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SouNDBItES : RESouRcES FoR tHE EAStER SoNgwRItER

EDucAtIoN FoR tHE 21St cENtuRy woRSHIp LEADER

publisherVineyard Music USA

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Inside Worship E-mailinsideworship@vineyardmusic.com

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A number of years ago, I was sitting in a Vineyard leadership meeting where the theological content of our worship songs was being discussed. At this meeting, there was a specific call from the theological commu-nity for new and relevant songs addressing the wider subject of the Cross. Many of our songwriters responded, myself included. As a result, over the next few years numerous new “Cross” songs were written, many of which have since taken root in the wider church and are still being sung to this day. But of course, this is only part of the story.

Here is a quick exercise. Build a typical Easter Sunday worship set list in your mind. How many songs deal with the Resurrection in a specific way? My guess is that your list is a little on the short side. This is an issue we ought to keep in the forefront of our hearts and minds as we prepare our worship sets, write our worship songs, or live our lives as worship-pers. Are we singing mainly about the Cross, and running the risk of forgetting the rest of the story?

Dr. Peter Davids says in his article in this issue of Inside Worship, “...the resurrection is not just a doctrine to be defended, a way to distinguish the ortho-dox from those who are not orthodox. The resurrection of Jesus is the basis of our salvation (without it we are still in our sins)...”. This is no small matter.

Let’s take a moment to reflect ways we might embrace a deeper under-standing of the Resurrection in varying aspects of our life and ministry.

For songwritersMeditate on the Resurrection. Let it seep out of our creative “pores” into our songs. Let us take on, as a personal challenge, the call to go to the Lord for fresh language and sounds expressing the truth and celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

For worship leadersWe are charged with providing the language of worship for our congre-gations. Let us remember the Resurrection as we select songs for our congregations, especially in this Easter season. In addition to current and future songs addressing the topic of the Resurrection, remember that there are many great hymns of the faith that address this important truth. This may be a great opportunity to breathe new creative life into an historic Resurrection hymn.

For us as worshipersLet us make every effort to keep the Resurrection a primary focus in our worship lives. Let us live our lives not only in the shadow of the Cross, but also in the light of our new life in the Resurrection of Christ.

As we approach the Easter season, may the Holy Spirit help us to connect to the truth of the Resurrection in a renewed and life-changing way.

In His grip,

C a s e y C o r u m

Vice president and Chief Creative officer Vineyard Music

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Remembering Resurrection

contents

“I’ll fly away, o glory….” Leaning close to grandma’s ear with my guitar, the sounds of that old bluegrass hymn would spark that fine southern gal to sing at the top of her lungs. Deep into her 90’s, grandma was looking forward to the day she passed through the veil of death to somewhere called heaven, and to a hope she had come to trust in called resurrection. To this day, I’m glad we sang her favorite song so often. And yet, the biblical theology behind the song is weak (though the same ideas are reflected in some modern worship songs) and seems to have little to do with the New Testament picture of the age to come and the reality of resurrection.

A beautiful wave of recovery is occurring in the contemporary Church. We are slowly understanding that the Scriptures affirm a day of resurrec-tion (new bodies) and a renewed creation (new heavens and new earth) in which we rule and reign with the Lord Jesus. The resurrection of the Son of God sounds the death knell to death itself, and the Christian life becomes a vibrant participation in the renewing of creation with Christ – the firstborn from the dead.

This issue of Inside Worship: Resurrection And The New Creation, is intended to give worshipers, worship leaders and pastoral leaders a renewed understanding of the importance of the resurrection of Jesus to a faith in which all things are made new. Dr. Peter Davids and Dr. N.T. Wright speak to vitality of resurrection and new creation themes in the Scriptures, while Matt Turrigiano calls us to “fight the power” of this present age from the foundation of a renewed life. Other authors contrib-ute valuable insights to round out the issue with practical helps.

This issue of our magazine is an important piece for the worshipping Church. Pass around as many copies as you can, and celebrate the resur-rection of Jesus with renewed joy this season – realizing the implications for you, for me and for the entire cosmos.

