Disparate thoughts on Prayer and Worship

Prayer and worship – 1) How much is any relationship defined/formed by the conversations which express and characterize it? How much is this true of my conversation with God?

2) Can new vocabulary build/extend or progress in the devotional relationship?

The quality of communication, the vocabulary, the length of time spent and thoughtful consideration behind the conversation at least reflect the nature of the relationship.

I think we humans tend to limit God...

Prayer - and other vocabulary used in worship - can be seen as essentially 'one side' of the conversation, answering and in response to the Word and the Spirit. We like to stay in control, in familiar territory.
Prejudice warning: I think we humans tend to limit God, (for instance when we) control the ways and words He uses to speak to us, to reduce Him to manageable concepts which fit our understanding and stop Him from saying something unexpected or counter-productive.

With our in-built preference for music we know, and our liking for the familiar, the congregation is always going to opt for well-known, popular material in it's most familiar form. Nothing wrong with that, on the face of it. But they also need to trust that when we introduce something new, different or unfamiliar, it's worthy of their attention. That's not always an easy trust to gain; when we do get it, such a trust is hard-won.

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'Modern' thought focused on how concepts in the Word inform our intellect, but also allowed that the Spirit can communicate at a sub-linguistic level (ie. tongues, music).  In 'post-modern' times, we may experience (and prefer) the Word communicating in other-than intellectual media (audio-visual, story, etc).  However, for the cautious modern mind, this has the danger of a lack of intellectual control; the narrative undermines the modern need for constraint and categorization.
We love to say "God never..." or God always..." but the Bible doesn't encourage this in many cases.
The exceptions? God never changes (Heb 13.8), His loving-kindness endures forever (Psalm 136), nothing is impossible with God... (Lk 1.37).

Feel free to add more texts in comments...

worship - what it means and why we blend it...

Everyone can tell what you like, enjoy or treasure by your priorities.

In 1967, Desmond Morris published a book called 'The Naked Ape' in which he described "Body language" – what your pose and actions (subconsciously) tells onlookers about your attitude.

The way you live, behave and devote your time etc. shows where your priorities lie; or, as Jesus put it "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6.21)

That's what the Anglo-Saxon word “weorthscipe” means – how we display worth - the values and value judgments that form our life's patterns. It's the root word from which we get our word 'worship'.

So, in that sense, worship is the priorities and values indicated by the way you live.

Everyone can tell what you like, enjoy or treasure by your priorities.

A good “Service of Worship” should help re-organize the priorities of our life, make them line-up with the kingdom of God.

Do you remember the PBS program called "The Antiques Roadshow"? In which people take an item from the attic or basement, expose it to expert scrutiny & analysis, and from those expert comments they discover more about the object and how precious it is. It's something like that with an Act of Worship – we take our faith, dust it off, examine and celebrate it together and begin to appreciate who God is and what He has done – in a new light. Through worship we begin to see ourselves as we really are – sinners saved by God's grace – or better still we see ourselves as God sees us – loved but lost, unworthy but welcome.

However, when we take our focus off Christ, we quickly forget what's central to our faith or get distracted from our life resolutions – and all this, too, is obvious to people around us.

Pastor Rick Warren's book, 'The Purpose Driven Life' begins with the sentence: “It's not about you.” That highlights one of the problems we face when discussing our worship services. Each of us loves to sing songs or hymns, pray prayers and say creeds that express our faith. But asking questions about what you like or enjoy is not the point; in fact, that only serves to make us think about ourselves, and most of us don't need help to be self-centered.

what you like or enjoy is not the point

Really the question should be what do your children, your parents, your neighbor find helpful in expressing themselves to God? How can we, as a church family, celebrate our faith and commune with God in a way that works for all of us?

If we see that this old hymn reminds Grandma of a meaningful time in her life - or this contemporary worship song really speaks to our teenager, it's going to be easier to celebrate together. If these words help me to express my faith, or explain the Gospel to my friends, then my family know it's important to me, and they'll be happy to say or sing them with me.

So, when we design a service of blended worship, we're doing just what the hymn "All Hail the power of Jesus' Name" says, we're "joining in the everlasting song". Words that were inspired by the Holy Spirit three or four thousand years ago are blended with words that were written three days ago; all included because - as an extended family - we can express our faith and respond to God together.

a fun time in York PA

One of the things I'm really enjoying about the Covenant is the 'collegiality' of my fellow enthusiasts for Christ. Last week gave me more shining examples; people who are - well, just lovely individuals, trying to follow the savior, recognizing their own weakness and finding His strength.
Each (in their own way) trying to make the most of the talents we've been given, seeking to encourage one another and give all the credit to God. These are the ones I enjoy meeting; we derive great joy in collaboration and wish we could work and play together a little more often...
but then it's back to the several places God has put us. I remember seeing my children (years ago, now) worn out after playing with cousins or other friends from afar; wishing these people were around more, but exhausted from having so much fun. That's me right now - and to those who were involved in the AGM experience last week: Thanks. It was really a fun time!
We may be discovering more about why God invented church...

the first day of midwinter

Connection ended with a fascinating seminar on character types... and some more good conversation during the afternoon 'off'. I think I was expecting a final plenary session, but i guess last night's Celebration was a good summary. I understand that the 'Connection' event was originally arranged as a teaching time - and some of that character remains - but there are other major reasons for our denomination to assemble the creative artists, youth workers and those working on far-reaching policies like Compassion, Mercy and Justice. It's vital for the Covenant that we have a character that blends our cultures, a characteristic understanding and a spirit of cooperation.

It's vital for the Covenant that we have a character that blends our cultures, a characteristic understanding and a spirit of cooperation.

That sort of understanding starts with the thinkers, gets communicated through the arts and is celebrated in the teaching. Connection can be more intentional, more effective and more contagious.

Look at me, the new boy. One visit to an event and I start to 'buy in'. And the Main Event only just started. I'm enjoying the atmosphere here.

worship at Connection 09 felt like now. Worship at midwinter has begun to feel like the future.

The Connection 09 worship team was strongly contemporary; Tonight was a subtle mixture (very good, but still a little self-conscious) and a powerful combination of the best elements of our home styles of music and teaching.