Life2gether

Pastor Tullian:

So, we miss out on some great things God intends for us to enjoy when we separate in worship according to musical tastes. The idea to do this comes, not from the Bible, but from American consumerism and we adopt this practice to our own peril.

As my friend Steven Phillips rightly says, we ought to use the best music, prayers, and traditions of our Christian past, so that our worship is guided and enriched by our fathers in the faith. In doing this we demonstrate that our Christian faith reaches back thousands of years. And we ought also to use the best new songs and styles – to “sing a new song to the Lord” as the Psalms say – so that we can demonstrate that the grace of God is ever new. God’s saving power is available now, in the present day, to all who call on Him in faith.

By musically blending things in this way we  exercise love toward those who resonate with different musical tastes than us. We recognize that our worship service is a shared time and a shared space, so that if a particular song or style doesn’t inspire us, we can still look across the sanctuary and give thanks from our hearts for the diversity of people who are here. The gospel of Jesus Christ invites us to look across the aisle and say, “Though this song or style may not appeal to me, I see that God is using it to move you. I love you in Christ and I’m glad you’re here.”

(HT: Z)

Family Worship at PCPC from PCPC Video on Vimeo.

(HT: Jared Kennedy)

As we think about all the types of people we preach to on Sundays, don’t forget the children.  They may be the biggest group of unreached people in your church…and I guarantee when you get on their level, the adults will be tracking right there with you. 

Spurgeon once said:

…He is no preacher who does not care for the children.  There should be at least a part of every sermon and service that will suit the little ones.  It is an error which permits us to forget this.

~ Charles Spurgeon, Spiritual Parenting, 15.

Brent Thomas:

[Our] Community Groups are made up of three spheres, “Communion,” “Community” and “Mission.” We first saw this diagram in Hugh Halter and Matt Smay’s book The Tangible Kingdom, and it made a lot of sense to us. Halter and Smay define “communion” as our connection with God; worship, both personal and corporate. Community is life together and mission is being focused outward, on others. Our Community Groups aim to be the intersection of all three, the “sweet spot.” It is when all three of these spheres intersect, that Halter and Smay say the kingdom becomes “tangible” for people. 

Community Groups are meant to be a context in which we can aim for the intersection of each sphere, where communion, community and mission so inform our lives that the kingdom becomes tangible. This means that they are not just small-group bible studies. They are that, but they are more. They are not just social gatherings. They are that, but they are more. They are not just service projects. They are that, but they are more. Community Groups at Church of the Cross are small families of learning, serving missionaries where we learn to live everyday life with Gospel intentionality.

Recently I’ve been listening to Tenth Avenue North’s album, Over and Underneath.  I love it.  It’s one of the most earthy and honest albums I’ve heard in awhile.  I found myself identifying with their brokenness and earnest desire to experience the love of Christ.  These guys get the gospel!  Here’s why they did this record:

“[These] carefully penned psalms are coming from a group of individuals who don’t have it all together, who desperately want to know truth, and who aren’t afraid to admit that they struggle to believe it … our hope is that amidst all the words, notes and musical mayhem, you would encounter Christ.  Encounter him.  Not just hear about him, not just sing about him, but truly, sincerely encounter him.”  If you don’t have this album, I encourage you to get it and pre-order their new album, The Light Meets the Dark (listen to individual track downloads here).

Dr. Eric Johnson, from my recent conversation about personal agency and childhood conversion:

I would argue that adults have a greater capacity to glorify God, because of the enhanced capacities to do so that emerge in adulthood. Consider, e.g., a 7-year-old child singing a worship song in a children’s choir. It is precious and God receives glory (“out of the mouth of babes”!). But the child does not have the capacity to deeply “enter in” to the words. In contrast, consider the 30-year-old who has suffered a great deal and is painfully aware of his sinfulness and also of God’s holiness and then of Christ’s love and compassion for him, dying on the cross. For that person to praise God in that song, mindful of all these complex realities—doing so as a little child—is to do so with a greater depth of heart, perhaps with bittersweet tears of joy, so that the older person is able to glorify God more, is able to be an image of God more fully, than the child. We might consider this the existential quality of Christian faith that in part is what distinguishes adults from children.

This morning I got up early and felt pretty tired as I started my day.  On the way to work, a couple hymns came into my mind and before long I found myself singing them out loud in the car.  It was a great way to wake up and wake my soul up to the beauty of the gospel that I need so desperately.  Here’s a couple lines that really stayed with me from the hymn, Crown Him With Many Crowns:

Crown him with many crowns
The Lamb upon his throne
Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own
Awake my soul and sing
Of him who died for thee
And hail him as thy matchless king
Throughout eternity

I like Mark Driscoll’s approach to solitude — get away, connect with Jesus in creation, and sometimes do nothing:

I schedule at least one day a month to get away and connect with Jesus. Because every minute of my day is normally scheduled, I don’t plan these days but just wake up and go wherever I end up. I do not answer my phone, do not meet with anyone, and usually get out of town. During a few hours of driving I do a lot of praying and sometimes worship God in song by myself. I like to drive until I am out of the city and find a small town or hidden secluded place in God’s creation. There, I do whatever I feel like. Sometimes I go for long walks and hikes alone to get fresh air, think, and pray.  Sometimes I check into a bed and breakfast and take a nap and then go out to dinner. And sometimes I don’t do anything.

(Read the whole thing …)

As we approach the season of Advent, I encourage you to check out Sojourn’s Advent Songs.  Available now for free or pay-what-you-want.  Here’s a description from the website:

The emphasis here is on the already/ not-yet tension of Advent, the season of waiting and anticipation before Christmas. Advent comes to us in the darkest season of the year — a season when the nights are long, the days are cold, and we look with anticipation for the return of the warmth in the spring. The songs have both a dark sense of anticipation and glimpses of light dawning in the face of the Christ child.

As we celebrate this season, we celebrate that our Messiah has come, and we look with longing to the day when he comes again. As St. John says, “Amen! Come Lord Jesus.”

Buy The CD Here

Reviews

“… it’s a welcome change from the same old holiday ear candy.”
—Louisville Velocity Weekly

Track List

Joy to the World
Chord Sheet | Preview

Glory Be
Chord Sheet | Preview

God is With Us
Chord Sheet |

O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Chord Sheet |

What Child Is This?
Chord Sheet | Preview

O Come All Ye Faithful
Chord Sheet |

Amen, Amen
Chord Sheet | Preview

Hosanna in the Highest
Chord Sheet