The Supremacy of God in Missions Through Worship

This is one of my all-time favorite excerpts.  I've read it many times and commend it to you for your consideration.

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It's the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God's glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. "The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!" (Psalm 97:1). "Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!" (Psalm 67:3-4).

But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can't commend what you don't cherish. Missionaries will never call out "Let the nations be glad!", who cannot say from the heart, "I rejoice in the Lord.... I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O most High" (Psalm 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.

If the pursuit of God's glory is not ordered above the pursuit of man's good in the affections of the heart and the priorities of the church, man will not be well served and God will not be duly honored. I am not pleading for a diminishing of missions but for a magnifying of God. When the flame of worship burns with the heat of God's true worth, the light of missions will shine to the most remote peoples on earth. And I long for that day to come!

John Piper. Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions. Baker Books, 1993, pp. 11-12.

Study Material Also Available
DVD Let the Nations Be Glad!	Study Guide Let the Nations Be Glad!

The Supremacy of God in Missions Through Worship

When There's Little Time to Meditate

It's late afternoon of Good Friday, and I'm tempted to be discouraged. Work and other affairs have conspired to take up much of my time and energy lately, leaving little for meditating, much less writing, on the sufferings of our Savior. However, I've received some comfort from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, where he ends his brief meditation for morning, March 31 with these words:

We would fain go to our chambers and weep: but since our business calls us away, we will first pray our Beloved to print the image of his bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune with him, and sorrow that our sin should have cost him so dear.

What do we do when we have little time to meditate on the goodness of our Lord to us? We do the things He has appointed for us to do, trusting Him to be with us during the day and intending to devote ourselves especially to Him when He permits.

If you feel let down at certain seasons because you're too busy to spend the time you want in worship or to take part in special traditions, take courage! The Lord, who appoints our daily business, knows our heart. He knows it if we desire to spend time with Him. Here our worship is encumbered with the distractions of life and the corruption remaining in our heart. In Heaven we will see Him as He is and love Him with unsinning and undistracted heart!

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6).

When There's Little Time to Meditate

Season's Readings

This time of year I like to read things that help me focus on the real meaning of Christmas and meditate on the abiding truth of "God with us." I'll share some titles and resources that you may want to check out for some good Advent meditation.

• Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus edited by Nancy Guthrie - This is a new book featured in a previous post. It consists of 22 relatively short chapters taken from the writings and sermons of Bible preachers and teachers past and present. All groups of Christians, laymen and ministers, should enjoy this book. From the publisher's website you can download a sample or browse portions of the book online. Available from: Amazon | CBD | CVBBS | Monergism | WTS.
  

• God With Us: The Miracle of Christmas by John MacArthur - This book of about 140 pages is suitable for private use or small group study, like in a Sunday School class. The nine chapters cover different aspects of the Christmas story with one theme in mind: "This Child's birth meant deliverance for mankind. The angel told Joseph: 'It is He who will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Jesus knew that to do that, He would have to die" (p. 115). Have you ever heard a sermon on the genealogy of Christ in Matthew chapter 1? MacArthur has a chapter on this entitled, "Knots on the Family Tree." It's a blessing. Available from Amazon.
  

• The King Has Come by James Montgomery Boice - 15 sermons by the former minister of Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church that show the real meaning of Christmas. "I trust that this small book of Christmas messages may be used by God to bring to many people the peace that the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ has made possible" (p. 9). You can download the table of contents and preface from the publisher's website. Also available from: Amazon | WTS.
  

• Great Sermons on the Birth of Christ edited by Wilbur M. Smith - a collection of 15 sermons from preachers of the past, such as Charles Spurgeon, Henry P. Liddon, Joseph Parker, Alexander Whyte, Martin Luther, and G. Campbell Morgan. Since these are sermons they can be profitable to any believer, but this book might appeal mostly to ministers. Wilbur Smith, a 20th Century bibliophile, provides some extra features that can be a help to ministers preparing sermons or series of messages. At the end of the book are four appendices that explore the Nativity Narratives further and suggest other books on the subject. Smith also provides a biographical sketch of each preacher whose sermons he includes. Available from Amazon.
  

• Christmastide in St. Paul's by Henry P. Liddon - Sermons Bearing Chiefly On The Birth Of Our Lord And The End Of The Year (1889) (Hardcover) from Kessinger Publishing. Liddon was an Anglican theologian and preacher, "an Anglican of the High Church, but fervently evangelical, with emphasis first upon the Word of God rather than upon ritual or form" (Wilbur M. Smith). Available from Amazon.
  

• The Magnificat by Henry P. Liddon - Four sermons on Mary's burst of praise in Luke chapter 1: 1) Mary our Model in Praising God (Luke 1:46-48); 2) Privileges of the Virgin Mother (Luke 1:48-50); 3) Vicissitudes of Men and Nations (Luke 1:51-53); 4) God's Mercy and Faithfulness in the Divine Incarnation (Luke 1:54-55). A few years ago I read this book over the four Sundays of Advent, and I concur with Wilbur Smith that Liddon is "fervently evangelical." These sermons are a blessing. If you can find it, Klock & Klock's 1980 reprint combines this book with James Orr's The Virgin Birth of Christ. The Magnificat available from Amazon.
  

