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The titles of Christ in the midst of a whirlwind (Message of Mark part 2)

sonof manWell I had promised to do some more study here for my exam on Mark, but a few things have been drawing me away. Let me share some things from the last few days: We hosted the first night of the Parenting Teenagers Course at our church, I prepared to run a session on one-to-one Bible reading for women at a retreat (and then did so), I found out I had upset a lovely long-term friend (sorry!), managed to put out my lower back (I am walking around like a fragile old woman), then hosted a staff meeting and dinner at my house. Most of that happened yesterday! Today I have led music at church and felt ‘obliged’ to go see Iron Man 3 with my teenagers and husband. (This last one was no huge sacrifice, but it did take a few hours. Fun film!)

So now it is time to stop and think clearly for a few moments in the midst of this whirlwind, about the way Christ referred to himself, the titles of Christ as recorded in Mark’s Gospel. These titles reveal so much of God’s great plan to rescue a people for His own Kingdom purposes, a people who would come to resemble the beautiful King who saved them!

“How do the titles of Christ reveal who Jesus is?”

MESSIAH/Christ

Messiah is the Hebrew term, Christos the Greek, for the title which tells us that Jesus is God’s anointed and promised King. He fulfills the promise to King David of a descendent who would reign on his throne forever! (2 Samuel 7).  Jesus, God’s Son, became the Son of God (a Messianic title which also applied to the OT Kings of Israel). The Son of God would be the one to subdue the nations and be the means of reconciliation between God and man. “Kiss the Son” is the instruction of Psalm 2, meaning we must bow to or align ourself with him. We must trust in Him: “blessed are all who take refuge in Him”. Jesus’ divinity (meaning He IS God!) was made apparent by the authority he displayed over sickness, nature, death, evil spirits and most importantly sin – God alone could forgive (Mark 2 – the Man on the Mat!). Jesus is the One who clearly fulfilled the words of Isaiah: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” (Isaiah 35:5-6).  Several times in Mark, in the voice from heaven (at the baptism and the transfiguration) and the voice of demons, God revealed that Jesus was indeed His Son. Peter, Blind Bartemeus and the Roman centurion (who saw Christ crucified) all conclude “You are the Christ”, Son of David, Son of God.

Son of Man

Another significant title is this one, Son of Man, which Jesus often used in referring to Himself, and what He had come to do. While this may seem to be a puzzling title, since the man Joseph was definitely not his biological father, Jesus used it to show how he fulfilled the promises which came through Daniel. Daniel 7 speaks of one like a Son of Man who will be victorious over evil, who receives the Kingdom in the new age, and shares it with the saints (all believers). He is the servant of the Lord who delivers God’s people through a resurrection (Daniel 12). This Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:8-12), and he will preside over the great Sabbath rest at the end of time (Mark 2:27-28). The Son of Man is the true descendent of Adam, representative of God the Creator, who will rule over creation within God’s total and sovereign rule.

In Mark 14:61-63 Jesus draws these two titles together, and admits who He is, as he stands before the Sanhedrin under arrest. Jesus says He is “I AM”, both the divine Son of God, Son of the Blessed One, and the Son of Man who will receive the Kingdom with power!

Suffering Servant

The final title is that of Suffering Servant, promised through the prophet Isaiah many centuries before. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The Son of Man will serve us by suffering, in our place. He takes the punishment for sin, our sin, which was death. Isaiah 53 provides the clearest picture of what the suffering Servant would do: the righteous servant would justify many, giving his life as a ransom. Fulfilling Isaiah’s words perfectly, Christ was crushed for our iniquities, pierced for our trangressions. The punishment that brought us peace was laid on him. Silently as a lamb he was led to the slaughter, the Perfect Lamb of God, the sacrifice that perfectly fulfilled the Law and the Prophets and brought a way for our forgiveness. Psalms 22 and 69 also foreshadow the way Christ (in fact God himself) entered into our suffering, forsaken to death for US!

And strangely, apart from all that I can learn about the titles of Christ, there is a great comfort in knowing that Jesus is not some modern, man made or religious idea, but the great God-man who fulfills the purposes of our creator, and He draws us to himself through Jesus. The name of Jesus is indeed a refuge (as Chris Tomlin has sung, below). Theology brings us comfort and assurance of all that we hope for in faith.

