Christ Community Origin Worship Service

"I Find My Rest In You" by Phil Kirk

"Man of Sorrows" by Hillsong

"Rock of Ages" arrangement by Phil Kirk

Vocals:  Phil Kirk, Rene Harrison, Kelsey Regan

Acoustic Guitar:  Kyle Moore

Drums:  Daniel Livermore

Violin & Accordian:  Ed Moy

Footage courtesy of Matt Spear.

5-Marks of Healthy Corporate Worship

I find it interesting to talk to people when they return from Christian conferences.  I usually ask questions about the talks they heard, the seminars they went to, and of course- the worship.  Usually people have tons to say about the messages and seminars, but their response to the worship seems shallow at best. 

Me:                 How was the worship at the conference?

Them:            It was great!

Me:                 What was great about it?

Them:            The music was so good.

Me:                 What was so good about the music?

Them:            I just… liked it.  It was exactly what I needed to hear.

Me:                 Interesting… what did you like about it?

Them:            I already told you, didn’t I?

Me:                 … I don’t think so…

You get the idea.  Awkward conversations like this one demonstrate the importance of why we as worship leaders need to be intentional in designing our worship services. Services can be done well in terms of musical excellence and sound quality, but in some cases they are severely lacking in content and vision.  Worship leaders should wrestle with worship content as much as the pastor wrestles with the sermon text.  The songs our congregations sing leading up to a sermon should be preaching truth to our hearts as well.  Worship songs also have the power to inform and transform us because the Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12).  Here are some questions I wrestle through when planning a service:

1. | Is the worship centered on God and His character?  Corporate worship is a powerful opportunity to redirect our hearts towards our creator and redeemer.  John Witvliet describes worship as being “the celebrative response to what God has done, is doing, and promises to do.”  Our worship should be a celebration of God and His glory!

2. | Does the worship bring knowledge and understanding about biblical doctrine?  The greatest doctrine we can offer people in our services is the Good News of the Gospel.  Mike Cosper states the gospel beautifully in his book “Rhythms of Grace”:

“The gospel story is the worship story. Worship was God’s idea as he initiated creation. Just when it looked as though sin had corrupted worship beyond repair, he rescued it by sending his Son and making a way through him to worship the Father again. The Son, in turn, sent his Spirit, who awakened corpses, like you and me, and put a song in our hearts that we’ll be singing with every breath from here to eternity” (p. 26). 

Our doctrine in worship today is often in danger of being too lackluster or too lofty.  Songs that lack in doctrine usually leave us itching for deeper truth.  Songs that are cram packed with too much doctrine leave us scratching our heads as we try to keep up with the complicated lyrics.  John 17:3 states “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”  As worship leaders, we want to walk off the stage confident that above all, our congregations have heard about the One True God and his plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.

3. | Is the worship evangelistic?  Our worship must be done in a way that clearly presents the gospel to non-Christians.  If you bring a non-Christian friend to Church with you, by the end of the service they should clearly comprehend what Christ did to reconcile us to God.  Our worship must strike a balance between being familial (within the family of God) and missional (presenting the gospel to unsaved people).

4. | Is the corporate worship corporate?  This one isn’t as simple as it sounds.  You may be thinking, of course our worship is corporate!  We sing songs together, we talk during the greeting time, we have fellowship after the service, etc.  As believers we sometimes tend to view corporate worship the same way we view our personal time alone with God.  We close our eyes, zone out other things going on, and fix our hearts on the Lord.  Is that such a bad thing?  Colossians 3:16-17 charges us to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God and to one another.  Not only should we be singing together, we should be singing to one another.  As a participant in corporate worship: (1) the worship team should be leading me into worship, (2) as I sing, the lyrics should be engaging my own heart with biblical truth, and (3) the body of Christ ought to be singing psalms and hymns into my own heart!  Don’t sell yourself short in worship by only singing to yourself… there’s a lot more going on!