D a n W i lt

Creative editor, inside worship

Letter From The Editor

Fro m t h e C h u rc h , fo r t h e C h u rc h

Resurrection: Our Living hopePeter Davids, Ph.D.the centrality of the resurrection to the Christian life.

Voices: On Resurrection And new creationVariousChanging the way we think about heaven.

fight the PowerMatt Turrigianothe powers of the age fuel the power of self. Fight back.

the Road to new creationN.T. Wrightresurrection means new creation – now and to come.

the Backdrop Of worshipJason Refslandstanding before the image of love.

soundBites: Resources for the Easter songwriterInside Worshipwhat the world needs now – are songs of new life.

Going higher: Education for the 21st century worship Leaderuniversity training for the worship leader of today – and tomorrow.

new Releasesthe latest offering from Vineyard Music.

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When we talk of what the Father did for us in Jesus, we often focus on Jesus’ death with the seeming implication that the resurrection is nice, a happy ending so-to-speak, but not that impor-tant in comparison. Nothing could be farther from the biblical truth.

the Core oF the good newsWhen Paul wanted to cite the core of the good news, he proclaimed, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is jus-tified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved” (Romans 10:9-10 NRSV). The good news is that Jesus presently

reigns (parallel to, and a replacement for “Caesar is Lord”, the patriotic accla-mation of good Romans) and in order for this to be meaningful, Paul says, one must be committed to the fact that God raised him from the dead. No resurrec-tion, no reign. No reign, no good news. Paul proclaimed Jesus as resurrected, living Lord as the core of his good news (cf. Acts 17:30-31).

Paul’s argument is carried further in 1 Corinthians 15, which mentions the death of Jesus (15:3), but then goes to great lengths to describe the resurrec-tion (15:4-11). Then, Paul argues,“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is

REsURREctiOn: OUR LiVinG hOPE

no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ – whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:12-19 NRSV).

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What brought up the argument was the denial of the resurrection of believers – it is clear that Paul knew that the Corin-thians already believed in the resurrec-tion of Jesus, for that had been the core of the good news that he had preached in Corinth. However, in making his ar-gument he makes a number of points about the resurrection of Jesus: 1) the resurrection makes our commitment to Jesus valid, 2) without the resurrection we are still “in our sins”, 3) without the resurrection those who die as believers are dead without hope (they have “per-ished”), and 4) without the resurrection believers are a pitiful, deceived lot. In other words, what Paul is saying is that Good Friday without Easter would have no value at all.

the Core oF the Christian FaithThis Easter faith is assumed throughout the New Testament, where Jesus is pro-claimed as living Lord. In the first proc-lamation of the good news in Acts, Peter says (without dwelling much on the meaning of Good Friday), “God raised

him from the dead . . . This Jesus God raised up . . . God has made him both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:24, 32, 36). The resur-rection is also the core of the good news in the presentations of the good news in Acts 3, Acts 4:10-12, Acts 5:30-31, Acts 10:36-43, Acts 13:26-31 and elsewhere in Acts and the rest of the New Testa-ment; it is assumed by other passages that proclaim Jesus as the coming ruler and judge, as well as those which refer to his present rule from heaven (e.g. Jas 2:1; 5:9). It is the core of the Christian faith.

It is surprising, then, when one realizes that in most evangelism training the resurrection is hardly mentioned, all the focus being on the death of Jesus. It is likewise surprising when one goes to a Christian funeral and hears about life in heaven (about which the New Testament has little to say) and not the resurrected life on earth (about which the New Testament has far more to say) that is so closely linked to the resurrec-tion of Jesus. How could this be?

why do we negleCt the resur-reCtion?Why do we neglect the resurrection? One reason for this situation might be that the metaphors used for the death of Jesus (redemption, sacrificial atonement, etc.) are difficult, and we therefore spend time explaining them (sometimes pushing them far beyond the aspect of the metaphor that the New Testament is using). But it may also be that we have picked up a bit too much Greek distrust of matter, and so are embarrassed by the physicality of the promise of bodily-resurrected life on a renewed earth under the rule of a

very physical (if glorified) Jesus. Finally, it may be that at least one of the impli-cations of the resurrection is something that we wish to avoid: Jesus is Lord. If Jesus is resurrected and sitting on the throne of the universe, then what we do matters, for he is not a king who does not care about what his people do, but the living Judge, who directs his church now and will return to reward those who have followed his way and punish those who have been unfaithful servants.

