What a weekend at New Life City Church with one of the best teachers and motivators on the subject of worship, Jarrod Cooper from New Life, Hull. Totally awesome Saturday morning and Sunday morning. Let me give you some bullet points with a few comments from Jarrod as follows:
Saturday:
Worship is not about the stuff, it's about the presence and the glory of God. It's great to have the stuff, i.e. the lights and equipment etc, but you can have the presence and the glory of God without the stuff. There is a danger in the modern church to miss the glory of God and to just become a trendy place!
It is not the Worship Leader's responsibility to usher in the presence of God, nor is it the Pastor's, but it's the people coming together and bringing the presence of God with them.
I Sam. 10:5. True worship comes from the anointing of the Spirit God. The anointing is accompanied with a procession of the prophets, music, prophesying and the presence of God. Phil. 3:3 Shows we worship by the Spirit of God, so that it's not from me; it is from God and returns to God through us, thus giving us the privilege of participating in the Divine Nature through worship (man that is so awesome!).
1 Sam. 10:6. The Spirit of the Lord was on Saul. When the anointing of God is on us something to us and people get affected. Exod. 33:14 God told Moses that his presence would go with him. Moses responded by saying, "If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here". It is the presence of God we should be pursuing, for it is the presence of God that distinguishes us. We need, and others need, to recognise the presence of God. There should be a presence in us and around us.
The Glory of God is most powerful in its original. We do not need to anyone else. (Again totally awesome!). We need to watch we do not get in the way. We are not club singers; we are glory carriers. Without this we can so easily get to the point where we can do church without God.
Three things that hinder the Glory: 1) We lose the Glory when we become more focused on programmes than on presence; we must sing these songs, cause we've picked them; we must follow this set-list or order because it's what we do. 2) When we allow religion to take control by simply becoming religious about what we do and therefore presenting worship in vain (Mark 7:6). 3) When the platform is filled with timidity.
The Power and the Glory of God is just the other side of obedience.
Sunday Morning
Four things about Praise and Presence:
1. The Power and the Presence of God: This is what changes the atmosphere around us; our community; our nation etc.
2. Obedience releases the Presence and the Glory. We miss the moves of God because of disobedience, or by just being religious.
3. Our Voices release the Presence and the Glory. Prov. 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue". In Revelation, the words of Jesus are like a sword coming from his mouth. We can speak to the mountain etc.
4. Our bodies can release the Presence and the Glory of God. In Romans 12 Paul says that yielding our body unto God is our reasonable act of worship. Raised hands in surrender; clapping; walking; running; dancing etc.
Jarrod Cooper totally loved being with us
Enough for now. Enjoy GLOW tonight and the rest of the week.
Thanks again to everyone who works hard for the development and advancement of New Life City Church.
Have a great week. Stay focused; stay strong; and keep being a God-influence.
Pastor Jack
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