5. | Is the worship service emboldening Spirit-led transformation? Worship is meant to change and sanctify us.  According to John 17:17, God’s means of grace in sanctification is His Word.  Authentic worship engages “spirit and truth” (John 4:24b).  As worship leaders, our vision is to make known the glory of God in Jesus Christ in people’s minds and hearts.  Penetration of the mind may lead to an “Ah-ha” intellectual moment, but no heart change or motive to live differently.  Penetration of the heart, however, is supernatural.  Ezekiel 36:26-27 says that a change of the heart is a work of God by the Spirit.  Heart change involves transformation, a renewing of the mind, and a gospel-empowered conviction to change.  That’s what we want to see God do through our worship together.

Discipleship = Community; Community does not always = Discipleship

I am a huge advocate for Discipleship Groups taking place in the context of the local church.  I am also a huge supporter of Community Groups.  It is important to note, however, the distinct differences between to the two groups.  In today’s Christian culture, buzzwords like community and discipleship get thrown around a lot.  Rarely do we take the time to pinpoint the meaning of these terms, and the vision behind the distinct groups. 

As I attempt to make this distinction please note that depending on your church background and ministry context this comparison may not be as black and white as I make it appear on the following chart.  I’m also aware that every church has a different definition for a “community group” and a “discipleship group”.  Generally speaking however, here are the major differences and similarities between the two groups:

	Discipleship Groups	Community Groups
Word & Application	Word, external context, direct applications with life-on-life follow-up	Word, encourages personal application without availability to follow-up
Leadership	Led by a D-group Leader	Led by a couple or multiply couples
Commitment	High level commitment and availability	Low level commitment and flexibility in schedules
Emphasis	Word, prayer, fellowship, relational evangelism, modeling & transformation	Word, prayer, fellowship & being a ‘next step’ for people in the Body of Christ
Members	Men and women (in separate groups) who were specifically selected	Mixed gender groups; usually with an open-door policy
Multiplication rate	Slower in the initial years, but increases as d-group members multiply their ministries	Steady growth- splitting into separate community groups by addition
Missional component	Evangelism training and follow-up	Encourages missional living, but lacks in accountability
Recruiting style	Formal/heavy commitment	Informal/easy

Whether you join a Community Group or a Discipleship group may depend on your season of life.  Discipleship groups usually require a level of time commitment that may not seem reasonable in the midst of have 3 young children, an abrupt change of career, or having your house on the market.  In busy season of life, a community group may be the best option. 

Discipleship is unique in its emphasis on modeling Christ-likeness to one another.  Jesus intentionally selected twelve men to be his disciples.  These twelve men got to learn from Jesus’ teachings and learn from Jesus’ modeling.  Jesus always modeled his teachings before his disciples.  Modeling is what makes life-on-life discipleship so fruitful.  Discipleship always includes community, but community does not always include discipleship.  

Signs you are ready to transition into a community group:

§  You see your need for community and fellowship beyond a single worship service.

§  You desire to form a deeper investment you local church body, but still need some flexibility.

§  You desire to meet and connect with other couples, families and/or singles in your church.

Signs you are ready to transition into a discipleship group:

§  You see your need for brothers (or sisters) in Christ who intentionally follow-up with you in your walk.

§  There is someone specific in your church that has character, competency, and conviction worth modeling, and you strongly desire to be mentored by them.

§  You are ready for a higher commitment to Christian fellowship, study of the Word, prayer and evangelism training.

Be sure to ask your church leadership what ministry opportunities they offer with community groups and intentional discipleship.

My Interview with Dr. Jerry Kirk

Former Pastor of College Hill Presbyterian Church, founder of PureHope, and author of the book "The Prayer Covenant"- I had the privilege of interviewing my grandfather about discipleship, worship, and the need for Christian leaders in the church today.

