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Worms or Worshippers?
assembled the calls to worship that were used in his local congregation over the course of several years. Some are exhortations to the worshippers; some are opening prayers; but all come from a desire to prepare worshippers to worship our awesome and loving Heavenly Father. THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE [Worms or worshippers?] We have been privileged to assemble here again. But we are CHRISTIANS, remember, so this means we do not present ourselves before God in order to wallow in guilt, but rather to confess our guilt, as we will do in a moment. But having done so, we will pass on into joyful worship and praise. There is to be no worm theology here, and this can only be accomplished by grace, because by nature we ARE in fact worms, and objects of wrath. So we humble ourselves, but the Word then tells us that God lifts us up. We confess we have been stuck in the miry clay, but God lifts us out, and sets us upon His Rock. And on this Rock we stand, and if we believe that we do, then our songs should be shot through with the joy that can only come from a DELIVERED PEOPLE. Still less do we come before God in order to pretend that we have no guilt. For some, the closest they get to standing on the Rock is the pretense that the sinking sand which is dragging them down, if considered from the right vantage point, actually is, in its own way, its own kind of rock. Each person interprets the definition of the rocks differently, and some of them die. The ultimate purpose or end of our worship is the glory of God. A secondary purpose, and one we should think about more than we do, is the salvation of our souls. Have you gathered here this morning because you believe that God has been kind to your soul, and has enabled you to worship Him rightly? If so, you are called to confess your sins, and THEN, you are cordially invited to enter in. - Douglas Wilson in EXHORTATIONS: A CALL TO MATURITY IN WORSHIP, Charles Nolan Publishers, 2000, p. 111. Have a great week, Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky www.carlstam.org www.sbts.edu |