Intimacy in worship: a healthy engagement of our hearts and minds

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Green Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

This week we have been thinking about the values of intimacy and integrity in worship.  And, as always, I find that  it raises further questions for me.

Firstly how do we engage our hearts and our minds so that we open ourselves towards the Lord in an authentic way that is not just about having “an emotional experience” or simply “making sure we have all the right liturgical elements in place” so that  a good job is done of worship in a theological sense.  How do we engage heart and mind in worship?

In our context we have people from so many different backgrounds. People who love liturgy and engaging their minds in worship and those who love the freedom to sing song after song. We also have those who can’t read and therefore any songs that don’t have repetition are difficult for them to enter into.  So what do you do as a worship leaders with these tensions? How do you draw such an eclectic group into worshiping God?

As I was thinking about this tension,  I was reminded of my times going to see a rugby or football (soccer to others!) match when I was a teenager. In these contexts people came from all walks of life, educational backgrounds, life experience but with one goal, to engage fully in a sports event. The people at these events, weren’t simply engaged in talking about the technical expertise of the players – although that came into play – but there was a sense of people fully engaging who they are, sometimes almost involuntarily without really thinking of it. As I attended some of these venues,  I have heard powerful transcendent singing – so akin to worship that you would think you were at a huge worship event!  People’s arms in the air, people swaying, people singing with all their heart and soul – completely abandoning themselves to the energy and experience of the environment.  So if we – as humans from all walks of life and different experiences – have the capacity to do this at a sports event, how do we translate this into engaging our hearts and minds for worship of the Creator? How do we create an environment that will call all of us into worshiping God with all that we are?

For me obviously the essential difference between singing your soul out at a rugby match and worshiping God, is that we are worshiping a living being and a mysterious being at that. We worship someone we can never fully know and who we don’t fully understand.  As we enter into worship, as we enter into faith, there is a need to trust what we do know and also to embrace the recognition that we are part of a much larger narrative and worshiping history. And this is a good thing.

I believe that as we allow our minds to fully engage with these truths, we can allow our hearts to be fully engaged too. Because worship of the Lord is about engaging all of who we are, all of our senses. It’s not emotionalism versus intellectualism, but really a healthy involvement of our body, soul, spirit and our emotions.

If we make worship primarily an intellectual experience it is much too limiting and if we make it simply an emotional experience, we deny the engagement of our whole beings in worship – and God wants all of who we are. The more we worship with our whole beings focused on God, the more we are able to enter into an intimacy, authenticity and integrity in worship of the Living God. This in itself is a mystery we can’t fully unpack

There is something we can learn from the experience of those who fully engage themselves at a sports event (even if it is times it seems to be a combination of the good the bad and the ugly!). It shows us that we are made to gather and worship together and that there is something powerful that happens when we are in a place/space with a single minded goal.  To somewhat paraphrase what Brian Doerksen said in an article  entitled “Intimacy in worship” (from the magazine Inside worship), ..”intimacy is living our whole lives in the presence of God… versus living our lives to other gods”.

If we don’t consciously desire to engage our lives in full worship surrender to God time and time again, there will be other things that end up distracting us, possibly becoming idolatrous in our lives.  As Dan Wilt talked about in an article entitled “How to lead worship” (taken from Inside Worship), he believed that as worship leaders (and I believe as people who worship), our most powerful instrument is our lives, not how well we play an instrument or how loud we can sing but how we live and who we live for.

The sports analogy breaks down at different points but for me it is a reminder of what can happen as we engage all that we are consistently and allow ourselves to experience the interaction that we can have with the living God, both intellectually and emotionally.

Thank you.

week 5: a final reflection

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

This week I was working on a project as Essentials Red wrapped up. My project had to do with communion and involved art and words and poems. I was drawn to focus on the communion cup and what it symbolized and represented. I found that I was particularly drawn to the cup of blood that it represented.

If you are interested in the process of my creative project, please click on this link.

