Daniel Block (22)
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Since a house of worship is not a concert hall, the best place for a choir or musical groups is on the balcony at the back.For the Glory of God (330)
Worship often involves other physical postures (lying, sitting, standing), as well as actions performed with the hands (clapping, raising of hands) or feet (marching in procession, dancing, jumping). For the moment, we observe only that the dominant physical gesture of worship in the Scriptures is prostration. Our contemporary squabbles over worship rarely-if ever-include discussions of physically bending the knee before God, which may be a measure of how uninterested people are in truly biblical worship. Surely worship that pleases God involves bodily gestures of subordination and submission.For the Glory of God (17)
(1) True worship involves an engagement with God and is focused on him. According to Jesus himself, true worship focuses not on the place but on the person of Christ, who is Yahweh incarnate (John 4:21–24). (2) True worship occurs at the invitation of the Lord and must be conducted on his terms. (3) True worship is communal. In worship the redeemed gather to celebrate the kindness that God has lavished on us collectively, without merit and without prejudice. Furthermore, true worship tears down the barriers of gender, class, and race. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:28, in the presence of God "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (4) True worship is driven by a deep sense of gratitude to God, first for his redemption, and second for his lavish daily provision. In true worship our focus is not on what we are doing for him but on what he has done for us. For this reason true worship should be a joyful event, not a burden to be legalistically borne. (5) Finally, true worship involves the lavish offering of one's resources and even oneself (Rom. 12:1) in sacrifice to and for the service of Christ.Deuteronomy (The NIV Application Commentary) (p. 398). Zondervan
if one accepts some terms of the Decalogue as normative for Christians, one must accept all. This document must be received as a package, beginning with the preamble and ending with the command against coveting. The principles are cast as absolute and unconditional commands, without qualification, and for the most part without declared motivation.
Sabbath rest is not the post-eschaton Sabbath celebrated in heaven, nor the rest that believers experience in death, but a present rest enjoyed by those who believe (4:3), anticipating a greater future "rest" (4:11). Human Sabbath keeping is a metaphor for cessation from works (4:10) in commemoration of God's rest at creation (4:4=Gen. 2:2) and of salvation provided by Christ. The physical Sabbath rest that God's people enjoy reflects the inner spiritual rest, which is a deposit of the final eschatological rest proleptically experienced "today" (4:7)For the Glory of God (280)
In the ordinance believers commemorate the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on their behalf. They celebrate the forgiveness of their sins through the blood of Christ (Matt 26:28), the establishment of God's new covenant with them, and their hope of one day eating this meal in the presence of God For the Glory of God (161)
Pagan worship focuses on corporate and individual cultic efforts seeking to mollify the gods and secure their blessing. Today many Christians' understanding of worship differs little from that of pagans, except perhaps that God is singular and the forms of worship come from traditions more or less rooted in the Scriptures. Largely divorced from life, such worship represents a pattern of religious activities driven by a deep-seated sense of obligation to God and a concern to win his favour. But this understanding is unbiblical; it separates worship from daily life and compartmentalizes human existence into the sacred and the secular.For the Glory of God (23)
Some argue for the normativeness of the "Ten Commands" as a guide for Christian behavior, but then remove the Sabbath ordinance as an exception, claiming this to be part of the ceremonial law that ended in Christ. However, this approach is indefensible. (1) The seventh-day Sabbath ordinance is embedded in the Decalogue as a fundamental principle of covenant relationship, along with the prohibition of any other gods, of murder, and so on. One may not treat it differently from the rest. (2) According to the Exodus version of the Decalogue, the six-plus-one weekly rhythm is fundamental to the cosmic order. Exodus 20:11 grounds the human practice in the pattern of divine creative work. (3) In its origin the Sabbath is separated from Israel's ceremonial laws. In fact, Israelites were observing it as a matter of course before they got to Sinai (Ex. 16). (4) The Sabbath command is not primarily a cultic ordinance. In intent and character it was both humanitarian (a gift offering people rest and refreshment from life-sustaining labor) and theological—offering Israelites an opportunity to declare their fundamentally theological perspective on life (God is Creator of all), their confidence in him to provide for the seventh day, their acceptance of covenant relationship, their gratitude for salvation from slavery, and their compassion for the poor. (5) Nowhere does the New Testament declare the seventh-day Sabbath passé in Christ.
