Worship
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Worship In An Age Of Anxiety
$32.00Add to cartThe history of the theology of worship is riddled with examples of clergy and worship leaders who have sought to manipulate their parishioners’ anxiety in order to spur repentance and turn people toward God. Even if such ends may be desirable-at what cost?
In Worship in an Age of Anxiety, Jordan challenges this utilitarian approach, offering a critical assessment of contemporary as well as historical evangelical figures such as D. L. Moody and Billy Graham who have deployed anxiety as a tool for conversion.
Proposing a completely different model, Jordan takes up various elements of worship, including:
*liturgy
*space
*music
*preaching
*the sacramentsIn doing so, he develops a practical theology of worship that also turns people toward God but within a healing framework.
While worship alone cannot heal anxiety, it can be a time and place where, rather than being manipulated, anxiety can be acknowledged, accepted, and offered to God.
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Connections Worship Companion Year B Volume 2
$34.00Add to cartThe Connections Worship Companion is an essential resource for leaders and planners of Christian worship services. This volume offers complete liturgies–from the call to worship to the closing charge, with prayers and litanies for every need in between–for all worshiping occasions for the season after Pentecost of Year B. Part of the Connections commentary series, these worship resources help congregations illuminate the connections between Scripture and liturgical rhythms.
The Connections Worship Companion is a six-volume series, with each volume focusing on a different season of the Christian year. Each volume provides three kinds of materials to enhance your liturgical experience. First, there are “Making Connections” essays at the beginning of each major section, which introduce the primary theological themes of the Christian year, highlight particular biblical texts, point to distinctive features of the lectionary cycle, and offer practical and pastoral guidance. Second, there are seasonal/repeating resources, which are liturgical texts intended for multiple uses during a particular span of time in the Christian year, promoting diachronic connections from one Sunday to the next. Last, there are resources for each Sunday or festival in the Christian year, which promote synchronic connections between the liturgy and the lectionary. The combination of these resources assists worship planners in assembling complete orders of worship for the Lord’s Day.
Contributors to this volume include Claudia L. Aguilar Rubalcava, Mamie Broadhurst, Marci Auld Glass, Marcus A. Hong, Kimberly Bracken Long, Emily McGinley, Kendra L. Buckwalter Smith, Samuel Son, Slats Toole, and Byron A. Wade.
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Connections Worship Companion Year B Volume 1
$32.00Add to cartThis volume of the Connections Worship Companion series offers complete liturgies-from the call to worship to the closing charge, with prayers and litanies for every need in between-for all worshiping occasions between Advent and Pentecost of Year B. Part of the Connections commentary series, these worship resources help congregations illuminate the connections between Scripture and liturgical rhythms and between the Sundays of each liturgical season. A “Making Connections” essay precedes each season’s resources, providing context for worship within the themes and purpose of the season, while liturgies for repeated use throughout each season enhance connections from Sunday to Sunday.
Contributors to this volume include Claudia L. Aguilar Rubalcava, Mamie Broadhurst, Marci Auld Glass, Marcus A. Hong, Kimberly Bracken Long, Emily McGinley, Kendra L. Buckwalter Smith, Samuel Son, Slats Toole, and Byron A. Wade.
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Christmas : The Season Of Life And Light
$20.00Add to cart“O wondrous exchange!”
Of all the seasons of the church calendar, Christmas is the one most recognized and celebrated by our society at large. That means it’s the season we’re most familiar with–but that can also make it harder to see past Christmas’s many cultural trappings to its timeless beauty.
At the first Christmas, God exchanged the glories of divinity for the vulnerability of human existence, uniting himself to us in order to unite us to God. In this short volume, priest and theologian Emily Hunter McGowin invites us into the church’s celebration of that great exchange, in all its theological and liturgical splendor.
Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.
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Advent : The Season Of Hope
$20.00Add to cart“Christians believe not just in one coming of Christ, but in three.”
We tend to think of Advent as the season of anticipation before Christmas–and while it is that, it’s also much more. Throughout its history, the church has observed Advent as a preparation not only for the first coming of Christ in his incarnation but also for his second coming at the last day. It’s also about a third coming: the coming of Christ to meet us in our present moment, to make us holy by his Word and Sacrament.
In this short volume, priest and writer Tish Harrison Warren explores all three of these “comings” of Christ and invites us into a deeper experience of the first season of the Christian year.
Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring how its traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals all point us to Jesus.
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Body Of Praise
$26.99Add to cartDo our physical bodies really matter in corporate worship? Isn’t our soul the most important part of us? Aren’t our bodies, at best, negligible to worship and, at worst, a hindrance? The answer to this last question is categorically no, as Christians have attested throughout history and across the global church. The purpose of the body instead is to offer to God in worship what only it can offer–and what must be offered to God.
