My theory with prayer and Bible reading is “a little here and there, a lot once and while.” I have come to treasure the times where I really dig in. Slowly the amount of time and regularity of those times has increased and continues to do so. For me, this is Wednesday morning from 6:30 – 9:30 AM. It is sacred time. I read, study and blog. I call it my listening time and it is one of the highest priorities of my week because it is what keeps me centered on God and his will for my life, my family and my church.

4. Lastly, I have discovered the joy of personal worship through a job well done. Delighting in doing good work is a wonderful way to worship God who commanded us, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”(Col. 3:23-24, NIV) Once I found out what I was good at, I resolved to do it to the best of my ability as personal worship to God. I even apply this to things I’m not so good at, but am responsible to do nevertheless. Ultimately, a job well done points the spotlight, not at my work, but at my God who gave me the ability to do this work. Do you practice personal worship throughout your week? What does it look like for you? There’s no shame in an honest assessment of our personal worship practices. Once we identify where we are at, we just need to make sure we grow from there and never stop growing. Let’s encourage one another in this area. As we become better worshipers personally, we will find that we experience better worship times with the corporate body of Christ.

Bill Born