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  <a href="/accessible-worship-blogs/blog/5998171/accessible-worship-entertainment">Accessible Worship -  Entertainment</a>&nbsp;
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  <div class="message"><p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Accessible Worship</span><br><br><span style="font-size: medium;">Words Matter - ENTERTAIN</span><br></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>“While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:” Luke 8:8</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><em><br></em>“Contemporary worship is all about fun and entertainment”.  It is a quote I have had uttered to me many times and that I have read more than I care to admit.  The lights are dim, there may be a stage, there is a Pastor or speaker who moves around a lot and tells stories and it looks like a concert.  For many people this is not worship and should not be the worship of the church, because it patterns itself after what people call the “entertainment” industry.  Movies, concerts, coffee shops, places people go to check out of reality and be lost in someone else’ story.<br><br>In some cases I would agree that if you don’t understand the language or the communication style of the people in those environments it will look like a concert.  I would also agree that there can be a danger in encouraging a “you sit back and relax and watch us worship for you” type of worship setting that is more likely to happen in contemporary and modern worship services than it might in traditional settings.  But that is not just confined to the more contemporary environments as organs and organists can take over or play so loud or monotonously that it can have the same effect.<br><br>I want to say that our worship should absolutely entertain people!  Some of you are curious and perhaps offended by that statement.  Some of you might even be a little angry.  Here’s the point I want to make when it comes to the value of entertainment related to worship.  Webster’s dictionary defines entertain or entertaining with these three ideas (I put in the comments between the parenthesis):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: small;">: to have people as guests in your home or in a public place (such as a restaurant)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: small;">: to perform for (an audience) : to provide amusement for (someone) by singing, acting, etc.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">: to keep, hold, or maintain in the mind (to hold one’s attention)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Have you ever thought of your church as a place that hosts guests?  It is why the “greeter program” exists in your church, a modest attempt at acknowledging that we have guests who might enjoy a more comfortable entrance to our church home.  We entertain guests with coffee, baked goods, pleasant smiles and conversation along with a cry room and other amenities to help a guest be comfortable.  That is the church entertaining people.<br><br>The negative aspect of entertaining in worship has to deal with the idea of performance, which I will cover in another blog post.  But the short of it is that providing amusement for people by telling stories, singing for them, acting out etc… is generally viewed as that poor form of entertainment.  But that is precisely what a soloist does, or a choir might do, or an instrumentalist during the offering does.  We wouldn’t use the word “amusement” we would say “edification”, but there is an element of performance.<br><br>The last one is the big one and it is the reason that I believe we need Pastors and communicators in worship that can entertain people.  It’s knowing your people well enough and using the methods of communication at your disposal to hold a person’s attention.  To help them understand the content (Law/Gospel/Justification/Sanctified living), we need to communicate in such a way as to hold their attention.  Our hope is to entertain our congregation, translated, we hope that God will use our communication gift set to hold the attention of the people to the word of God and the message based on the text.  Jesus himself often spoke in parables to hold people’s attention and to make points in ways that related to the audience he was speaking to, be it poor and bewildered or educated and pompous.  Even his miracles would have entertained people in the best ways (think Lazarus).  Jesus knew how to hold the attention of people.<br><br>Entertaining worship can be a negative thing when the focus is not on God and that is always the danger when people stand up and speak/sing for God regardless of the worship setting.  But when our focus is on Jesus and when leaders understand their roles and can lead with servant leadership and confident humility, well let’s just say I hope everything we do entertains people for his sake!</span></p></div>
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  <a href="/accessible-worship-blogs/blog/5998172/accessible-worship-performance">Accessible Worship -  Performance</a>&nbsp;
