Tag: Worship

You Were Born to Obsess

Worship is something that we talk about all the time at church.  We’re always singing.  Every time we get together its 3 or 4 songs about God.  Worship is core to who we are as followers of Jesus.  But  it’s deeper than that.

Worship is core to who we are as people—whether we are followers of Jesus or not.  We are always worshiping.  How do I know this?  Because we are constantly freaking out about stuff.   We are forever going overboard.  We are prone to obsessions.

 

PRONE TO OBSESS

Are you a football fan?  I don’t mean you occasionally watch football.  You schedule your Saturdays and Sundays around football.  When your team is playing you plan your day around the game.  You get a text from your friends asking you to go to a movie, dinner or to go see the alien spaceship that just landed at the end of your street and you’re like, “Uh, sounds fun but I gotta watch my team.”

Or maybe for you it isn’t football.  Maybe it’s a movie, a book or a series of books and movies like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars the Hunger Games or Twilight.  When the newest movie comes out (cough Girl on Fire) you wait in line for hours to see the very first showing and you’re wearing a costume!  You know everything there is to know about the series.  You know all the characters, their special powers, what their weapon of choice is, and what their favorite flavor of ice cream is.  You have a poster of Edward in your room!  You are a HUGE fan.  You might say you worship Star Wars or Twilight.

Or maybe you’re a gamer.  You play Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, Final Fantasy or something like that.  When the newest game in the series comes out you will be (air quotes) “sick” on that day and be forced, against your will to stay home from school and play ALL DAY.  You are so into CoD or Halo that you might say you worship it. Or at least the 5000 hours of game play and your golden assault rifle would argue that you do.

Or maybe you aren’t a gamer, a nerd or a football fan but wow is that guy in English class attractive.  In fact, he’s so good looking that you’ve thought of nothing else for the last…when did school start again?  And you think to yourself, if only he was mine!  Then I would be happy…and you continue to obsess over him and occasionally stalk his Instagram.  You think about him so much in fact that your friends would say that you worship him.

 

WHAT IS WORSHIP?

We worship all the time.  We were created to worship.  How do you know if you are worshiping? Is your attention captivated?  Does your heartbeat pick up?  You might be worshiping.

When we devote ourselves to something we are probably worshiping.  It’s the difference between using Google search for 5 minutes to find information for a school project and using Google search for 5 hours to scour for information on the possible characters and plots of the new Star Wars movie coming out in 2015.

 

GUILT TRIP

I know what you’re thinking.  So, now it’s time for the guilt trip. It’s wrong that I like video games.  I shouldn’t have that Edward poster in my room and now I feel bad for saying that guy in English class is hot.  Nope.  No guilt trip.  I’m not saying it’s wrong to get excited or even a little obsessed with stuff.  God has given us a lot of great things that He wants us to enjoy–like Starbucks.

The issue, is whether or not something is worthy to be worshiped and whether or not our affections are in the right place.  I just wonder if what we spend our time worshiping is really worth all that devotion and passion.  Because…

Football…let’s be honest for a second.  Football is actually a bunch of guys wearing really tight pants running around chasing a ball.

And Twilight…[whispering] vampires aren’t real.  Werewolves aren’t real.  Stop freaking out about it.

And Call of Duty…no matter what way you slice it, you still just spent 12 hours straight in your mom’s basement.  I’m just saying.

And that hot guy…he’s human.  The truth is he’s like you.  He drools in his sleep and gets a little gassy after eating Qdoba.  He’s human–a really good looking human, but he’s human.

When you get to the core of what we are so obsessed with it kind of feels dumb.  The question is:  are the people and things we are so devoted to really worth our time and attention?  Is what we are worshiping worthy of our worship?

 

WHAT THEY DO IN HEAVEN

Let’s take a field trip to heaven.  Weird, I know but I’m serious.  The very last book in the Bible contains visions of heaven.  It’s pretty wild stuff but I want to look at what they do in heaven.

