There's no 'I' in worship . . .oh crap!

Biblically, worship is about responding in the right way to God.

In such a self-centred world, where self-fulfilment and self-satisfaction drive our activities and determine our responses. We need to remember that worship is primarily about God.

If we are not careful, worship becomes about us.

"I didn't feel it tonight"

"I didn't get anything out of worship today"

Now of course worship involves me - I'm a participant - but it's not about me or for me.

There are 3 main biblical reasons for worship (and they are ALL God-focused)_

Love you X

Understanding Worship

We all do it (in one form or another).

Sometimes we enjoy it. Sometimes we don't.

Sometimes we feel like it. Sometimes we don't.

So why bother?

Worship is a topic that always starts a debate, violent attack or divide of a church. Worship is an individuals time with God. We all have our preferences, our opinion on the right or wrong way to worship.

'Worship wars' start when my idea of worship isn't the same as someone else in the congregation.

Is this what it's all about?

If the focus is on how we worship then maybe we've missed the point. Maybe we need to look at what worship is, or why we do it.

Love you X

Theories of atonement

This would probably be better titled 'angles of atonement', as christians thoughts on the cross have come from many different perspectives and we (as humans) will never fully understand what Christ did for us.

Here are 3 angles (that carry some truth) . . .

1# The cosmic angle_ on the cross Jesus defeated satan. An early church metaphor phrases it this way. 'Jesus was the bait and the cross was the hook which reeled in our enemy'.

2# The human angle_ The cross reveals us. It rips us and opens us up. All self-justification ends here. We have executed the son of God. To quote Baldrick [fair enough, he's talking about the scarlet pimpernell, but you get the idea!] "he's here to save us! . . . and you've killed him!"

When I survey the wonderous cross,

on which the prince of glory died,

my richest gain I count but loss,

and pour contempt on all my pride.

This same cross reveals the depths of God's love at the same time.

3# The divine angle_ The cross is God's work for Himself before it is His work for us. In the cross He justifies His justice and His mercy.

Love you X

Story of SALVATION

The control of the entire bibles narative can be traced back to the exodus story.

2 things happen in Isreal's deliverance.

First, God's people are set free from slavery to pharoh and the Egyptian gods.

Second, they are set free from the wrath of God.

When the final plague falls upon Egypt, God provides a substitute for the Isrealites. A lamb (clean) is sacrificed and the blood marks their houses, so that the angel of death passes over.

Salvation, then is to be delivered from both bondage AND the wrath of God.

Then in the new testament we see Jesus comes to bring the final exodus. He frees us, not from Egypt or Rome, but from satan and sin. When Jesus lifts the judgement of the law from us, He takes away satan's power to accuse us and hold us in bondage.

Jesus also comes to set us free from the wrath of God.

He is our passover lamb [1 Corinthians 5:7]

His blood protects us.

God now freely forgives sinners through His son.

Love you X

Centre of the New Testament

At the heart of the new testament we find not the ethic of Jesus, or the example of Jesus, or the wisdom of Jesus, or even the suffering service of Jesus, but the CROSS.

All 4 gospels move lead us towards the final week of Jesus.

All preaching in the book of Acts focuses on the cross (and the ressurection/reign of Jesus).

In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul tells the Corinthians that he determined to "know nothing While I was with you except Christ and Him crucified".

Hebrews presents Jesus as our great high preist who hasn't gone into the temple in Jerusalem, but heaven itself. Not bringing sacrificial animals blood, but His own blood to atone for sin.

Peter calls slaves to follow the example of Jesus based on the servant in Isaiah 53. (1 Peter 2:21-25)

In 1 John 4:10, John writes "This is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins".

The book of Revelation shows the lamb who was slain as the LORD of the universe. His blood purchased us for God.

Love you X

He chose the cross

The crucifiction and the cross is seen as offensive (for several reasons) . . .

The cross is 'culturally' offensive, it was not talked about in polite conversation. The very idea that a god, immortal and eternal, could be crucified is madness.

It is also 'historically' offensive. Christians claim that a jewish peasant, executed under Roman law, is the LORD and saviour of the world. He alone deserves the term 'christ', not ceaser.

Thirdly, it's 'philisophically' offensive. Rather than the cross just being an illustration of divine love, it is the basis for divine love. The cross shows God's universal love and forgiveness.
The cross shows Jesus' total submission.
Through His death we gain life.

Fourthly, it's 'morally' offensive. To put it simply (thank goodness!) you cannot save yourself.
To look upon this broken, bleeding, peirced, mangled messiah is hard, and some turn away or deny Him. But it's through faith in the crucified Jesus that we are saved.

With all these offences, why did the early christians glory in the cross?

Why did they hold up this bloody instrument of torture?

Rob Bell commented upon the weirdness of the idea of the cross in modern day church. He says that essentially we are displaying a horrible torture/execution device on the wall or roof of our churches. Like bowing down at the foot of the guillotine. Like displaying the lethal injection table in our church. Like wearing a golden minature AK47 around our necks!

Seriously though, it is not the cross itself we display, but the meaning behind it. Much like how Jesus lived and taught, it was never about what was said or heard, but the hidden meaning.

Christianity isn't blatant.

It isn't easy to look at.

We have all gotta do some searching.

Love you x

Our hearts response

Hi I'm back!

So I'm gonna talk about worship.

When dealing with worship, everything (obviously) looks back to God.
But one of the most obvious points to stop at is Jesus (duh!) and the cross.

Crucifixion was the ultimate penalty in the ancient world. It was not only a form of capital punishment, but also torture and shame. To hang there naked, broken, bleeding is bad enough, but then for your body to give up unable to take the weight on your nailed hands (or wrists) and to suffocate.

No 'citizen' could be crucified, this form of death was reserved only for slaves, imigrants and outlaws. This public display of power by the Roman empire was another way for them to become obsessed with controlling every corner of their 'boundaries'.

In 1 Corinthians 1:23, we see Paul describing the 'word of the cross' is folly to Greeks and scandal to the Jews.

Love you X