And just if you are interested to keep reading:

Yehoshua means ‘the Lord saves’, and is translated into English as Joshua.
Jesus’ Hebrew name is Yeshua, which is a shortened version of Yehoshua. Yeshua means ‘he will save’, and is translated into English as Joshua.
Yeshua translated into Greek is Iesous.
Iesous transliterated into Latin is Jesu.
Jesu became Jesus in English.
Jesus’ name is actually “Joshua”.

Click here to read part 3:
Some unusual thoughts on Parables and Miracles

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Songs to GROW Women by . . .

.facebook_-22058451Great to have an audience of interested people who can consider my song selection for a Women’s conference in July, called GROW. Speaker Jenny Salt from Sydney will no doubt have some ‘salty’ words to share, teaching from the book of Numbers to show God’s trustworthiness and to encourage us to count on God, holding on to Him through all of life’s jouney. Themes include: trusting God, His faithfulness, taking Him at his Word, resting in God’s promises which are fulfilled in Jesus, blessings, consequences of sin, God’s holiness.

Here is my initial shortlist of songs, keeping in mind that we are hoping to cover a wide range of ages and denominations, mixing well known and new songs.

When Peace like a River (Hymn, aka It is Well) – connected with I will Rise (Chris Tomlin)
Hymn – Great is Your Faithfulness
My Hope (Nothing will change, if all the plans I make go wrong… by Paul Baloche). We taught this one last year at GROW.
Desert Song (This is my prayer in the desert – quite appropriate for Numbers, by Brooke Fraser)
O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus (Bob Kauflin’s hymn arrangement) – will do as item in 3part harmony, to teach it to the group.
Mighty to Save (Hillsong).
See the Man (Trevor Hodge) – this is a great one for see howing God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus!
No Other Name (Trevor Hodge)
10 000 reasons (Bless the Lord O my Soul . . . Chris Tomlin)
Blessed be your name (Matt Redman)

If you have any thoughts for other songs that tie into the theme perfectly, please comment below. I hope you can also find a new song or two above!

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Where should we put those musicians?

bananaThese thoughts come courtesy of a website that produces many good products for training your musicians. It is called Musicademy, with the tagline “Outstanding Practical Worship Training“. I found this list of 10 suggestions really useful. We often have sound issues caused by people being jammed in to a tight space. Have a read and see how much you can improve the overall sound of your music team!

10 Tips to improve your worship team – stage placement

There is rarely one quick fix to improve the musicianship of your worship team. Individual tuition so that each musician can play competently as well as an emphasis on practice both as individuals and as a group will help hugely. But there are also plenty of more subtle and often overlooked issues to be considered – communication, leadership, dynamics, arrangements, musical flow and more.

Before we even start to play its worth thinking about where each of the instruments are placed. Most contemporary worship music has been influenced by rock bands, and it is therefore no surprise that many worship teams position themselves in a similar manner – the drummer at the back, lead singer in the middle and other players flanking each side. The looks great visually and is fine if you are well rehearsed with little need for spontaneity but most worship bands are really based on making community music where the interactive involvement of the congregation actually changes the order, volume, tempo and sound of the music. This challenge means the musicians primarily need to be able to see and hear each other to run with those changes on the fly.

With that in mind here are 10 tips to improve your team all around positioning:

