Colossians 3:11-17: 11 Here there is no
Gentile or Jew, circumcised or
uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is
all, and is in all. 12 Therefore, as
God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility,gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each
other and forgive one another if any of you has
a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all
these virtues put on love, which binds them
all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of
one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.16 Let the message
of Christ dwell among you
richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs
from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you
do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through him.
What are some of the things
that you can observe or find striking about worship in the early church?
Worship is more than a song. It is what
we were made for. The ultimate purpose of our lives.
The gathered church is God’s chosen
people, holy and dearly loved – here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or
uncircumcised, slave or free, Malaysian or African or American, male or female,
young or old. These distinctions no longer separate us because Christ is all
and is in all. So worship is not about me. Or my individual or cultural
preference? It is not what I feel when I am by myself. Worship is all about
Jesus. Therefore, we are all united in Him. The walls that divide us are broken
down as we stand equal before God. It is our response to what God has done in
loving and choosing and rescuing us. It’s about us coming together as a family to encounter Christ and be
transformed by the Spirit.
Worship is God-centered. We give to God the adoration, honor, praise and glory that
He deserves. Because He is worth it. The first letter in our SIMPLE DNA is “S:
Seek and celebrate God”. Worship is the quickening of the conscience by the
holiness of God, the feeding of the mind by the truth of God, the purging of
the imagination by the beauty of God, the opening of the heart to the love of
God, and the devotion of the will to the purpose of God. In worship we
encounter God and all that He is – His truth, love, beauty and holiness. And we
are changed by Him – all that we are, mind, will, heart and imagination
(theology and doxology, mind and heart, in spirit and in truth). It is powerful
means of teaching, modeling worship and spiritual formation. Happy songs and
lamentations…
Worship
is corporate or communal. It is not a solo performance. It’s personal but it’s not private.
We worship as a family. When we worship, we assemble as a people belonging to
Him. We are not just individuals who just happen to be in the same place at the
same time. It is more important that we are in harmony than for our music
instruments to be playing in the same key. It’s far more acceptable to have an
instrument playing off beat than our hearts spiritually out of tune with one
another. That’s why Paul stresses “forgiveness”,
“love”, “peace” and “unity”: words that can have meaning only when we relate
with other people. He also calls us to a life of “singing psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in our hearts to God.” For God
deserves the best music we can offer Him.
Our SIMPLE DNA: “By glorifying Him in
creative, contemplative, heartfelt and celebratory worship, joining the global
church through the ages”. That means when we worship, we do so in unity, in
solidarity with true worshippers from different cultures, denominations,
nations, languages across space and time. The global church is much bigger than
we think. And we want to honor that inclusive diversity. Singing is an act
of unity. Creeds, hymns connect us to the past. Bahasa songs connect us with
our context in space and culture. A church without history is like a person
without memory. Not only that, we need to be shaped by the story of God’s
people in redemptive history when we celebrate the Holy Communion and enact the
gospel.
Worship is gospel-driven
Worship is often understood narrowly as
just the “singing before the sermon.” But again, the Scripture says worship is
much broader: whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name
of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to the Father. All of life is to be an act of
worship and thanksgiving. Worship also includes our prayers, our
responsive Scripture readings, our silent reflections, our confession of
sin/guilt, our tithing, our listening to the Word preached, the Holy Communion.
Every element of a worship gathering is a tool in the hand of God to shape and
mold us in His own image. How can it be meaningful
so that even a guest will get to understand and experience the good news week
in, week out? Our worship tells a story. We want to tell the gospel by the way we worship. It’s the simple yet profound
story of creation/fall/redemption and restoration. When we practice this
pattern of adoration, repentance, assurance of forgiveness and dedicating
ourselves to God’s purpose, the gospel becomes a habit and guides us so that we
do not just drift along with the leaders’ preference, or denominational
tradition or what’s appealing to the surrounding culture. And we can see an
inside-out movement in worship where having been gathered inside to encounter
God and renewed, we are again sent outside to be salt and light in the world. The
goal of evangelism is not just to save souls from sin (that’s true, of course).
But the ultimate goal is so that people can enjoy and glorify God in fellowship
with Him forever.
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