As part of my project, I wrote a simple poem and then finished with a prayer.

Communion Cup

From death to life
From despair to hope
One life laid down
In a communion cup

One life for all
One life for love
Uniting, binding
In a communion cup

Time passes on
Seasons come and go
Unchanging truth
In a communion cup

Prayer
Lord, help us to remember the eternal, saving truth of your body broken and your blood shed – for us.
That in the mystery of remembering, we again may enter into that sacred place of receiving together, your love, forgiveness, healing and redemption.
That together, we may enter Your story, Your life, Your hope
This hope that we now have.
Amen

Today, some of us just happened to be reading John 6:53-56, and I was struck by the words that Jesus spoke about drinking his blood and eating his flesh – For those Jews who heard this, it must have sounded preposterous. And in fact in Mark’s gospel we read that many of his followers stopped following him because these words were just too hard for them to hear, receive and understand. I wonder if we would have been much different….

In a very real way communion is a time when we are reminded of our need for Jesus – our need for his very flesh on our bones, his very heart in our body. We are also reminded of our need for resurrection, our need for His strength, His power, His way in our lives. Him. It’s Him we need.

Here is Jesus in John 6: 53-56
“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

Week 4: movies, music and mourning

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

We don’t often think of movies as art, unless of course they are particularly promoted as an artsy movie or we’ve heard the cinematography is great. We tend to think of movies more as entertainment and whether they make us laugh (or cry in fear!), rather than the particular artist expression that they create.

Just yesterday, a friend and I were visiting a lady whose brother had just died 2 weeks back. She was obviously very sad and although she is part of a large family, she had been particularly close to this brother.

Over the years, I had heard many stories of the ways she had cared for her brother when we was not doing well, when he was oppressed or being pushed around by people or when he was back drinking and things were chaotic again. As we talked, and she shared her tears and sadness mixed in with times of laughter and fond remembering, we found out things about her brother that we had never known.

Her brother had been a talented musician – self taught. She told me how he ordered a video off the TV, some 30+ years ago and taught himself the guitar. She showed me the memorial programme which one of her family members had put together. It was a beautiful work of art. It was in colour with photos of her brother’s guitars and photos of mountain bikes (which had been another love of her brothers in his youth). There were also poems on the back of the programme that had been written by family members.

As we visited together, the only thing that had been giving her any sense of comfort was this music DVD called The Last Waltz. It’s a kind of documentary film by Martin Scorsese, journeying with a band as they go from city to city. The band in the movie, are aptly called “The Band”, who I had never heard of until yesterday. I didn’t make the connection until later but in a very real sense watching this DVD was a way she was connecting with her brother in his love of music.

I only saw maybe 20 minutes of the DVD but I was struck by how beautifully filmed it was, even back in 1978. I also really enjoyed not only the skill of the musicians but also the window into their world, thoughts and the nuances of their individual characters.

It was so poignant for her to be sharing this with us. At times she would introduce things she loved about the band and the different musicians. She kept repeating that the lead singer Robbie Robertson was native. And she was obviously proud of this fact. It also gave her great comfort to have us watch something with her that she loved.

Sometimes those who mourn can be some of the most marginalized people in our society. They are often left to grieve alone. This can in part be because we think that’s what those who mourn need: space. We don’t do very well with people who are in the depths of intense emotion. Our natural response is to move away because we feel helpless or we begin to feel pain too. Sometimes, I think it is because we are are afraid of those who grieve and we don’t know what to say, so it is easier to avoid them.

What our friend needed the most was our tangible presence and room to share something she loved with us. To share both time and space. She longed for us to be present to her and the stories she had to share about the band, herself, her brother.

The other wonderful thing about our time together, was that I was introduced to something I would never have known about; she was able to share her particular love of art and music with me, and it was an intimate and privileged experienced.

I left having sensed a lot of the Lord’s presence with us and also wishing we could have stayed longer to watch the whole movie!

