THEME: The mode
of worship is an important and controversial issue. The source of deciding what
a worship should be the Bible.
QUESTIONS:
Why is worship described as “one of the most controversial
issues” in church today?
- Evangelical
churches face is “worship warfare” because of disagreements to the content
and form of worship, as illustrated in many current book titles. In local
congregations we see not only confusion, but also fighting, controversy
and splitting.
- The
issue of worship will define not only our church services, but also our
theology and our beliefs about God
What is today’s trend in worship?
- There
appear many different kinds of worship: traditional worship, liturgical
worship, contemporary worship, blended worship, seeker-sensitive worship,
praise and worship!
- According
to Tozer, “It is now common practice in most evangelical churches to offer
the people, especially the young people, a maximum of entertainment and a
minimum of serious instruction. It is scarcely possible in most places to
get anyone to attend the meeting where the only attraction is God. One can
only conclude that God’s professed children are bored with Him for they
must be wooed to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of
religious movies, games and refreshments.”
- This
has influenced the whole pattern of church life and even brought into
being a new type of church architecture designed to house the golden calf.
Does God care how He is worshipped? How do we know?
- Leviticus
10:1-3 is an illustration of how God cares about how He is worshipped. The
sons of Aaron died because of their inappropriate action in worship.
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THEME: The centre
of worship is God, not men. Once a worship is shaped to accommodate men, true
worship is compromised.
QUESTIONS:
Where can we find in the Bible a description of an authentic
worship? What can we learn from it?
- Isaiah
6:1-8 we see a picture of authentic worship, also Rev 4:8-11.
- The
fact that God sat on a throne is a clear symbol of kingship and
sovereignty. It represents both power and righteousness.
- The
focus in worship is God, a God of matchless holiness.
- Worship
is the people of God gathering together to confess his worthiness, his
“worth-ship.” Our very pattern of worship must testify to the character of
God.
What are the objective and the subjective elements of
worship?
- There
is a polarity between the objective and the subjective. There is the
subjective in worship. But what Scripture makes clear is that the
subjective experience of worship must be predicated on the objective truth
of the true and living God, and on an experience of the God who has
revealed Himself in Scripture.
- It
is a balance of subjective experience and objective theology.
Hunter suggests that worship should be “a celebration to which
pre-Christians can relate” and that things that are described as “cringe
factor” should be removed. Is he correct?
- Hunter
is wrong. The worship service is centred on the most holy God who should
bring awe to the worshippers.
- Hebrews
10:31 reveals, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.” I wonder if there is anything that could even be remotely
suggested as a terrifying reality as we present the God we claim to worship
in what we do and what we say.
- Much
of contemporary music is an evacuation of Christian conviction. It
represents the abandonment of content with the endless repetition of
choruses.
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THEME: One year
after Terri Schiavo’s death by starvation, people are still confused about what
we learned from the events.
QUESTIONS:
How do American react to the questions raised by Schiavo’s
death?
- Because
of arguments from both sides, the reaction is a state of confusion. The
media have generally support the arguments favouring personal autonomy
over all moral concerns and priorities.
- There
are signs that Americans may actually be resigning themselves to the
inevitability of euthanasia and the Culture of Death.
What is the problem with dividing human beings into “mere
biological human life” and “person”?
- The
argument that human beings are to be divided between those who are merely
biologically alive and those who possess sufficient qualities to be
considered as persons is based upon a worldview that privileges human
autonomy over other moral goods.
What is the underlying point of argument behind abortion,
euthanasia, and embryo research?
- The
argument for abortion, euthanasia, and embryo research is directly
traceable to the rise of autonomy as the supreme moral good. While
historically this argument is relatively new, it has gained support
because of the cultural trend toward secular humanism. This position is
certainly against the Biblical position.
What are the problems with euthanasia?
- “Life,
however, is not simply a ‘good’ that we possess. We are living beings. Our
life is our person. To treat our life as a ‘thing’ that we can authorize
another to terminate is profoundly dehumanizing.
- Euthanasia,
even when requested by the competent, can never be a humanitarian act, for
it attacks the distinctiveness and limitations of being human.
Persons—ourselves and others—are not things to be discarded when they are no
longer deemed useful.”
- “We
can give our life for another,
but we cannot give ultimate authority over our life to another. The painfully learned moral wisdom of our heritage
is that persons cannot ‘own’ persons. The decision for euthanasia is not
an exercise of human freedom but the abandonment of human freedom. To
attempt to turn one’s life into an object that is at the final disposition
of another is to become less than human, while it places the other in a
position of being more than human—a lord of life and death, a possessor of
the personhood of others.” (Prof. Robert P. George, Princeton University)
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THEME: Halloween has
a pagan origin but more importantly it represents cultural fascination with the
occult. Christians must react cautiously based on a biblically-informed
conscience.
QUESTIONS:
What are the Christian objections against Halloween?
- It
is based on pagan roots from Celtic culture. [It was the beginning of the
Celtic year and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil
spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming
disguises and looking live evil spirits themselves.]
- It
represents a season of cultural fascination with evil and the demonic and
the occult (symbol of moral darkness).
- It
is a season glorifying lawlessness. One’s identity can be discarded with
impunity. Men dress as women, and vise versa. Authority can be mocked and
circumvented.
What can Christians do about Halloween?
- Many
families withdraw from the holiday completely. Their children do not go
trick-or-treating, they wear no costumes, and attend no parties related to
the holiday. Some churches have organized alternative festivals.
- Others
believe that the pagan roots of Halloween are no more significant than the
pagan origins of Christmas and other church festivals. It is just a time
for fun, particularly for young children.
- Christian
parents should make careful decisions based on a biblically-informed
Christian conscience.
- It
is a good time for Christians to remember that evil spirits are real and
that the Devil will seize every opportunity to trumpet his own celebrity.
- We
can follow Martin Luther’s example of scorning the Devil
- We
can pray for the Reformation of Christ’s church on earth, just as Luther posted
the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on
October 31, 1517.
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