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Essentials In Worship Theology

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Essentials In Worship Theology is an exploration of foundational worship theology and worldview – the nature of God, people and worship. Based around N.T. Wright’s Simply Christian. You can take this course at any time on your own. Or you can join in with Scheduled groups. See the Courses tab for details.

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Part 4 Discussion (83 posts)

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WorshipTraining said 1 year, 7 months ago:

Now, having reflected on a variety of theological ideas related to God’s nature, His purpose in the world, and the role of human beings, you’re going to write a small, summary “worldview” document in this post. Take a deep breath; this will serve you for years to come, and will form the foundation of a life-long worship philosophy for you and your community. In other words, write this as if you are writing it as a foundational biblical worldview statement your church community.

You’re going to distill all we’ve read and discussed thus far into a 250-500 word “A Christian Worldview”, using phrases, theological ideas and your own perspectives from our course thus far. When you’re finished, you may want to simultaneously post this on your blog as well, so it will be there for others to find and explore in the years to come.

Here is a suggested outline to help you (optional):

1. Origins (Who is God, who are human beings, and why are we here?)
2. What happened to us along the way, and what did God do?
3. What is the Kingdom of God, and how is it expressed in the world/in the human family/by the Church?
4. Endings (where is human history going – what will be our final destiny?)

Please keep paragraphs to a maximum of 5 lines long.

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brandydunbar said 3 weeks, 6 days ago:

Who re you God? You are everything. You are creator, you are community, you are savior and you are king. Everything on earth is a mirror image of you. So who are we as human beings? We are a creation of you God. When God was finished he sat back and said this is good. We are a complex being that was created in Gods image with the ability to choose. When all of creation bows at Him, God made it so we can choose who and what we worship. God made us to be sub-creators.

Because we are given the ability to choose what we worship we have fallen over and over again. God has contently given us grace and compassion and forgiveness so that he can be with us. The Kingdom of God, where is it? This was just an exciting thing for me to learn and get a grip on its here, here on earth. It continues to break threw, I see glimpses of the kingdom in my everyday things I do. As a church we have the pulse of God, when we love people. God teach us to love one another better.

When it all is said and done we want to be with Jesus. We want to mirror ( I want to mirror) his heart, his grace and his compassion for people.

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Scott Taylor said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@sarahcruzer Thanks you for your response on mine. I like what you said about complete freedom and also like how you ended. Good thoughts

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Cynthia Miller said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@jltnjazz John I like your use of the word “reflect.” It strikes as a reminder that it is not ourselves that we represent but God and all that he stands for and is. “We are his reflection in the world. We the family can reflect the Kingdom by being willing arms and legs for Him as we go about his work.”

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Cynthia Miller said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@sarahcruzer Sara I love the way you reiterated the points. How the echoes “hark back to” the way creation was meant to be. Also the remainder of history being God’s redemption story “pulling us” back to him (it rings the songs Amazing love, how can it be and He loves us, oh how he loves us). Of heaven and earth being joined together in Jesus’ sacrifice and how the barriers between God and man were broken down through Christ.

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Cynthia Miller said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@scottaylor thank you for this thought provoking statement, “Through the resurrection of Jesus, God opened the door for His kingdom to come on earth…” This is a much needed reminder for my focus.

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Sarah Cruz said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@scotttaylor well said! you did a great job of summing up all of those points!

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Sarah Cruz said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@cynsings I like your statement about how we remind others of their God image. It’s that whole “the glory of God is a human being fully alive” concept, but from another aspect – it not only glorifies God, but is a challenge and inspiration to others around us to be the same.