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  <div class="message"><p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Accessible Worship</span><br><br><span style="font-size: medium;">Words Matter - PERFORMANCE</span><br><br></strong><em>“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!” Revelation 5:14</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: small;">“The difference between performance and worship is involvement.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><br>One of the criticisms that often comes against contemporary worship settings is that it seems to be a performance rather than worship.  The negative connotation comes often because the musicians are at the front of church, visible to the entire church body.  As we talked about before, 55% of communication is what people see and therefore the fact that they are visible often gives the feeling of a performance.  Our experiences with people up front are usually tied to concert environments and orchestral experiences, experiences that we often refer to as a “performance” where we sit and watch or listen to what is happening from the front.  Add to that the notion of worship leading is often foreign to most people in a congregation and the often times the musicians do not understand that they are in fact helping to “lead” worship.  Therefore if they get too energetic or they talk a little too much they come off as performers to some people.  On the other hand if they stand there and don’t move or don’t engage (entertain), there is a disconnect with the rest of the people they are there to lead.<br><br>But this is not limited to just contemporary bands and worship settings.  When the choir gets up to sing for the congregation, we tend to think more highly of it because it is “sacred” music, but if the choir does something a little more upbeat, the criticism is that it’s a performance.  Or if there is a Pastor who chants the liturgy for the people, if he is too enthusiastic, it seems to border on the performance side of things.  Or even the organist, if they are too ornate and long in their interludes between verses or if they are too loud in their playing… yep you bet – performance!<br><br>In all my experiences in WELS worship settings, the difference between performance and worship is involvement.  Some of this involvement is directly tied to the way that the contemporary band or the choir or even the organist leads.  If they lead with a clear expectation that the people have a voice, and then work to create space for that voice to be heard, then we move from performance to involvement.  For some people, simply listening is enough because they are deeply connected to the words and the music.  Because what they are hearing leaves them connected to the song and the message it is conveying, they are not simply taking in a performance, but the song/music is part of their worship because they are involved though they don’t show an outward expression.<br><br>For the organist, for the choir, for the soloist and for the praise team, it is very important for us to remember that if what we are doing is to be part of the worship of our church, the way we move from performance to worship is to give the people a song to sing.  For some people it will be a vocal song to sing, for other songs we might ask their hearts to sing as we tell the story through music.  Our songs give voice to a prayer and then encourage their voice to join in.  It is true that a soloist has a different role, sometimes the choir is set to sing for the people because the music is beautiful, but complex.  Sometimes the band chooses a song that has an edge, is difficult to sing or is creating tension that the message is meant to deal with. <br><br>My hope is that before we throw around that word and start accusing various groups of being a performance based entity uninterested in worship, let’s really think about what that means and let’s admit too, that our own biases, likes and dislikes go a long way in making that statement.  In other words, our judgment of others in the realm of performance may be as petty as not liking a person in a choir and therefore not liking any of it.  If a group is over the edge on performance, let’s use kind words to build them up and help them move from performance to worship – giving the people a voice, verbally or internally, to join in with the praise of God’s people.</span></p></div>
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  <a href="/accessible-worship-blogs/blog/5998173/accessible-worship-relationship">Accessible Worship -  Relationship</a>&nbsp;
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  <div class="message"><p align="center"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Accessible Worship<br></strong></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Words Matter - RELATIONSHIP</strong></span></p>
<p align="center">“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.” – 1 Corinthians 10:16-17</p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><br>At first glance, the word Relationship isn’t usually one of the words used when we talk about Worship services and environments.  We usually talk about music, message, liturgy or service styles.  We talk about a “conversation” in worship, God’s coming to us and his people respond, but this word is at the center of both worship and evangelism and ultimately it’s at  the center of Christianity so we want to talk about a few of these ideas in this space.  My next blog post will talk about the idea of “evangelism” and the relationship to worship services, but the concept of relationship needs to be the foundation for some conversation in the next several posts.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">First of all, let’s talk about a basic reality and definition for relationship.  