theses on worship

Martin Luther had his 95 theses posted on the doors of Wittenberg and Steve Camp had his 107 theses posted on his blog. In 2005, Gary Parret, wrote his 9.5 theses on worship. This is a must read. Below is a summary. The entire article can be found here.

1) Our heavenly Father wills that the whole life of believers should be worship.

2) The word worship, when applied to public gatherings of the saints, must not be reduced to a synonym for singing praises to God.

3) Worship involves a rhythm of revelation and response: God graciously reveals himself to us, and we faithfully respond—all the elements must help worshipers participate in this rhythm.

4) Those who lead the congregation in song must be theologically equipped for this important task.

5) Faithful response to God involves more than praise—we need a much broader range of songs available for congregations.

6) The body of Christ in worship is more than an assembly of individual worshipers—we need more we songs.

7) The body of Christ is far bigger than what we see in the gathered community—and our songs should reflect this.

8) Those who lead the church in song are called to assist the congregation in its singing, not to replace it—technologies such as amplification must be used with theological and pastoral sensitivity.

9) The Seeker that we must serve in our worship services is, first and foremost, God himself.

9.5) In its services of public worship, the church must obey such Scriptures as Philippians 2:3-4: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Of course much of this is geared for "that Sunday morning thing we do". It's still good stuff but we need to press on to true community where each one brings a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, ... (Eph 5.17-21; Col 3.14-17).

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