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words, it is the core of the good news, part of the basic teaching about Christ (Hebrews 6:1-2).

our liVing hopeWe as believers are followers of the res-urrected Jesus. Without Easter, we do not have a faith – in fact we are without God and without hope in this world. With Easter, we not only have a resur-rected, divine Master and Lord, but we also have a connection to the Father, hope in the present, and the coming renewal of this world where we will live under, with and for him in eternal joy. Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, is not just important – it is the core of all that we have and hope for in him, our glorious Lord.

It is indeed something to sing about, for it is the reason we can bow before a liv-ing Lord in worship rather than make sad pilgrimages to the tomb of a dead prophet. We are Easter worshippers.

Peter Davids is professor of Biblical theology at st. stephen’s university (www.ssu.ca) and an episcopal minister. he has been involved at many Vineyard conferences and training events, and has published numerous articles and books on biblical and theological subjects. he and his wife Judy, an ordained Vineyard pa-stor and pastoral counselor, live in st. stephen, new Brunswick, Canada, presently living with a daughter and son-in-law, and enjoying two of their five grandchildren.

The fact is that, whatever the reasons may be for downplaying the theme, the resurrection of Jesus is the core of our faith, the basis of our allegiance to him. In the resurrection, God vindi-cated Jesus. In the resurrection, Jesus triumphed over death and the abode of the dead – coming out with the meta-phorical “keys” so that he can release any of us who should die before his return to rule (Rev 1:18). In the resur-rection, Jesus became “the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev 1:5).

Because he is a ruler, he has a kingdom, and can therefore make us a “kingdom of priests” (to use the biblical meta-phor) as we submit to his rule and come

into his kingdom. In the resurrection, Jesus became the Lord of the people of God that we now call the church, and since he is the living Lord he can direct his church. We are not just inspired by his teaching (foundational though it is), but are led, shepherded, directed, ruled by his living presence through the mediation of the Holy Spirit (since he is embodied and thus cannot be ev-erywhere at once).

the Foundation oF our pledgeIn short, the resurrection is not just a doctrine to be defended, a way to dis-tinguish the orthodox from those who are not orthodox (“Do you believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ?” being the diagnostic test question). The resurrection of Jesus is the basis of our salvation (without it we are still in our sins), it is the foundation of our pledge of allegiance that we made in coming to faith (i.e. “Jesus is Lord”), it is the core of our proclamation of the good news, it is the reason why we can presently expect direction from the living Lord, it is the ground of his being the “Great Shep-herd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20, indi-cating his present care of his people), it is our hope of our own eventual resur-rection (or transformation should we be alive when he returns), it is why he can return to this earth to reign and to judge the living and the dead. In other

W e a r e e a s t e r W o r s h i P P e r s

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“What then do the New Testament writers mean when they speak of an inheritance waiting for us in heaven? This has been much misunderstood, with awesome results in traditions of thought, prayer, life and art. The point of such passages, as in 1 Peter 1:4, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Philippians 3:20, and so forth, is not that one must ‘go to heaven’, as in much-popular imagina-tion, in order to enjoy the inheritance there. It is rather that ‘heaven’ is the place where God stores up his plans and purposes for the future.

…When the early Christians speak of a new body in heaven, or an inheritance in heaven, they mean what St. John the Divine means in Revelation 21: the new identity which at present is kept safe in heaven will be brought from heaven to earth at the great moment of renewal. Yes: the great majority of Christian ex-pressions of hope through the middle ages, the reformation, and the counter-reformation periods have been mislead-ing. ‘Heaven’ is not the Christian’s ulti-mate destination. For renewed bodies we need a renewed cosmos, including a renewed earth. That is what the New Testament promises.”

Dr. N.T. Wright, from the article, “Jesus’ Resurrection And Christian Origins.”

