Scripture tells us that the one true God exists in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are equally and eternally the one God. He is Three in One, or triune. We see something of the centrality of the Trinity in worship from Ephesians 2:18, which says: “For through [Jesus] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” This passage implies that Christian worship is defined and enabled by the triune God. John 4:24 implies something similar. God the Father brings us into relationship with himself through the redeeming work of his Son, and applies that work to our hearts and lives by his Spirit.

“Father” isn’t a term we invented to describe God’s relationship to us. God has been the Father of Jesus for all eternity. And we don’t interpret God’s fatherhood through experiences we’ve had with our own father, whether good, bad, or non-existent. We derive our understanding of what fatherhood is from God himself ( Ephesians 3:14-15). God’s Word makes it clear that the Father is worthy of our worship ( Philippians 4:20).

We come to the Father through the Son because he is the one mediator between us and God ( 1 Timothy 2:5). He came to live a perfect life, to receive the judgment against our sins that we deserved, and and to rise victoriously from the dead. Jesus is the perfect mediator because only he is both fully God and fully Man. As God, he can completely bear God’s wrath against our sin. As one of us, he is able to serve as our substitute both in his perfect obedience and in atoning sacrifice. Because he is God he is worthy of our worship, and the Father is glorified as we honor the Son ( Philippians 2:9-11).

We come to the Father in the Spirit because the Spirit draws our hearts to Christ, to the Father, and to one another ( 1 Corinthians 12:3; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 2:22). The Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, enables us to participate truly in the relationships of the Trinity, for our good and the glory of God. While the Holy Spirit is worthy of worship as God, his primary role is to magnify the Son for the glory of the Father, and to reveal God’s presence to us.

I’m hoping to buy one or more of Bruce Ware’s books on the Trinity.  I find it interesting that there are really no worship songs that help us understand the Trinity.  So if you are a lyric writer I would encourage we begin to find a poetic/lyrical way of communicating a sound theology of the Trinity.

Interesting day…musically things were a little rough.  Tempo was a struggle all morning and it’s christmas carols and they are really gnarly to play on guitar.  

Here is the version of O Holy Night that we sang…

O holy night! the stars are brightly shining-
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and darkness pining-
Till He appeared, gift of infinite worth!
Behold the Babe in yonder manger lowly-
‘Tis God’s own Son come down in human form:
Fall on your knees before the Lord most holy!Chorus:
O night divine-O night when Christ was born!
O night divine-O night, O night divine!

With humble hearts we bow in adoration
Before this Child, gift of God’s matchless love,
Sent from on high to purchase our salvation-
That we might dwell with Him ever above.
What grace untold-to leave the bliss of glory
And die for sinners guilty and forlorn:
Fall on your knees! repeat the wondrous story!
Chorus:

O day of joy, when in eternal splendor
He shall return in His glory to reign,
When ev’ry tongue due praise to Him shall render,
His pow’r and might to all nations proclaim!
A thrill of hope our long hearts rejoices,
For soon shall dawn that glad eternal morn:
Fall on your knees! with joy lift up your voices!
Chorus:

On Thursday at practice we got to the third verse and I had never sung it before.  As I began to sing it I was thinking what will it be like when he returns to reign and ever tongue and nation proclaim.  Then I felt like I had a glimpse of that, if only for a brief moment.  Then again on Sunday as I was thinking about his glory and I just felt Him there in our worship.  This is nice…the Holy Spirit has really been inhabiting our praises lately.  I hope that this continues.

This is an amazing worship song from the Hillsong album This is Our God.  It caught me in a new way this week.  Here are the words…

I have decided I have resolved To wait upon you Lord
My rock and redeemer shield, and reward I’ll wait upon you Lord

As surely as the sun will rise You’ll come to us
As certain as the dawn appears

You’ll come let your glory fall As you respond to us
Spirit Rain, flood into our thirsty hearts again You’ll come.

We are not shaken we are not moved We wait upon you Lord
Mighty deliverer triumph and truth We wait upon you Lord

As surely as the sun will rise you’ll come to us
Certain as your word endures.

Chains be broken, Lives be healed
Eyes be opened, Christ is here

This is the passage of scripture the song is written from (you were right mom:)

Hosea 6

Israel Unrepentant

1 “Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.

2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.

3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”

4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.

5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth;
my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.

6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 Like Adam, ^[a] they have broken the covenant—
they were unfaithful to me there.

8 Gilead is a city of wicked men,
stained with footprints of blood.

9 As marauders lie in ambush for a man,
so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
committing shameful crimes.

10 I have seen a horrible thing
in the house of Israel.
There Ephraim is given to prostitution
and Israel is defiled.

11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,

I’m probably going to introduce this song in January.

I’ve been listening to a workshop taught by Bruce Ware titled, “Worshiping the Triune God.”  Basically it first gives a foundation of the trinity, the specific roles each part of the trinity plays.  Then he goes into how it affects our worship.  I was talking with Mark Koglmeier, one of our pastors, about some of the things I was learning and he pointed something out that I have never noticed.

He says, “have you ever noticed people refer to the Holy Spirit as an it?”  They rarely if ever refer to the Holy Spirit as Him.  This is new age thinking that has crept it’s way into the christian church.  Referring to the Holy Spirit as “it” relegates Him to a mysterious, mystical force.  The Holy Spirit is just as much a “Him” as the Father or the son,  the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons that make up the trinity.  Here is a example

The Holy Spirit reveals a new truth.  When you go a share about your experience with a friend what would you normally say…

“The Holy Spirit spoke to me during the service.  It said…”

or

“The Holy Spirit spoke to me during the service.  He said…”

We had a great time of worship.  We had an open mic time and in the second service it went clear till the end of the service so we sang one more song, took the offering and then dismissed everyone.  Then I said if you want to stay and worship we’ll do the last two songs.  We had probably close to 60 or 70 people stay and worship and we didn’t finish until 12:30 more than 15 min. after the service is supposed to end.  

We’ve done this a few times before and we have never had that many people stay.  I hope this is a sign that our body has a growing desire to praise our heavenly father.