Week 3: Sacred Meal Times

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Nathan Roussou offered up a really good comment this week in his post on sacraments in today’s Christian arena. He said, “sacraments need to remain acts that communicate in a language that can be commonly and easily understood“. And this got me thinking….

It helped me remember some baptisms I have attended or been part of, in the past. Some of the people in these contexts were watching family members or friends get baptized. As some of them watched, a light seemed to go on for them and they actually finally got the Kingdom message. This wasn’t something that happened as a one off – this happened at more than one baptism! It was because they had “seen and experienced” something that helped them “get the truth” – the message had become commonly and easily understood through the symbolism (with the help of the Holy Spirit of course!). There have been a few times when what started out as one or two people getting baptized turned into the whole family receiving Jesus and choosing to be baptized!

Nathan’s comment also reminded me of how eating together can be a sacrament.

In our congregations’ experience, we eat a meal as we begin our service. I have found that eating together has become a sacred, worshipful thing. It has actually been a way I have found that Christ is brought into the meal and as a result, conversations can go quite deep.

In our context, we actually refer to our meal times together on a Sunday as the beginning of our worship time. There has been a deep richness, knowing and sharing that has happened over the years and it has become a highlight for many of us.

The wonderful thing is that eating together has extended far beyond Sunday gatherings. We are known as the congregation who like to eat – and I am not talking about getting pizza and pop – a lot of what we do is home cooked.

When we “hang out together” food is often a part of that communion. Over time people have understood that sharing a meal is more than “just eating”. With regularity, eating together has actually become quite sacramental.

week 2 – reflections on praying together

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

To pray or not to pray that is the question!

Now, as followers of Christ we all pray somewhat regularly don’t we? And not just the desperate “I need a parking space right now” prayer, but a life that is focused on prayer…

Prayer connects us with God. It is the spiritual in and out breath that allows the Holy Spirit to come closer. If we don’t pray, we feel disconnected from God kind of like the disconnection we can feel if we haven’t talked to a close friend or our spouse for a while.

One of the guys in our Essentials Red group talked about prayer being easier in a group because there is a common purpose, there is a sense of unity and encouragement as you pray together. And yet have you ever tried to get people together to pray with any regularity??

My experience is so mixed in this regard. On the one hand we have had prayer times where the first few times, lots of people came enthusiastically! They enjoyed the time but then after a while, just a remnant would come. People were too busy with the other things of life.

Then, on the other hand I’ve known quite the opposite to happen. There have been a couple of people meeting to pray – kind of on the down low, under the radar as it were. And there are rumours that it might be going on, but no one knows for sure. And others are finding out and turning up, to join them!! We live in an interesting world and an interesting time.

Through it all, I know that “we” must pray. “We” need to pray. It is our life line and yet it is hard for us to find time to pray together – corporately – right?

For some, I think it is because prayer has become a very personal thing with God and they haven’t experienced much corporate prayer and it feels uncomfortable or awkward. For others, sometimes they get bogged down with the the thought that prayer doesn’t really feel like you’re “doing” much. It’s just seems like a lot of talk but “doing” something where you can see the outcome, has a higher value.

Prayer is mysterious. Mother Theresa prayed a lot. I can’t remember how many hours she prayed daily, but I think it was something like 4 hours every day. She prayed on her own and corporately with her sisters of charity nuns. Now, I know you’re thinking “well she was a nun and nuns pray”. But if you have ever read anything she’s written or heard any of her interviews, it’s so obvious that her life’s work with her nuns, was so steeped in prayer. How could she have kept going without prayer? How can we expect to keep going if we don’t pray?…..

When we reflect on the Jews in the Old Testament and the followers of Christ in the 1st century, we see deep, faithful rhythms of corporate prayer. It was so much part of their lives, it was as natural as breathing and as common as eating.