“The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon report in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its con-sequences, were the ‘gospel’, or good news, which the Christian brought: what we call the ‘gospels,’ the narratives of Our Lord‘s life and death, were com-posed later for the benefit of those who had already accepted the gospel. They were in no sense the basis of Christian-ity: they were written for those already converted.

The miracle of the Resurrection, and the theology of that miracle, comes first – the biography comes later as a comment on it. Nothing could be more unhistorical than to pick out selected sayings of Christ from the gospels and to regard those as the datum and the rest of the New Testament as a con-struction upon it. The first fact in the history of Christendom is a number of people who say they have seen the Res-urrection.”

C.S. Lewis, from the book, Miracles (p. 143-144).

“…We need a Kingdom eschatology. …Our King will realize his purposes for this world. He has not given up on his creation. He will resurrect us to live un-der his leadership on this very planet. The renewal of this world will likely be like the apparent plan for Eden: human beings working under the direction of the Creator to bring to the world the good order that he intends. Thus our life now is a rehearsal for our eventual life. Any life in heaven (should we die before he comes) is a temporary way station where we await the resurrec-tion. This vision for the future is the hope that should drive our lifestyles.”

Dr. Peter Davids, from the article, “Who Is For The King?”

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stuMBling into worship leadingI stumbled into the act of leading wor-ship soon after I returned from uni-versity, and was leading a small group

as a part of the NYC Vineyard. We met on the rooftop of an apartment building in Greenwich Village. It was full of twenty-something artists, ac-tors and other typical village residents, but strangely, none of them played an instrument. So, over the course of a few months, I began my journey of learning enough chords (torturing my roommates and neighbors) to be able to deliver 2 or 3 songs with which we could worship.

I know this sort of beginning isn’t unique to me, and many of you share my entry point. While my musical roots may be humble, my desire to learn to play these songs was fuelled by my voracious passion to simply worship Jesus. The act of worshiping, of using simple songs as a way to offer my heart to Jesus, has always had an important place in my life. Worship was funda-mental in drawing me into a personal relationship with Jesus as a teenager,

When I was a kid growing up on the streets of New York City, I remember the summer when a new group called Public Enemy launched a song titled Fight The Power. That song would become an anthem for many young people growing up in the city. While the song and it’s message still remain controversial in many circles, the idea that we have to fight against the strong cultural fads and influ-ences around us will be something that I always remember.

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Matt and his wife rebecca are assistant pastors at the Bristol Vineyard in england, where they enjoy raising their four boys and spending time at work and play with their community. when not busy locally, Matt has developed a relati-onship with Vineyard records uK where he has served as a teacher, trainer, worship leader, consultant, producer and roadie. he is passio-nate about Jesus, his family – and baseball.

more profile and become known to the industry. At this point, the industry takes them away from the very commu-nity that has invested in them to enable them to realize their potential – with offers of success and fame.

That attitude, that desire, that set of goals can subtly drive us away from that which we are called to do – to use our God-given talents as a gift offering back to Jesus to serve Him, serve His church, and ultimately serve His cause of transforming lives.

Join the resistanCeIn other words, the lure of money, fame and success can take us away from the very place for which we were meant – the local church. I know that these words may be pressing some buttons and making some of you very uncom-fortable as you read. Maybe at this point many of you are thinking along the lines of, “Who does this guy think he is…” and you may have every right to feel that way. However, please hear what I am saying. When did leading worship in our local communities be-come the stepping stone to a more suc-cessful career?

This isn’t about us, it’s about Jesus. We have to constantly fight against the pull of this world to turn this beautiful ac-tivity we’ve been given into something that it was never intended to be.

As worshipers, we are called to serve our local churches. It is God who moves and breathes, and uses the gifts with which He’s graced us to go beyond the four walls of our church to the wider church movement and beyond. I love it when that happens.

Our mission, as those entrusted to lead worship, should be to do our best to worship God ourselves, and invite any-one who would like to join us to come along. We have no greater privilege than to provide our communities with the best possible opportunity to meet with Jesus, to model how to be a wor-shipper, and to put good words on the lips of the gathered in order to pour out our hearts to Him in song.