  1. Arrange yourselves where you can see each others eyes. You can communicate a lot just by eye and body movements. It’s no good for a drummer if the primary view they get of the worship leader is the back of their head! And make sure everyone has a clear view of the worship leader who should be directing the band through body language and other cues.
    We often suggest that a “banana” shape works well.
  2. Try placing the drum kit at the front and side of stage and rotate it 90 degrees so it faces inward to the rest of the musicians.
  3. Experiment with arranging the other musicians in a semi circle so they can see each other too.
  4. Split up instruments that produce sound in the same frequency range e.g. guitar and keyboard. Its so much easier to hear yourself if you are not competing with another sounds from the same octave range.
  5. When sound checking work on hearing each other acoustically before adding any fold back.
  6. Place amps only towards the musicians that need to hear them, like drummers. And be aware that when standing immediately in front of an amp you are unlikely to feel the full force – that will be reserved for the unfortunate Doris sitting in the front row of the congregation.
  7. Try to position the whole band in the area in the building that best connects with the congregation.  It can be anywhere, on a stage, in the round, whatever works best – just try to build a physical sense of all of us worshiping God communally together rather than a separated congregation and band.
  8. Do you need to be on a stage at all? If so, too high or too low a platform can hinder communication.
  9. The whole band doesn’t have to face the congregation. As in tip 1 the priority is being able to gain eye contact with each other.
  10. Don’t put equipment in positions that block sight lines between you and the congregation – e.g. mic and music stands at head and even chest level can seem like a barrier and can hinder visual communication.
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The Message of Mark (part 1) Kingdom

kingdomofgodI’m currently in my final week of studying the New Testament 1 subject (Moore external studies) which focuses on the Gospel of Mark. The exam is next Wednesday, and so I’m going to take this opportunity of having a captive audience (here at sevennotes) to motivate me to condense and revise the main concepts I’ll need to write on next week. Hopefully you will find some encouragement here too (especially since you don’t have to write an exam next week).

This first one is based on a practice essay question which asks: Why is the theme of the Kingdom of God an important theme in Mark’s Gospel?

Well the main reason is that this is the heart of the good news which both Jesus and Mark are announcing. God’s promised King, Messiah, Son of God, has showed up, calling people to repent and believe. The Kingdom of God is at hand because the King has come and if you bow your knee to him, take up your cross and follow him, you become part of his Kingdom! Mark wants his readers to be part of this kingdom of faithful followers of Jesus. He wants to free us from lives of serving our own little kings, that is, ourselves. He knows that the service of such little kings leads to death, but in the service of King Jesus there is eternal life and joy!

So what aspects of the Kingdom does Mark make perfectly clear through his gospel account?
1. Jesus is the King of the perfect, eternal Kingdom of God. He fulfills all the promises foreshadowed through the chosen nation of Israel, the rule of David and Solomon, and the voice of the Prophets. Throughout Jesus’ ministry he gradually revealed who he was. This is reflected in Mark’s gradual reveal which draws the reader to see why he has come.
2. King Jesus rules over a kingdom where sinful humanity is restored: sickness, suffering, death and evil have no authority against this king! He has the power and authority to heal, restore and most importantly to forgive sins. He is God’s son, with the full authority of the author of life.
3. The Kingdom will remain a mystery to many: kingdom teachings come in parables that will draw those who have ‘ears to hear’ closer to Jesus, in faith and repentance. Those who reject the message of the King will never understand or find a way into the kingdom.
4. Jesus is the one like a ‘Son of Man’, (promised in Daniel 7, 12) who would receive the Kingdom in the new age, winning victory over evil and sharing the spoils of the kingdom with the ‘saints’. Jesus identified himself as this Son of Man several times (Mark 2, 8 and 13), who comes on the clouds, bringing in the Kingdom, with power!
5. In the resurrection we see the arrival of the Kingdom with power! This is the beginning of the new age of salvation. Death and sin are defeated since Jesus is alive.
6. The way to enter the kingdom is by faith in the King. True discipleship involves bowing the knee to the King. “Kiss the Son” (Psalm 2) comes to mind. The way of the Cross, the response of faith is the response Mark wants us to have to his gospel account.

This Kingdom is indeed a kingdom of grace!
See you again for more study soon.

You may also like:

The Message of Mark (part 2): The Titles of Christ

The Message of Mark (part 3): Some unusual thoughts on Parables and Miracles

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The blessings of multi-generational music teams

top-10-offensively-young-musicians_h
Though some may think church musicians must be either young and trendy or qualified professionals, people of all types and ages have different and valuable things to contribute to a church music team (even that baby drummer could add some great percussion!). Older, non-professional church musicians have many years of valuable experience, of knowing what works and what doesn’t, knowing how to create good arrangements of songs on the fly, and knowing how to work together effectively with others.
This last one is probably the most valuable asset! People who have been Christians and serving for a while (in an area which sometimes tempts us to all kinds of self-serving attitudes) have valuable insights, of thought and action, to teach newcomers to the faith and music ministry. Lots of really good discipling can occur in the context of regular team practices.
I must say I am blessed to be part of a team of around 30 people, with several representatives of each ‘decade’ from teens right through to people in their 60s.
One of my greatest joys is to learn from and teach others in music ministry. Often the learning comes from all directions, regardless of age.
If you are in the ‘older’ experienced church musician category, I would encourage you to seek out some younger players to mentor, not just in the mechanics of playing or singing, but in developing a mindset of music as Gospel ministry, where leaders are servants, and selflessness is the key.
Blessings to you in your ministry!

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Sheer grace, not good advice

kingscross“The gospel isn’t advice: It’s the good news that you don’t need to earn your way to God; Jesus has already done it for you. And it’s a gift that you receive by sheer grace – through God’s thoroughly unmerited favor. If you seize that gift and keep holding on to it, then Jesus’ call won’t draw you into fanaticism or moderation. You will be passionate to make Jesus your absolute goal and priority, to orbit around him … The Gospel is not about choosing to follow advice, it’s about being called to follow a King.”

Tim Keller, King’s Cross, 2011.

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Sharing the rich, indwelling Word (Colossians 3:16)

Bible-28“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

I have really been looking forward to this verse in the Three Sixteens series, because it identifies a strong connection between music and grace, my two favourite topics! When we make the effort to speak or sing the ‘Word of Christ’ to one another, we are showing grace because it serves to build others up in their faith. This is such an important yet sometimes overlooked aspect of praising God together. The horizontal encouragement that is gained from enthusiastic congregational praise is priceless! Praising God brings us untold blessings, both individually and together as the growing body of Christ.

But what is the ‘word of Christ’, you may ask?

Put simply, Paul most likely means the ‘teachings of Christ’, the doctrine of grace through faith in Jesus Christ, which at first was passed on as spoken words. This exhortation comes in the context of a letter which emphasises the person and work of Christ, a message that is centred on the Word of Truth, the good news of the gospel of Jesus.

This WORD is to have its gracious and glorious way in our lives, both individually and in community, as Christ shapes us to be more like himself. When we gather to listen and bow to the authority of Christ’s living Word, His word dwells richly in us. This Word indwells us by the Spirit. Such a glorious but unseen mystery this is!

John Piper speaks about the important role God has given each of us, to be speaking in a way that helps others persevere in the faith. In his message on Hebrews 3, Piper focuses on verse 13, where the writer says we must “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

“God has designed his church so that its members endure to the end in faith by means of giving and receiving faith-sustaining words from each other. You and I are the instruments by which God preserves the faith of his children. Perseverance is a community project. Just like God is not going to evangelize the world without human, faith-awakening voices, neither is he going to preserve his church without human faith-sustaining voices. And clearly from the words, “exhort one another” (verse 13), it means all of us, not just preachers. We depend on each other to endure in faith to the end.”  Read more

We Christians are to be tactfully and thoughtfully challenging one another with the Word of Christ. Singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is but one way to do that… But what a great way to do it! And this is why it is so important to choose songs with lyrics that are true to the Living Word of Christ, rather than just songs that create a warm fuzzy feeling amongst us, or have a catchy rhythm.

How good it is that our times of corporate praise and worship give opportunity to speak the words of Christ to one another in song. Such an encouragement God’s people can be to one another!

You may also enjoy:

Sharing the Perspicuity of God’s gracious Word

The Blessed and God-breathed book (2 Timothy 3:16)

From the Gospel Coalition: 7 Arrows for Bible Reading

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Music ministry training paper – great resource for your team

guitarsIf you are a leader of a church music team it is helpful (and wise) to think of your ministry as a training ground for growing ‘servant hearts’ in people generally. You want your musicians to be willing to serve God in any area of gospel ministry, not just music. Simply because a person has musical ability then that should not be the extent of their service. Rather it is simply one way they can serve the body of Christ, and further develop an attitude of being ‘other-person-centred.’ This is certainly the example Christ has called us to follow.