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Sarah Cruz said 3 months, 1 week ago:

God is the creator of all that we know. God is self-revealing, and has revealed to us that he is Creator, King, Trinity and Savior. He has created all that we are and see, he is the ruler over all and the ultimate, supreme authority, he exists in three parts – Father, Son, and Spirit, and he is Savior, rescuing us from destruction because, with the gift of free will, man has fallen away from God.
God created men to be sub-rulers – to be like God in the way he/she creates, orders, rules and relates the world around him/her. God created men and women with no shame and with complete freedom, notwithstanding the Tree of Life. The ‘echoes’ that N.T. Wright speaks about hark back to the way creation was ultimately meant to be and they give us glimpses in to God and his nature.
Man was given free will, for it is impossible to truly love without the full ability to choose to love. Out of that choice, man decided to eat from the Tree of Life, to attempt to become like God and usurp his authority. Therefore men fell away from God. And the rest of history is God’s story of redemption – pulling his people back to him.
Through Jesus Christ, God reconciled fallen man to himself. In Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, heaven and earth were joined together. Heaven is here and now, as N.T. Wright repeatedly tells us. Heaven is not some far-off location that we will ultimately be whisked away to, but a currently-present reality.
The ‘kingdom of God’ is the fulfillment of prophecies, wherein God puts things to rights through Jesus Christ. In this way, heaven and earth meet together through Christ – he broke down the barriers between God and man. Wright describes the Kingdom of God as “the sovereign rule of God which according to Jesus was and is breaking in to the present world, to earth”. It is expressed in our world every single day when men and women are reconciled to God, when we commune directly with our creator, and when we live out his purposes for his here and now while we simeoultaneously look forward to the day when creation will be restored and renewed.
Ultimately, the hope that we long for is this renewal of earth. We do not simply just leave our bodies and flit off to an otherworldy realm. The Bible promises to renew us, to renew creation. We will be resurrected and enjoy eternity where, in this final restoration, we will experience ‘no more tears, no more sorrow’.

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Scott Taylor said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@jltnjazz Like what you said in the last part of number three statement about being willing to do the work of the Lord. That is my pray that where God leads me I will follow and what he wants I will do. Thanks for that reminder

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Scott Taylor said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@plohrmann I like your paragraph about Jesus being God plan for redeeming his people. You did a great job getting your point across. Seems like you have a real heart for the lost. That is awesome.

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Scott Taylor said 3 months, 1 week ago:

@cynsings I like your way of expressing the Kingdom of God especially being taken up by the joy of the Holy Spirit. Nice ending According to the end of the Book we win. That is something to have joy in Amen.

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Cynthia Miller said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

God is the creator of the universe. He is the maker of something out of nothing. He is the father of all; the redeemer of our souls, savior. God is a God of story. God is King. God is Trinity – one being communal in and of himself. God is intimate interacts with each of us individually as well as in community (video The Nature of Worship – Wilt). We are sub-creators of God, reminders to others of their God image, deliverers of the message of salvation. We are here to worship and glorify God by telling his story of salvation, reflecting his image, having relationship/community with others, creating from that which he has created.

At the beginning in the garden we fell and we chose to be separate from God when sin entered. God pursued us with covenant, perseverance and by sending Jesus to the cross to fix the sin.

The kingdom of God is all around us. It is where he is. It has come in Jesus and in Pentecost. It is expressed through our praise and amazement as we break into song and are taken up in the joy of the Holy Spirit. It is expressed through evangelism, signs and wonders (video The Arrival of the King – Morphew).

Contrary to our fears and disbelief because of lack of foresight, human history is moving towards God’s conclusion (video Theological Synthesis – Wilt).

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Scott Taylor said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

Who is God? God is Creator. John 1:3 says: “Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” God ultimately expresses Himself as king, part of the trinity, and savior in his creation. He placed human beings on earth to be sub-creators, reflecting His nature and serving as community builders and storytellers. Humans’ job is to rule and have dominion over all creation and be in perfect communion with both God and with each other.

Sin, however, prevented humans from fulfilling God’s perfect plan. Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey God changed the world in all its perfect order into a place that is broken and in need of restoration. This disobedience separated humans from God, and God developed His rescue plan to bring His creation back to wholeness. Through God’s son Jesus we see that rescue plan come to fulfillment.