Now,we all need to eat. And we often eat our meals with others. Even if we live alone, there is often some time in the week when we eat a meal or have a coffee with another person. So we all have the opportunity to pray with one other person. I have much to learn about prayer. I pray a fair amount. But I recognize that I can go deeper. I want to cultivate a deeper prayer life not just in a contemplative sense but in a corporate sense, so that prayer becomes as natural as breathing. So that God is really involved in all of our day and not just at the beginning or at the end.

Week 1 – Time, Space and Sabbath Rest

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Thinking about time and space more intentionally this week has reminded me once again about the importance of keeping sabbath. My friend Lance talked about idolatry this week and how in the west we tend to often equate it with materialism but he really reminded us that idolatry is when we put anything before God, where we make anything more important that God. Anything! This is much more challenging than we think.

Consider for example what we do on the day we set aside as our sabbath. How much of us actually take a sabbath really! We may go to church on our sabbath day – a day unto the Lord – but what are we doing with the rest of our time? Maybe this is a bit of a stretch as I think about time and space but this understanding of sabbath has maybe somehow been lost in our culture in some way. Stores are open on Sunday, we do much to busy ourselves in the way of planning for the rest of the week on our sabbath. How many of us check email on Sunday?

Is God really Lord of our time? Lord of the sabbath? And especially if we are working for the church in some sort of serving capacity or pastoral capacities – are we really getting sabbath rest? What does it mean to have Sabbath rest, really?

I have been trying to have Saturday as my sabbath these days – trying to remember that God is Lord over time. Lord over space and time. This is hard for me as a pastor. I always feel that there is so much to do and that I need to make things happen but actually I know God must be the centre. He meant something when he said “remember the sabbath and keep it holy” (Exodus 20). He said this because he knew that we would forget and that we would have a tendency to try to be self reliant. Remembering why we do things is really important as we live as followers of Christ. And therefore having time to reflect on why we do things is equally important.

When I think about time and space, I have a lot to learn from the ancients and the early church about how they used time and space. In particular, how they had rhythms of prayer and rhythms of life that they had followed as Jews, for thousands of years. This kept them centred on who was most important. This kept them centred on who was their strength, their source.

I want to learn more about time and space, especially as it relates to Sabbath. And in the meantime, maybe I should re-read some wonderful books on the subject that helped me a few years ago when I was giving this subject a great deal of thought:Keeping the Sabbath Wholly by Marva Dawn and The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan.

Ash Wednesday 2009 Liturgy

Introduction:

The practice of Ash Wednesday and Lent originated in the 4^th century and it is the beginning of 40 days of lent. Sundays are not usually included but can be times to break the fast, times of celebration. Traditionally it has been a time of fasting and/or sacrifice, prayer and almsgiving (time/money to the poor and those in need).

Lent is an occasion when Christians through the ages have taken time to experience their part in the Passion (suffering) of Jesus. It is also a way historically, that as followers of Christ we imitate Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness as He prepared for ministry by facing temptation.

As people, we are often more comfortable with the joy and celebration of Easter than with the darkness that goes before it. However, I believe that as we choose to enter into the season of Lent, we will find a unique way to once again face our humanity and realise that sin still dwells in us, that we still carry darkness and that Christ can meet us in those places. It also gives us an opportunity to remember and to be reflective on the dark before the dawn, the sin that sent Jesus to the cross. So as we choose to practice lent, we will actually increase our appreciation of Easter and the miracle of what Jesus has done and the season of Easter will take on more significance for us.

As a way to get ready for Lent (usually before we get to Ash Wednesday), a good place to start is to ask ourselves some questions to help us prepare our hearts.

Begin by thinking about what could be sacrificed that will cause us to remember our need for God or increase our desire for God. What can we give up to experience what lack is like?

This is why ‘fasting’ from something is a helpful practice because as we miss that ‘thing’ that we enjoy, we our reminded of our reason for giving it up and drawn once again to our need for God and our reliance on God’s mercy.

What does God want us to experience this year? What does God want to say to us? Lent is a great time to focus more intentionally on these things.

Preparation will require slowing down and spending some time listening to our hearts and to the Holy Spirit.

