Prepare for Worship (Page 3)

Hey Church! I had a group of friends in college who, at some point in their faith journey, had become disillusioned with the institutional church and decided to form their own “house church.” On Sundays, they would have a potluck meal, sing along with selections from a worship-music CD collection, and have a good old-fashioned Bible study, free of all the…

Hey Church! When Solomon’s Temple was destroyed and the people of Israel were exiled to Babylon in 586 BCE, faithful Jews began to gather together in worship-houses called synagogues (literally “assembly”). Since it was against the Law to offer sacrifices on foreign soil, and without the proper and necessary provisions of the Temple (altars, veils, priests, etc.),…

Hey Church! If you have been tracking with these prepare-for-worship newsletters in recent weeks, you know that we have been tracing the subject of worship through the Scriptures. Our brief survey has examined themes like God’s mediated presence, His desire to dwell among His people, and the use of the Psalms in worship. Today, I want to take a one-week break from that…

Hey Church! The book of Psalms is, for many, a favorite book of the Bible. It is an anthology of prayers and songs written over the span of 1,000 years of Israel’s history, so it grants us access to the thoughts and spiritual lives of King David, Moses, the sons of Korah, and other poets of the time. Thus, reading and re-reading the Psalms over a lifetime trains us to…

Hey Church! Our recent weekend newsletters have traced the subject of worship from the Garden of Eden to the first Temple of Solomon. The central theme that continues to emerge with each new instance of Scripture’s tabernacle/temple motif is this idea that the all-powerful God desires to be…

Hey Church! As we continue in our biblical-theological survey of worship this week, I want to look very briefly at what worship was like in the days of Solomon’s Temple.  King David was inspired to draw up the architectural plans for the first Temple but ultimately God chose his son, Solomon,…

Hey Church! We have been journeying our way through a biblical theology of worship for the past few weeks and today we will take a brief look at Moses’ Tabernacle and what it has to teach us about Jesus.  In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. The woman asks Jesus…

Hey Church! Welcome back to the weekend newsletter! Can you believe it’s already Friday? It’s time to start preparing our hearts and minds to gather for worship on Sunday once again.  BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF WORSHIP: WEEK THREEThis week I want to look at the Torah and make note of just a few of the lessons these first five books of the Bible teach us about…

Hey Church! I recently began a new biblical-theological study of worship. Last Friday, our prepare-for-worship meditation was on the foundational idea that theology is only possible because God chose to reveal Himself to us in His Word and in the person of Jesus. This week I want to define biblical theology and begin our study “Bereshith” (Hebrew בְּרֵאשִׁית‎…

Hey Church! “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” (Isaiah 40:28) Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God is incomprehensible to us. If you think about it, it’s only logical that finite beings would be incapable of…