• My Soul Magnifies the Lord by Martyn Lloyd-Jones - Meditations on the Meaning of Christmas. The Doctor also provides four sermons on Mary's song of praise: 1) Magnifying God; 2) The Wisdom of God; 3) The Faithfulness of God; 4) The Christian's Experience. "Here in this short compass, in a very extraordinary manner, [Mary] brings us face to face with some of the many central matters in connection with our salvation" (pp. 8-9). Available from Amazon.
  

• Advent Devotional published by Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC - This is a free online resource you can download as a pdf file from the church's website. It consists of several short readings for each of the four weeks of Advent. Following each reading are suggestions for prayers and an appropriate Christmas hymn. Intended mainly for use in family devotions or as part of a group. Very warm. Recommended.

• Celebrating Advent with Martin Luther - a brief article from Christianity Today by Paul L. Maier consisting mainly of several excerpts from Luther's Christmas sermons demonstrating his love for the season.

• Martin Luther's Christmas Book edited by Roland H. Bainton - a gift edition of a book containing thirty excerpts from Luther's Christmas sermons. Supplemented by elegant illustrations of scenes from the Christmas story and two of Luther's carols. Available from Amazon.
  

Don't let the busyness or, possibly, the loneliness of the season rob you of the true Christmas spirit. The angelic announcement to the lonely shepherds was one of "glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10-11). Take time out frequently to meditate on the Scriptures and let the presence of God overwhelm your soul.

Feel free to share your favorite Advent readings with us in the comments.

Season's Readings

Notes on Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin | ch. 3

One of the first things that I looked at (I do this with nearly every book) when I picked up Bob Kauflin's Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God was the Index and Bibliography. First, I was a bit surprised to see how thorough and exhaustive a job was done on the Scripture Index and General Index. Someone needs to be commended here. Second, I was delighted to find that Kauflin included a section titled A BRIEF ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. This is a wonderful resource and I have already added his recommendations to the TheoSource database (see here). I especially appreciated the depth of his selections and also the perspective he offers as a minister of music (old-fashioned lingo for worship leader).

MY MIND: WHAT DO I BELIEVE?

In Chapter 3, Kauflin exhorts music ministers to read theology. How about that? Kauflin hits a home run in this chapter. Here's a quote:

But being moved emotionally is different from being changed spiritually. Music affecst and helps us in many ways, but it doesn't replace truth about God. Musci can never by itself help us understand the meaning of God' self-existence, the nature of the Incarnation, or Christ's substitutionary atonement. Nor can an instrumental solo tell us how music fundtions in worshiping God. For that, we need to read our Bibles. And to know what the Bible says, we need theology. Good theology.

Good theology helps us keep music in its proper place. We learn that music isn't an end in itslef but rather a means of expressing the worship already present in our hearts through the new life we've received in Jesus Christ. (p. 30)

NOTE: By the way, I found the following quote by Spurgeon in this chapter and have added it to the quotes at the top of the sidebar.

"He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own."

Notes on Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin | ch. 3

Notes on Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

One of the books I've been carrying around with me over the past few weeks has been Bob Kauflin's Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God published by Crossway, 2008. I must not only thank Crossway Books for sending me a review copy, but also apologize for taking so long to comment on it. My book pile hasn't gotten any smaller, but who's complaining.

I am still working my way through this book but I have already found numerous reasons to recommend it to all church leaders. You won't agree with everything Kauflin presents, but you will surely find that he has contributed to the discussion of worship and music in a truly humble, thoughtful, and Scripture-saturated manner.

MY HEART: WHAT DO I LOVE?

In due time, I would like to interact with more of this book, but for now I would like to share the following quote from chapter 2 that was a great joy to read:

God wants us to love him more than our instruments and music. More than our possessions, food, and ministry. [etc.]
...
How do I know what I love the most? By looking at my life outside of Sunday morning. What do I enjoy the most? What do I spend the most time doing? Where does my mind drift to when I don't have anything to do? What am I passionate about? What do I spend my money on? What makes me angry when I don't get it? What do I feel depressed without? What do I fear losing the most?

Our answers to those questions will lead us straight to the God of gods we love and worhsip. (p. 26, emphasis mine)

Excerpt: Foreword and Chapters 1-2 - 574K PDF

Notes on Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

TheoSource Updates: Theology & General Works

Last night I uploaded revisions and expansions of the Recommended Theological Works List (TW) and the Recommended General Reference Works Lists (GRW). The major changes are as follows:

• I added Biblical Theology, OT Theology & NT Theology to the TW list.
• I added Introductory topics to the GRW list.

I think that these two changes make better sense. Also,...

• I added recommendations cited in Bob Kauflin's recent book, Worship Matters (Crossway, 2008). Kauflin provides a very nice annotated bibliography of books on major theological issues with which worship leaders ought to be familiar (Worship, God, The Person and Work of Christ, The Holy Spirit, Theology, Growing in Holiness, The Church, Music, and Devotionals).
  

As always, I would be glad for any input on improving these lists.

TheoSource Updates: Theology & General Works