My humble challenge is this: Whatever level of influence you are given with which to lead, do it for nothing and no one other than Jesus. Never ever lose sight of the local church of which you are a part. The moment our motivation becomes anything else, we are toast!

Fight the power oF selFHave you ever been taught the value that “the pay is the same”? Whether you lead worship in a small group, or in kids’ church, or in your Sunday gather-ings, or in a conference, or simply in the bathroom as your children are taking a bath, the pay is the same. It is of great val-ue to Jesus that your heart be focused on Him, and that your motive be to give him your best.

I don’t think we should have any loft-ier ideas than that of serving our local church. I believe it is time for us to call our worship leaders to give themselves to something greater than themselves. Where this industry tries to tell us that we are what is important – that we are what sells – we need to stand firm as people called to lead worship and fight the power of self in order that we may give our best to those around us and who need it most – our local churches.

Fight the power.

and so while I’ve never felt as if I was a qualified musician, I’ve always felt that I had what it took to lead worship. This was due to my deep passion for the act of worship, and my desperation to wor-ship Jesus in all that I do.

MotiVes Can MoVeOver the past 13 years – from those days on a rooftop, to today where I’ve had the privilege of leading worship and equip-ping worship leaders all over the world – my goal is still the same as it was from day one. I want to serve Jesus with ev-erything I have, and serve His Church however and wherever possible.

Over the past decade, worship as we know it has changed. While we have had the incredible opportunity to shape and influence how we worship, there has been a cost to pay. Sadly, what was once grass-roots and organic has now become a worldwide industry that even finds its way near the top of The Forbes 500 list of revenue makers.

This type of shift impacts our motives, impacts our desires, and influences what we think it means to be successful in this calling. The danger we now find ourselves in is that the lure of money, fame and power competes for our affec-tions – and taint how we serve our local churches.

I’ve watched time and time again how these temptations have nagged at, and deteriorated, the call that many have on their lives. They fall into the “If I…” trap: “If I could only lead at that conference, if I could only sing on that recording, if I could only have my song on that CD, then I’ll have arrived and be able to have this gig for a living. Wouldn’t that be great?’

They aspire to become the next well-known name that will go around the world. They want to write songs that will make it big, and they lose sight of the fact that it is our local church that needs our best efforts.

Worse still, after having been men-tored, trained, and raised up in the local church, a worship leader may be given in

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10i n s i d e w o r s h i p

There is a great theme in the Scriptures which gives meaning and purpose to all of our life, and sets the framework for what we do here this afternoon. This theme is present in a thousand passages, celebrated in poetry and song, articulated in rich and dense theology, lived out by the Lord Jesus himself. And yet this theme has routinely been ignored or at best marginalized, and sometimes even thrown into the ditch and left to die as the religious and secular worlds pass by on the other side.

new CreationThe theme of which I speak is new creation. Our readings (Isaiah 35:1–10; Luke 10:25-37) speak of the road to new creation, the pilgrim path we are called upon to tread, the highway to Zion, to Jerusalem, the city of the living God. And as today we celebrate the work

of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, with its historical echoes of pilgrimage, hospitality and healing, I invite you to pause and contemplate the work of this Order, the work to which we rededicate ourselves this afternoon, in terms of this new creation, of the new world which God has already begun to create, and of the pilgrim highway which leads to that new creation, the road by which we are called to travel.

Over the last two hundred years the western world has seen a great divide in the way people look at life; and both halves, I suggest, have been deeply un-healthy. On the one hand, the expansion of empires and industry, of commerce and entrepreneurship, has created a cli-mate in which the individual is what matters, and where that individual has

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theological

from the Editor: the theme of “new creation” runs throughout the scriptures, and primarily speaks of the renewing of the world in the age to come, the es-chaton, the last things. there is much misunderstand-ing about ideas such as heaven, the end of time, and the implications of christ’s resurrection in the contem-porary church, and our worship music often reflects our struggle to understand these essen tial ideas.

the following sermon excerpt is from n.t. wright’s sermon at the service of Re-dedication for the Priory of England and the islands of the Most Venerable Or-der of the hospital of st. John of Jerusalem, spoken at Durham cathedral on sept. 23, 2006. special thanks to www.ntwrightpages.com.

