Pastor Bret's Blog » Worship Is http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret Teams that breathe Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:25:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Defining Worship: http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/2009/09/28/defining-worship/ http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/2009/09/28/defining-worship/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:09:59 +0000 Pastor Bret http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/?p=343 I hope everyone takes the challenge to read through 1 Chronicles 13 – 16. You can take things to a whole new place in your life if you do. Below are the points we’ve been addressing out of those passage in our study of worship. Worship is so fundamental to our calling and identity as a church, learning and developing ourselves on a deeper level from the Bible can lead to greater fruit, greater connection with God and greater impact in the world.

Worship is:

(There are not definitions but principles surrounding it)

Deciding – not feeling  

Celebrating – reverence can be expressed in shouts, dancing, instruments, enthusiasm.

Obeying – Reverence is truly expressed in doing things the way God says to do them

Responding – worship is a recognition and an acknowledgment that God has done something

Learning – It is critical to understand that the first part of the story has a mistake and the second half of the story is a correction.

Consecrating – in Christ we are the new Priesthood with the call to connect to God and help others connect to God

Organized, Skillful Playing and Singing – The priority and purpose of music — both instrumental and vocal is unmistakable and compelling.

Rejoicing –the closer one approaches the presence of God the more joy there is. Joy is ours because He lives.

Meeting – God calls crowds. We experience things in a crowd we don’t on our own or in small groups. We should dedicate ourselves to meeting together.

Loving – the Bible says a simple thing: if you claim to live God and hate your brother you are a LIAR! Very strong but tied to the principle that our relationships with people are inextricably tied our relationship with God. We can’t disconnect the two.

Who are you going to intentionally express love and care to this week?

]]> http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/2009/09/28/defining-worship/feed/ 0 Worship Is Week 1 http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/2009/09/15/worship-is-week-1/ http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/2009/09/15/worship-is-week-1/#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:25:06 +0000 Pastor Bret http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/?p=338 Click here to view the embedded video.

Thoughts on our vision for a church of extravagant worshipers.

]]> http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/2009/09/15/worship-is-week-1/feed/ 0 Gearing Up for the Worship Series http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/2009/09/08/gearing-up-for-the-worship-series/ http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/2009/09/08/gearing-up-for-the-worship-series/#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:39:39 +0000 Pastor Bret http://btcchurch.com/blog/pastorbret/?p=325 Thrill
One of the greatest thrills of my life is standing in our services and being overwhelmed by the music coming from both stage and the congregation.  The intensity levels have always been high but it looks like they keep going up.  Sometimes I stand and just give thanks because I know I am standing in the middle of answered prayers.  There was a day several years back when we only longed for and prayed for what we now experience every Sunday — a sense of free, passionate, give-it-all-you’ve-got worship.  I love having a place where I can sing at the top of my lungs, shout until I’m hoarse, and clap until my hands hurt.  What a rush.

And, when those times strike me, I often sense the inevitable nudge from the Holy Spirit that says:  “Build on this.  Take it deeper.  Fan the flame”.

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Extravagant Worship
So, as we begin a new ministry season this Fall, that’s where we’re going to start. . . extravagant worship.   It’s a fundamental part of what God has called us to at BTCC.  This coming Sunday we will launch a series called “Worship Is. . . ” where the goal will be to get into our Bibles and deepen our understanding of what is going on when we sing, play, shout and praise as a church.  But, not only that, we will explore how worship is supposed to be so much more than singing and playing.  Worship has expression outside our walls.  The goal will be to come to a whole new place of understanding and passion for what we are called to do.

You can play a critical part.
Leading up to it, I would like to invite everyone to be in prayer — asking, expecting, believing that God will bring refreshing and a whole new passion for loving Him and truly representing Him in the world.

See you Sunday.

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