By drawing on the wisdom of the Bible, church history, and theology, and by taking advantage of the unique insights of the arts and sciences, ethics, and spiritual formation, a respected theologian and pastor argues in this book that there is something for our physical bodies to do that decisively forms Christlikeness in us within the context of corporate worship. What we do with our postures, gestures, and movements in worship matter. How our senses of sight, scent, sound, taste, and touch are involved in worship matter. How our spontaneous and prescriptive activities form us in worship matter. All of it matters to faithful and fulsome worship for the sake of a body that is fully alive in the praise of God.
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Pentecost : A Day Of Power For All People
$20.99Add to cart“The power of Pentecost is inseparable from the good news of the Christ who is proclaimed in the Gospels, in accordance with the Scriptures.”
Pentecost may well be the most misconstrued day on the church calendar. A long legacy of cessationism has drained Pentecost of much of its significance, and it’s largely misunderstood in many Western churches today, if not outright ignored.
That’s not the case in Emilio Alvarez’s tradition, though. In this Fullness of Time volume, the Pentecostal bishop and theologian offers us a rich biblical and theological introduction to the day of Pentecost and sets it in its liturgical context–not only in the Protestant tradition but also in Catholic, Orthodox, and Pentecostal expressions. The result is a rich theological feast and an invitation to find afresh the power of the gospel for all peoples.
Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.
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Worship By Faith Alone
$35.99Add to cartIn every age, the church must consider what it means to gather together to worship God.
If the church is primarily the people who follow the risen Christ, then its worship should be “gospel-centered.” But where might the church find an example of such worship for today?
In this Dynamics of Christian Worship volume, scholar, worship leader, and songwriter Zac Hicks contends that such a focus can be found in the theology of worship presented by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the English Reformation. Hicks argues that Cranmer’s reformation of the church’s worship and liturgy was shaped primarily by the Protestant principle of justification by faith alone as reflected in his 1552 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, which was later codified under Elizabeth I and has guided Anglican worship for centuries.
Here, we find a model of “gospel-centered” worship through which the church of today might be reformed yet again.
The Dynamics of Christian Worship series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship–including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more–to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.
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Lent : The Season Of Repentance And Renewal
$20.99Add to cartLent is inescapably about repenting. Every year, the church invites us into a season of repentance and fasting in preparation for Holy Week. It’s an invitation to turn away from our sins and toward the mercy and grace of Christ.
Often, though, we experience the Lenten fast as either a mindless ritual or self-improvement program. In this short volume, priest and scholar Esau McCaulley introduces the season of Lent, showing us how its prayers and rituals point us not just to our own sinfulness but also beyond it to our merciful Savior.
Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.
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Connections Worship Companion Year A Volume 1
$32.00Add to cartThis volume of the Connections Worship Companion series offers complete liturgies–from the call to worship to the closing charge, with prayers and litanies for every need in between–for all worshiping occasions between Advent and Pentecost of Year A, . Part of the Connections commentary series, these worship resources help congregations illuminate the connections between Scripture and liturgical rhythms. A “Making Connections” essay precedes each liturgical season’s resources, providing context for worship within the themes and purpose of the season.
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Renewal Worship : A Theology Of Pentecostal Doxology
$32.99Add to cartAt its best, all Christian worship is led by the Holy Spirit. But is there a distinctive theology of Pentecostal worship?
The Pentecostal church or the renewal movement is among the fastest-growing parts of the body of Christ around the world, which makes understanding its theology and practice critical for the future of the church.
In this volume in IVP Academic’s Dynamics of Christian Worship (DCW) series, theologian Steven Felix-Jager offers a theology of renewal worship, including its biblical foundations, how its global nature is expressed in particular localities, and how charismatic worship distinctively shapes the community of faith. With his guidance, the whole church might understand better what it means to pray, Come, Holy Spirit!
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Next Worship : Glorifying God In A Diverse World
$20.99Add to cartWhat happens when a diverse church glorifies the global God?
We live in a time of unprecedented intercultural exchange, where our communities welcome people from around the world. Music and media from every culture are easily accessible, and our worship is infused with a rich variety of musical and liturgical influences. But leading worship in multicultural contexts can be a crosscultural experience for everybody. How do we help our congregations navigate the journey?
Innovative worship leader Sandra Maria Van Opstal is known for crafting worship that embodies the global, multiethnic body of Christ. Likening diverse worship to a sumptuous banquet, she shows how worship leaders can set the table and welcome worshipers from every tribe and tongue. Van Opstal provides biblical foundations for multiethnic worship, with practical tools and resources for planning services that reflect God’s invitation for all peoples to praise him.
