Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:4-5)
We have more reason to be thankful than any other people alive! As we gather this Sunday to sing our praises to our faithful God, let the full weight of His goodness and mercy fuel your worship and allow gratitude to well up inside you to the point of overflowing in exuberant praise!
Here are the songs we will sing together this Sunday in our corporate worship gathering...
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:23-24)
There is a kind of worship that God hates. Regardless of the style of music, regardless of the presentation or production, regardless of the excellence of its execution... He will not listen. You can have the the most reverent traditional services with suits and ties, organists, choirs, and sing only hymns, only from actual hymnals. You can have the most exciting, professional sound and lighting designed to engage the audience. You can sing all the best new contemporary worship songs with the best musicians and singers available, and everyone in the building can be singing along enthusiastically at the top of their voices with all the sincerity they can muster. He will not listen or regard it.... IF your heart is not right before Him.
When we get caught up in the trappings of worship -- no matter which side of the debate you find yourself on -- and disregard the things that are important to the heart of God, then we would be better unplugging the amps and putting away the hymnals. Burn the drums AND the choir robes. God is not interested in what style of worship you prefer; He is interested in what kind of person you have become at the heart level.
I often wonder what the underground church in China would think about our hang-ups about worship styles, about sound systems, and whether the lighting is right. I wonder if the persecuted believers in Sudan, Iraq, Iran, or Syria would shake their heads in disbelief at the time and energy we waste arguing about the form our worship takes rather than serving the God we are supposed to be worshiping no matter the style of expression!
Here are the songs we will be singing together in our gathering this week. Listen to the lyrics and the truths expressed in each song, even if you don't like the music. Ask God to give you a heart of worship that transcends the material and taps into the eternal. You'd be amazed at what might happen if we came together around a common confession of faith and ignored the differences of opinion.