One friend of mine chose to “take on” something for the season of Lent. She spent every day of Lent getting up early and watching for the sun. She experienced an appreciation of nature and the gift of a new day that she has never forgotten. Others of us have chosen to give up something like coffee, chocolate or taken to riding the bus for a month instead of driving the car!

Whatever you choose to give up or choose to take on, remember what it is about and may you be blessed as you meet God in those places.

Here is a liturgical service I have put together for Ash Wednesday as a way to start the season of Lent together. Some of the prayers have been used with kind permission of the Iona Community and Grandview Calvary Baptist. Here is the service leader’s copy Ash Wednesday 2009 Leader and here is the copy you can print off for participants Ash Wednesday 2009 Participants

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Creative Project: Approaching Lent

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Creative Project

This will not really be a synthesis of all that we have learnt but is really a response to an aspect of what I have learnt. I have chosen to write a litrugy that we will use in our congregation to begin the season of Lent. I did have  some problem formatting it here to read properly, so the lay out and spacing is not as I planned. When I have more time, I will aim to fix the html so that it reads with the correct pauses and breaks.

The project is currently unfinished and  I have called the completed part, Part 1.  I plan to continue and  finish Part 2 when I have more time next week. But for now this is what I can present for this creative project.

Here is an introduction to Lent and to the Ash Wednesday liturgy. If you know all about Ash Wednesday or are not interested in reading about the context for the Liturgy, them skip to Part 1.

Introduction:

In about 10 days Lent begins. Over the past couple of years in our congregation, we have been learning to focus an aspect of our worship times together during the season of lent.

Shrove Tuesday or pancake Tuesday as it is often known, is the day before Lent begins. Historically it has become a time of celebration and feasting before the time of fasting and repentance that begins Lent the following day on Ash Wednesday. This year I have invited our congregation to come for an hour and participate in an Ash Wednesday reflection on February 25^th.

The practice of Ash Wednesday and Lent originated in the 4^th century and it is the beginning of 40 days of lent (Sundays are not usually included but can be times to break the fast, times of celebration).Lent is a time when Christians through the ages have taken time to experience their part in the Passion (suffering) of Jesus.  It has also been away that followers of Christ have entered into the time when Jesus withdrew into the wilderness and fasted, prayed and was tempted, as preparation for his ministry.

I think that many of us in the Vineyard will not have grown up with much of a Lent tradition and as people, we are often more comfortable with the joy and celebration of Easter than with the darkness that goes before it.

However, I believe that as we choose to enter into the season of Lent we will find a unique way to once again face our humanity and realise that sin still dwells in us, that we still carry darkness.  It also gives us an opportunity to remember the dark before the dawn, the sin that sent Jesus to the cross. As we choose to practice lent, we will actually increase our appreciation of Easter and the miracle of what Jesus has done and I believe the celebration of Easter will take on a deeper, richer significance for us.

As a way to prepare for Lent,  a good place to start  is to ask questions as  a way to prepare our hearts. We can begin by thinking about what could we sacrifice that will cause us to remember our need for God?  Or What could we give up to experience what lack is like? What does God want us to experience this year or what does God want to say to us? Preparation will require slowing down and spending some time listening to our hearts and to the Holy Spirit.

One friend of mine chose to “take on” something for the season of Lent. She spent every day of Lent getting up early and watching for the sun. She experienced an appreciation of nature and the gift of a new day that she has never forgotten. Others of us have chosen to give up something like coffee, chocolate or taken to riding the bus for a month!

There are some wonderful resources out there that I have pooled from in the past few years. Here are a couple of ideas: http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/ and a great little book that I discovered called Eggs and Ashes by Ruth Burgess, Chris Polhill from the Iona community.