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to look out for him- or herself. There’s a ridiculous advertisement just now for instant coffee, which says “It’s all about You”. It isn’t, of course; it’s all about company profits, but the advertisers know that our culture has encouraged us to see ourselves as the center of the universe, to believe that human flour-ishing and fulfillment come from look-ing after Number One.

Insofar as you think about anyone else, you think of them as an extension of your individuality – your family, your town, perhaps even your country. But ultimately, as we were told twenty years ago, there is no such thing as society, on-ly individuals working for themselves. In that sort of world, you only stop to help the ragged, pathetic figure in the ditch if you recognize them as an extension of

yourself – a friend, or family member – or if you think that by doing so you will gain some advantage, make some useful friends, cut a fine figure, or develop a good reputation for being a nice person. Ultimately, it’s still all about Me.

a tragiC ForgetFulnessOn the other hand, religion in the west-ern world has been less and less about the renewal of creation and more and more about escaping from this wicked world and going to a better place, called ‘heaven’ – going there ultimately when we die, but going there by anticipation in the present through prayer and med-itation. This essentially other-worldly hope and spirituality has fought its cor-ner robustly against the materialism which has insisted that the only things that exist are things you can touch and

see, and money you can put in your pocket. But if you turn Christian faith into simply the hope for pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die, and an escapist spiritual-ity in the present, you turn your back on the theme which makes sense of the whole Bible, which bursts upon us in everything that Jesus the Messiah did and said, which is highlighted particularly by his resurrection from the dead.

A religion that forgets about new cre-ation may feel some sympathy for the battered and bedraggled figure in the ditch, but its message to him will al-ways be that though we can help him a bit, ultimately it doesn’t matter because the main thing is to escape this wicked world altogether. And that represents a tragic diminishing and distortion of what Christian faith is all about.

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n.t. wright is the anglican Bishop of durham, england. previously, he was Canon theologian at westminster abbey. he taught new testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, Mcgill and oxford universities. he has been a visiting professor at harvard divinity school, hebrew university in Jerusalem, gregorian university in rome and many other institutions around the world. author of over thirty books, he has been interviewed numerous times by radio and tele-vision broadcasters including aBC, nBC, Cnn, pBs and npr. he is married with four young-adult children and two grandchildren.

down to earthThe God in whom we believe is the creator of the world, and he will one day put this world to rights. That solid belief is the bedrock of all Christian faith. God is not going to abolish the universe of space, time and matter; he is going to renew it, to restore it, to fill it with new joy and purpose and delight, to take from it all that has corrupted it. ‘The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom, and rejoice with joy and singing; the desert shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.’

The last book of the Bible ends, not with the company of the saved being taken up into heaven, but with the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, resulting in God’s new creation, new heavens and new earth, in which everything that has been true, lovely, and of good report will be vindicated, enhanced, set free from all pain and sor-row. God himself, it says, will wipe away all tears from all eyes. One of the great difficulties in preaching the gospel in our days is that everyone assumes that the name of the game is, ultimately, to ‘go to heaven when you die’, as though that were the last act in the drama. The hymn we’re about to sing ends like that, because that’s how most people have thought. But that’s wrong! Heaven is important, but it’s not the end of the world; God will make new heavens and new earth, and give us new bodies to live and work and take delight in his

new creation. And the ‘good news’ of the Christian gospel is that this new world, this new creation, has already begun: it began when Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead on Easter morning, having faced and beaten the double en-emy, sin and death, that has corrupted and defaced God’s lovely creation.

new Creation has Begun in JesusPut it like this, in terms of Jesus’ spectac-ular story. The world, and we humans within it, are in a mess, left for dead in the ditch. The secular world walks past on one side; it hasn’t got time to worry about other people’s problems, because there’s a profit to be made and power to be grabbed. The modern religious world walks past on the other side, believing that this world doesn’t matter because we’re going to leave it fairly soon and go somewhere else. (These two, of course, reinforce one another.) But the living God has come with healing and hope in Jesus Christ, has picked up the bat-tered and dying world, and has bound up its wounds and set it on the road to full health. This deeply biblical theme, so well known to some other traditions (such as the Eastern Orthodox) and so completely forgotten in much of the Western world and church, makes glori-ous sense not only of the whole sweep of biblical thought but of the very spe-cific and practical work on which we rightly focus this afternoon.

