/head>

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Unity in Serving God's House...

I was so blessed last night by Pr. Foo's sermon that I would like to share it with you. I flew back from Singapore last evening and arrived at the airport around 6.30pm. By the time I passed the customs, it was already 7pm. I had to rush to church for our monthly Music & Worship Ministry Nite where we congregate together as a corporate body of worshippers to worship the Almighty. Pr. Foo started off by asking us what make us want to join the Worship Ministry. And what was the role that we play in the Worship Ministry? I thought that I it felt good worshipping the Lord and that the Lord sure feels good when we worship Him. When Pr. Foo asked about the role that we play, my mind was thinking along the lines about the worship team being able to see the glory of God's presence being magnified in His people. To my amazement, that was what Pr. Foo started the sermon with!

The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
- 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 (NIV)
We dream to see the day where we would experience the glory of God filling the church. So strong that "priests" could not perform their service, the worship leader unable to sing another chorus, the guitarist unable to strum another chord, the pastor unable to preach another word. The presence of the Lord is so strong that you just can't help but stand in awe and worship Him. I long to see that day. How about you? In Tommy Tenney's book God Chasers, he started the chapter with a description of what happened on one fine Sunday where the Lord visited them. The word "glory" in Hebrew, is kabowd (HT3519), which means, glorious, abundance, splendour and reverence. When the glory of God is so strong that it weighs on you. It sits on you until you can't do anything. Some might think that this is too far away given the situation of your church or it could be based on some circumstances within your church but that dream is not far beyond reach. What does it take for us to be carriers of God's presence? We need to first be facilitators of the presence of God in His house. Smith Wigglesworth, a great author, when approached by a man who told him, "Sir, you convict me of sin". The glory of God is so strong that it can convict people. In verse 13, it says that, "The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord". In one voice they came together to give praise. Unity is where the presence of the Lord resides. Only in agreement and unity that we as worshippers can come together to experience the glory of God. In Matthew 18:19-20, it says, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. " When there is unity, that is where the Father is. In the Chinese bible, it says, "having same heart and same mind." I thought that it is very accurate. How then can we be carriers of God's presence? Here are the 3 steps that Pr. Foo preached. 1) Agreement in spirit What is your vision that you have in leading people into worship? Pr. Foo started by asking us questions about why we worship, what is our role as a worship team. Like it or not, we are in the frontline ministry. People look at us as though they are looking at a goldfish in an aquarium. We are all goldfishes! People look at us when we worship. People look at us when we are not serving as well! So as a team, we should have a common vision to flow as a team. Learning to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and where the Holy Spirit is leading us. We might be the most talented singer on stage but we must learn to be submissive, learn to obey, learn to flow with the worship leader whom the Lord has anointed. We need to have a singleness of heart to obey the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 15:6, "Then we'll be a choir, not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!" Eugene Peterson emphasizes the principle of having singleness of heart, when we as a choir which signifies that we need to be in unity, and singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the Lord. Wow! And just as it is in 2 Chronicles 5:13, "The choir and trumpets made one voice of praise and thanks to God orchestra and choir in perfect harmony singing and playing praise to God". Eugene Peterson highlights that we are like an orchestra, a choir playing together. That is singleness of heart! 2) Let go of our own agenda "This is as practical as we can get!", says Pr. Foo. We need to work through our issues together. A very common issue that almost every church face is between the Music Ministry Team and the Audio Visual Crew. We can never agree! You are playing too loud! When we want to see God at work, we need to be moving in one voice, in unity, moving together as team. In Philippians 2:21 it says, " For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ". We have to put our differences aside and focus on working together, ushering in the presence of God. As far as worship is concern, it is not just the worship team. Everyone from the usher to the worship team to the preacher, we are all goldfishes! Everyone of us (the team) builds the worship experience for the people. In 1 Corinthians 10:24 it says, "Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." We have to learn to help one another, extend our hand and our time in serving one another. When we set aside our agenda, we begin to define the way God defines. 3) Serving one another Serving one another has to go beyond what we do as a team. It's about our lives! Brining unity to the team is about serving one another. It's about our lives! It goes beyond our duties. From just serving with one another over the weekend but we must learn to bear each other's burden. We have to learn to invest our time and energy into peoples lives outside our ministry time. We need to learn to consider one another, stir one another and challenge one another. If something is wrong with your brother or sister, have courage to confront him or her. We need to have unity in serving God's house. Galatians 6:2, " Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. " and Hebrews 10:4, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Let us learn to carry one another's burden and spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Only then can we be united in oneness and have a singleness of heart to usher in glory of God's presence. In conclusion, let us walk together in unity, spurring one another and having the right spirit so that we can one day feel the weight of the Lord on us, on our cell groups and on our church. That we might fall down in awe of the Lord's presence. Let's press on... together!