RELATIONSHIP is ALWAYS based on some level of SHARED EXPERIENCE.  This definition of relationship has been very helpful for me as I get older and I wish I had thought about it a lot sooner in life.  Think about it for a moment.  The people that you consider friends… why do you consider them friends?  There is a level of shared experience that you have had together.  Good times, bad times, quiet times, fun times etc…  You have stories to tell because you were doing life in the company of others and you experienced it together.  Think about the relationships that have been deteriorating in your life.  Consider the quality of the shared experiences you have together or the lack of these experiences.  They have a direct bearing on the quality and depth of your relationship.  Consider your spouse.  Think about your kids.  What about your extended family or friendships?  What are the shared experiences that you are having together?  What would you need to change to make them better?  What would you need to keep doing to make sure they stay strong?</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">When it comes to the idea of shared experiences we can also divide these into two key types of experience, “inferred” and “direct”.  Inferred relationships have to do with the idea that, while you have not experienced the same thing at the same time, you have similar experiences that you can glean from as the basis for conversation and relationship.  It is why everyone talks about the weather, because all of us have experienced it and all of us have an opinion on it.   Or how about an example with cancer?  You may not know the person, but if you both have survived it, there is an inferred experience because you have both experienced the life altering effect of cancer.  While you didn’t experience it together, you do have the basis for a relationship.  Common experiences can be shared indirectly and are often the starting point for most of our non-family relationships in particular.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">While inferred or indirect experiences are often an initial starting point for a relationship with someone, direct shared experiences are where our deepest and best relationships are found.  That common, directly shared experience of going through buying a house.  The experience of holding hands and walking through the mall.  The family game night where everyone is involved.  The list goes on and on.  Even simple direct experiences are examples of relationship.  The depth of the relationship is tied to the quality of the shared experiences that we have with others.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">But this idea of relationship is even more important because of what it means for Christianity.  The fact that Jesus desires to restore the relationship with mankind that he had once experienced with Adam and Eve when God said “it was very good”.  He wants us to share in the experiences of ultimate peace and joy, of life to the full, of rest for our souls.  He knows that the only way we grow in faith is hearing him speak to us in his word and then continues to speak to us when his word becomes portable as the Holy Spirit keeps the word on our hearts and minds as we live out our lives.  He wants us to apply the word to the world, to our relationships, to be the light that people are looking for as his word shapes us and then pours out of us.  He desired it so much that he came to share in our experiences, becoming human and knowing what it meant to be tempted and tired, joy filled and sad, hungry and thirsty and to find satisfaction and peace in the storms of life by resting in his Father.  Our God is a relational God and with every breath, whether we believe in him or not, HE at least is living life with us and offering that relationship that only comes by grace through faith.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">At the end of the day, worship starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  While the gift of faith is just that, an awesome and undeserved gift, when we come to worship we come expressing our thanks to God, our praise of what he has done to address our sin problem and bring the healing and hope we are in need of.  We acknowledge the brokenness that we bring to this relationship by our sin, grateful for the relationship that is renewed in repentance and forgiveness.  And we marvel that wherever we go, we go in relationship with Jesus, bringing his same life saving grace and mercy to the broken parts of our world around us.   The fact that we, a bunch of individuals in a personal relationship with Jesus, are then brought together by that same shared experience of being in a relationship with Jesus is one of the beautiful things about church and worship.  It is why the content and the focus of our worship is all about Jesus. </span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Applying this idea to the church means we do work hard to communicate clearly the message of Jesus so that the relationship between God and his people is strengthened through word and sacrament.  Because we desire a strong shared experience in our churches so that the people of God have a strong relationship with each other, we work hard to use the tools of communication in our various worship environments so that it proclaims Christ clearly and correctly, but also strives to give the people an honest song and prayer from the heart.  I pray that we would crave a deep relationship with Jesus and that those of us who have a role in the public leading of the gathered “Church” would work hard to communicate God’s great love for us and the story of his faithfulness in a way that makes the peace and joy of the Gospel message accessible to the people God puts in our path – both publicly in worship and in our private lives as well. </span></p></div>
