NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM: Seeing Things the Way God Does

Heart Worship, Priority of Worship

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 12 (December 2019) And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that He answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all …

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The Old, Old Story

Christmas, Incarnation

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 11 (November 2019) As, we look ahead to another Christmas celebration, I really have no new thoughts on the wonder of the Incarnation, so I thought I would direct you back to some previous issues’ reflections on the subject: Worship Notes 1.12 (December 2006): God with Us Worship Notes 2.12 (December 2007): The Canticles of Christmas Worship Notes 3.12 (December 2008): Christmas in Unexpected Places Worship …

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WORSHIP IN EDEN: What We Had, What We Lost, What Was Restored

Creation, Fall, Genesis, Romans, Salvation

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 10 (October 2019)   WHAT WE HAD God’s own assessment of His creative work was that it was “good” (9 times in Genesis 1:4–2:12), and that after man was added it was all “very good” (1:31). God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, where they had direct, unfettered access to God— unmediated worship: Although the Scriptures do not specifically say so, worship of God …

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The Rest of Worship

Christ and Worship

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 9 (September 2019)   God’s Work, God’s (and Our) Rest God created over six days, and on the seventh day “He rested from all His work that He had done”(Genesis 2:2b), precisely because “He had finished His work that He had done”(2:2a) Bonhoeffer maintains, “In the Bible ‘rest’ really means more than ‘having a rest.’ It means rest after the work is accomplished, it means …

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Worship from the Heart (part 3)

Biblical and Theological Studies, Heart Worship, New Testament

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 8 (August 2019) The Principle at Work New Testament Examples “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.”“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say …

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Worship from the Heart (part 2)

David, Heart Worship, Old Testament

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 7 (July 2019)   The Principle at Work Further Old Testament Examples Genesis 4 /After the entry of sin into the human race through the Fall in Genesis 3, the very next chapter relates the first murder, of Abel by his brother Cain (and it takes place in the context of worship: worship has already been corrupted; cf. Romans 1:25): In the course of time Cain …

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Worship from the Heart (part 1)

Heart Worship, Old Testament, Tabernacle/Temple

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 6 (June 2019) What Matters Most When Christians think about Old Testament worship, the tendency is to automatically invoke images of the complex system of Israel’s worship centering on its ornate Tabernacle, with its priests, ritual sacrifices and festivals. While this system was instituted and carried out according to the explicit and detailed commands of God (communicated to Moses on Mount Sinai), we miss God’s …

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ASCENDED TO REIGN

Ascension

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 5 (May 2019) The Great Fifty Days of the Easter season (Eastertide) will culminate in the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the …

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HE IS RISEN INDEED! Easter in Eastern Europe

Easter, Missions, Resurrection

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 14, No. 4 (April 2019) In my years of teaching internationally on worship, I have had the opportunity several times to be in different parts of Eastern Europe during the Easter season (specifically Ukraine and Moldova). I was struck and moved by the intense nature of their celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is interesting that the Baptist churches (which, along with Pentecostals, are the largest …

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