For more information about PureHope, please visit purehope.net

For more information about "The Prayer Covenant" including a free pdf of the prayer covenant, please visit theprayercovenant.org 

Misconceptions About Your Worship

Many of us subconsciously enter into worship with a long list of expectations.  We tell ourselves: “It isn’t a good worship service unless I have an emotional experience” or “This service will only be worth my time if we do the songs I like to sing.” Sometimes we even come into worship with the expectation that nothing will happen.  “Why would God meet me any differently this morning?  Sunday mornings are always the same.”  We live in a culture designed to accommodate and satisfy us every waking moment of the day.  Netflix, Youtube, smart phones, and Jimmy Johns tell us we deserve to have what we want, when we want it.  Corporate worship is a radically different experience compared to our quick-fix consumerism. 

Corporate worship is when the people of God come together, before the throne of grace, to experience soul-satisfying worship- centered upon our creator and redeemer.  Now don’t get me wrong, expectant worship is a beautiful thing!  God desires for us to approach his throne with a spirit of expectation.  Nevertheless, we need to address our self-centered expectations and misconceptions we hold towards worship, while also re-aligning our hearts to soul-satisfying, expectant worship.

1. | Corporate Worship is not primarily an emotional experience sprinkled with some biblical truths.  Authentic worship is centered on biblical truth that may lead to an emotional response.  We all naturally love our feelings: the feeling of scoring the game winning point, the feeling of watching the hero step in to save the day, the feeling of satisfaction after completing a long-term project.  As much as we love our feelings, we tend to look to our own feelings for guidance.  Emotions and feelings are not bad things, but they are not inerrant like the Word of God.  That is why the very foundation of our worship must be the Word, not our emotions.

2. | Corporate Worship is not a show.  Worship literally means ascribing weigh or worth. Do we want to give weight and worth to a 45 minute performance, or a Holy, eternal God?  Viewed as a performance, worship will never intersect with the deepest needs of our hearts.  A ‘worship experience’ cannot come near to the satisfaction for which our hearts long.  We can only adequately find this fullness of joy in God himself (Psalm 16:11).  Worship isn’t about a man-made performance; it is about Christ’s astonishing performance on our behalf!  Let’s fix our eyes on that victory, rather than exchanging the goodness of the Gospel for a less satisfying hope.

3. | Corporate Worship is not about our preferences.  I know that this misconception may be particularly difficult to hear.  We all have preferences in worship.  Some prefer acapella led hymns in the daylight; others prefer screamo-style worship in dark warehouses.  Whatever our preferences may be, we need to first look to Jesus’ example in how he approached his preferences.  In Gethsemane, Jesus stated his personal desire very clearly, saying: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).  In worship, we marvel at Jesus’ radical surrender of his own preferences on our behalf.  Because worship isn’t primarily about us, sometimes we need to die to our preferences and live out the gospel among members of our congregation who prefer a different style of worship.  Now I am not giving a license for worship leaders to pick songs no one in their congregations likes.  But sometimes the most radical way we experience the gospel through a worship service is when we die to our preferences for the sake of others.

4. | Corporate Worship is not a liturgical series of empty duties:  "Please stand, please sing along, you may be seated, listen to these words, reading together, etc..." Corporate worship is design to be so much more than a duty-filled outline of worship.  Sometimes in planning services, we can get too caught up in the idea of “flow”.  We say things like, “We don’t want to break up the flow of worship!”- as if the Holy Spirit’s working is dependent upon my ability to end a song with the correct chord.  Listen to Mike Cosper’s description of non-ritualistic worship, prior to the fall:

“All of [worship] happen[ed] without a hint of ritual. There are no separated-out worship services; there is only the glorious and glorifying life lived with and unto God.  If someone were to ask Adam, “When do you worship God?” he might reply, “When do we not!” Worship isn’t something other, external, compartmentalized, or confined. It is life with God, lived unto God for his glory and our pleasure.”

It’s hard to even imagine what life in the garden was like before the fall: no sermons, no slideshows, and no worship team rehearsals.  It was perfect, holy and continuous communion with the God of the universe!   There was no need for rituals.  Ever moment of every second of every day, Adam’s life was a pleasing aroma to God.  Today in our churches, we get a small foretaste of the eternal, soul-satisfying worship we will experience in eternity!