Rhythms of Grace: How the Church's Worship Tells the Story of the Gospel

Description: Rhythms of Grace: How the Churchs Worship Tells the Story of the Gospel Description Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Rhythms of GraceHow the Church's Worship Tells the Story of the GospelBy Mike CosperGood News PublishersCopyright © 2013 Mike CosperAll rights : 978-1-4335-3342-6ContentsForeword by Bob Kauflin, Preface, Acknowledgments, 1 The Song of Eden, 2 Worship in the Wilderness, 3 The Song of Israel, 4 The Song of Jesus, 5 Worship One, Two, Three, 6 Worship as Spiritual Formation, 7 Worship and the Story of the Church, 8 Liturgy and the Rhythms of Grace, 9 Sing, Sing, Sing, 10 The Pastoral Worship Leader, Appendix A Sample Service Orders, Appendix B Recommended Resources, Appendix C The Sound of (Modern) Music: Technical Challenges for, Audio and Congregational Singing, Works Cited, CHAPTER 1THE SONG OF EDENThe gospel is a story about worship. It begins with promise and serenity, spins wildly and terribly off course, and is rescued in the most unexpected and surprising way possible. I want to tell that as StoryI want to tell it because I think we don't get it. When we say the word worship, a lot of activity comes to mind — singing, reading the Scriptures, preaching, praying, celebrating baptism and the Lord's Supper — but we often see those practices as ends in themselves. Doing so defines worship in our minds as merely a list of things that we do even if we aren't certain about why we do them. They become empty duties, and we start to believe that it's necessary to do them to earn God's favor. Worship then becomes associated with religiosity — a belief that good behavior qualifies us for membership in God's family. We begin to doubt our standing before God any time we miss a worship service, or we don't participate enthusiastically, or we don't identify emotionally with the content of the songs, prayers, and sermons. Obviously, we just need to try harder and get it right at the next do we? The story of worship as told in the Bible defines worship in a radically different and surprising way. It's a story that surprises us because we discover that it doesn't primarily feature us. The star of the story is God, who is at the center of all worship but is also at its origins in history and its origins in our hearts. The story of worship (like the story of the gospel) is all about God.I want to tell that story because I believe it will reinvigorate our passion for worship and for all the activities we normally associate with it. The gospel story is the worship story. Worship was God's idea as he initiated creation. Just when it looked as though sin had corrupted worship beyond repair, he rescued it by sending his Son and making a way through him to worship the Father again. The Son, in turn, sent his Spirit, who awakened corpses like you and me and put a song in our hearts that we'll be singing with every breath from here to buckle up. Let's dive into the story of worship, which is to say, let's dive into the story of the gospel. Because the gospel is all about the Foundations of the WorldWhen we think about the beginning of the gospel story, we tend to think Genesis 1. There the author brings us to the explosive moment when God spoke creation into existence. It's a good place to begin, for sure, but perhaps we should start in the moments before then. To even imagine that, we can hear the words from the Gospel of John, where the apostle tells us that before the dawning of creation, there was the loving community of the Trinity (see John 1:1; 17:24).So before the world began, there was love. It flowed — perfect, complete, and constant — between the three persons of the Trinity. This love was an unending appreciation, a perpetual beholding and rejoicing in the goodness and perfection of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The scene was what theologian Fred Sanders " It was, and is, a totally self-sufficient community of love and its heart, worship is rooted in this love. The Payment We accept all major credit cards and PayPal. Shipping Free Shipping anywhere in the Continental United States. Please be certain your shipping address is correct as this cannot be changed once the order has been placed. Returns Should you need to return your purchase, we allow returns that are processed within 30 days of receipt of the order. Please contact us for a return authorization and the return shipping address.

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