New Life Presbyterian Church of La Mesa http://www.newlifelamesa.org Presbyterian Church in America Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:43:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Introduction to Christian Worship – Service of the Word http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/02/introduction-to-christian-worship-service-of-the-word/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/02/introduction-to-christian-worship-service-of-the-word/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:43:22 +0000 Brian http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2647 James F. White’s  book is amazingly even-handed and the breadth is breathtaking. He has the remarkable ability of taking a topic and scanning the whole of Christendom, throughout the ages, graciously, in about twenty pages. This chapter on “The Service of the Word” offers more of the same in this regard. White’s chapter is broken down into three major sections: The History of the Service of the Word; Theology of the Service of the Word; and Pastoral Concerns of the Service of the Word. By “Service of the Word,” White means more than just the time during the service where there is preaching and teaching. By “Service of the Word,” White means everything during the service excluding the Lord’s Supper – or to put it another way, the first half of the service. Historically, this part of the worship service has also been referred to by terms such as fore-mass, ante-communion, synaxis, or proanaphora. For the usually Protestant service, other terms have been employed: Sunday service, morning order, preaching service, or divine service. White has a really nice survey of the historical development of Christian worship beginning in the early church, to the medieval church, the church during the reformation, and the church during the time of revivalism. Those categories are helpful today because they are present today in the different traditions and churches. Thus, it depends on one’s approach to worship and what is the desired result of worship to what tradition one will land.

In the last section, “Pastoral Concerns of the Service of the Word” White takes up how to order the service. That is, what to include in a service of worship and where to place it. As he rightly notes, this is more of a concern for those a part of the Reformed and Revivalisitic traditions (strange bedfellows to say the least) because they(we) lack the service books to which the Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians turn. He offers three helpful suggestions. First, all of Scripture must be central. Not his words, but

James F. White’s  book is amazingly even-handed and the breadth is breathtaking.

Scripture must be read, prayed, preached, sung, and seen during worship. Second, there ought to be an obvious sense of progression in worship as one goes from greeting to benediction. We are going from point a to point b. I suggest that this is best done in the form of covenant renewal and according to gospel logic. So we are called, cleansed, consecrated, communed with, and commissioned. Finally, there needs to be a clarity of function. That is, “Generally acts of worship that have the same function ought to come together.” So, for example, our giving doesn’t take place on the opening song. Rather it comes after we have been cleansed, as an act of gratitude. I will close with White’s helpful words:

Not only does God speak to us through lessons and sermons, but we also speak to God. This takes place through prayer, psalms, canticles, and hymns. Understanding worship as revelation and response is useful at this point. God takes the initiative and we respond with our words to God’s word. God’s word does not return empty; it evokes ours. But we can respond only on the basis of what God has done.

May that be a description of our worship too!

]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/02/introduction-to-christian-worship-service-of-the-word/feed/ 0 Introduction to Christian Worship – Sounds of Church Music http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-sounds-of-church-music/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-sounds-of-church-music/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:02:32 +0000 Brian http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2634 As the title suggests, White’s next chapter takes up the topic of church music. All told, the chapter is a useful summary of Christian approaches to music historically and across the denominational spectrum. Everyone knows church music is controversial. This has always been the case. But it was especially pronounced during the time of the reformation.

As we have been saying, reformed churches are marked out not only by their doctrinal statement but also by their actions in worship. Just as works offer the proof of faith so too worship offers a glimpse of what churches really believe. Or to put it another way, we should not expect evangelicals to worship like Roman Catholics and we shouldn’t expect reformed Christians to worship like evangelicals. The theological distinctions of the protestant reformers gave rise to distinct expressions in worship. For example, while retaining the ordinary parts of the mass, Luther also made use of extensive hymnody.

Everyone knows church music is controversial.

Luther himself wrote 37 hymns, some of which we still sting today – choral music, instrumental music, and psalmody. In contrast to this was Zwingli, the Zurich reformer. Although a musician and composer, Zwingli was convinced that Scripture taught there to be no music. As a result, singing stopped in 1523 and in 1527 the city council ordered the destruction of the pipe organ. In Geneva under Calvin’s leadership, the approach to music was more in line with Zwingli than with Luther. As a result instrumental, choral, and service music disappeared from worship in Geneva. The one element Calvin would not do away with but especially revived was the congregational singing of the Psalms. Psalms were set to music and arranged for singing by musical and poetical experts. In Geneva all singing was congregational and biblical, which is to say, all the words came from the inspired text of holy Scripture, particularly the Psalms and the Decalogue.