So here is the the project:

Part 1:

Ash Wednesday Liturgy (7-8pm)

A Candle is lit

The call to worship

Leader:

Christ who is above all before all around all

Be in the midst this season of Lent

ALL:

Christ our peace we welcome you

Christ our hope we welcome you

Christ our light we welcome you

Sung worship: Here I am to worship by Tim Hughes

From dust we came[1]

Leader: From dust we came, to dust we will return

ALL: We belong to God

Leader: We gather in repentance we gather in confidence

ALL: We belong to God

Leader: At the beginning of Lent at every moment of our lives

ALL: We belong to God

A call to return to God

Leader: Creator

With your breathe

You spoke things into life

Leader: LIGHT!

ALL: And the sun broke the darkness

Leader: SEPARATE!

ALL: And earth, sky and sea took shape

Leader: PLANTS!

ALL:  colours, greens, leaves, berries formed!

Leader: IMAGE!

You made us in your image!

Your image:

All: as community

Leader: Your image:

All: as diversity

Leader: Your image:

All: as creativity

Leader: Your image:

All: as image bearers

Leader: Our God! The creative genius!

Leader: We want to turn to you again

Leader: We have become too busy

We want to turn back

To appreciate what you have made:

Your earth & sky

Nature

One another

Male and female

All: made in your image

Leader: Young and Old

All: made in your image

Leader: Rich and Poor

All: made in your image

Leader: Sick and well

All: made in your image

Leader: Disfigured

All: made in your image

Leader: Broken

All: made in your image

Leader: Lost

All: made in your image

Leader: We want to turn to you again

We have become too self interested

We want to turn back

Leader: Forgive us for

All: taking advantage of your world

Leader: Forgive us for

All: Using up its resources without thinking of the cost

Leader: Forgive us for

All: Not taking time to appreciate what you have made

Leader: Turn our hearts. Restore them

ALL: to worship once again

Restore our hearts

All: to creativity

Restore our hearts

All: to care for your earth, your people, your poor

Old Testament reading: Psalm 51

Prayers of confession & forgiveness [2]

Leader: Father in this season of Lent, we confess our sins against you…..(open prayer)

Leader: From these sins and those that have gone unspoken—-

ALL: Forgive us and show us your mercy

Leader: We confess our sins against each other…..(open prayer)

Leader: From these sins and those that have gone unspoken—-

ALL: Forgive us and show us your mercy

Leader: We confess our sins against creation…..(prayer)

Leader: From these sins and those that have gone unspoken—-

ALL: Forgive us and show us your mercy

Leader: There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

ALL: We are free to go and sin no more

———————-

Part 2

A TIME FOR CHANGE – drawing closer to God

1. THANKSGIVING  -
2. TURNING FROM –
3. TURNING TO –

SUNG WORSHIP

New Testament reading: Matthew 5:1-12

Communion

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[1] Adapted from “Eggs and Ashes” by Ruth Burgess, Chris Polhill. Pg. 24

[2] From “A liturgy for the season of lent” by Grandview Calvary Baptist church

Week 4 Thoughts: The Biblical Story in 5 Acts

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

NT Wright, in a number of his books [1],  suggests that the story of scripture is like a 5 act play. I think this is helpful when we are thinking of worldview and how we “see” things and interpret them. The 5 Acts read something like this: Act 1 centres on creation, Act 2 is about rebellion, Act 3 is the story of Israel, Act 4 is all about Jesus and Act 5 is the story of the Church. Act 5 is the current Act, the one we are participating in. It is where we join this great story.

Here is my interpretation of each of the Acts.

Creation is the story of our loving triune God who made us in His image for relationship. We were designed for community because our God is all about community. Everything was in perfect order and union: God with us, us with one another, us with the earth.
But our God gave us choice, free will to choose Him!
And we broke the covenant by choosing our own way, by choosing a way marked out by independence and individualism, by selfishness and disobedience.

Sin, brokenness, pain and suffering entered our world and entered the story.

