Worship Weblog
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Worship Planning Idea: Lamb of God - Creating a service based on lamb passages in scripture
Lamb of God: Creating a service based on lamb passages in scripture by Robert A. Charnin Issue #58 Of all the blessed and powerful images in the Bible, the image of the lamb, the Paschal Lamb of God, touches me most deeply. None speaks more profoundly of our redemption from the slavery of sin. None inspires more confidence in God’s ultimate righteous rule on this planet. None concludes with greater certainty that the Lamb of God is also the Lion of Judah who will restore all that was lost and ruined in the fall. The progressive revelation of the Lamb from Genesis to Revelation provides solid evidence that nothing will ever hinder God’s plan. From the earliest hints of the Lamb in Genesis to the full-blown glory of the Lion/Lamb in Revelation, we are treated to the drama of God’s unfolding plan for each of us, for our families, for our nations, and for our world. This great, unstoppable plan has one supreme goal: that in everything Jesus, the Lamb, will preeminence. ... Exploring this particular image would result in a service that dramatically unfolds God’s salvation history from creation through consummation, with Christ’s redemptive work as the Lamb of God at its heart. continued…Related Resources “Show Us Your Glory (The Lamb of God)” - sermon at Symposium 2007 by Carol Bechtel Paschal Mystery: Heart of Liturgy, Pulse of Life More Resources for Planning Lenten Worship Lamb images on the Web*: x-x-x-x-x-x-x * (proper attribution and/or permission needed to integrate into worship visuals) For more worship planning ideas, see WorshipHelps Previous Worship Planning Idea
Leading worship on an Air Force base
Mary Hulst on leading a workshop on preaching for chaplains at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama:
... I also learned a great deal about what military chaplaincy consists of: a broad and regular practice of ecumenicity, shepherding young people who often come from very dysfunctional homes, counseling those who are far away from family and friends, and being stationed in the middle of nowhere because in-the-middle-of-nowhere is exactly where you want USAF pilots to be training.
Preaching takes up a small portion of their duties and time and interest, though they were all eager for ideas on how to do it better. Worship services are assigned to people based on who else is on the base, so a Lutheran chaplain may lead the contemporary service or a Baptist may lead the liturgical service or a RCA chaplain may lead the gospel service. Many bases have an assortment of services and an assortment of chaplains. Each chaplain needs to be able to lead—and preach at—any type of service.
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • Preaching • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
‘to get Worshipes’
I came across this plural of the word “worship” in a Middle English translation of the French poem Roman de la Rose—this was a new one to me:
[5745] in the same secte are set Alle tho that prechen for to get Worshipes, honour, and richesse.
Related Resource
‘Worshipful Service’: The Meaning of ‘Worship’
Interdisciplinary Application • Language • (0) Comments • Permalink
Preparing for Palm Sunday
Since this palm frond is withering, I thought I should preserve it in a photo. I took it back with me from Palm Beach last month to be a quasi-liturgical adornment for my desk during this season of Lent.
After reading the Palm Sunday sermon starters and sermons from CEP, I see the day in a much different light now. The image of Palm Sunday tears has stuck with me.
Theology Today on Recovering the Legacy of Psalmody
[Psalm 68] was a real showstopper. The piano dropped out. The organist, supposing the Psalm to be a dirge, presented it as such. The song leader’s arms went limp. And yet my parents, along with a few others in the congregation who were recent Dutch immigrants, seemed to sing the Psalm with joy bordering on exhilaration. As a child, I never questioned this. My parents were peculiar in many ways. Their penchant for Genevan psalms within the Singspiration service was but one manifestation of this. I simply accepted it.
It wasn’t until I myself became a student of church music that I began to probe my parent’s enthusiasm for the psalter. Their love for the psalms seemed to be unconditional. It would be within the bounds of acceptable Christian piety to commit to memory a small portion of the psalter – Psalms 23, 100, 121, 150 and the like. No, my parents embraced them all and could produce a stanza or two of any psalm from memory. And, if asked to list their favorites, along with the standard psalms of comfort and praise they would include psalms of confession, complaint, lament, and imprecation. When I asked my parents to explain their satisfaction in singing all the psalms, they recalled for me their childhood experiences. ...
Related Resources
The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship
Books&Culture on ‘Nineteenth-Century Women Writing on Women in Genesis’
Who are your favorite women biblical commentators? Given that women have probably comprised more than half of all Christians throughout the history of the church it would seem strange if you were not able to name any. If you did recall one or more, then, admit it: you thought of writers who are still alive, or at least who did their work since 1950. Did women really have nothing to say about Scripture for 1900 years of Christian history? Or have we just failed to remember?
In a groundbreaking contribution to the history of biblical interpretation, Marion Taylor and Heather Weir have tracked down more than a thousand books on the Bible from the minds of 19th-century women. Having concentrated on one century, they then focused on the female characters in the first book of the Bible. Although it contains much useful information and analysis provided by the editors, at its heart, Let Her Speak for Herself: Nineteenth-Century Women Writing on Women in Genesis is an anthology of excerpts from the works of fifty Victorian women.
Interdisciplinary Application • Preaching • Reading • (0) Comments • Permalink