These are some of the questions I'm working on to form my module for the upcoming trip to India. In the first couple sections, some of the questions deal exclusively with India. So we, on this side of the pond, don't know the answers. But as you progress, the questions become more general and I would definitely appreciate your responses to them. Thank you!
What is worship?
What/who do people in India worship?
How do they express worship in India?
Can any of those worship expressions transfer to a Christian context?
What is praise?
How does it differ from worship?
What/who do Indians praise?
How do Indians express praise?
Can any of these praise expressions transfer to Christian context?
In addition to praise, what other elements enter into a worship event?
How about Private/Personal worship...
What elements are part of personal worship?
What would happen if we introduced these personal elements into corporate worship?
What differences do you see between private/personal worship compared to public/corporate worship?
Is corporate worship just X number of people doing the same thing together that they would do when alone?
Do you worship the same at church as you do when alone?
Why is there a difference? Is this difference good/bad/neutral? Why? In what way?
What is your responsibility as a worship planner or worship leader?
What do you think about planning a worship service?
Do you think we should plan a service schedule? Why/Why not?
How much of the worship service should be planned?
How important is it to make the elements of a worship service all fit into a single theme?
I welcome your feedback!
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- Currently, I am posting my "musings on Ephesians." This was a 6 1/2 month process of allowing Paul's letter to Ephesus to speak to me about my situations. Some of it gets rather personal. But hopefully it can help you too.
5 comments:
Wow, Eddie... Those are some really good questions... I wish I had more answers.
Gale :)
But do you have ANY responses? Even partial ones would help fill in some of the holes in my prep.
thanx
Having read your more recent blog about praise (9/28) first, my initial thought is that whereas we praise what a person does, we worship (or adore) who a person is. As Christians we reserve our worship for God and for Christ, while we might admire or even adore other people. This suggests worship as a special category of adoration/admiration, i.e. that reserved for a person who is greater than us not just in status but in substance. So we can imagine a dog worshiping his master as an analogy.
People in India presumably worship a variety of people/things, including many of the hindu gods, God as understood by Islam and by Christianity, elders, heroes, money, status, etc.
Some Hindus express worship by maintaining or attending to shrines for specific deities. For example, they might burn incense, kneal and pray, chant prayers, or offer food. Muslims worship by following some or all of the five steps of Islam. If I remember right these are: confession of faith, daily prayer (up to 5 times a day), giving of alms to the poor, fasting during ramadan, and a pilgramige to Mecca??
Other than spoken or sung praise, a worship event can include a celebration of one or more sacraments: communion or baptism. (Marriage is generally a separate occasion.) It can also include: confessions of faith; readings of scripture; artistic expressions in the form of music, dance, poetry, painting, etc.; prophecy; tongues with interpretation; giving to the church and/or the poor, etc.
As far as personal worship, our whole lives should be an expression of worship to God. We should strive for excellence in all that we do in order to honor our God and Saviour, while relying on him for strength, direction and inspiration. We should focus on providing and caring for our families, and taking our proper role in the community of believers as well as in the civic community. This can all be worship in as much as it is done in response to God's goodness and his character, and especially when it is done in an effort to cooperate with him in his effort to establish and expand his kingdom on earth.
There can and should also be times set aside exclusively for personal worship which can include prayers honoring God for who he is, thanking him for what he is done and all other kinds of prayer; songs, confessions, etc. Or a person can simply choose to come into God's presence by faith (through Christ's sacrifice), and just be with him.
One difference between corporate and personal worship is that many things are spoken or sung aloud in corporate worship that are just thought or assumed in personal worship. Corporate worship is important because any time a group and especially a community of people come together and agree on something, It is spiritually powerful. So by coming together and proclaiming and honoring God's greatness, we can make great strides toward establishing his kingdom as the primary visible political and spiritual force in our part of the world.
gotta go, hope this helps, and I look forward to reading your response.
-Joe
My response will mostly be found in the course I teach in India rather than here--basically because it would require too much time/space. As usual (always?) I value your perspective and find value there. I might raise a couple questions just for the fun of provoking more discussion. But first, I'll see if any of my other "vast" readership wants to contribute.
Thank you rev213
i think of worship as adoration. Maybe that is very simplified...but when I boil it down that is my thought. Simple, devoted, loving adoration. -S
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