Jesus took all the sin of man with Him to the cross where he died. After three days He was resurrected, and through this atonement humans have been redeemed and restored. Through the resurrection of Jesus, God opened the door for His kingdom to come on earth and for humans to take back their place in the created order—to bring glory to God as individuals and as a gathered community.

The Kingdom of God is here and now. Jesus broke the barrier between heaven and earth; they are now intertwined, and the kingdom of God reigns once and for all. N.T Write says: “If Jesus has been raised that means God’s new world, God’s Kingdom has indeed arrived; and that means we have a job to do” (1). Because we have redemption in Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we can fulfill our purpose to set His people free, to bring justice and beauty to the earth, and to build community, bringing glory to the God for all He has done and will do.

Therefore we continue to as Philippians 3:14 says, “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” One day God will complete His Kingdom and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no more death, pain; suffering, injustice, and evil will no longer have a place. Forever we will walk with the Lord ruling and reigning as it was in the beginning.

1) N. T. Wright, Simply Christian, Part 2: Staring At The Sun (p. 55-140)

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John L Nabors said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

When we rise up, when we go out, when we come in- our walk should be living worship.

1) God the Creator, God the Father, God the Friend. The 1 that never leaves us and always wants the best for us.
Who are we but the children of God. Created to share in and enjoy the creation God has givien us. We are to serve him through caring for his creation and being his arms and legs. Also to share his creation with others. We are his reflection in the world.

2) Along the way we took our eye off Him and began to look at our self. Through this came the fall from which we continue to recover. The echos are still there of what was and will be. But, we have to choose. Will we listen, follow and obey or will we continue on our own way? God allowed us to go our way so we could choose.
3)The Kingdom is the echo we still hear of creation. The world is broken but the Kingdom will bring it back to its intended glory in Him. We that believe are a part of the Kingdom for we can see a glimpse of what it is and will again be, We the family can reflect the Kingdom by being willing arms and legs for Him as we go about his work. Even how we go about our daily lives and how we relate and react/interact with all we come in contact with.

4)Where are we going? Human history will continue to fall further into decay. The world government is coming as we know from Revelations. We the Family must continue to reflect God’s love even through hard times. We also know as believers what the Bible promises us. When the Kingdom is here we in our resurrected bodies will be here to praise and worpship as Rev 4 and 5. Our destiny is with Him.

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Dan Wilt said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

Excited about our final posts and responses, and Creative Projects going up by Monday.

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Polly Lohrmann said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

@dpierce, I love how you concluded your post with a Romans 12:1 reference!

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Polly Lohrmann said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

@jrnall, It’s awesome how you incorporated one of the four echoes into your post: “The story of restoration starts and finishes with God. He acts in righteousness through grace now and will act righteously through justice to end the story.”

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Polly Lohrmann said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

@sarahcruzer, I love the imagery you used for your post! Really great and encouraging to read.

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Polly Lohrmann said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

God is the beginning, the creator of all things. In Genesis 1, God forms humans in His own image. Because of this, we live to create and give glory back to Him in all things. We are of ultimate value to Him and have been designed to reign over the earth as sub-creators and as His image bearers.

As humans, we have been made for relationships with God and each other. Because of our sin nature (Genesis 3), our relationship with God is broken and in need of restoration. God promises redemption in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, the prophet who foretells the coming of Christ.

Jesus Christ is God’s plan for redeeming His people. Jesus was sent to earth as an offering by a Father who loved Him and loved the world He created so much that He sent His only son to die for every single one of our sins, past, present and future. When Jesus took our punishment on the cross, He defeated death by resurrection three days later, giving us an opportunity for a personal relationship with Him. He ascended back to Heaven and now reigns as Lord and King over the entire world.

God’s creation has been restored and renewed through the blood of Jesus and if we accept His free gift, we are new creations through Him (1 Corinthians 5:17). As His disciples, we are called to be transparent lenses and boldly reflect Him, living in a way that honors God’s original intentions for life. We have been saved by grace alone and our response should be that of worship and adoration.

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