References and allusions to the Shema in the New Testament are both fascinating and exciting. While Jesus cites it as a sort of creedal statement in connection with the Supreme Command (Mark 12:30), it falls to Paul to draw out its christological significance. He does so most pointedly in 1 Corinthians 8:1–6, where he roots his polemic against idolatry in Deuteronomy 6:4–5 and beyond.23 Like Moses, Paul declares the uniqueness and exclusive existence of Yahweh in contrast to the nothingness of idols. Reflecting a thorough understanding of the Shema in its original context, in 1 Corinthians 8:5–6, Paul declares hypothetically that even if one concedes the existence of other gods (which, in the light of v. 4, he will not do), "for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord [i.e., Yahweh], Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." The christological effect of inserting the name "Jesus Christ" after "Lord" is extraordinary,24 in that Paul identifies Jesus unequivocally with Yahweh, the one and only God to whom true Israelites declared allegiance (cf. Rom. 3:29–30; 10:13). What the Old Testament has said about Yahweh may now be said about the Christ.NIVAC - Deuteronomy
Put simply, in the Bible the Spirit is never the object of worship.For the Glory of God, 50
The First Testament presents four basic purposes for the tithe in Israel: (1) Practically, it provided a means to support priests and other cultic personnel. (2) Socially, it was a means of securing the well-being of the poor. (3) Nationally, it provided a precondition for God's blessing. And (4) spiritually, it provided a means for expressing a worshiper's fear of GOd.For the Glory of God (262)
music should be selected and presented to glorify God and promote reverence and awe. This commitment will naturally result in excluding certain kinds of music (narcissistic and subjective lyrics, jarring and raucous tunes).For the Glory of God (242)
evangelicals must rediscover that truly worshipful music is primarily congregational and united the body of Christ. The New Testament pattern has everyone engaged, as worshipers sing to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.For the Glory of God (242)
Music that glorifies the Father and the Son is driven by the Spirit and the Word. It is not merely emotive (driven by atmospherics), but instructive, didactic, informative, and transformative. Truly worshipful music admonishes the carnal, corrects the sinner, challenges the lazy, reproves the indulgent, encourages the depressed, comforts the sorrowful, and inspires the lethargic.For the Glory of God (233)
in the Lord's supper we witness a remarkable transformation. Whereas Israelites would bring their offerings to YHWH, the divine Host, and eat them in his presence, in the Lord's Supper the divine Host offers himself for our spiritual nourishment (John 6:54-58)For the Glory of God (159)
The Decalogue envisions a community that has been freed from the tyranny of Egypt but would be under the constant threat of those with social and economic power behaving like little pharaohs.For the Glory of God (87)
We should interpret this document not as a law code but as a foundational covenant document, intended to create a picture of life within the community of faith governed by covenant principles.For the Glory of God (85)
When we read Scripture, the focus will be on God the Father or Jesus Christ the Son. However, it seems that the Holy Spirit is most honored when we accept his conviction of sin, his transforming and sanctifying work within us, and his guidance in life and ministry, and when in response to his leading we prostrate ourselves before Jesus... trinitarian worship need not be balanced, if by balanced we mean giving the three persons of the Godhead equal time and space. True Christian worship focuses particularly on ChristFor the Glory of God (53)
True worship involves reverential human acts of submission and homage before the divine Sovereign in response to his gracious revelation of himself and in accord with his will.For the Glory of God (23)
Many evangelical churches resist physical prostration as an expression of homage and submission before God. This resistance represents both an unfortunate overreaction to Roman Catholic abuses and the arrogance of our culture. Although genuflection before a superior is universally recognized as a legitimate expression of respect, Western culture, impatient with expressions of deference, has discarded these millennia-old symbolic gestures.For the Glory of God (16)
Edith Humphrey correctly identifies five maladies that plague worship in the North American church: (1) trivializing worship by a preoccupation with atmospherics/mood (it's all about how worship makes me feel); (2) misdirecting worship by having a human-centered rather than God-centered focus (it's all about me, the worshiper); (3) deadening worship by substituting stones for bread (the loss of the Word of God); (4) perverting worship with emotional, self-indulgent experiences at the expense of true liturgy; and (5) exploiting worship with market-driven values.For the Glory of God (xii)
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