When multiethnic worship is done well, the church models reconciliation and prophetic justice, heralding God’s good news for the world. Enter into the praise of our king, and let the nations rejoice!
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Connections Worship Companion Year C Volume 2
$32.00Add to cartThis volume offers complete liturgies- from the call to worship to the closing charge, with prayers and litanies for every need in between-for all worshiping occasions for the season after Pentecost of Year C. Part of the Connections commentary series, these worship resources help congregations illuminate the connections between Scripture and liturgical rhythms. A “Making Connections” essay precedes each liturgical season’s resources, providing context for worship within the themes and purpose of the season.
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Both And : Maximizing Hybrid Worship Experiences For In-Person And Online E
$17.99Add to cartIn a world of rapid cultural and technological change, how do we faithfully worship and share the good news of Jesus Christ? The global pandemic brought online worship of thousands of congregations to homes and people for the first time. To build on the incredible momentum, we cannot go backwards. Instead, we must dream about what the next iteration of worship and online ministry looks like in a post-pandemic world. This important, field-tested new work by worship technology pioneer and expert by Jason Moore helps us understand how to harness radical changes in technology and culture to faithfully worship and experience Jesus, his message, and ultimately our means for carrying out the Great Commission.
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Praise And Worship With Flags
$11.95Add to cartPraise and Worship with Flags uncovers the significance of worship flags under the power of the Holy Spirit. The book points the reader to the flags’ biblical truths, which have been understated, and takes the reader on a journey to discover these truths with Scripture, knowledge, and testimonies of healing and victory.
Praise and Worship with Flags teaches the reader why and how to use the flags with power. It promotes the use of and encourages the reader to use worship flags in his or her home. It shows how the Holy Spirit, color, prayer, and love work together in worship and gives a practical exercise for the beginner to follow. By using the teaching in this book, the reader may experience great, sweet peace and intimacy with God in worship through the Holy Spirit.
The book gives biblically sound reasons why church leaders may want to include worship flags in church services. It encourages church leaders to support the place and role that flags have in the church. It brings a message to veteran flag-bearers, which may give added understanding to their ministries. It teaches the reader how to handle the flags as tools that may be used by the Holy Spirit to bring people healing or victory.
Praise and Worship with Flags tells the curious and intellectual mind the purpose, meaning, significance, and result of using worship flags.
The use of flags is God’s will.
“We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfill all thy petitions.”
(Psalm 20:5 KJV, Holy Bible) -
Sweet Sound : The Power Of Discipling Kids In Worship
$24.95Add to cartA Yancy Ministries Inc. Title
UNLOCK THE POWER OF DISCIPLING KIDS IN WORSHIP
STOP just doing songs and START leading worship by making disciples who know what it means to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.
No matter our age, each one of us was designed to praise, and for our praise to shift the atmosphere and usher in freedom and deliverance. Our worship is a sacrifice unto the Lord-this includes the praises of children. It’s powerful. It’s beautiful. It’s sweet. Can you imagine children singing out, with their whole hearts, praises to their King? It’s quite possibly the sweetest sound you will ever hear! It matters. Jesus himself said, “From the lips of children and infants, you, Lord, have called forth your praise.” (Matthew 21:16)
This book is full of prophetic, practical, and power-filled truth. It will change the way you view kids worship, as well as your own ability to lead. By using examples from the life of King David, as well as her own personal experiences, Yancy is purposed to empower you to raise up kids who desire to live a life of worship on a daily basis, not only on Sundays. This is about their future. Are you ready to be a part of that?
Together let’s learn to lift up the Sweet Sound of praise we were made for!
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Sermons That Sing
$30.99Add to cartPreaching and music are both regular elements of Christian worship across the theological spectrum.
But they often don’t interact or inform each other in meaningful ways. In this Dynamics of Christian Worship volume, theologian, pastor, and musician Noel A. Snyder considers how the church’s preaching might be helpfully informed by musical theory. Just as a good musical composition employs technical elements like synchrony, repetition, and meter, the same should be said for good preaching that seeks to engage hearts and minds with the good news of Jesus Christ. By drawing upon music that lifts the soul, preachers might craft sermons that sing.
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Worship Architect : A Blueprint For Designing Culturally Relevant And Bibli
$32.99Add to cartWorship professor and practitioner Constance Cherry shows how to create services that are faithful to Scripture, historically conscious, relevant to God, Christ-centered, and engaging for worshipers of all ages in the twenty-first century. More than 150 colleges and seminaries have used or currently use the first edition as a required text. In this new edition, each chapter has been substantially updated and revised, including illustrations, key terms, examples, technological references, and suggested resources for further reading. A new chapter on global worship and a new appendix on live-streamed worship are included.
