Keep it simple.
"Mumbo-jumbo" are words that make God very mysterious and distant. What we received from the Alpha course, are very simple and easy to understand answers, to the very difficult questions that we all ask. For those of us who are not theologians, we say, thank you.
In the course, salvation was described with three very simple components:
- I am sorry for my sins.
- Please forgive me.
- Thank you for forgiving me.
When deciding what is the right way to live our lives:
- Will our actions reflect the teachings and character of Jesus Christ?
- Will others describe our actions as loving?
- Will our actions be an example of "wisdom"?
When describing, the Christian life, we say:
- We are forgiving.
- We are loving.
- We are serving.
Even simpler yet:
Jesus Christ reduced all of God's commandments to two:
Love God & love others.
The Apostle Paul writes:
"For the whole Law can be summed up in this one command:
“Love others as you love yourself.” Galatians 5:14
And in one word, the Apostle John writes:
"God is Love."
Yes, God is mysterious, but what we clearly know is, that He wants us to love one another.
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Worship services.
Churches have many different styles of Sunday services, and there is much that we can learn from each other.
The first impression of any traditional, liturgical service, is the high level of reverence. This reverence is the way we reinforce within ourselves, and displays to the world, that we are under authority, God's authority.
The Orthodox service is culturally different for many, but for Eastern Orthodox Christians, it's very familiar, because it has not changed for centuries. When I visited a prison in Romania, they were celebrating a full Orthodox service in their chapel. Even though it was in Romanian, I knew what the priest saying and doing. It was universal, just as I remember, growing up in the Greek Orthodox church. It was eternal, as I was experiencing the same worship experience my ancestors experienced.
Of the many informal church services, the first impression is that they want to be very accessible and relevant to seekers, just as Jesus Christ was in reaching out to the world. Jesus Christ commanded us to tell the world of His "Good News". Connecting with people at their level of understanding and in the context of their life experience.
For some churches, the Sunday service is focused on the sermon or lecture, because Jesus told us to make disciples, to teach and empower.
All are necessary and when we make a clear distinction between worship, evangelism and discipleship we will be able understand how best to internalize the worship experience.
Worship directs our attention to God.
Evangelism direct's our attention to the world's spiritual needs.
Evangelism direct's our attention to the world's spiritual needs.
Service directs our attention to the world's physical needs.
Discipleship directs our attention to equipping and trainings believers. g.
We are mindful of God's presence in all that we do, but being mindful of God in all that we do is not worship either. Just as a parent is mindful of their children throughout the day, parenting is when the parent actually spends time engaging directly with their children. Worship is when you engage directly with God.
The Orthodox liturgy additionally gives us:
Consistency in worship. Structure gives us the stability we yearn for, in this ever changing world.
Reverence in worship, a reminder to us, and the world, we are under God's authority.
Repetition in worship, reinforces in our mind, God's priorities.
But how do we worship? How does the modern, educated, rational mind worship God? What do we say or do when we designate our time to focus our attention to God?
Worship in the simplest of terms, is a blend of awe, gratitude and consecration. In the natural world you have a glimpse of worship when you see something so wonderful and awe inspiring that it takes your breath away. A sense of gratitude when an act of love and encouragement gives you a second chance at life and you do the same for others.
How we express that worship will vary. For some it will be a very celebratory and exuberant expression of love and admiration. For others it's a very reverential, reflective quiet expression of worship. Both are appropriate. Some combination of both would be even better. But in the spirit of keeping things simple here are some guidelines.
Turn off your cell phone.
Have a pad and pen by your side. For two reasons:
First, when you are still, your mind will keep going and it will remind you of all the things you have to do. Don't feel bad or guilty, just write them down to relieve your mind the pressure of having to remember all the random chores that you need to do, and after a few minutes the chatter slows down. When the chatter slows down and not distracting your mind, that's when you start to think of all things you are thankful for and continue to do that until you are moved to gratitude. Gratitude is the state of mind that moves you into His presence expressing from your heart your appreciation of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The second reason for the pad and pen, is to record what He says to you. Ask for His wisdom His insight into your life. Ask Him what does He want you to do. Worship is a two way communication to God. In this part of your worship you are submitting yourself to Him by asking God for His will, direction, guidance regarding your own circumstances, direction and purpose. You will hear from Him, and you want to write this down. Do not assume you will easily remember them. Sometimes we ask and we hear nothing until a few days later. But the answer comes.