In the link below you will find a great resource, a four page ministry discussion paper to work through with those your music team:
Music Ministry Training Paper
This paper explores a wide range of topics, from the role of the musician in the team, to the role music can play in ensuring the Bible stays at the centre of our activities. It looks at how church music can help ‘the Word of Christ’ dwell richly in the body of believers. It also touches on tricky issues like personal pride and motivation, committment to church and song-leading.

The paper could be used as a series of four discussions/studies, or two, or one, depending on the time you can afford to spare. It could even be something you give out ahead of time, then gather to discuss. Whichever way you do it, it should provoke some really useful discussion (and hopefully right thinking) in an area of serving which can easily become a self serving ministry, or Me-nistry, as some have described it.

If you want more indepth material to work through, check out my post on the bible studies called SING FOR JOY from Matthias Media.

sfj

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How church music can welcome newcomers.

New SongThere are many great ideas out there for how best to choose songs for your Sunday services, the order you put them in, and the types of songs you choose. (And if all else fails, tip over the filing cabinet and choose the first four you pick up.) But recently I picked up a new great idea: purposefully limit your song repertoire for a short period of time so as to make newcomers to your church feel more included. Let me explain.

You know how it is when you are in a new church – and you know none of the songs? You stand there looking awkward, and the whole exercise reminds you “you are a newcomer”! Unless you work really hard to get your eyes off yourself and onto the meaning of the lyrics, this can be quite isolating. Imagine how much more so for a new Christian or someone who is checking out church for the first time. Imagine too how it feels when all those people around you are belting out “How Great Thou Art” which they have sung from infancy – and you just silently stand and wonder why ‘they’ are praising graphic design (“Art”).

How can music help in this scenario?

Well, if you deliberately limit your playlist to a small rotation of songs for a term (around 10 weeks) this will allow newcomers (providing they come back next week) to quickly become very familiar with some of the church repertoire, as you will be repeating them more often. They won’t have to wait six months before they get to sing the song again. If you repeat one or two songs from the previous week in each subsequent service it will make a real difference to how included new comers feel (“Hey, I know this one, we sang it last week”). Even better, if you build a culture of learning a new song nearly every week then this becomes a great way to put your newcomers in the same boat as everyone else. They will feel more part of the group because everyone is learning together.

It also helps to choose songs that (predominantly) sound like contemporary mainstream music, which will sound familiar (in terms of the rhythm and the mix of instruments) for your newcomers.

So how do you find enough new songs?
Well of course you can start by reading my blog – but you will find many more resources at: CCLI, Worship Together, Gettymusic, Sovereign grace music and churchmusictoday……to name but a few.
Buy lots of CDs from Sovereign Grace and the Gettys and EMU music (from Australia) and you will get some great ideas for singable songs. Sovereign Grace have all their lead sheets free online and I doubt you would ever exhaust such a wealth of great songs!

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My Father’s holding on to me

garage hymnalThis song from Garage Hymnal is one that has been really encouraging to our church family. It speaks with such certainty of the secure salvation we have in Christ.
We first came across it about 5 years ago, but it is the truth of Romans 8:28-39 that makes it lasting. Our heavenly Father is holding us. He is mighty to save, mighty and strong enough to keep hold of us even when we are on a slippery slope. He can lift us up, gently restore us, and he won’t let go. He is our Sovereign Lord!
This is the promise we find in Philippians 1:4-6.
“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Holding on to Me  (Click here to listen. Click song title for downloads)

Chosen since the start of time
Resting in your grace divine
Showing here on earth your throne
A people calling heaven home

Left my things and followed you
Choices you already knew
You knew my name, my life, my call
When I’d rise, and when I’d fall

My Father’s holding on to me
He gave his Son for me
My Father’s Holding on to me
And he won’t let go       

His arms outstretched and lifted high
We hear the Word incarnate cry
Drying blood and heavy hearts
Breath of Life from God departs

This is my deepest prayer: Hold me O Lord
My hands are not so strong
Though darkness hides your love
and doubt consumes me  / My soul cries “Holy Lord”

Words Copyright © 2006 Andy Judd / Music Copyright © 2006 Andy Judd and Lynda Thoms