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Connections Year B Volume 3 Season After Pentecost
$55.00Add to cartDesigned to empower preachers as they lead their congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary. This nine-volume series offers creative commentary on each reading through the lens of its connections to the rest of Scripture and then seeing the reading through the lenses of culture, film, fiction, ethics, and other aspects of contemporary life. Commentaries on the Psalms make connections to other readings and to the congregation’s experience of worship.
Connections is published in partnership with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
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Worship For The Whole People Of God Second Edition
$50.00Add to cartThis revised edition of the popular textbook on worship by renowned hymn writer and professor Ruth C. Duck provides theological foundations for worship and explores the ways Christians have adapted worship to various cultures to help them live faithfully and to communicate the gospel to others. The author celebrates the many languages and cultural settings in which the gospel has been, and is, preached, sung, and prayed. The goal of this volume is to support good pastoral and congregational reflection on what worship is and does. Consequently, Duck discusses many different forms of worship from several cultures (African American, Asian, Euro-American) and offers advice on how to read a congregation and define its culture in order to plan culturally appropriate worship. She includes many practical suggestions for preparing and leading worship, including diverse ministries of music, movement, and visual arts that are becoming more popular today.
From worship’s theological underpinnings, the book turns to worship leadership, forms of prayer, preaching, the sacraments, ordination, and various other liturgies. Because of its emphasis on vital and Spirit-led worship, this comprehensive book on Christian worship will be used in years to come, not only as a core textbook for seminarians and ministry students from a variety of cultures and traditions but also as a resource for local church pastors and laity who are dedicated to the enlivening of Christian worship.
In this new edition, Duck updates and expands the recommended resources, updates the section on worship trends, enhances the section on multicultural worship, and revises marriage information based on cultural and denominational changes.
Highlights include stories of four churches that are developing creative ways to grow and meet the possibilities and challenges of these times, especially in seeking justice, serving people in their neighborhood, and building bridges among cultures and religious groups. In addition, a new appendix by David Gambrell addresses the theological and practical questions surrounding online worship in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
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Worshp And The World To Come
$35.99Add to cartChristians sing because we are people of hope. Yet our hope is unlike other kinds of hope. We are not optimists; nor are we escapists. Christian hope is uniquely shaped by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and by the promise of our own future resurrection. How is that hope both expressed and experienced in contemporary worship? In this volume in the Dynamics of Christian Worship series, pastor, theologian, and songwriter Glenn Packiam explores what Christians sing about when they sing about hope and what kind of hope they experience when they worship together. Through his analysis and reflection, we find that Christian worship is crucial to both the proclamation and the formation of Christian hope.
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Connections Year A 3 Volume Set
$155.00Add to cartDesigned to empower preachers as they lead congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary.
This nine-volume series offers creative commentary on each reading in the three-year lectionary cycle by viewing that reading through the lens of its connections to the rest of Scripture and then seeing the reading through the lenses of culture, film, fiction, ethics, and other aspects of contemporary life. Commentaries on the Psalms make connections to the other readings and to the congregation’s experience of worship.
This set contains all three volumes for Year A.
Connections is published in partnership with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
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Way Of Worship Student Workbook (Workbook)
$12.99Add to cartThe Way of Worship Student Workbook is a practical guide that accompanies The Way of Worship, providing questions for discussion and reflection, as well as hands-on activities to better prepare you for a lifestyle of worship. It is a resource to encourage those who are answering the calling of God on their lives to lead worship.
The Way of Worship (available separately) provides a biblical theology of worship, as well as a practical manual for practicing private and public worship as a way of life. This accompanying workbook serves as a journal and guidebook, allowing those who read and study The Way of Worship to further explore the concepts, internalizing and applying them to life.
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Connections Year A Volume 3 Season After Pentecost
$55.00Add to cartDesigned to empower preachers as they lead congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary.
This nine-volume series offers creative commentary on each reading in the three-year lectionary cycle by viewing that reading through the lens of its connections to the rest of Scripture and then seeing the reading through the lenses of culture, film, fiction, ethics, and other aspects of contemporary life. Commentaries on the Psalms make connections to the other readings and to the congregation’s experience of worship.
Connections is published in partnership with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
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Connections Year A Volume 2 Lent Through Pentecost
$55.00Add to cartDesigned to empower preachers as they lead their congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary.
For each worship day within the three-year lectionary cycle, the commentaries in Connections link the individual lection reading with Scripture as a whole as well as to the larger world. In addition, Connections places each Psalm reading in conversation with the other lections for the day to highlight the themes of the liturgical season. Finally, sidebars offer additional connections to Scripture for each Sunday or worship day.
