The ones who lay still in their beds,
sitting frozen, sucked in by T.V
Who play games with the times
testing the boundaries of not doing more

Sure they walk and they speak,
but they mumble their words
and fall fast asleep

No interest in life, to explore
so young and youth has already fled
replaced with excuses, and being bored to death
you know who are, boys who think you are men

I am no exception, I have been distracted
been lazy, am far from a hard working man
much more effort to give

sweat, blood, and tears
absent in my life these past few years
Selfish, indulgent, willingly wasting my youth

There is time to regret, and more time to correct
for now that I live, awake and alert
abundant in strength, health, and things to pursuit

I have been rebuked to take hold of myself
to run not to walk, work more than I talk

And while I still have the chance
grow up, be a man.

The various misunderstandings for this paramount term are understandable. The scriptures are not written as a dictionary, and when closely examined, they offer many different contexts and inclusions for this word. The etymology for our English word, worship, came from the idea of ascribing worth, while the primary Hebrew and Greek words, “Shachah” and “Proskuneo”, mainly refer to a physical posture that demonstrates complete subordination and acknowledgment of the superior. Strong’s Lexicon gives us the following insight in the definition: “to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence”. And this is indeed the prevalent response of everyone who stands in the presence of God. For example, when God appeared to Abraham, it says, “he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth” (Gen 18:2). When God appeared to Moses on Mt. Sinai to restore the stone tablets, we read the following account, “The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord” After God finished speaking, “Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship” (Ex 34:6,8). When the Magi came to worship Christ, they responded in the following manner, “After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him” (Matt 2:11). Even more, according to the scriptures, when an unbeliever becomes aware of the presence of God, he should have the same response (1Cor.14:24-25).

It becomes evident in these accounts, and many more like them, that anyone who truly comes into contact with the living God responds in worship and is accompanied by a certain posture. And to bow oneself completely to the ground is indeed a right response to an infinitely holy God. However, does this mean that our worship services should be done in a prostrated manner with our faces to the ground? At least that would be a better response to God than a flippant service, where singing and speaking of God is a casual event. But where do we turn to find directions for how we are to worship our God? What does He require? Have we gotten it wrong all along?

At this point, it would be helpful for us to turn to John chapter 4, where we witness a vital conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. In this conversation, Jesus gives us a glimpse of the kind of worship the Father is looking for in the New Testament era.

John 4:21-24, Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Wow! What a change in events! Christ announced that worship is no longer about location and posture, but rather of spirit and truth. This is truly a turn of events for the Jews and Samaritans who believed that God is to be worshiped in the temple through various postures, offerings and ceremonies. But when Christ affirmed that true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, what did He mean, and why those two qualities?

Worship in Spirit

To worship in spirit is not necessarily referring to the Holy Spirit, since Christ said that the hour now is, and yet the Holy Spirit had not yet descended. The best conclusion for what Christ had in mind is that true worship takes place on the inside. Worship happens in a non-physical realm, it takes place in the spirit of a man, rather than on a certain mountain. This inner worship is to consume the entirety of the inner man, it is to overcome all that he is in the totality of his being, and put him in a place of complete subordination and acknowledgment of the superior. Understanding that the inner being is a composite of the mind, affections and the will, worship in the spirit is, therefore, to have every inner faculty engaged.

Worship in Truth

Secondly, this response to God is not something ambiguous, detached or mystical, but something concrete, personal and objective. It is so, because it is based on the objective truth of God’s self-revelation. When God reveals Himself to His creation, every bit of His revelation is obligatory and demands a response. For example, when God reveals to us that He is a Holy God and a God of justice, the sinful creature is to respond in terror seeking salvation and forgiveness. When God reveals that He is a God of grace and mercy, and that He has sent His Son as a deliverance from His wrath and punishment, the creature is to respond with much joy and gratitude. When God reveals that He is Lord and Master, the creature is to respond in full submission and obedience. This then becomes the pattern of authentic worship—God reveals himself through objective truth and man appropriately responds.

“Worship is an act of the creature, toward God, the Creator, whereby the will, intellect and affections properly respond to the revelation of God’s nature and the redemptive work of Christ as the Spirit reveals through the scriptures.”

