Sunday
Equipping Hour 9:00-10:00 am
Worship 10:30–12:00 pm

Worship & Music

Theologian A.W. Tozer posed a question asking, “What kind of a Christian should be considered a normal Christian?” His response was, “The normal Christian worships God!” No matter who you are, you worship something. Believers in Christ Jesus are marked by their worship of the God that created them. So then, what is worship? At Metro, we say that worship is “all that we are responding to all we know of God.” Here’s what we mean:

“All that we are”-

God desires us to love him with all of our heart, soul and strength (Duet 6:5). We worship the Lord and glorify Him with our lives. The worship of God is not restricted to Sunday Mornings, but includes all aspects of life. Worship is not exclusive to music, yet music plays a vital role is our praises to Him. Thus, the believer longs to make Christ the center of all he does rather than limiting the Christian life to home and church.

“responding to”-

Why is it important to respond to God? In the Scriptures, it says, “we love because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). Because of who God is and because of what He has done for us, we respond to him with a humble heart to express our gratitude to Him. Our praises don’t make God feel better, rather He is deserving of our praises. Thus, we “come” in a sense to Him and tell of His wondrous acts and bow down to Him with our lives. He is the audience, not us.

“all we know”-

Why would we use the word “know”? Are you saying understanding takes precedence over heart-felt emotions? In short, yes. How can you worship something/someone you do not know? It is true that we will never be able to fully comprehend the ways of God or fully grasp the majesty of God. However, believers are to grow their relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and desire to know Him more and more (Phil 3:10). The more you know and understand the heart of God, the deeper your worship becomes. Therefore, we come to Him with a child-like faith longing to be in His presence.

“of God”-

Worship of the Triune God is distinctly Christian. We worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in “spirit and in truth”. The Father is the fountain of divinity (fons divinitatis). The Father, Son, and Spirit are all equal in essence, yet distinct in function. Within the divine trinity, the Father is the Godhead. The Son, Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man. He is eternally begotten of the Father and is equal to the Father in all respects except His fatherliness. The Son is co-eternal with the Father, henceforth not created but in relation to Him. In this, the Son is subordinate to the Father and willingly submits unto Him in humility. The Son is equal to the Father and the Spirit, yet serves a different function, namely, mediator to the Father.
The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque) and exists to magnify the Son. Co-equal and co-eternal within the triunity of God, the Spirit is of one essence with the Father and the Son. He was sent by the Father. Thus, through our worship we aim to exalt the Triune God in word and deed.

So why do we sing?

1. We’re commanded to sing! Ephesians 5:19 states, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” Other passages in Scripture beckon the reader to “Sing for Joy” and “Make a joyful noise to the Lord” (Ps. 33:1-3, 105, 9:2) Singing is a critical component in the spiritual life! Paul linking the aspect of music/singing to the sanctification of the believer. Children of God are singing people.

2. Singing is an agent for unity among the body! As one voice in one accord, the body of Christ submits to the creedal statements that are sung together. A person who does not join in song with the rest of the body shows division. Thus, preference of contemporary or traditional music takes a backseat to the importance of the unity of the body of Christ. If the gospel is powerful enough to unite Jews and Gentiles, certainly is powerful enough to bridge the gap of the “worship wars” concerning traditional music vs. contemporary. At Metro, we do not chose a song based upon its style, but rather its theology. If asked what kind of music to we sing at Metro, we sing God-exalting songs.

3. Music is a servant of the Word of God. While we don’t worship music itself, music (by the work of the Spirit) directs hearts and minds towards the things of God. The words used should never be opposed to Scripture, yet do not have to be inspired themselves. Music is a wonderful resource to remember as well as tool to offer praise to God. Christians is every era of Church history in every culture have gathered together with song to worship God Almighty.

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory is his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.”
Psalm 105:1-3