This nine-volume series is a practical, constructive, and valuable resource for preachers who seek to help congregations connect more closely with Scripture.
This volume covers Year A for Lent through Pentecost.
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Connections Year A Volume 1 Advent Through Epiphany
$55.00Add to cartDesigned to empower preachers as they lead congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary.
This nine-volume series offers creative commentary on each reading in the three-year lectionary cycle by viewing that reading through the lens of its connections to the rest of Scripture and then seeing the reading through the lenses of culture, film, fiction, ethics, and other aspects of contemporary life. Commentaries on the Psalms make connections to the other readings and to the congregation’s experience of worship.
Connections is published in partnership with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
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Psalter For Christian Worship Revised Edition (Revised)
$26.00Add to cartWe lift up the psalms to God as our prayers. We borrow the language of these ancient texts, and they become our works. We are not secondhand recipients of God’s word but communicants actively in conversation with God. What seems to set the Psalms apart from the rest of Scripture is their sacramental nature, their unique ability to mold and transform the believer. The Psalter for Christian Worship reclaims the Psalms for congregational worship with new texts set to familiar hymnal tunes. This collection, for worship leaders, musicians, and congregations, will inspire both corporate and private devotions. Features include: The Old Testament flavor of the Psalter is retained with new sensitivity to imagery and inclusive language; all 150 psalms have been converted into hymns of reasonable length to be sung in church; an index of suggested hymn tunes is included; and an index for liturgical use is also provided.
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Connections Year C Volume 3 Season After Pentecost
$55.00Add to cartDesigned to empower preachers as they lead their congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary.
For each worship day within the three-year lectionary cycle, the commentaries in Connections link the individual lection reading with Scripture as a whole as well as to the larger world. In addition, Connections places each Psalm reading in conversation with the other lections for the day to highlight the themes of the liturgical season. Finally, sidebars offer additional connections to Scripture for each Sunday or worship day.
This nine-volume series is a practical, constructive, and valuable resource for preachers who seek to help congregations connect more closely with Scripture.
This volume covers Year C for the season after Pentecost.
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Performing The Gospel
$47.00Add to cartWhat is the difference between good worship and good entertainment? Too often, people disparage some aspect of worship by calling it “just entertainment” or “just a performance.” Others say that they do not need to go to church because they have profound spiritual or even religious experiences at concerts, plays, movies, or dances. How is worship different from these performing arts? How is art different from entertainment? This book looks at the history of the performing arts both in worship and as worship, with particular attention to the attitudes that shape our ideas about both worship and entertainment. Working definitions of words like “art,” “excellence,” “liturgy,” and “play” help to illuminate what different people mean when they use them in conversations about Christian worship. Putting theological, scriptural, and practical writings on worship and the performing arts in conversation with interviews with dancers, musicians, actors, preachers, and liturgical scholars, this volume is intended to help pastors, performers, and everyone who plans, leads, or cares about worship talk with one another in mutually respectful and helpful ways.
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Worship Mission And The Church Year
$43.00Add to cartHow many ways can your church’s worship equip the congregation for its mission? Worship changes through the seasons, from Christmas, through Lent and Easter, and beyond. The way worship relates to your church’s mission should change, too. This book explores those seasonal changes by examining both worship and mission as aspects of union with Christ. Just as we are to follow Christ through the various stages of his life and work in worship during the church year, we can follow him in our mission through these same stages of his life and work.
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Hymns And Hymnody Volume 1
$64.00Add to cartHymns and the music the church sings are tangible means of expressing worship. And while worship is one of, if not the, central functions of the church along with mission, service, education, justice, and compassion, and occupies a prime focus of our churches, a renewed sense of awareness to our theological presuppositions and cultural cues must be maintained to ensure a proper focus in worship. Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions is a 60-chapter, three-volume introductory textbook describing the most influential hymnists, liturgists, and musical movements of the church. This academically grounded resource evaluates both the historical and theological perspectives of the major hymnists and composers that have impacted the church over the course of twenty centuries. Volume 1 explores the early church and concludes with the Renaissance era hymnists. Volume 2 begins with the Reformation and extends to the eighteenth-century hymnists and liturgists. Volume 3 engages nineteenth century hymnists to the contemporary movements of the twenty-first century. Each chapter contains these five elements: historical background, theological perspectives communicated in their hymns/compositions, contribution to liturgy and worship, notable hymns, and bibliography. The mission of Hymns and Hymnody is (1) to provide biographical data on influential hymn writers for students and interested laypeople, and (2) to provide a theological analysis of what these composers have communicated in the theology of their hymns. We believe it is vital for those involved in leading the worship of the church to recognize that what they communicate is in fact theology. This latter aspect, we contend, is missing–yet important–in accessible formats for the current literature.
