Homegrown Praise - The Flavors Of Worship

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This Music Workshop article is an excerpt from Bob’s book, In His Face. Bob is an internationally known speaker and music minister. This book is available in its entirety from the book section of

The Flavors Of Worship

By Bob Sorge

As we are in His face, the Lord desires our worship to be diversified and full-orbed, according to the many expressions of worship laid forth in the Scriptures.

Worship is like a multifaceted jewel, shining in many directions simultaneously. There are many moods, elements, or what I would like to call "flavors" in worship. Just as a rainbow is complete only when all the colors are present, so the worship life of a local congregation is balanced only when the full diversity of flavors are present in the expressions of a church's corporate worship. In this chapter I would like to list eight flavors of worship that are necessary if we desire to expose worshipers to the full range of scriptural ways to express ourselves before God. These flavors of worship are also appropriate to our personal times with God.

Exaltation

With hands and hearts outstretched, we long to extol and magnify the greatness of the glorious God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Songs such as "I Exalt Thee" and "Our God Is an Awesome God" give us the vocabulary to exalt His majesty. Exaltation is, in fact, the keynote of heaven's worship.

Some churches have yet to learn how to enter into corporate exaltation. When the clapping stops and the tambourines are put down, it's as though there's nothing left. Below the noise it's really very shallow. In such cases, a church needs to learn the depths of exaltation.

When we magnify the Lord, we aren't making the Lord any bigger than He already is. But think of a magnifying glass. When we magnify the Lord, we are gaining a sharper focus on who He is.

God isn't an egomaniac who sits up in heaven waiting for is to pump Him up. God is exalted above the heavens, whether or not we acknowledge that. He doesn't need to be exalted—we need to exalt Him. But you cannot exalt the Lord and maintain your "dignity". The only way to exalt the Lord is by humbling yourself.

Intimacy

Jesus came to romance us back to the heart of the Father. Worship is the language of love, the lavish affection of r redeemed saints who have fallen "head-over-heels" in love with Jesus. Anointed songwriters have given us many songs that help us express our love to the Lord: "I Love You, Lord"; “In Moments Like These," and many more.

Perhaps the greatest indictment of the American Church is that we have left our first love. The antithesis of love isn't hate, it's apathy. Living in the comforts of our society, I find I must continually rouse myself from the encroaching tentacles of apathy and lethargy. We're called to be "red hot" in our love for Christ, to walk among the "fiery stones" of the immediate presence of God in our ministry to the Most High (see Ezekiel 28:14). Have you fallen in love with Jesus all over again today?

Although I relish the sweetness of intimacy with Jesus, let me point out that it's only one of eight flavors. Some groups have focused on sweet songs of intimacy almost to the exclusion of any other flavor. Intimacy gains fuller meaning when positioned next to some of the other necessary flavors of worship, such as the next one — celebration.

Celebration

It's party time, Church! Pull out the stops and celebrate the risen Savior! Here I think of songs like "Celebrate Jesus" and "In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being." Praise is "raising a big flap" about a great God. As I heard one brother say, praise is "going bananas" over Jesus.

And yet some churches don't know how to celebrate. Maybe the greatness of their salvation hasn't impacted them yet. Paul prayed that "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power" (Ephesians 1:18-19). Get that into your spirit and you'll celebrate!

Somebody said, "Let's cool it a little. We don't want to scare off those who might not understand." Listen, folks: As wickedness increases all around us, we need the strength that comes from rejoicing in the Lord. Brother, you better learn how to celebrate—in these last days it's going to become a matter of survival.

And now for a word of balance. Worshipers need to be sensitive to "corporate dynamics" when in the congregation. There's a time for celebration, and also a time for quiet reverence. Don't celebrate in such a way that you draw attention from the Lord to yourself. Learn to party with the best of them, and also learn to clamp it down when the mood of the service changes.

Proclamation

This may be one of the most misunderstood flavors of worship. In proclamation, we are declaring the greatness and goodness of God in the hearing of a third party. Songs such as "Great Is the Lord" and "What a Mighty God We Serve" are like sung announcements, proclaiming to anyone within earshot what we think about Jesus. Incredible power is released in a service simply in the proclamation of the name of the Lord. When we sing songs like, "I Am the God That Healeth Thee," our singing transcends the music and becomes an enforcement of kingdom dominion.