]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-sounds-of-church-music/feed/ 0 Introduction to Christian Worship, part 1 http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-1/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-1/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:55:35 +0000 Allison http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2617 Last week we finished our Sunday School class on Reformed worship. I received a number of encouraging comments from those who attended. I am so glad that it was helpful. You should know, though, that I feel the same way. The thirteen weeks we spent thinking together

…describing what Christians usually do when they come together defines Christian worship

about that subject, that I spent reading privately and that you spent questioning and pressing me were very stimulating for me intellectually and spiritually. So much so I don’t want it to end! Because of that I want to keep thinking about these things with you. For the next couple months, then, I will be engaging James F. White, Professor of Liturgical Studies at Drew University, and his writing on the subject of Christian worship. We will begin with his Introduction to Christian Worship.

White begins where any student of worship needs to by asking the simple question: What do we mean by Christian worship? First, there is worship. Yet “worship itself is an exasperatingly difficult word to pin down” (17). Then there is “Christian” worship. There are a whole host of worship expressions in society, but they are not all Christian expressions of worship. Further, “is all worship offered by the Christian community always “Christian”?” (17). White successfully teases out the difficulty and necessity of unpacking that simple phrase, “Christian worship.”

So what is the definition of “Christian worship” and how shall we go about defining it? To the latter question the author suggests a phenomenological approach to be the most helpful. That is, describing what Christians usually do when they come together defines Christian worship. From here he goes on to look at some historical explanations as well as a number of words used in the Bible for the act of worship.

Beginning phenonmenologically, White notes that in almost every Christian tradition and throughout history Christian worship has included a number of rituals, structures and services. First, there is the notion of Christian time.  There is a weekly structure of time and a set weekly pattern for worship. Add to this the development of the church calendar as well as the development of daily public and private prayer. Next, the space of worship has always played a prominent role in this Christian service. The primacy of music in Christian worship cannot be overlooked. And, of course, we find what we would regard as the means of grace: prayer, the Word, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Finally, in addition to these regular rites, Christian worship has included occasional rites which serve to mark out life’s journey; rituals and rites like ordination, marriage, funerals, confirmation, to name a few. Each of these elements is treated in chapters of White’s book.

Simplicity is what stands out in all of this. What never ceases to amaze me is how simple Christian worship has been historically compared to how complex it has become today. For example, consider the simplicity of Luther’s definition when he says of Christian worship “that nothing else be done in it than that our dear Lord himself talk to us through his holy word and that we, in turn, talk to him in prayer and song of praise.” In fact, we might sum up worship with just one German word Gottesdienst: God’s service and our service to God.

Hopefully our appreciation for the divine service will be expanded along with our heart for God as we think through worship more.

]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-1/feed/ 0 Introduction to Christian Worship, part 2 http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-2/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-2/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:52:20 +0000 Allison http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2613 One of the coolest Christmas gifts I got was a calendar. To be honest I don’t use calendars anymore that hang on the wall. Although I have been set free in Christ I have, I will admit, become enslaved to my iPhone which tells me where to be and when to be there. I didn’t use wall calendars, that is, until this one. One of the most interesting things about this calendar, though there are a lot, is that it begins on November 27. That’s right. It begins on November 27, 2011 and ends on December 1, 2012. By now you have no doubt figured out what kind of calendar this is. This is a calendar that marks time as a Christian.

These are not good days for counter cultural efforts of the church. Sure, cultural warriors abound, but even they know the US pledge of allegiance better than the Apostles’ Creed. Even we are not immune to this. Consider our great feasts as a Church. For us two of the biggest gatherings are our Memorial Day picnic and Thanksgiving. Both are generally regarded as American civil holidays. Why don’t we gather for a feast on Pentecost? Maybe we should. You know, you can tell a lot about a person by the time they keep. If it’s noon to them and 9:00 AM to us we know they are from the east coast. What does our keeping of time tell about us? Does the way we keep time suggest that we are more citizens of this kingdom than the one above? Maybe. Maybe not. Something to think about at least.

