Worship Matters

1. Worship Matters Biblical Principles that guide worship through song at Orange Park Bible Church May 2012

2. Prefatory Remarks • What is the purpose of this presentation? • Is there a hidden agenda? • How did you reach Elder consensus? • Any time the word “worship” is used in this presentation, we are referencing the local Church meeting corporately and worshiping specifically through music and song.

3. Prefatory Remarks • If you are viewing this presentation online, please listen to the audio when viewing the presentation. • Remember, worship can be a very controversial and emotional topic. Please participate prayerfully and strive to be governed by the Spirit. • Churches do not plan division. Watch and pray.

4. Why Do We Sing? True worship from the heart results, among other things, in a bursting forth of praise through music and song (Psalm 45:1). God Himself seeks true worshippers who offer up adoration and exultation which is grounded in His self-revelation, deep faith and conviction (John 4:24).8

5. Why Do We Sing? True worship flows from the inner dimension of a man and involves the intellect, the emotions, and the will (Psalm 103:1).

6. What Pleases God? Although numerous musical preferences and opinions exist, the Church’s philosophy of worship must be guided by Biblical principles and wisdom. • The Scripture is sufficient to teach us how to worship in a way that pleases God (II Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:3).

7. What Pleases God? Pastors must search the Scriptures to determine the biblical and wisdom principles that regulate a right philosophy and practice of corporate worship.

8. Two Crucial Questions The purpose of this presentation is to answer the following two crucial questions: What is the right biblical way to worship? Given our liberty, what is wise practice for our local assembly?

9. What is Right? • Music and Scripture is a God-ordained marriage(Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16). • Singing God’s praises is a future heavenly activity (Rev. 5:9) and was a central part of Israel’s worship (Psalms; 1 Chronicles 15:16-22).4

10. What is Right? Do we have absolute liberty regarding the selection of music and lyrics? • Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 indicate that music of differing content should be used in communicating the Word of God within the Body. • How do we choose lyrics and music that are acceptable to God?

11. The Regulative Principle The Regulative Principle is defined as follows: But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, so that He may not be worshiped according to the imaginations or devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.1

12. The Regulative Principle The Regulative Principle rightly suggests that as God regulates (outlines with principles)every area of human life, he also regulates how we are to worship Him. In every area of life, God gives specific commands surrounded by guiding principles in which we exercise liberty and wisdom.

13. The Regulative Principle Although Scripture prescribes the elements of worship, it does not always describe in detail how those elements are to be carried out. • For example, preaching is an element of worship, but Scripture does not specify the sermon length (Praise Him!), text, voice inflection, how many sermons in a given day, etc.

14. The Regulative Principle We must determine God’s will for worship by the same hermeneutically problematic methods by which we seek to discover God’s will in all other areas of life. “Build a box” with biblical principles. Collect data, pray, and discuss to obtain wisdom.

15. The Regulative Principle There is controversy outside and inside the Regulative Principle. We affirm the regulative principle, while denying that this principle for worship is any different from the principle by which God governs every other area of human life.2

16. Biblical Principles: The Guiding Lens 1) Sing! (Ephesians 5:17-19). God created music and He desires to be glorified and enjoyed through singing and musical instruments (2 Chronicles 5:11-14; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).

17. Biblical Principles: The Guiding Lens 2) God-Focused Worship • True worship must be God-centered rather than man-centered (Exodus 20:3-6; Psalm 148:13; 27:6; 150:3-4). • From the style and performance to the audience participation, nothing should ever usurp God’s place as the supreme object of our affection. The lyrics and music must point to God as rightfully having center stage (Matthew 6:1-24).3

18. Biblical Principles: The Guiding Lens 3) Worship must be prepared and presented with excellence (1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 33:3). 4) God must be worshiped in Spirit and truth (John 4:22-24). • Is what I sing consistent with Scripture and do I worship in dependence on the Spirit?

19. Biblical Principles: The Guiding Lens 5) Worship must be orderly (1 Corinthians 14:40).Linked with Paul’s command to sing (Ephesians 5:19) is his command to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). • Church music should never encourage participants to exchange the control of the Spirit for the control of some other force – be it emotional, psychological, or other.3

20. Biblical Principles: The Guiding Lens 6) Content-Driven worship should promote a theologically holistic and consistent view of God. • Biblically Informed Words • Theologically Accurate Words • Theologically Profound Words

21. Wisdom Principles This part of the presentation will discuss wisdom principles by defining the role of the worship leader at Orange Park Bible Church. What are wisdom principles? • Defining biblical principles is only half the battle. God does not grant absolute liberty within the “box” of biblical principles. For example… … • Something biblically acceptable is sometimes only acceptable with additional variable contingencies (Romans 14).

22. Worship Matters Given the principles outlined, who is to lead music and what is their role?

23. The Role of the Worship Leader An effective corporate worship leader, aided and led by the Holy Spirit, skillfully combines Biblical truth with music to magnify the worth of God and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, thereby inviting the gathered Church to join him in proclaiming and cherishing the truth about God.5

24. The Role of the Worship Leader • Leading worship is “like” preaching in the particular sense that you are discerning truth according to the Word of God and delivering that truth in a clear, wise, and effective way through song.