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Worship Mission And The Church Year
$23.00Add to cartHow many ways can your church’s worship equip the congregation for its mission? Worship changes through the seasons, from Christmas, through Lent and Easter, and beyond. The way worship relates to your church’s mission should change, too. This book explores those seasonal changes by examining both worship and mission as aspects of union with Christ. Just as we are to follow Christ through the various stages of his life and work in worship during the church year, we can follow him in our mission through these same stages of his life and work.
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Presbyterian Worship Questions And Answers
$18.00Add to cartPresbyterian worship is known for its balance between form and freedom, seeking to be faithful to the leading of God’s Word and open to the movement of God’s spirit. For those who plan, lead, and participate in worship, living within this tension can be a creative challenge, one that poses many questions for our liturgical theology and practice.
Presbyterian Worship Questions and Answers draws on the author’s scholarly insights, pastoral instincts, and decade of experience in the Presbyterian denomination’s Office of Theology and Worship to provide accessible answers to the questions people frequently ask about Presbyterian worship along with a few we ought to ask more frequently. From the philosophical-What is worship and what does it have to do with real life?-to the practical-Why is there a pink candle and when do we light it?-Presbyterian Worship Questions and Answers seeks to shed new light on the meaning and mystery of worship in the Reformed tradition.
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Hymns And Hymnody Volume 1
$44.00Add to cartHymns and the music the church sings are tangible means of expressing worship. And while worship is one of, if not the, central functions of the church along with mission, service, education, justice, and compassion, and occupies a prime focus of our churches, a renewed sense of awareness to our theological presuppositions and cultural cues must be maintained to ensure a proper focus in worship. Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions is a 60-chapter, three-volume introductory textbook describing the most influential hymnists, liturgists, and musical movements of the church. This academically grounded resource evaluates both the historical and theological perspectives of the major hymnists and composers that have impacted the church over the course of twenty centuries. Volume 1 explores the early church and concludes with the Renaissance era hymnists. Volume 2 begins with the Reformation and extends to the eighteenth-century hymnists and liturgists. Volume 3 engages nineteenth century hymnists to the contemporary movements of the twenty-first century. Each chapter contains these five elements: historical background, theological perspectives communicated in their hymns/compositions, contribution to liturgy and worship, notable hymns, and bibliography. The mission of Hymns and Hymnody is (1) to provide biographical data on influential hymn writers for students and interested laypeople, and (2) to provide a theological analysis of what these composers have communicated in the theology of their hymns. We believe it is vital for those involved in leading the worship of the church to recognize that what they communicate is in fact theology. This latter aspect, we contend, is missing–yet important–in accessible formats for the current literature.
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Spirit And Sacrament
$14.99Add to cartSpirit and Sacrament by pastor and author Andrew Wilson is an impassioned call to join together two traditions that are frequently and unnecessarily kept separate. It is an invitation to pursue the best of both worlds in worship, the Eucharistic and the charismatic, with the grace of God at the center.
Wilson envisions church services in which healing testimonies and prayers of confession coexist, the congregation sings When I Survey the Wondrous Cross followed by Happy Day, and creeds move the soul while singing moves the body. He imagines a worship service that could come out of the book of Acts: Young men see visions, old men dream dreams, sons and daughters prophesy, and they all come together to the same Table and go on their way rejoicing.
In short, Spirit and Sacrament is an appeal to bring out of the church’s storehouse all of its treasures, so that God’s people can worship our unrivaled Savior with sacraments and spiritual gifts, raised hands and lowered faces.
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Power Of Music
$16.99Add to cartMusic can either connect you to God or drive you to the devil. God created the human race to enjoy music and to make music, and through music the world has been dramatically changed-for good and for evil. In this fascinating book Michael L. Brown takes the reader on a journey through the history of music-from classical to rock and from hip-hop to gospel-showing just how transformative music has been and how much God wants to use it to change the world again. Brown contends that it is time for all Christians to make a concerted effort to recover the potential of anointed music and song-in our assemblies and in society, in our services and on the streets, in studios and in schools. The counterculture revolution of the 1960s only succeeded with the help of satanically inspired music and mind-altering drugs. Could it be that today’s Jesus revolution can only succeed with the help of Spirit-inspired music and a life-altering encounter with God? What else will produce the necessary change in our perspective? After reading this book, believers will never again listen to music the same! They will finally understand its power and divine origin, but more importantly they will know how God wants to use it to usher in a global outpouring that will change the world forever.
