{"id":2340,"date":"2012-11-02T13:05:08","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T18:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?p=2340"},"modified":"2012-11-02T13:05:08","modified_gmt":"2012-11-02T18:05:08","slug":"gauging-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/11\/gauging-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Gauging Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today\u2019s post is written by Matt Nightingale, Director of Worship Ministries at\u00a0Redeemer Covenant Church<\/a>\u00a0in Tulsa, OK.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve been a full-time worship pastor for over 12 years. My great desire, my clear call from the Lord, is to help people enter into worship. And over the years, one of the definitions of worship that has made the most sense to me is very simple: Worship is our response<\/em> to God\u2019s revelation. Of course that response can take many forms. Our day-to-day lives of individual worship (see Romans 12:1) are a response to God. And our worship services, where God\u2019s people gather to worship together, are a response to God.<\/p>\n

The Covenant Book of Worship reminds us that not only do we respond to who God<\/em> is<\/em>, we respond to what God has done.<\/em> Jewish worship \u2013 liturgy, songs and holy days – focused on the Exodus. God had done something spectacular \u2013 delivering His people from bondage in Egypt \u2013 and the community of faith responded<\/em> in worship by remembering and celebrating with their lives. In much the same way, Christian worship over the last 2000 years \u2013 liturgy, songs and holy days \u2013 has focused on an event: the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus. God has done something spectacular \u2013 delivering His people from the bondage of sin and death \u2013 and the community of faith responds in worship by remembering and celebrating with our lives.<\/p>\n

Every Monday morning, I get together with our senior pastor and associate pastor. We check in with each other and pray together, and inevitably we get around to discussing the worship services. Every week we ask ourselves about Redeemer\u2019s response.<\/em> Was our worship planning effective? Did our congregation respond to God? How do we know?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all seen the Hillsong videos<\/a> (or the Passion videos, or the Jesus Culture videos, or\u2026 insert whatever vibrant, youthful praise and worship movement you want)\u2026 You know, the arenas full of people, hands raised, eyes closed, singing at the top of their lungs. Those people are really worshipping<\/em>, right?<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Redeemer on a Sunday morning. We\u2019re a conservative bunch, on the whole. Some people just stand there. Others sing quietly. Some brave souls lift their hands and close their eyes. Sometimes there are moments of robust, unified singing, and other times I can’t really tell how many people are singing along. But you know\u2026 it\u2019s not Hillsong all the time. That\u2019s just not our thing. And that\u2019s just fine. We all know that true worship can\u2019t be measured by outward expression. After all, scripture teaches us that \u201cpeople look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV).\u201d<\/p>\n

The most expressive person can be the most hypocritical. The quietest person can be the most fully engaged. There\u2019s no way to tell from simply observing.<\/p>\n

I remember once introducing a new song at a former church. The band sounded great, the lighting was just right, people were really \u201cwith me.\u201d \u00a0I saw someone watching me, and I thought to myself, \u201cMan, I sound good\u2026 I\u2019ll bet that person thinks I have a really great voice.\u201d And then I got to the chorus:<\/p>\n

You are the God of the broken, the friend of the weak<\/em>
\nYou wash the feet of the weary, embrace the ones in need<\/em>
\nI want to be like you, Jesus, to have this heart in me<\/em>
\nYou are the God of the broken. You are the humble king.*<\/em><\/p>\n

BAM! In one chorus I was revealed as a fraud, utterly barren in my seemingly genuine worship. On the outside, I was looking the part, but on the inside I was a prideful pretender.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I know a man here at Redeemer who looks like a statue during worship in music. He just\u2026 stands there. Hands in pockets. Doesn\u2019t even sing. But he continually lets me know that he appreciates our times of worship and that the songs are meaningful to him. And even more important than his affirming words, his life reflects maturity in Christ and produces good fruit.<\/p>\n

So how can we tell? How do we evaluate whether our congregations are entering into genuine worship? How can we gauge the response of our people \u2013 as individuals and collectively? Please share your thoughts and experiences.<\/strong><\/p>\n

*Lyric from the song \u201cHumble King\u201d words and music by Brenton Brown, \u00a9<\/em> 1999 Vineyard Songs (UK\/Eire) (Admin. by Vineyard Music UK)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s post is written by Matt Nightingale, Director of Worship Ministries at\u00a0Redeemer Covenant Church\u00a0in Tulsa, OK. I’ve been a full-time worship pastor for over 12 years. My great desire, my clear call from the Lord, is to help people enter into worship. And over the years, one of the definitions of worship that has made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nGauging Response - Worship Connect<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/11\/gauging-response\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gauging Response - Worship Connect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today\u2019s post is written by Matt Nightingale, Director of Worship Ministries at\u00a0Redeemer Covenant Church\u00a0in Tulsa, OK. 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