By now you have guessed what White’s chapter is about. Chapter two is entitled: “The Language of Time.” Because we are earthbound creatures we are also time bound. Even the man Jesus was bound by and entered into time (cf. Lk. 1.5; 2.2). Because of this, worship and life are earthly in this regard and necessarily time bound. Because of this there are “rhythms of the week, the day, and the year” (48). Interestingly enough, from the earliest days of the church Christians have been thoughtfully engaged at how to structure time. Structure emerged in the lives of early Christians with respect to the day—daily readings and prayers—the week—the Lord’s Day or Christian Sabbath for worship—and even the year. Remarkably, the earliest practice of the Christian year dates back to the third century and included the major divisions of

These are not good days for counter cultural efforts of the church.

Epiphany (Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Presentation), Pascha (Psalm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Day), and Pentecost (Ascension and Pentecost). Even though the excesses of the Middle Ages were what Luther and Calvin were protesting, they nonetheless retained a favorable disposition toward the calendar. It wasn’t until 1560 when the Church of Scotland—an heir of the reformation—began to chart a more radical course, condemning all “feasts [as they term them] of apostles, martyrs, virgins, of Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Purification, and other fond feasts of our Lady” (in White, 65). The Westminster Directory followed suit: “Festival days, vulgarly called Holy Days, having no warrant in the Word of God, are not to be continued.”

Oh, so much more can be said, needs to be said. For now, let White’s words suffice:

Keeping time, of course, can also become an idolatrous gimmick like anything else that is good. Time can be used simply to dress up our services and to make them look fashionable. Keeping the church year for the wrong reasons is worse than useless for we can end up worshipping our own gimmicks rather than God. But when we do use the structures of time to bring us close to God, they can serve that purpose exceedingly well by helping us to encounter the wholeness of the gospel (68).James F. White

]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-2/feed/ 0 Introduction to Christian Worship, part 3 http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-3/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-3/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:49:33 +0000 Brian http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2609 White’s third chapter takes up the necessity of a place for gathered worship as well as the nature of architecture that marks off that space. This discussion is inevitable because Christianity and Christian worship involves people who inhabit a place. As White notes,

It should not surprise us that a religion whose fundamental doctrine is the incarnation should take space seriously in its worship.James F. White, p. 81


Ironically, even those who object to ornate architecture or even a designated place for worship inevitably end up gathering in a place—whether it’s a home like the home church movement of a generation past or in a pub like the emergent church movement of the present—and decorating it. I always smile when I am asked by my friends who are philosophically opposed to having a building if they can borrow ours. It reminds me of the person who has only one car on principal but is always borrowing someone else’s because one is not enough. Bottom line is this. We are embodied and we need a place to worship.

This raises for us two related and important questions: “what kind of a place is suitable for Christian worship?” and “what should that place look like?” Those questions are easy to raise but history has demonstrated that answering them is a tad more difficult, to say the least. Difficult as they may be, we need to think about them and perhaps thinking about them is the first step in recognizing the importance of such questions because as White notes,

The relationships between architecture and what Christians do when they worship are complex. Christian architecture not only reflects the ways Christians worship but it also shapes worship or, not uncommonly, misshapes it.James F. White, p. 82


The topic is complex because when we come to it we come to the place where cultural customs and preferences, ideas of beauty, theological systems, and the influence of Constantine converge. So this is a complex topic. But it is also an important one. Christian formation takes place as a result of the architecture of the building that the church worships in. Christian formation takes place not only by worshiping the right God but also worshipping him in the right way. Think here of the second commandment. Think here liturgy. Think here architecture.

even those who object to ornate architecture or even a designated place for worship inevitably end up gathering in a place…

How then should it be shaped? What should it look like? White’s greatest contribution in this chapter is his emphasis on function. That is, before we can answer the question, “what should the building look like?”, we need to ask a more foundational one, “what are we trying to accomplish?” Depending on the answer to that, we might build a big stage for performers or we might build a building with hard surfaces for singing and chanting or we might outfit the building like a lecture hall for a lecturer or we might make a table prominent highlighting the meal.

Hopefully you can at least see from this discussion that architecture is not neutral. But then again, nothing is. Therefore, we do well to take note of the shapes and sights around us; and we do well to think long and hard about not only how a Christian worships but also where they worship and the latter influences the former.

]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/introduction-to-christian-worship-part-3/feed/ 0 Back in Action http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/back-in-action/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/back-in-action/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:11:19 +0000 Cadets http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2599 Hello all,

We’ve started Cadets back up after Christmas, and for the month of January we’ll be learning First Aid from Chris Haynes (who in addition to being a state-certified instructor of First Aid, is also a Cadet Counselor)! For the first week, we were all together, and the littler kids were able to learn about the Heimlich and chest compressions; starting next week though, the First Aid teaching will be more in-depth, and the junior cadets will be working on their own stuff. Chris distributed First Aid books, one per family, which can be reviewed at home, but please have the boys bring then back to cadets each week. Also, please help all cadets learn to be responsible to bring their cadet books each week (especially the juniors).

