Sunday, November 05, 2006
♥ Sunday, November 05, 2006
Imagining Worship.Was just imagining conducting my own worship. Haha..but lets see. If i had an hour or so to plan just a session of p and w, what would i do...( the audience is a crowd eager to know God, or am looking for an experience, or some very very bored people enslaved by the daily routine of coming for this kinda stuff..basically a mix)
'who do people say i am?' Jesus asked. 'Some say you're the prophet Elijah..some say...'
'But YOU. who do YOU say i am?'
Then i'll begin with the simple chant/praise i learnt from my sis' church-
'Lord i want to know you, in my heart there is a fire. Each morning that i wake up, its you that i desire..just to feel your heartbeat is all that i long for; oh lord i wanna know u more.'
On the screen, will be a scene of a waterfall against a setting sun. Its dim and you are spaced out-the spacing is done intricately (close enough not to feel isolated, but far enough to be in intimate connection with Him).
I'll begin a short praise, and invite you to offer a short line of thanks to God. What are the things to thank God for? Everything..the day? the people?
If you're uncomfortable, you shouldnt be. There are many around you already voicing out in worship their own prayers of thanksgiving. They create a certain 'atmosphere' that reels you in. Its a little scary, a little exciting, a little fascinating but alot emotional.
All of a sudden, you hear'How great is our God, sing with me how great is our God. All will sing how great, how great is our God...' You know this song,'How Great is our God'
And even if you dont, it is easy and quite repetitive, so you'll begin singing. Before you know it, you are telling God how great He is.
You are still feeling slightly self conscious. You are looking around and it still feels weird. 'Jesus asks you to let go, to not bother about the person on the left or on the right but to just be with Him.' In the background the song 'Complete' is being played. ' i look to you lord, your love that never ends..restores me again. ... In your strength i will break through lord.' You begin singing and letting go. ' Through the storm i will hold on lord, and by faith i will walk on lord..and i'll see beyond my calvary one day, and i will be complete in you.'
As the chorus is played 'so i lift my eyes to you lord..touch me now let your love fall down on me', you recall the day, that unkind remark, and that insensitive shrug, that unappreciation. You've fallen out with a friend, or perhaps you've just felt lonely. You've felt restless and guilty. All this wells up and you frown you wonder why..and you begin talking to Jesus.
'And Jesus says ' whoever drinks from this well will thirst again. But the water that i shall give...will be like a spring gushing forth from within, and he will never thirst again.' And on the screen, a scene from the Passion of Christ plays..'the soldier pierces the side of Jesus, and as Jesus' blood falls on the soldier's eyes, the soldier knelt.'
'i look to you lord, your love that never ends..restores me again...' And the chorus of 'complete' plays again. You have experienced something but you cant voice it out. That was peace-for a long long time you havent felt it, and this time it felt so alien that you couldnt recognise. The song slows..it becomes just running chords, sheer instrumental. It stops.
Enya's song would play..as the lyrics would show on the screen with the background of a concrete pathway in a certain garden. 'Who can say where the road goes, where the day goes, only time.' The slides of a lost, disenchantment, disillusioned world plays...but the scene changes! From a war torn country, to a war torn country with people hugging and comforting each other. From a 9-11 scene, to a 9-11 scene with the firemen digging, and the people praying.
From a child lost and lonely, to children in the arms of a nun.
& then...mel Gibson's Passion of the christ..Jesus's walk to calvary.
The song 'Nails in Your Hands' is played.
'The thorns on your brow..they tell me how, you bore so much shame to love me..'
You wince at the sight of the gory wounds. You ask and answer at the same time- how and why did those wounds happen. You look around and see how others are reacting-some are stoic, some look away and you recognise its a look of guilt, another is tearing, another is just like you..looking around to either distract yourself or to validate your own emotions.
The scene calms as the light slowly brighten. 'This concludes today's session of prayer. You brought back something today-all of you. You came to understand, and if you already understood, you came to be reminded what the love of Christ is. Sacrificial. 'There is no greater love than for a person to give his life for a friend' Jesus said. He also said,' I call YOU friends...''
You walk off. Behind you, is a picture...