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Connections Year C Volume 2 Lent Through Pentecost
$55.00Add to cartDesigned to empower preachers as they lead their congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary.
For each worship day within the three-year lectionary cycle, the commentaries in Connections link the individual lection reading with Scripture as a whole as well as to the larger world. In addition, Connections places each Psalm reading in conversation with the other lections for the day to highlight the themes of the liturgical season. Finally, sidebars offer additional connections to Scripture for each Sunday or worship day.
This nine-volume series is a practical, constructive, and valuable resource for preachers who seek to help congregations connect more closely with Scripture.
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Curating Church : Strategies For Innovative Worship
$31.99Add to cartIf we are willing to shift our approach to church, we will better connect with increasingly heterogeneous cultures. This shifting requires curation. Church leaders must learn to be curators! Churches in modernity were set up to facilitate a particular kind of experience with God. Church was its own (protected) culture. In the wake of postmodernity, facilitated by new forms of (digital) communication, we are entering a new epoch in the history of the church. Curators manage the tasks of connection, preservation, and transformation, in their care for cultural artifacts and communities. When someone serves as a curator, they make connections between different elements in the culture, preserving the best of cultural traditions, and promoting fresh ways of thinking and being in the world. What might this work of curation mean for us? In Curating Church, readers learn how curation can reorient and sharpen the ways and work of the church. Curation can inform how we connect with cultures beyond the church, preserve what is best in the rich history of Christian thought and expression, and nurture spaces where contemporary persons may be transformed by the gospel. This book helps readers to understand with new richness the church and the world, and it equips them to become active in making those connections-as curators-with and for others.
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Exploring Worship Third Edition
$20.00Add to cartEXPLORING WORSHIP is a 240-page textbook that gives worshipers a balanced theology of worship, and trains your worship team in the art of leading worship. This book covers all the bases, both devotional and practical. Equip them with one of the most comprehensive tools available today for worship leaders, musicians, songwriters, and singers.
First written in 1986, Bob completely rewrote the book in 2018, producing this THIRD EDITION. This new edition is stronger than ever and relevant for today’s changing worship landscape. Used as a text internationally, Exploring Worship is a “must read” for worshipers. It lays a scriptural foundation for understanding what praise and worship really is, and then provides a practical framework for implementing praise and worship in the local church. This is one of the foremost worship texts used today by Bible Schools, Universities, and local church worship ministries.
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Honest Worship : From False Self To True Praise
$17.99Add to cartIntroduction: Falling On My Face
Part I: Worship On The Cutting Edge
1. Smoke Machines And Laser Lights
2. Golden Dreams, Golden Calves
3. The Consumer-Driven Life
4. The Culture Of NarcissismPart II: Pride And Humility
5. Pride On The Platform
6. The Nature Of Identity
7. Worship From The True Self
8. Soul WorshipPart III: Rediscovering Worship
9. The Church Gathered
10. The Rhythm Of Worship
11. The Other Six Days Of The Week
12. Compassion And Justice
13. The Deep End Of The PoolEpilogue: Still Falling
Acknowledgments
Discussion Guide
NotesAdditional Info
When asked by his son why some churches have smoke machines, worship pastor Manuel Luz found himself responding, “Well, technically, you need smoke machines to see the lasers.” But when you take down the smoke screen, what do you have left? Where do we encounter the Holy in the midst of all this? Where can we worship with our full selves-heart, soul, mind, and body-in Spirit and truth?Drawing from his own experience leading worship in a large congregation and feeling the pull of performance, Manuel Luz guides us on a journey through worship that takes us far beyond style and deep into our own souls. He calls us back to an honest worship that moves past facades and pulls us inward toward the true self that God is forming within each of us. Each chapter ends with a spiritual practice designed to help us set aside pretense and enter into the very presence of God. -
Worship In Spirit And Truth
$11.00Add to cartChapter 1 Spiritual Worship That God Accepts
Chapter 2 Old Testament Offerings As Recorded In Leviticus
Chapter 3 The Burnt Offering
Chapter 4 The Grain Offering
Chapter 5 The Peace Offering
Chapter 6 The Sin Offering
Chapter 7 The Guilt Offering
Chapter 8 Present Your Body A Living And Holy Sacrifice
Additional Info
God tells us, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45; 1 Peter 1:16), and desires each of us to wholly understand the laws on offerings recorded in Leviticus and lead a sacred life. I hope you will come to understand every aspect of offering in Old Testament times and worship in New Testament times. I also hope that you will examine the manner in which you worship, and come to worship God in a way that is pleasing to Him. -
New Worshiping Communities
$25.00Add to cartWhat is the church to make of the many new expressions of worship springing up across the nation and the world? A gathering of academic theologians, New Worshiping Community practitioners, and leaders from within Presbyterian councils met at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary to start the conversation. New Worshiping Communities documents those discussions and provides theological and biblical foundations to the 1001 New Worshiping Communities movement in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
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Songs Of Heaven 2nd Edition
$19.99Add to cartA Shout Publishing Title
Over many years, Amanda has cast her heart and mind into the negative space behind and in-between every word you see printed on our Hillsong lyric sheets. Often helping our writers see things they haven’t seen, understand complexities of thought and emotional conflicts of poetry and theology, and pushing many a song from ok, to something richer. There are few I could imagine more qualified to write, as beautifully as she does, on behalf of these songs amongst the wealth of songs past, present and future, with particular intention given the highest call for any song-to give our theology a voice, and our soul something to sing to the God it belongs to.
