I find the following article interesting, in that, while you may not agree with every item of its content, you may find perhaps TWO of its main ideas to be very important. One is the proposal that the worship is not so much about us, but about the Lord Jesus Christ. This notion goes against the grain of modern me-ism.
The other idea is that the centre of church worship is not the pulpit, but the Table -- that is, the Table of Remembrance: some would say of Communion, or of the Lord's Supper.
The author suggests, further, that a strong liturgy, rather than an entertaining program is important to our thinking in worship -- since I do not come from a church group that utilizes liturgy, I tried to make an authentic translation to my situation. Liturgy, in many church groups, is usually prayers or sayings rooted in the biblical truth that are not Bible quotations, per se, but literary compositions of Christians of the past. People repeat these during a communion service.
Many Christian groups, including the one where I fellowship, do not do utilize a liturgy. However, the practice of singing certain very solidly grounded, rather traditional hymns specifically chosen for their theological meaning, especially that which is about the suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, would be the nearest correspondence in our experience, to liturgy, since written words of believers of the past are utilized, although, in the case of the non-liturgical Christian groups, they are sung, rather than recited. If I apply the author's comments about liturgy to this practice of singing very theologically-correct hymns of the past at the Remembrance (Communion), then I get what he means, pretty much.
I will go on no longer, since you might wish to read his article, which I think is a good one, even though he appears to be quite irritated, at times, breaking into the use of an expletive at one point. I do think that his main points do resonate, though, so I thought I should include the article here:
The other idea is that the centre of church worship is not the pulpit, but the Table -- that is, the Table of Remembrance: some would say of Communion, or of the Lord's Supper.
The author suggests, further, that a strong liturgy, rather than an entertaining program is important to our thinking in worship -- since I do not come from a church group that utilizes liturgy, I tried to make an authentic translation to my situation. Liturgy, in many church groups, is usually prayers or sayings rooted in the biblical truth that are not Bible quotations, per se, but literary compositions of Christians of the past. People repeat these during a communion service.
Many Christian groups, including the one where I fellowship, do not do utilize a liturgy. However, the practice of singing certain very solidly grounded, rather traditional hymns specifically chosen for their theological meaning, especially that which is about the suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, would be the nearest correspondence in our experience, to liturgy, since written words of believers of the past are utilized, although, in the case of the non-liturgical Christian groups, they are sung, rather than recited. If I apply the author's comments about liturgy to this practice of singing very theologically-correct hymns of the past at the Remembrance (Communion), then I get what he means, pretty much.
I will go on no longer, since you might wish to read his article, which I think is a good one, even though he appears to be quite irritated, at times, breaking into the use of an expletive at one point. I do think that his main points do resonate, though, so I thought I should include the article here:
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