My friends, we are here because, wheth-er we’ve thought of it like this or not,

we know in our bones that looking af-ter Number One isn’t where it’s at; that in Jesus Christ we are called not to save ourselves from the world but to bring salvation to the world. We are here be-cause we are committed to the pilgrim way, the way that leads to God’s new Jerusalem, and because we know that on that road there is healing: then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

New creation has begun in Jesus.

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I have a friend, Jackie, who is very sensi-tive to gore in movies. I, on the other hand, say “Bring it on!” One day I was hanging out with Jackie and some other friends and we decided to watch a mov-ie. The consensus (except for Jackie) was to watch Gladiator. We convinced her to try watching the film, and if it was too much for her, she didn’t have to stay. Well, about the time the woman got cut in half by the chariot, Jackie was sobbing and ran out of the room. She was hurt because she couldn’t under-stand how we could watch something like that, and because she felt deceived by her friends. To make things worse, we all stayed and watched the movie while she sat outside and waited for us.

If I believe in faith that it’s fine for me to watch that movie, then I’ve done nothing to separate myself from God. However, if I knowingly watch it in the presence of a person that would be offended, I not only separate myself from that person, but from God as well. Why? I have separated myself from God because I have not honored the second greatest commandment – which is to love people.

the BaCKdrop oF loVeIf I truly desire to love God with all my heart, mind, and strength, then loving people will be a part of me. If I am not loving people, I am not loving God – I’m only loving myself.

Have you ever picked out a worship set for Sunday morning then asked your-self the question, “Am I loving people with this selection of music?” Am I showing them love by making the songs accessible in the key in which I sing it? Am I showing love by creating a flow? Am I showing love by picking

out songs that I know they like even though I don’t prefer them? Am I show-ing love by keeping my instrument at a volume where the sound tech has some control?

Here are some practical ways you can show love to your community:

1. Keep It Accessible. Help people to feel that you choose songs for them through the song’s key, difficulty, word-iness, chorus hooks, and so on.

2. Keep It Genuine. Bring in your flavor! If you are trying to be someone else, you’re not showing love. They want you to be you; people follow honesty.

3. Keep It Consistent. Worship lead-ing is dependent on building trust with your congregation, which only hap-pens through a long process of you con-sistently showing them love.

Showing love to your congregation doesn’t mean that you have to nix cre-ativity. It just means you have to choose where you use your creativity. Creativ-ity isn’t the bus driver; it’s just the paint job on the bus.

Jason Refsland is the worship director at lakes area Vineyard Church in detroit lakes, Min-nesota, usa. he‘s recently married to his beau-tiful wife sara as of september 2007, and his favorite tV show is The Office.

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Of wORshiPEvery play and movie is performed in front of a backdrop, and this backdrop serves as a constant reminder of the setting in which the action is taking place. Even if there is no physical backdrop, the dialogue or the action will often establish one for your imagination.

Worship has a backdrop too. We find our backdrop in Matthew 22:36b-40:

“‘Teacher, which is the greatest command-ment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’

Just as a backdrop serves as a constant reminder of the setting in which the action is taking place, so this verse is a constant reminder of the heart and pur-pose before which our actions should take place. When people see us leading worship, they should see it happening in front of the greatest backdrop in the world, loving God and loving people.

loVing god and loVing peopleIn church culture we’ve all heard the popular phrase, “love God and love peo-ple”, but this particular command is far more powerful and crucial to us than any catch phrase. Jesus himself said that “all the Law and the Prophets hang” on these two commands. What does this have to do with leading worship?

In this verse, Jesus is emphasizing a bi-directional focus of worship, and is es-tablishing a check and balance system within these two commands. Let me give an example outside of the realm of wor-ship music to show you what I mean.