25. The Role of the Worship Leader • The worship leader is simultaneously a teacher (not just a musician – but a teacher of theology) and participator. • The worship leader has the high privilege and weighty responsibility of driving thoughts into your mind and putting words of praise in your mouth.

26. The Role of the Worship Leader 1) Bring us to the Text. Music has validity in Christian worship only as it participates in, and contributes to, a service of the Word from beginning to end. That is why music must remain under constant scrutiny as to be Word-centered.6

27. The Role of the Worship Leader 2) Emphasize the lyrics. Good worship leaders make the lyrics supreme with the music simply being a platter on which to serve the feast. When overemphasis is placed on the music, that overemphasis detracts from the primary message.5

28. The Role of the Worship Leader 3) Avoid cheap tricks. Sometimes it appears that worship leaders find God boring. Worship leaders portray this attitude when they institute cheap tricks to keep the congregation “engaged.”5

29. The Role of the Worship Leader 4) Minimize distractions (part 1) • It seems to be popular to amplify the instrumentation beyond need. • We are persuaded lightly amplified instrumentation and unobtrusive leaders are best for the weekly corporate worship gathering.

30. The Role of the Worship Leader 4) Minimize distractions (part 2) • Instrumentation can either aid or supersede singing. • Instrumentation secondary to singing allows the congregation to hear themselves singing, giving the lyrics center stage and encouraging the congregation to sing all the louder.

31. The Role of the Worship Leader 5) Avoid hard songs. • Stretch people. • Don’t stretch people so much that they break. • Would this particular song be a better solo than a congregational song?

32. New Song Selection and Implementation New Song Selection New Songs will be selected by looking through the previously defined lens of Biblical principles and wisdom.

33. New Song Selection and Implementation New Song Implementation • Introduce no more than one to two new songs per quarter. Take careful time to explain the meaning of the song. • Planned changes in the worship service should be approved one week in advance by the Elders. • Special music or visiting musicians should be introduced to the congregation at least one week in advance. The above principles will apply to incorporating new instruments.

34. What Now? God gives His people liberty True liberty is found within wise, Biblically defined parameters. We define liberty by first answering the following two questions: What absolute Biblical principles guide us in knowing what God desires regarding worship? C0nsidering the particular local Church in which I serve, what is wise (I Corinthians 10:23; Romans 14:21)?

35. Consider Others (Philippians 2:3-4) Musically and lyrically many people prefer traditional hymns. • However we should consider that traditionalhymns are not inspired regardless of age or author (not including the Psalms of course). • Old hymns do not hold a higher place than do new hymns (1 Corinthians 4:6; 13:5). Old hymns do have a unique role in Church history that new songs do not have. By God’s grace we will hold fast to the traditional hymns that have encouraged the Church and glorified God for centuries.

36. Consider Others (Philippians 2:3-4) Musically and lyrically many people prefer contemporary hymns. • Those who prefer newer more contemporary hymns should not insist that the hymns are outdated and boring, but helpful and pleasing to God.* • Consider the cultural differences that come with generational lines.

37. Consider Others (Philippians 2:3-4) Once absolute Biblical principles are defined and wisdom is discerned, the music leader is given liberty. The Two Ditches • God’s people should be careful not to exalt personal preference to the same level as Biblical principle. • We must also not ignore Biblical principles under the assumption that everything about Church music is preferential.

38. Consider Others (Philippians 2:3-4) Godly leadership will safeguard the quest for balance, and in the end the greater priority is to have a servant-hearted concern about the Lord's work and His body. Jesus' words to the apostles should be our moniker of ministry: "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:35).8

39. The Rightful Place of the Head and Tail Objective truth should lead to a deep subjective experience. • All emotion is not “emotionalism.” We are committed to emotional worship where emotions are the tail, rather than the head. There is a difference between emotion-driven worship and emotion-filled worship (Psalm 33:1; 100:1-2; James 5:13).

40. The Rightful Place of the Head and Tail • Corporate worship is not to be ecstatic for the sake of ecstasy or divorced from the use of the intellect, where emotions overshadow the truth and become the experience. • We desire to worship God through music rather than the worship of music.

41. The Rightful Place of the Head and Tail In other words, many churches are now worshiping the emotions of “worship” rather than God. We must be concerned with the depths of God where real growth is produced, rather than the emotional candy that tastes great, yet offers no nourishment for the soul.4 In summary, emotions are important, but should not be the head.

42. Questions? We are committed to taking as much time as needed to help the OPBC membership understand our view of corporate worship through song

43. Sources Westminster Confession of Faith 21:1 John Frame, Some Questions About the Regulative Principle, www.reformed.org/misc/index.html?mainframe=/misc/frame_regulative_principle.html MacArthur, John. Fool’s Gold: Discerning Truth in an Age of Error, Good News Publishers/Crossway Books, Kindle Edition. Creekside Bible Church document library, http://cbcmatthews.org/Worship%20Principles%20for%20Music.pdf http://sharperiron.org/2006/06/12/my-plea-to-worship-leaders D.A. Carson, Worship by the book, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002, p. 166 Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, The Deliberate Church, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005, p. 118 Jerry Wragg, Music and Worship Ministries, Grace Immanuel Bible Church.