And then came the story of Israel and Gods relentless love for his wayward people.
It is essentially a love story. It is a picture of our Gods patient endurance and long suffering frustration over a rebellious people and yet it is the story of a love that never dies and a pursuit that never stops! The story of Hosea in the Old Testament is for me a picture of this enduring and costly love. It is ultimately the story of Gods longing for a reconciled people and a restored relationship.

After a long wait, enter Jesus! The much needed hero! The King who restores and sets free in a different way, in an unexpected way. Not as a magnificent war hero, who blasts his way in to recue his people! But instead – to paraphrase a verse in Philippians chapter 2 – our God, becomes a human servant. The King of the universe becomes the living sacrifice. Our God sacrifices himself for us so that we would be able to grasp the full impact of his love and the cost he was willing to pay to get us back. This made a way for us to have a healed and reconciled relationship with the God of the universe, with one another and with the earth!

Jesus showed us a way that the Kingdom of God was present, near and active. He showed us a way that we too could participate in being bearers and bringers of this Kingdom, the salvific story tellers. And not just tellers of the story but participators in the story, not just dialoguing about its possibilities but living its possibilities! Living a Kingdom way, fueled by the transforming power and presence of the Holy Spirit and lives surrendered to Christ, our servant King.

We enter the 5th Act! This is that Act that we are all now in. This is the story of the church, the bride of Christ. It is the story of a people living out the Kingdom message by doing the words and works of Jesus. We are to be a people who love our God and the other radically [2] by obeying what he has commanded and inviting others to join the story [3]. Together, we anticipate Christ’s return and the entrance of a new heaven and earth that will be in complete harmony – the completion of the order of things as God intended.

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[1] The Last Word, The New Testament and the People of God, Scripture and the Authority of God
[2] Luke 10:27
[3] Matthew 28:18-20

Week 3 – Thoughts: Dialogue as a part of faith

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

The line that Dan Wilt talked about in the third week of this worship essentials course has really got me thinking. I keep coming back to it in my mind and thinking about how I can see it being applied. What arenas? What conversations? With who and how?

So here it is “We are creative influencers, leaders and worship leaders who are called not to carry on a monologue with the world telling them all that they are not, but to carry on a dialogue with the world calling people to what they were made to be”.

Ah – so sweet to the ears and we know it’s right but how do we put it into practice?

And that is the wonderful challenge.

I tend to be a person, who for all intents and purposes, sees glimpses of the Gods Kingdom sprouting up in lots of places. I have a positive outlook on life – I am not always looking and seeing where things are NOT but constantly, unceasingly asking where Gods Kingdom is expressing itself. And I think because this is a deep desire of my heart, I get to see it!!  I haven’t always been like that. My family, my father in particular, thought I was a bit of a pessimist (teenage angst perhaps..) but I would always correct him and say that I was a realist, that I saw things as they really were – not always good not always bad. So what has happened? How has this realist been able to see God at work in the mundane in the ordinary? I actually think I am still a realist but and it is a BIG BUT,  I think it has a lot to do with what Dan talked about…. this idea of calling people to what they were made to be – this wonderful thing we call “dialogue”, I am able to see where the Kingdom is coming when I dialogue with people!

You know so any people out there are hungry for something real and they do not want to be “talked at” (we find it hard to”really” listen to one another – we have often already formed an answer to someone before they have even finished what it is they are saying!) but they want to be engaged in a dialogue where they are listened to, where someone cares about them and what they thin, someone who is interested in  their spirituality, their sense of personhood. You know when we stop to listen, people actually want to know what we have to say, it actually provokes more questioning!

I think  you  (whoever the “you” out there is) would be so surprised at how many people welcome prayer and I am talking about non-Christians here. People just need to be given the opportunity for this kind of dialogue with their Creator, they just need to have the invitation, they just need someone to listen to them, the way God listens.

I love dialogue – I love hearing what people are thinking, how they are thinking. I often learn things if I stop to listen…..dialogue….an important part of the process of faith. An important part of learning, of growing, of risking, of changing, of being real. Thank God for dialogue and the opportunities it creates for Jesus to be talked about.