Finally, it’s important to note that this rhythm of worship is not natural to the fallen, sinful creature. It never will be, and while in the flesh it will take every means of grace for the redeemed to worship their God. For this purpose, God has designed that the church would be a means of receiving and distributing His grace. We have preaching to instruct our minds, we have shepherding to help our wills come under the subordination of God’s lordship and we have the grace of corporate worship, when our affections are trained to respond appropriately to God’s self-disclosure.

Feel free to post your thoughts on this matter, and join us on Sunday night for the second part when we address how exactly corporate worship is to be a blessing to the church.

If you were an enemy of the Church and was committed to its destruction, how would you go about it? If you were to bring it down, would it not be an advantage to carry out this mission quietly? How about allowing it to exist, and even flourish, but changing its goals, methods and identity? Wouldn’t the goal be accomplished if a church hardly resembled what it was intended to be, yet falsely thought that it was a model of Christ’s Church? Would it not be ideal if the church was swallowed by the surrounding world, but continued to think that the world had been absorbed into the church? Unfortunately, the enemy has been effective.

There is a new type of church quickly taking roots in our day. It is the church that is tailored to the demand of the consumer. Since the consumers are becoming less and less interested in the original church invented by Christ, the new church adapts to their taste. This mutated church gives the new generation a balanced combination of the world and the church. It gives them what they want from the world and the peace of mind that comes from Christ. This is the theft of church identity.

It is striking how one can claim to be a follower of Christ, yet misunderstand His plan for His disciples. Jesus prays to His Father, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17)

An article that will help you understand the phenomenon of the “Hipster Church” can be found here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/september/9.24.html?start=1

In the next couple of posts, my intent is to zero in from a general tendency in the church landscape to a more specific expression of this problem. There is a group of churches that prefer to cover up their flirting with the world by a highly evangelical term. They are the “Missional Church”.

Before we come back to briefly summarize the errors of this movement, it would help if you listened to two messages that seek to explain it. Much more should be said than what can fit into our format here.

Please listen to Jesse Johnson as he helps us understand the theological errors behind the “Missional Church”. This is a recording from Shepherd’s Conference 2011: http://www.shepherdsconference.org/media/details/?mediaID=5989

This is a recording of the sermon I preached to “Upstream Youth Ministry” to help us deal with the “New Church”, covering not only theology but also their philosophy and methods of ministry. …

When we come back we will seek to identify the deviations that the “Missional Church” allows from the teaching of the Bible on church, and understand the consequences that follow these errors.

As Christians we need to cultivate a biblical response to our local church. This response is expressed in informed intelligent understanding and attitudes toward church: doctrine, leadership, philosophy, people, and development. To truly build up the Church of Christ we must be fully committed to a local church.

To listen or to download the sermon click on the link below:
Commitment to Word of Grace Bible Church

This short list of resources will hopefully provide with more opportunity to reflect deeper concerning the significance of Easter in your life. Just keep in mind, these resources are not the goal! They are rather a means to goal! The goal is to be amazed with our God as we consider what the Gospel is. Worship, not just knowledge is the purpose behind using these resources.

Resurrection Appearances in Scripture

The Death of Jesus from Medical Perspective

Scripture:
Here is a very helpful day-by-day chronological reading of what happened during Jesus final week before the crucifixion:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/category/holy-week/

Sermon Series:
John MacArthur in this 3 part study details Luke’s account of the resurrection:

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermon+Series/308_The-Empty-Tomb

Articles:
In vintage Piper, he shows us the amazing consequences of the resurrection:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/let-these-results-of-the-resurrection-of-jesus-revive-your-passion-for-his-supremacy-over-all-things

If you want to see visually with a graph or pictures who, where, and what happened go here:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/04/18/the-who-what-and-where-of-holy-week-a-visualization/

In this article you’ll see the crucifixion explained from a medical perspective: (attached)

This article chronicles for us how, where, to whom Jesus appeared after His resurrection: (attached)

Music:
Here are two awesome albums specifically devoted to the Easter theme from Sovereign Grace:

Risen:
http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=M4055-00-21

Cross Centered Life:
http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=M4300-00-21

Books:
Tim Challies offers some of the best council on books that will enhance your worship during Easter Sunday and after:
http://www.challies.com/resources/5-books-to-read-before-easter#more

Just keep in mind, these resources are not the goal! They are rather a means to goal! The goal is to be amazed with our God as we consider what the Gospel is. Worship, not just knowledge is the purpose behind using these resources.

