In my personal ongoing study of worship, I continue with sharing Jim Jordan's thoughts from his book, Theses on Worship. Following are his sixth and seventh theses. (Go here for the first post in this series.)
#6 There Are Both Private and Public Worship Events
Jordan details the historical background of worship from the Garden of Eden, to the Abrahamic era, the Mosaic era, and finally to the New Creation. Despite our ability to have full access to God, there are still what Jordan refers to as "closed" events (e.g. communion, prayer) in which a nonbeliever would not participate and/or would not understand. The "open" events would include a range from other worship to overt hospitality events that reach out to the surrounding community. He reiterates that we need to have different events at different times. These events are not the same in character and the fact that most churches try to roll them all together has created difficulties.
#7 The Heart of Worship is Amen to God's Three Gifts
Here, Jordan outlines what people want, how we mistakenly try to achieve these goals, and then how God fulfills these desires perfectly and completely.
1. All men want to feel important. God the Father gives us His own glory and makes us new.
2. All men want knowledge and wisdom. We get God's secrets in the Bible and Jesus listens to our prayers.
3. All men want a glorious life. God gives us eternal life.
(Note about the photograph: I love photos of doors. Especially old ones. I want a church with (Biblical, historical) tradition throughout the service, but not a dead church. So even though this isn't the best photo for this post, I share it anyway because I like it.)
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