Note that the annual congregational meeting is coming up, Wed 1/25. There will be no cadets that night. First Aid (for the older boys) will continue until Feb 1, then beginning Feb 8 we’re back into Pinewood season! Please reserve Sat Mar 31 for the council-wide pinewood derby, this year up in Bellflower. As we learn more and more about Pinewood derby cars each year (in particular, how to teach boys to make Pinewood derby cars), we’re hoping to make a good showing among all the other clubs.

Also, the format for the council derby will be quite different this year. No more turn in your car, let the counselors do everything, forget to watch your race, and pick up your car on the way home. The hosting club this year has new software to publish heat schedules, and the boys will be more engaged due to running their own cars, similar to the way we have always run our church derby.

We have also already set in the calendar our spring campout, May 18-19 at Lake Jennings. Although we will not be camping Saturday night (can’t miss church!), we do have the site reserved for two nights, so we don’t have to leave Friday at checkout time, just when things are getting interesting.

 

]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2012/01/back-in-action/feed/ 0 Bike Ride http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/bike-ride/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/bike-ride/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:21:30 +0000 Cadets http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2592 Who’s ready for a bike ride? Sorry for the short notice, but I’ve got time to ride, and I hope some others can join me!

We’ll meet this Sat (12/31) at 8am in the church parking lot, From there, we will ride up to Lake Murray, and take the route described before, for the ride which was previously rained-out. We should be back around noon (at the church).

Strict requirements:

  • Helmet
  • Obedience to rules of the road
  • Multiple gear bike, in good working condition
If you have a water bottle cage (and a bottle) I recommend you bring water as well, but there will be watering opportunities on the way (Mission Trails visitor’s center, Big Rock park). Between Lucas, Callum and I we’ll have 5 bottles and can share. I’ll also bring a few extra filled bottles in case somebody has a cage but no bottle. In other words, water should not be a problem.
I will also conduct an orientation before we get started, to remind all of the rules of the road, and what is necessary for bikes to safely coexist on the same roads as cars.
No RSVP needed, I’ll ride with whoever shows up!
]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/bike-ride/feed/ 0 Christmas http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/christmas/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/christmas/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:14:35 +0000 Brian http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2582 A woman wished me a merry Christmas on Tuesday of last week. I was out for breakfast with my son for his birthday. We passed as I was getting my coffee, if I remember correctly. She had just gotten hers. She had a red sweater on because that is what you wear during this time, sometimes green ones too. I think she had a pin that said, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”. I have no firsthand knowledge of this, but I would bet that she probably had a bumper sticker on her car that said, “Keep Christ in Christmas.” I cannot be sure of this woman’s motives or of the others who have said the same things, but I usually feel like I am being evangelized when people wish me a Merry Christmas. Whatever. That’s unrelated to where I am going with this. What is particularly interesting about all of this is the time that folks choose to wear their Christmas pins and sweaters. In our culture “the Christmas season” (whatever that means) begins the Friday after Thanksgiving and runs through December 25th; then it’s over. But even among our cultural observances of Christmas there are little things, here and there, that demonstrate that we are doing it backwards. Consider, for example, the song sung by many during Christmas. “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…” And on it goes for twelve days (the song is really interesting and includes references to the gospels, Pentateuch, the 10 commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, just to name a few). I will admit that up until recently I had no idea what the days of Christmas were. Stookey suggests that this song,

is evidence that once Christmas truly was celebrated as a season of twelve days – not simply a day – and not December 25 plus however many preceding days might be needed to make preparations for it.

And, in quite the opposite fashion as we do, the days of Christmas were celebrated after Christmas. What happened? The Puritans happened, to put it simply. In England they had a good time during the twelve days (read: revelry and partying and celebration). Up with such levity the Puritans could not put. Thus in the new world west of the Atlantic it was illegal to take off work on the 25th of December and idolatrous to commemorate the Lord’s birth in any way. In fact, it wasn’t until 1856 that Christmas became a legal holiday. Such observations were – get ready now – undesirable remnants of Roman Catholicism. To celebrate Christmas on December 25th was Rome-ish mumbo jumbo. Of course it was. The name itself testifies to that: Christ’s Mass. The origin of the name comes from the practice of the Roman Catholic Church to celebrate the Eucharist (or communion for those who think that Eucharist sounds too Roman Catholic. But if you don’t say Eucharist, can you say Christmas?   Because that sounds Roman Catholic too. Oh never mind).

