Preparing for revival (4): Sincere and Genuine Gathered Worship.
It’s clear a deepening of the sincerity and genuine nature of gathered worship is at the heart of every revival movement I’m aware of. What is meant by this, in reality, is an increase in enthusiastic and heartfelt communal worship experiences, fostering a sense of unity and divine presence among participants.
I’ve noticed something of a noticeable trend amongst many of the people who’ve become Christians recently: they’ve encountered God before they’ve attended a Christian church gathering for worship service.
I was listening to a young woman’s story of how she ‘met Jesus’ last week and she used the word ‘encounter’ and that’s the word I’m hearing in story after story, personal encounter after personal encounter. This resonates deeply with me. As a sixteen year-old I ‘knew’ Jesus was real, who he said he was and he had taken hold of my life, in a nano-second. I could not have given a lucid answer to any question about God, the meaning of life, or anything much for months, but none of that mattered to me. Jesus was alive, that was all that mattered.
When I subsequently started attending a weekly gathering for Christian worship, the fact the Baptist church I started to join in with was very formal and traditionally minded and only sang hymns, which were very unlike my personal music taste, made no difference to me. I met with Jesus. I’m told our Minister was a good preacher, but I can only remember one phrase he used, never mind a point of biblical teaching. On reflection, it didn’t matter who it was preaching, I was listening for God’s voice. I heard him speak, even though I didn’t use that language, it was deeper than that, spirit to spirit.
Listening to the testimony of new Christian’s today, it strikes me, so many have been searching for meaning and purpose, for their life for sure, but Life beyond ‘this mortal coil’. Not surprisingly, having encountered God, convinced they too somehow ‘know’ him, rather than simply know about him, they frequently look for a gathering of others for Christian worship to belong to. What’s going on? Why are people joining Eastern Orthodox churches, Catholic churches, high-Anglican churches? Why don’t they all join us? They’re looking for worship as encounter with God.
If you have a heart, which is longing for the church to be renewed, then ask yourself this question: do I think someone visiting our church next Sunday is likely to encounter God? If your answer is anything less confident, then start preparing now.
If you’re an attender rather than an influencer (someone who has direct input into what and how the leading through of the service is done), it’s all and only about your heart. My go-to place when I sense things drying up within me is Isaiah 6:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:1-7)
It can be anywhere, as long as you choose a path which will lead you back to the starting place for any renewal to take place:
- Recognising he is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.
- Acknowledging who I am in the presence of a Holy God.
- Accepting I cannot save myself and without the grace of God I have no hope.
- Receiving the grace, mercy and love of God afresh.
However, if you’re involved in the crafting and leading of any element of a worship gathering then take this word on board – responsibility. The fact you have some responsibility for others may be heard as bad news by some. However, the good news is you don’t have responsibility for being the most proficient musician, public speaker, or even ‘worship leader’ going – you’re primary responsibility is being a worshipper yourself. So whatever else you do, do not skip step 1 and jump into this one!
I asked April Ballard, who’s heart is to equip worship leaders to serve the local church and leading www.schoolofworshipbristol.com (NB. if you want to join yourself or book worship leaders from your church onto the course starting this September, hurry up and book before it’s full) for what she thought about the connection between sincere and genuine gathered worship and renewal and revival: ‘sincere and gathered times of sung worship must be both taught and caught’. Worship shapes the heart. If you’re leading others and your heart is after God? That’s what makes the difference. Yes, I believe the grace of God is able to override the barrier of an unrepentant messenger, but you get the point?
Worship is caught more easily than it’s taught, but the virus comes from your heart. That said, when was the last time you taught anything about how we worship? Imagine attending a gathering for worship knowing nothing about God, the Bible and never having been inside a building for Christian worship before? A colleague told me recently they were in a school and the head teacher asked children to put their hand up if they knew the story they’d just heard was called ‘The Good Samaritan’ – you guessed it, not one. When revival does break out there’ll be a whole load of things which need explanation, testing and exploration so why not start now?
Another thing April shared was her conviction worship and prayer has prepared the ground for the present fruit springing up: ‘I’d say that over the last 15 years there has been a movement of prayer and worship through groups like 24-7 Prayer, David’s Tent, 24-7 Burn … all those hours of prayer and intercession through song I believe is a massive contribution to what we are seeing now. The soil has been made ready’. ‘The soil has been made ready’ – what do you make of that? Not here yet? Then do what I do in the garden – prepare the soil.