Revelation 5:11-13

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

Angels, 10,000 x 10,000…if you’re not strong at math, that’s  2 million wings.  1 million beings are constantly worshiping Jesus because of what He has done for humanity.

In the previous chapter the author of Revelation describes a scene in which angels sing:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”

And they sing this all day everyday…forever.  Now that’s some serious worship.  These people really know how to do church.

 

WORTHY

The truth is that there is nothing or no one in our lives who is more worthy of worship than God.  He created everything.  He set the universe in motion.  He hung the planets.  He invented all the animals and He breathed life into us.

He is infinitely powerful.  There is nothing He cannot do.  He is perfect in every way.  He is justice and love.  He is infinitely creative and good.

And, when we rebelled against Him, He rescued us from ourselves and from the disaster we had created.  He became a man and died in our place to restore us to Him.

This is God.  This is why they praise Him constantly in heaven.  This is why the angels never cease singing.  He is AMAZING.  There is nothing like Him.  Absolutely nothing can compare to the majesty, power and love of our God.

I’m not saying you need to burn your Twilight poster, crack your CoD game in half or stop having a crush on that guy on English class.  I’m simply saying that maybe we need to create space in our lives for the One who is infinitely more worthy of our worship.  You see, you were created to worship Him.  There is a very real sense in which life is as it is supposed to be when we are worshiping God.  Life is found when our affections are focused on Him.

 

What is Worship?

Last Sunday and Wednesday night I taught on worship at LifeLine.  The question is:  What blows your mind? For me, it is the vastness of the universe.  What if God spoke it into being?  What if this incredibly powerful Being knows you and loves you.  Worship is responding to this incredible God.

Let me know what you think…

Traveling to Alpha Centauri

I’m not sure if it was Star Wars or E.T. that started it but ever since childhood I have been fascinated with the sky.  There’s just something about the moon and all those stars against the black canvas of space that blows my mind and propels me toward wonder.  I just can’t get my mind around the universe.  And maybe that’s the way that it’s supposed to be.

One of the random numbers that has stuck with me since elementary school is 93,000,000.  I remember this number because it’s how far the sun is from the earth.  I’m good with random numbers like this.  For example, in 1961, Al Kaline batted .324.  I know this from a baseball game I played as a kid.

HERE COMES THE SUN

Recently, my nerdery got the better of me and I decided to explore how long it would take to travel to the sun.  What I discovered ruined science fiction for me.  Apparently, NASA’s New Horizons space craft is the fastest moving space craft around.  It’s capable of 37,282 mph.  Traveling at that speed, you could cover 894,768 miles in a day and therefore reach the sun in 104 days.  And yes I know that NASA would never use mph but I haven’t figured out this whole metric thing yet so just calm down.

First off, 37,282 mph is stupid fast and I would love to try it out.  Although, based on my experience of riding along in my dad’s drag racers as a kid, I’d probably throw up.  Also, 104 days in a tiny exploration craft that technically isn’t built for humans would be an incredibly constrictive and boring.  In fact, I’m not exactly sure how a person could keep their sanity that long—especially without Wi-Fi.

GINORMOUS NUMBERS

Then I got to thinking about the immensity of the universe.  Returning to my nerdery, I wondered how long it would take to travel to the next closest star.  As it turns out, the next closest star to the earth is Alpha Centauri.   Well, technically speaking, Alpha Centauri looks like a star from earth but is actually 3 stars.  Anyway, flying aboard the speedy New Horizons, it would take a staggering 78,000 years to get to Alpha Centauri.  That’s a whole lot of “Daddy, are we there yet?”

If that doesn’t blow your mind I don’t know what will.  How is it possible that the universe is that big and what does that mean?

I’m sorry if this hurts your head but there are approximately (because I haven’t visited all of them) 400 billion stars in our little galaxy alone.  I say “little” because some giant galaxies contain trillions of stars.  And how many, the little nerd inside of me asks, galaxies are there in the universe?  Of course, no one can answer that concretely because of our limited viewpoint but the answer is in the neighborhood of 170 billion.  In short, the universe is absurdly ginormous and we can’t answer any question of size accurately because we simply can’t see that far.  Perhaps it is endless.