– JOEL HOUSTON, HILLSONG UNITED
Amanda Fergusson and her husband Robert are both inspiring and insightful teachers at Hillsong Church. In this book, Amanda speaks of the importance and responsibility given to those with the gift of songwriting. It is full of practical and theological revelation that will ensure that our worship is genuine, relatable and truly brings heaven to earth.
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For Sabbaths Sake
$14.99Add to cartMany Americans balk at the idea of setting aside an entire day for worship, rest, and time with those who matter most to them. In a culture of constant busyness, the lines have blurred between our work and personal lives, and we feel pulled in many directions. Yet we long for more time well spent-unrushed time to be alone, relax with friends and family, and grow closer to God. Many of us seem to have forgotten the ancient spiritual practice that can help us regain balance in our lives: Sabbath. For Sabbath’s Sake dives into the heart of what keeps us from Sabbath. With humor and honesty, J. Dana Trent reveals her own struggles with setting apart a day devoted to God, rest, and community. This book traces the rich history of Sabbath, helps readers find ways to overcome barriers to this spiritual practice, and gives them achievable ways to build Sabbath into their own lives.
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Lovin On Jesus
$33.99Add to cartLovin’ on Jesus: A Concise History of Contemporary Worship is a compact-but thorough-history of changes in North American Protestant worship that occurred in the second half of the twentieth century and that came to be known as “contemporary worship.” This scholarly but accessible work reveals a fascinating and complex lineage, which led to the worship forms that are now so common in many Christian worship services across the globe. Authors Lim and Ruth uncover the rise of this term itself in the early 1990s as the pivot point in the phenomenon’s history. They show how “contemporary worship” has multiple points of origin, and how new ways of worship developed along many different lines. The authors trace the rise of the term in the early 1990s, pointing to a new phase in its history: promotion and adoption by mainline congregations. The book documents this phase, as well as the earlier phases, with original source material including personal interviews. Lovin’ on Jesus also tells the story of the ongoing evolution of contemporary worship both within and beyond mainline congregations. It is important to note that the story of contemporary worship includes not only music, but also its other features.
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Whole Life Worship
$14.99Add to cartThis book is a continuation of the LICC series begun by Neil Hudson’s Imagine ChurchWhole-Life Worship will demonstrate that the contemporary Western Church has reached a point where our “gathered” worship is separated from our “scattered” lives outside of church. This is detrimental to the congregation’s spiritual development and their effectiveness on their “frontlines”. Church worship should be inspired and informed by our everyday experiences. It should empower and send the congregation out to continue worshipping. The book will provide patterns and resources to better connect gathered worship with the lives of the congregation beyond church meetings.The book will unpack a biblical grounding for both gathered and scattered worship. It will then identify patterns within our gathered services which help us re-make these connections. It will provide practical resources such as songs, prayers and activities which can help churches connect Sunday to the rest of the week. It will draw examples and stories from other church streams and traditions, to demonstrate how different kinds of Christian spirituality engage worshipfully with everyday life. In the second half of the book is a practical resource looking specifically at different aspects of a gathered service, and how each one can have an “outward” dimension.
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Christ-centered Worship : Letting The Gospel Shape Our Practice
$32.99Add to cartThe church’s worship has always been shaped by its understanding of the gospel. Here the bestselling author of Christ-Centered Preaching brings biblical and historical perspective to discussions about worship, demonstrating that the gospel has shaped key worship traditions and should shape today’s worship as well.This accessible and engaging book provides the church with a Christ-centered understanding of worship to help it transcend the traditional/contemporary worship debate and unite in ministry and mission priorities. Contemporary believers will learn how to shape their worship based on Christ’s ministry to and through them. The book’s insights and practical resources for worship planning will be useful to pastors, worship leaders, worship planning committees, missionaries, and worship and ministry students.