While all of this is interesting — I do realize I am speaking for myself — we do well to always remain committed to the profound proclamation of the New Testament, that not only was a baby born to a virgin and then placed away in a manger because there was no crib for a bed, but that that baby was God in human flesh.

Only in this way will we move beyond a preoccupation with a sweet baby in a crib (or Santa Claus) to ask the basic question: “Who is this that was born in Bethlehem and is headed toward death in Jerusalem?” (Stookey).

]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/christmas/feed/ 0 Field Day Results http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/field-day-results/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/field-day-results/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:52:14 +0000 Cadets http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2570 Thanks to all the counselors and dads and especially cadets that helped make Field Day such a success! We didn’t make first place this year, but we did grab a respectable second, and we accomplished everything we set out to do: we captured all the “free” points available, and we competed well in areas we wanted to pick up more points. The full spreadsheet is here, if you want to study on your own!

So for Wed, we will celebrate. Pizza, games, and we’ll also have a bonfire in the parking lot (I have leftover wood from Field Day, and a metal firepit to burn it in). Everybody that wants to can get some practice making kindling with a hatchet, and bring long roasting forks if you got ‘em; I’ll bring the marshmallows!

]]> http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/field-day-results/feed/ 0 Practicing the Kingdom: Hospitality http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/2561/ http://www.newlifelamesa.org/2011/12/2561/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:02:07 +0000 Brian http://www.newlifelamesa.org/?p=2561 Last week we had one of those interesting confluences in our morning worship service. The NT reading and the OT sermon text overlapped at a level that was hard to miss. This is interesting because our NT reading is basically lectio continuum—a straight reading of books—and our OT sermon is expository in nature—a sequential preaching through books. Which is to say, this is interesting because I didn’t plan it like that. In our OT sermon we noticed the hospitality of Lot and the lack of hospitality of the wicked Sodomites (Gen. 19). Similarly, in Romans 12 we read together these words, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality” (12:13). In addition to those texts I was personally confronted last week with a man whose home was open wide and whose table seemed to always have an extra seat.

Worship is practice for real life. And real life involves hospitality.

I don’t know if this man was a Christian or not. Regardless, his actions and these texts got me thinking about hospitality again. Then I came across the topic again in James K. A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom. In the context, he was speaking of God’s Greeting at the beginning of worship. He concludes that section like this:

Worship is a space of welcome because we are, at root, relational creatures called into relationship with the Creator, in order to flourish as a people who bear his image to and for the world. In response to God’s welcome, we practice hospitality in worship, which is practice for extending hospitality beyond it.

I love that. Worship is practice for real life. And real life involves hospitality. Let me suggest to you three reasons for being engaged in hospitality, that is,  opening your life to others and letting them in.

First, we practice hospitality because we are covenantal creatures who have been made in God’s image. In other words, we are hospitable because we have been made to be. We have been made to live in community—whether in the family or the culture or the church. And hospitality is one way for us to experience what we have been made for. Of course, as already noted, the real impetus for this is the hospitality that God has shown to us in Christ. This leads to our second reason. Not only were we made for hospitality, we were saved for it. God welcomes us into his family—of which we are reminded every Lord’s Day when the minister with upraised hands says on God’s behalf, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord”; or, “The Lord be with you…”—and we, in turn, become a welcoming people, opening our lives to others. Finally, God has given us a venue for such hospitality. Life is busy. But there is one day we set aside for worship, rest, and acts of mercy. Sunday. The Christian Sabbath. Could there be a correlation between those who struggle with hospitality and their intake of football and the mall on Sunday? I think it is safe to say so. Hospitality is crowded out when the Sabbath is crowded out. God has given us a day when he is most hospitable—welcoming us into his presence like no other days—and he has given us a day when we can welcome others into our presence.

Try this. Consider opening up your home to others—or go to the park for a picnic—once per month. Have no agenda. Have no plan. Just be human. Do what you were made to do. And be Christian. Welcome as you have been welcomed. And keep the Sabbath holy. All of this converges in hospitality—Covenant, redemption, and Sabbath. May God enlarge our hearts for himself, for his church and for the world.

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