WORSHIP

For me, all of this points back to God.  I just can’t figure the universe without a designer.  Someone must have started the explosion.  Particles and gases existing all on their own doesn’t make sense to me.

When I think of the immensity of the universe and that according to the book of Genesis God created it all with merely His voice I am in awe.  It blows my mind.  I can’t get my mind around the fact that a creator this powerful, immense and scary actually knows my name and cares about me.

What exactly is the purpose of the universe?  Is it simply God’s canvas?  Is it a beacon?  Perhaps it is one of the ways God is signaling us, letting us know how incredibly powerful and creative he is.  Maybe he’s trying to get our attention with every sunset and shooting star?

Many people believe the universe is random.  I believe it is designed to wow—to draw us back into relationship with Him.

 

 

 

 

Worship Night in a Box

Year after year, our most impactful night of camp is worship night. The experience this year was the most amazing yet. We built the experience around the theme of surrender. What transpired so was powerful that I thought I’d share our script. Feel free to steal all or some of it for your own ministry.

ATMOSPHERE

We always begin our worship nights with small group time. The purpose of this time is to set the tone for the night. Instead of a countdown, explosive music and beach balls flying through the air, small groups walk in silently.

For the most part, we lit the room exclusively with candles. On a side note, it is much easier to employ minimal lighting if the band uses iPads for their chord charts. We use a mobile app from planningcenteronline.com. Check it out.

NOTES

  • We always attempt to keep our worship experiences at an hour or less. Always leave your students wanting more.
  • I usually build our worship nights around a new song that fits the theme very well. This year the theme song was Arms Open Wide. It’s cool to bookend the experience with the same song.
  • Our worship nights usually include a few short talks—no more than 5 minutes, several videos and an interactive element or two.

SETUP MODULE

Intro Song (as students are walking in)

Arms Open Wide (chill and without bridge)

Intro Talk

We welcomed the students to worship night and invited them to connect with God. We introduced the theme, invited everyone to experience the event as they felt comfortable and then led the group in prayer—everyone with palmed lifted upward, ready to receive whatever God had for them. It’s important to note that we gave them permission to sit, stand, sing, pray, be quiet, write, or basically whatever else would help them connect with God.

Worship

Here for You

The Lord our God

 

CONFESSION MODULE

Confession Video

Confession from LifeLine Student Ministries on Vimeo.

 

Confession Letters

We spoke to our students for a few minutes about what confession is and how it unlocks our hearts toward God. We shared 1 John 1:9 and then invited each student to write their own letter of confession to God.

Worship

Instrumental during letter writing

Never Once

 

CROSS MODULE

Communion Video

Communion Talk

We spent 5 minutes describing what communion is and how to participate in it. We also invited students to come down and nail their letters of confession to the cross after communion.

Communion (The Wonderful Cross during)

We stationed pairs of leaders with bread and juice at stations around the crowd. We like to have students come forward to the elements. It makes the experience more interactive.

Nailing Letters of Confession to Cross (Beautiful Things during)

photo(4)All Things New

 

SURRENDER MODULE

At this point we brought the cross, which had been in the shadows, to the forefront of the stage. It was a powerful moment as we talked about how, at the cross, all our sin has been washed away. In Christ we have a new identity. We are sons and daughters. We are no longer defined by our mistakes or what has been done to us.

Then, I read Romans 12:1-2:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Jesus is asking for for our lives. He is looking for disciples—for partners in His kingdom work on this planet. We then brought all of our volunteer leaders to the front and invited students to surrender their lives to Jesus to and come forward to be prayed over.

Worship

Here’s My Heart Lord (During prayer time)

Arms Open Wide (full version)

No One Higher

SMALL GROUPS

After the final song we sent our students to their small groups to process and share. As always, groups are central to what we do. Middle school students, especially, need help understanding and communicating what they experienced at worship night.

So that’s it–pretty simple really. Go ahead and steal all or some of it.