Worship Is A Verb

In preparing for this new service, I began to read back through several books that I read in seminary for my worship concentration. Here is a list of good books on the subject if you are interested.

Introduction to Christian Worship - James F. White
The Complete Worship Leader - Kevin J. Navarro
Worship As Theology - Don E. Saliers
Real Presences - George Steiner
Unceasing Worship - Harold M. Best
The Great Worship Awakening - Robb Redman
Worship Is A Verb - Robert E. Webber

Since we are not wanting to simply change the musical style of the existing services while keeping the basic service order and elements the same, I thought that some discussion on "What is worship?" and "How do we want to worship?" would be helpful. So over the next few months I will post a few quotes from some of these books to help spark some discussion and thought on worship. To start off, here are some from Robert Webber's book, "Worship Is A Verb"

"The focus of worship...is not human experience, not a lecture, not entertainment, but Jesus Christ - his life, death, and resurrection." (1)

"The purpose of worship is not to prove the Christ it celebrates, but to bring the worshiper so in tune with God's reconciliation through Christ that his death and resurrection become a living experience." (25)

"In worship there aren't 'preliminaries.' Every part of worship is an intricate aspect of the whole." (74)

"In beholding our God, these gods that would divert us and send us away from Christ are exposed and sent on the run. Worship is not complete without beholding our God, without seeing and experiencing the greatness of his power and love." (100)

"It seems to me...that we twentieth-century Christians have perhaps unconsciously lost something that is extremely important in our worship experience - a recognition that the one before whom we stand is Almighty God." (111)

"Worship is not something rote, mechanical, or intellectual. I do not worship because I've always done it. I don't worship because of peer pressure or for a better social standing in the community. I respond to God in worship because he makes a difference in my life. Worship reminds me of my commitment to Christ." (125)

Will