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“If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heav-en. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperish-able. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perish-able has been clothed with the imperish-able, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:44b-57 NIV

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“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Colossians 1:15-20 NIV

Songwriting for our communities in preparation for the Easter season can be a daunting task. Consider using some of the following Scriptures as fuel for your next Easter service. You may want to skip the songwriting altogether, and have your community recite these pivotal biblical truths.

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the institute of ContemPorary & emerging WorshiP stuDieshost: St. Stephen’s University, New Brunswick, CanadaDirector: Dan Wilt, M.Min.website: www.theworshipleader.com

Engaging the contemporary worship artisan with the riches of the ancient past – toward our emerging future.

The Institute Of Contemporary & Emerging Worship Stud-ies is a vibrant haven of university-level, community-based higher education, optimally designed for the roundtable, conversational learning styles of lead worshipers and wor-ship artisans across the globe.

Director Dan Wilt, Dr. Peter Davids, Dr. Peter Fitch, Spiritu-al Director Lorna Jones and others mentor today’s worship leader to creatively think and influence in a postmodern world. Each contributes uniquely to the most in-depth and forward thinking worship studies program available today.

Live guests and video chat classes with Kathryn Scott, Tim Hughes, David Ruis and others round out this one-of-a-kind learning environment. N.T. Wright and others teach for the Institute via video media – fresh ways of learning for creative minds.

For this CoMing year, our prograMs are as Follows:

1. one-year DiPloma in WorshiP stuDies & sPiritual formation

Students may begin this residential university program in Sep-tember or January of any given year.

For young, growing worship leaders. Looking to get a taste of small university life for a year, living and learning in Christian community, while focusing on studies in wor-ship leadership, spiritual formation, arranging bands, mu-sicality, songwriting, leadership skills, personal mentoring, biblical studies, church history and more? After your re-ceive your One Year Diploma, students may elect to con-tinue on at SSU, with your first year significantly applying to your full degree!

“Simply brilliant.”dan Frye, institute graduate, Vineyard uK

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2. three-year master’s Degree (by moDule) in WorshiP stuDies & sPiritual formation

Next Module Begins: October 20-31, 2008

For experienced worship leaders with a call to enrich-ing and deepening study in church history, spiritual theology, biblical studies, Ignatian prayer, spiritual for-mation, theology of creativity and aesthetics, worship history, theology of songwriting, postmodern reflection and much more in a beautiful environment. Two-week modules, 2x per year, 3 year program. One overseas study module in Greece/Turkey or Israel. Hosted at the gor-geous Dominion Hill Centre near St. Stephen, NB.

“…The students become conduits of instruction, right along with our teachers, as the Holy Spirit teaches us all through lectures, Q & A, and roundtable conversation.”Kim gentes, institute graduate, Founder of worshipMusic.com

3. tWo-Week intensive CertifiCate in WorshiP stuDies & sPiritual formation

April 21 - May 2, 2008

For experienced worship leaders needing a powerful, but brief “intensive” course to enrich and deepen their bibli-cal, theological and leadership reflection. Vibrant com-munity learning in spiritual theology, worship theology, biblical worldview, creativity, worship history and post-modern reflection in a beautiful, study retreat atmo-sphere. Churches – help your worship leader to get to this invaluable program – you will not regret it!

“It’s opening me up to what the counsel of the whole of Scrip-ture is about – going back to the ancient Church and learning all the way up to the present day…. Every worship leader should do this Intensive.”Cindy rethmeier, institute graduate, anaheim Vineyard

For more information, including free study tools, online seminars, tuition and registration details, visit us at www.theworshipleader.com, or call 1.800.CALL.SSU

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toorder,call1-800-852-8463orgotowww.vineyardmusicusa.com

SHERI cARR

Often known as “that girl on the Vineyard recording,” listeners will now be able to put a face with the name, and the passionate wor-ship leadership of sheri carr (formerly sheri Keller). her voice is unmistakable, and with numerous songs published by Vineyard Music, she has been featured on popular Vineyard releases Dwell, More than Ever and stand in Awe. fearless now is her debut Varietal Re-cords release, due out in May 2008.coming in May 2008

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