WORSHIP


Do we worship at sure HOPE?

I find it interesting that we classify worship as a ministry, but I understand. So let me answer some of the common questions ... yes we are totally A/V equipped (it helps when your pastor is a computer geek, has installed sound and lighting systems in churches and has helped run a local access cable channel), we do include worship music in our service and no we do not have a live band. Instead we use iWorship videos.

So what do I find strange about defining worship as a ministry? Glad you asked. I believe worship is actually more of a lifestyle. Instead we in the church world have made it more style than life style. More selection than dedication. More what do I recieve than what do I offer to God.

Does that mean we are anti-worship. No the contrary, we just simply want to clarify modern worship.

Check out some of the songs we worship to ...

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Matt Redman tells about his church's struggle and journey with worship ...

The Heart of Worship in particular is a personal reminder that, I'm just a little songwriter and a pretty foolish one at that! 

The song dates back to the late 1990s, born from a period of apathy within Matt's home church, Soul Survivor, in Watford, England. Despite the country's overall contribution to the current worship revival, Redman's congregation was struggling to find meaning in its musical outpouring at the time.

There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing,  he recalls. He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we'd lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away. 

Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, "When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?" 

Matt says the question initially led to some embarrassing silence, but eventually people broke into a cappella songs and heartfelt prayers, encountering God in a fresh way.

Before long, we reintroduced the musicians and sound system, as we'd gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus, and He commands a response in the depths of our souls no matter what the circumstance and setting. The Heart of Worship simply describes what occurred. 

When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come / Longing just to bring something that's of worth that will bless your heart / I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You, Jesus

QUICK LINKS

NEWSFLASH

Creating environments where people are equipped and encouraged to point up, point in, and point out!

SCRIPTURE

Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool. Psalms 132:7 (NIV)