In the secular world, meditation or mindfulness is used by many writers and artists to access a deep source of creativity and for business owners and engineers to find unique solutions. This natural God given source of inspiration in our sub-conscious mind is available to everyone and will also come to you during a time of worship. It's very important that you write those insights down as well. But listen carefully how your inner voice sounds and feels to you so you can recognize it. After your inner voice or sub-conscious mind quiets down that is usually when you will be aware of a distinct difference of God's revelation and you will notice how it is different from your own inner voice. You will also notice that the information or perspective is new to you. That is the voice of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus died on the cross, it is His blood that removes our sins from being a barrier to having a relationship with a Holy God as your Father, and the Holy Spirit as your guide and comforter.
If this is new to you, you might be asking how do I know I am not going off the deep end and in the wrong direction? Judge your thoughts, both the conscious and the unconscious and any spiritual revelations that you receive during worship, by asking these three questions:
Worship is an uplifting, life changing empowering experience. Slowing down to do this, will transform your life.
Worship in the simplest of terms, is a blend of awe, gratitude and consecration. In the natural world you have a glimpse of worship when you see something so wonderful and awe inspiring that it takes your breath away. A sense of gratitude when an act of love and encouragement gives you a second chance at life and you do the same for others.
How we express that worship will vary. For some it will be a very celebratory and exuberant expression of love and admiration. For others it's a very reverential, reflective quiet expression of worship. Both are appropriate. Some combination of both would be even better. But in the spirit of keeping things simple here are some guidelines.
Turn off your cell phone.
Have a pad and pen by your side. For two reasons:
First, when you are still, your mind will keep going and it will remind you of all the things you have to do. Don't feel bad or guilty, just write them down to relieve your mind the pressure of having to remember all the random chores that you need to do, and after a few minutes the chatter slows down. When the chatter slows down and not distracting your mind, that's when you start to think of all things you are thankful for and continue to do that until you are moved to gratitude. Gratitude is the state of mind that moves you into His presence expressing from your heart your appreciation of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The second reason for the pad and pen, is to record what He says to you. Ask for His wisdom His insight into your life. Ask Him what does He want you to do. Worship is a two way communication to God. In this part of your worship you are submitting yourself to Him by asking God for His will, direction, guidance regarding your own circumstances, direction and purpose. You will hear from Him, and you want to write this down. Do not assume you will easily remember them. Sometimes we ask and we hear nothing until a few days later. But the answer comes.
In the secular world, meditation or mindfulness is used by many writers and artists to access a deep source of creativity and for business owners and engineers to find unique solutions. This natural God given source of inspiration in our sub-conscious mind is available to everyone and will also come to you during a time of worship. It's very important that you write those insights down as well. But listen carefully how your inner voice sounds and feels to you so you can recognize it. After your inner voice or sub-conscious mind quiets down that is usually when you will be aware of a distinct difference of God's revelation and you will notice how it is different from your own inner voice. You will also notice that the information or perspective is new to you. That is the voice of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus died on the cross, it is His blood that removes our sins from being a barrier to having a relationship with a Holy God as your Father, and the Holy Spirit as your guide and comforter.
If this is new to you, you might be asking how do I know I am not going off the deep end and in the wrong direction? Judge your thoughts, both the conscious and the unconscious and any spiritual revelations that you receive during worship, by asking these three questions:
- Do these thoughts line up with the words of Christ and His character?
- Would others describe these thoughts as loving?
- Do the thoughts make sense? (the Biblical word for it is "wisdom")
Worship is an uplifting, life changing empowering experience. Slowing down to do this, will transform your life.
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