Psalm 66:8 admonishes, "Let the sound of His praise be heard." It's not praise until it's verbalized. It wasn't that long ago that we were potty training our youngest child Michael. If we had just thought nice thoughts when he produced on the potty, we would have gotten nowhere. You should have heard us — we clapped, we hooted, we cheered. Now that's praise!

Somebody once said, "Let's stop singing songs about Jesus, and sing songs to Jesus." But it's equally scriptural to sing about Jesus. Paul exhorts us to "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" (Ephesians 5:19). The Israelites daily recited to one another this declaration about the Lord: "The Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever."

With so many new songs being written and made available to the Church today, it is very important what songs we select to sing in the congregation. The songs we select determine what truths we will declare about the Lord. In the final analysis, the things we say about the Lord in our songs become those things that are best remembered and embraced by both adults and children.

With some songs it's inappropriate to shut your eyes. Try this sometime: Open your eyes, turn to someone, and sing to them the high praises of God!

Warfare

The Bible calls us an army, and a balanced menu of worship must include the flavor of warfare. Songs like "The Battle Belongs to the Lord" and "I Hear the Sound of the Army of the Lord" help rouse the Church to a place of battle readiness.

Have you noticed that Christian T-shirts for teens are getting more and more radical? I think youth leaders understand something: As wickedness becomes more blatant and prevalent, our kids need a militancy to survive. The devil's turning up the heat because he knows his time is short, so the Church that will crush him in this hour must also turn up the heat.

Yes, there can be an over-emphasis here too. Warfare is only one of eight flavors. It's possible to become a lopsided, one-issue church. Incessant warfare every Sunday morning is wearisome. But make no mistake, there is a renewed emphasis of the Holy Spirit upon warfare in worship.

Prophetic

Full-orbed worship must include a prophetic flavor. There comes a time in a service when the spirit of worship actually kindles and sparks the flow of prophetic utterances in a congregation.

Just as the melodious harp soothed Elisha's indignation and stirred up his prophetic gifting (see 2 Kings 3:1-20), so the ministry of anointed musicians can inspire the spirit of prophecy among God's people.

A worship service gives us the tremendous satisfaction of expressing our affections to God. And then the pastor says, "You may be seated." I can visualize God sitting on the edge of His throne, with something on the tip of His tongue, but lo, it's time for the announcements. He didn't gain the satisfaction of also sharing His heart with us. But that's the essence of prophetic worship: two-way communication.

A tremendous way to encourage the prophetic flavor is through the use of "spiritual songs" (Colossians 3:16). By playing simple, repetitive chord progressions, musicians can provide the necessary atmosphere for spontaneous, improvised, straight-from-the-heart songs that carry the prophetic impetus of the Spirit.

Entreaty

God is calling us to broaden our worship to include the flavors of petition and intercession. The Spirit has inspired many songs in this hour that are in fact prayers of entreaty, some examples being "Shine Jesus Shine," "Lord, Have Mercy on Us," and "Change My Heart O God."

Jesus declared, "My house will be called a house of prayer" (Matthew 21:13), and yet far too few of our worship services actually include an element of supplication or intercession. Think about it — when your church gathers, do you become actively involved in corporate prayer?

Special Occasion

"Special occasion" is the term I've chosen for the eighth flavor, for lack of a better one I suppose. Here I’m talking about the kinds of songs we sing at special times of the year such as Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving.

I would also lump under this heading the kinds of songs we sing during altar calls — songs of consecration like "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus."

The Centrality Of All Worship: Jesus

As you review the eight flavors that comprise a balanced menu of worship for local churches, I'd like to remind you that the central focus of all worship is the Lord Jesus. He is the "hub" around which all else turns.

I have been asked, "What do you think is the 'now' thing God is saying to the Body of Christ in the area of worship?" At the risk of sounding simplistic I would have to say, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." He is the Alpha and Omega of all worship. Move away from focusing on Jesus and you're off center.

May the Lord enable us as we spend time in worship, to be open to and expressive of all the flavors of worship, in proper balance, with the face of our Lord Jesus Himself being our focus at all times. Amen.

(To acquire Bob Sorge’s complete book entitled “In His Face", we invite you to the book section of the .)

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