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  <a href="/accessible-worship-blogs/blog/5998174/accessible-worship-evangelism">Accessible Worship -  Evangelism</a>&nbsp;
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  <div class="message"><p align="center"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Accessible Worship<br></strong></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Words Matter - EVANGELISM</strong></span></p>
<p align="center">“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” – 1 Corinthians 9:22b, 23</p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">One of the big conversations that happens behind the scenes of many churches when it comes to the topic of worship “style” is just who worship is actually for.  Logically, if you do not have a relationship with Jesus, then you cannot actually praise God for what he has done.  The bible is full of passages that talk about the babble of pagans, even if they are of a religious type when they do not acknowledge the one true God.  The logic goes that worship is for people who know Jesus and when we stretch to make our worship comfortable for people who don’t know Jesus, we may have a tendency to be lax in our doctrine and our teaching.  After all, there are many real world examples of churches who have thrown out good doctrine in an attempt at using worship to reach the lost.  In my experiences traveling around the country and talking to many people and church leaders, one of the drawbacks that can happen is that we can develop a tendency to show suspicion or coldness to people outside of the church.  Even though we say anyone is invited to worship, what do we really mean by that invitation?</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">So I’ve been really stepping back to consider this question, can or should our worship service be considered a form of “outreach” or evangelism?  After all, when we talk to our congregation we encourage the members to “invite a friend” to church, to special services and to special events.  One of the most interesting Sundays of the year are what Churches tend to call “Friendship Sunday”.  Often times it is a worship service that is different from what is done most Sundays and a real effort is made to make people who are not regular church goers comfortable with coming to church.  We do special music, special orders of service, we might be a bit more casual… why?  Because deep down we really want people to hear about Jesus and we often feel that the formal worship of the church is one of the best places for people to hear about their need for Jesus and what he has done.</span></p>
<p><br><span style="font-size: small;">When I talk to people about worship, one of the frustrations with certain worship styles/environments/languages, whatever way you want to describe it, is that our own people are often not very comfortable inviting people to the Sunday service.  This is worth an honest conversation in every church because it is one of the sentiments that often leave people in more “traditional” settings on the defensive and where “contemporary” minded churches can come off as arrogant or pietistic.  I think it is an important question to ask at the local level, because what you may find is that what we do in our worship, is not actually communicating our hope for people who are far away from Jesus.  Are we embarrassed about our church worship?  Do we believe the whole of the morning is effective?  Are there valid criticisms and affirmations to consider when it comes to our Sunday environment and how it relates to guests and the larger community?  Is Sunday worship really a good place for us to get to know our neighbors who may not believe what we do yet?</span></p>
<p><br><span style="font-size: small;">From my perspective, I believe that we should never compromise the truth of God’s word, that sinners need a Savior from Sin.  That the means of grace are the only faith builders and that the church is a vessel and vehicle to bring the healing message of the Gospel hope to the world.  We need each other and sinners need the Bride of Christ (the church) to be available to them.  We need a front door to our church families, whether that is a school, a small group, a basketball program or Sunday morning worship, people need to know we care about them and will be available as they come against questions regarding life to the full in Jesus.  To that end, I really do believe that our worship is a place where someone can possibly come in broken with little to no faith and actually leave as a person with saving faith.  Having heard the faithful preaching of the law and Gospel, the word works and the Holy Spirit is already working on the people who come.  I believe it is possible that someone can come into church with a two fisted middle finger salute to Jesus and leave being wrecked having heard what the Gospel is really about.  That God loves them, no matter how far they’ve run.  That God forgives them, no matter how great the sin.  That there is a future that can begin again, by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ allowing the frustrated person to fall to their knees and finally sing from the heart “In Christ Alone, my hope is found…”</span></p>