If you have some things that particularly help you focus during this week feel free to share!

The intent of the sermon addressing music was not to deal with the subject comprehensively, a topic like this deserves the whole camp to be devoted to it, and even then we would only be scratching the surface. There is a reason why music has been a highly controversial area for Christians, even to the point of splitting many churches. We must therefore admit that it is a very complicated phenomenon presented to any believer. Conversely, the goal of the sermon was to prompt every believer to approach this sphere of life with full sincerity, seeking the will of God earnestly to listen to music that would serve to honor their Lord while establishing their soul. But it must be noted, that by-in-large, and perhaps unfortunately, this battle requires to be fought primarily in the heart of each believer. The church will not be creating lists of which artists are allowed and which ones are not. These lists must be created by all earnest Christians, as they seek to apply the objective principles of God’s word to every sphere of life.

When we speak of being upstream, we must understand that “upstream” is not a goal in and of itself. It is a means to our goal. Therefore, when it comes to music, merely selecting music that is contrary to our culture is not the purpose. The objective is a pursuit for music that could enrich our Christianity, uplift our souls and become a means of receiving grace, for the edification of our souls.

With all that said, I must also admit that I’m not very up-to-date with many contemporary groups, and rarely do I listen to Christian radio; therefore, you might be able to get a much better list from many other fellow Christians who understand and love good music. Nevertheless, since it was promised, I would like to present a brief starting list of artists who have blessed my soul through their music ministry.

As a brief preamble, I am compelled to add a few disclaimers. I don’t know everything about these artists, in fact, most of them I know very little about. Nor am I saying that I’m highly recommending all of their music, but rather that they have in their repertoire a good amount of helpful music. I’m not indicating that all of their music is equally good, some of them I like more because of the lyrics, others because of the quality of music. And finally, this list is not in any particular order, I appreciate many of them to the same extent.

1. Keith & Kristyn Getty (www.gettymusic.com)
2. Steve Green
3. Dan Goeller
4. Philip Webb
5. Aaron Minick
6. Jazz Meets Hymns (Juju song)
7. Jubilant Sykes
8. Fernando Ortega
9. Jadon Lavik
10. Chris Rice
11. The Gaither Band
12. Metro Life
13. Sovereign Grace Music (http://sovereigngracemusic.org)
14. Jason Gray
15. Casting Crowns
16. Indelible Grace Music
17. Sojourn Music

I hope that in the future, as I am exposed to other helpful artists, we can have more options posted so that you will have some direction when purchasing music either for yourself or for someone else. Feel free to email any recommendations to music@slovo.org.

We see quite the contrary in Romans 8:18-27, following Christ is joining His suffering as His spirit is in conflict with the world. The earth is under a curse by God Himself as a result of our sin; the believer is tormented by the desires of the flesh – this is hardly a life to enjoy.

However, all of difficulties are insignificant in comparison to the glory that is going to be revealed. All of the creation and the believers are eagerly anticipating the freedom from sin as the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of the pending glory.

So is this earth something to enjoy? Hardly. Maranatha!

- Download Sermon –

The world we live in is rather hostile to what the Bible calls “the way of life.” Its philosophy of self-worship, its never ending pursuits of pleasure, and its constant rebellion against the God of the Bible is producing a generation of people void of the knowledge of truth. The results of this are catastrophic, “although they knew the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Rom 1:32); Upstream Youth ministry is about opposing this kind of influence.

As those committed to Biblical Christianity, we don’t want to be defined by the worldview of this world. We live under a different set of principles and convictions. We want the prayer of our Master recorded in John 17:14-17 to define us, “to be in this world, but not of it.” Upstream is focused on helping young people establish and apply biblical convictions. To this end, we teach, shepherd and pray.

Upstream Youth Ministry is a group of young people from Word of Grace Bible Church. We are a large group stretching from middle school students to young adults. You can find out more about us in the home groups section. WGBC is a Bible-believing church, whose aim is to have the Bible define what we believe and how we live. This is carefully explained in our Doctrinal Statement. If you want to learn more about us and our church go here.

In our next posting, we’re going to tell you more about our history.