On worship…old, new or everlasting
by Jimmy Hopper
Yesterday I ran across a new Christian-themed Blog, InternetMonk.com, that I will enjoy reading occasionally. The article that led me to it was this one. The article was very interesting to me and the many responses are both interesting and all over the map. The article speaks to the state of worship in America today, both mainline churches with “traditional” services and evangelical churches with “contemporary” services. The author finds both wanting and yearns for a church that holds to the truth of the faith and worships with piety, devotion, sacrements, the preaching of the Word, confession, and a sense of the holiness of God. Looking at the website, I suspect that he would also appreciate a church that wasn’t afraid to question and interact with the culture.
I wonder where the author could find such a church??????
Posted by Jimmy Hopper at August 10, 2007 09:09 AM
Jimmy, Good find.
I especially enjoyed his emphasis on the inter-generational church. I think the church has capitulated to the “novel,” when in reality they have accepted spiritual immaturity. It seems that enthusiasm and fervor amongst the young is mistaken for true spirituality. I also noticed he gave the PCA some thumbs up in the responses. Here’s hoping you get a “recognizable” sermon this Sunday.
Tim, If I don’t hear a sermon Sunday that is “recognizable” as being Biblical and Gospel oriented, no matter what the passage, it will be the first time. It ain’t happening.
I really think that the evangelical church in America is in chaos. Too many have given in to trendy, fashionable worship and have abandoned transcendent Gospel truths in the process. This also necessitates continually changing worship styles and content every so often in order to remain ‘relevant’. My prayer and intent is that whatever we do at RPC would be:
1) centered on God, not man 2) consistent with Scripture 3) meeting our community and culture where it is and where we are (that is, not watering down the Gospel in order to be accepted) 4) done only out of gratitude to the Trinity and love for others both within and without the Church, being aware that the Enemy would like for us to become proud in our deeds individually and as a corporate body
I think by and large we do all this but it’s good to restate these things occasionally and check our course.
Jeff,
I agree with everything you said. Moreover, at the risk of sounding harsh, I doubt that many churchgoers out there would even know what you mean by “transcendant Gospel truths” and therein lies the problem IMHO.
We frequently (and rightly) bemoan the sorry state of Christendom here on this blog, and the essay Jimmy links to hits the nail right on the head. I genuinely believe, as the writer does, that there’s a genuine hunger and thirst for those “transcendent Gospel truths,” but so many Churches either have lost their belief in them or are abjectly afraid of them, for fear of diminishing attendance.
But, God’s nature abhors a vacuum, and if some churches create one, others (like RPC) will fill the void. God will build his Church, after all.