<p><br><span style="font-size: small;">An easy question this is not and it comes loaded with emotion.  I am finding that this is one of the under currents of frustration that we don’t deal with very well, but with wise and patient conversation, we may really help our churches blossom when it comes to evangelism. And that includes reaching the lost in the conversation of well communicated worship centered squarely on Jesus saving Grace.</span></p></div>
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  <a href="/accessible-worship-blogs/blog/5998175/accessible-worship-encounter">Accessible Worship -  Encounter</a>&nbsp;
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  <div class="message"><p align="center"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Accessible Worship<br></strong></span><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Words Matter - ENCOUNTER</span><br><br></strong>“And I pray that you, being rooted ”  Ephesians 3</p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">If you attend church regularly I hope it’s alright if I ask you a question.  When you came to church this morning, what did you hope would happen?  This question can make people a little defensive or apprehensive.  It stirs a debate in our minds about answering in a way that acknowledges our emotions, which makes us nervous or it may nudge us toward digging in deep to say something that would satisfy a religion teacher or a Pastor.  But seriously, you got up early, you got dressed reasonably nice.  You might have showered and combed your hair.  And you probably worked really hard to get the kids dressed and out the door on time.  But WHY did you come?  What did you hope would happen?  What did you hope to give?   What did you hope to receive?  When the final benediction was said and the final hymn was sung, how did you hope to leave?</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">No right or wrong answer, just an honest one.  I would encourage you to take a bit of a poll with the people in your family or small group or church and just see what people have to say and how they respond.  It can be a fascinating list of reasons why people come and what they are hoping for.  Many times people will say they came for communion, to have a physical comfort and encouragement that only Jesus can give in that sacrament.  For others it’s to hear a message about God’s word that will be helpful for their life or their week ahead.  For some it’s the beautiful music and the chance to sing a favorite song that they will keep singing when the leave.  For some it’s not as religious, but may be a desire to see a friend, to get a hug from Pastor, to meet up with family and friends that we don’t see at other times.  For some it’s because they were made to go and had no real choice.  For some they were looking to find relief from a guilty conscience.  And for many others, they aren’t entirely sure why they came or what they were hoping for… they had never really thought of it, because it’s what we always do.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">This tends to be the kind of question that gets us nervous, because it plays on reason and emotion and we get uncomfortable in this space sometimes, but it’s a fair one.  At the beginning of this series I shared the story of the woman at the well.  She had a sin problem, a troubled heart and she was thirsty for pure water, living water.  As you recall that story, when would you say she “encountered” Jesus?  There are several different ways to answer this, but I would submit that she truly encountered Jesus when he said “I who speak to you am he”.  Her reaction is priceless, she leaves the water jar behind and goes and tells everyone that she may have found the promised Messiah who would “explain everything”.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">We all encounter God in a myriad of ways.  We certainly encounter shame and sorrow, we encounter the result of sin and the wonder of forgiveness.  Sometimes it is in the quiet of the night as we meditate on a passage that the Holy Spirit prompts into our minds to pray over and dwell on.  It’s the touch in communion and baptism.  It’s the song that stirs in us the picture from Zephaniah of the Lord singing over his people.  It really is the loving embrace of family, friends and spiritual mentors and Pastors that God uses to physically touch our lives.  James himself notes that the healing comes when we confess our sins ONE TO ANOTHER and pray for each other that we might be healed.  It’s been said we are the hands and feet of God and that we are blessed to be carriers of the Gospel of Peace.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">In our worship, we encounter God’s great love for us.  In our lives, we have an opportunity to be carriers of that encounter with the joy and hope of the Gospel to others who are desperate to find healing.  So… what did you hope would happen at church?  Why did you really come?  I hope on some level it was to encounter Jesus in such a way that you and I both leave running into the world with excitement “COME SEE A MAN!”.</span></p></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2015-01-11T18:00:00-06:00" title="January 11, 2015 18:00">01/11/2015</span></p>

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