The trumpeters and singers joined I N U N I S O N in unison, as with one voice, to ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ give praise and thanks to the LORD. -2 Chronicles 5:13 A devotional series for the choir, the worship leader, and anyone desiring to experience or lead in a deeper worship experience. [See the end of this file for more information on the complete series.] The In Unison series is written by David S. Lampel. #7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ O B E Y I N G O U R P A R E N T Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. -Isaiah 64:8 NIV One of the paradoxes of the Christian faith is the sublime counterpoint of our high standing in Christ against our humility before God. Both are equally true. We are brothers and sisters with the Son of God--joint heirs, sharing in His legacy. We have the right of sonship through adoption. "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters," says the Lord Almighty. -2 Corinthians 6:18 But while we are adopted sons and daughters of holy God, we remain of lowly flesh, still committing our sins, still grossly imperfect when compared to the perfection of our Father. It is important that we remember who is on top. It is important--as worship leaders--that we approach corporate worship as obedient servants. ________________________ Why do you sing in the choir? Most people would probably answer that they sing in the choir because they feel they are capable; they are good singers, so they feel qualified to sing. Others might say, if honest, that they are members of the choir because they enjoy the camaraderie, the feeling of belonging. Still others sing in the choir because it's just fun; they enjoy it, and consider it almost recreational. Why do you sing in the choir? And with what attitude do you approach the time of worship? Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment." -Matthew 22:36-38 NIV Notice that Jesus did not say that this is the first and greatest suggestion or recommendation. He said it is the first and greatest commandment. We worship God because, as His adoring sons and daughters, we are compelled to. It is the foundation and life-blood of our relationship with Him. But we also worship God because we've been told to. To do otherwise would be to disobey our parent. ________________________ The effective choir member is the one who strides confidently into the choir loft, knowing fully his or her vaulted position as a child of God--yet, at the same time, understanding perfectly his or her responsibility before a holy God. Obedience. Are you singing out of obedience? Are you leading others in worship because you love your Father so much that you dare do nothing less? Or are you singing in the choir because you haven't anything better to do? Why do you sing in the choir? F.Y.I. ------ The following books by John MacArthur, Jr. have been quoted in In Unison and are recommended as excellent resources for coming to a deeper understanding of worship. * The Ultimate Priority (Moody Press, 1983), paper, 168 pages. * True Worship (Moody Press, 1985), paper, 112 pages. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Supplement to #7 On being clay in the Father's hands (essentially, Lordship): "Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? [9] Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again?" -Job 10:8-9 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. [14] Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish." [15] Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?" [16] You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"? -Isaiah 29:13-16 "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, `What are you making?' Does your work say, `He has no hands'? [10] Woe to him who says to his father, `What have you begotten?' or to his mother, `What have you brought to birth?' [11] "This is what the LORD says--the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands? [12] It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. [13] I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty." -Isaiah 45:9-13 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. [4] But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. [5] Then the word of the LORD came to me: [6] "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. -Jer 18:3-6 This is what the LORD says: "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests [2] and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, [3] and say, `Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. [4] For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned sacrifices in it to gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. [5] They have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal--something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. [6] So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. [7] "'In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. [8] I will devastate this city and make it an object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. [9] I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh during the stress of the siege imposed on them by the enemies who seek their lives.' [10] "Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, [11] and say to them, `This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter's jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. [12] This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the LORD. I will make this city like Topheth. [13] The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth--all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs to all the starry hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods.'" -Jer 19:1-13 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" [20] But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, `Why did you make me like this?'" [21] Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? -Romans 9:19-21 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. [6] For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. [7] But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. -2 Cor 4:5-7 On our familial relationship with God the Father through Christ: Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. [13] For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, [14] because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. [15] For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." [16] The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. [17] Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. [18] I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. [19] The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. [20] For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. [22] We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. [23] Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. [24] For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? [25] But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. -Romans 8:12-25 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, [27] for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. [1] What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. [2] He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. [3] So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. [4] But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, [5] to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. [6] Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba , Father." [7] So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. -Gal 3:26-4:7 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love [5] he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--[6] to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. -Eph 1:4-6 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. -1 Thes 5:5 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. [5] And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, [6] because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." [7] Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? [8] If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. -Hebrews 12:4-8 ________________________ "Worship is not optional. In Matthew 4:10, in response to Satan's temptation, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:13: `You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.' In saying that to Satan, He swept into the command every being ever created. All are responsible to worship God. "The foundation upon which true worship is based is redemption. The Father and Son have sought to redeem us that we may become worshipers. Jesus said that the Son of Man came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). In John 4 he reveals the purpose for His seeking: `For such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers' (v23). The Father sent Christ to seek and save for the specific purpose of Producing worshiping people. "Thus, the objective of redemption is making worshipers. The primary reason we are redeemed is not so that we may escape hell--that is a blessed benefit, but not the major purpose. The central objective for which we are redeemed is not even so that we might enjoy the manifold eternal blessings of God. In fact, the supreme motive in our redemption is not for us to receive anything. Rather, we have been redeemed so that God may receive worship--so that our lives might glorify Him. Any personal blessing for us is a divine response to the fulfillment of that supreme purpose." (John MacArthur, Jr., The Ultimate Priority (Moody Press, 1983), p23f) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright Information --------------------- All original material in IN UNISON is Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel."). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. With the appropriate copyright notice, this file may be used to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, or spoken messages. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New International Version. NIV quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In Unison was originally written for Music Ministers and Choir Directors to use in conjunction with their weekly rehearsals. It was syndicated in printed form, camera-ready for inclusion in choir newsletters or to be read to the choir as a devotional. It has also been used by Pastors and lay-leaders in many capacities. In Unison is evangelical, and speaks from the position that the choir does not perform for its own pleasure--nor for the pleasure of the congregation--but is, instead, a "prompter" leading and demonstrating the corporate worship for the pleasure of God. Each choir member--as well as every other leader standing on the platform--is responsible to do everything to point the congregation upward to God. In Unison also encourages individual and corporate excellence, based on the premise that after His sacrifice for us, our Lord deserves nothing less. Most issues of In Unison consist of two parts: * The main article has been written to be the "public" portion--either re-printed for each choir member or read to them during a devotional time. * The Supplemental material (accompanying most issues) has been included for the director or leader to use as background to further his or her own study. There is a total of 19 issues making up the complete In Unison series, representing by the following outline: 1. With One Voice 11. Because He Deserves It 2. Up Words 12. A Longing to Be Near Him 3. Loving One Another 13. Excellence: Beginning 4. Demonstrating Praise 14. Excellence: The Debt 5. The Spirit and the Flesh 15. Excellence: For the Prize 6. Three Little Words 16. Excellence: Why? 7. Obeying Our Parent 17. To Be Like Him 8. A Fragrant Offering 18. In Spirit and Truth 9. Worship the King 19. Honesty 10. His Wish, Our Desire ------------------------------------------------------------------- In Unison is distributed free-of-charge, without obligation, in service to our Lord and to His glory. Reader opinions are always welcome, as are insights into the published material. Send all comments to the address below. We always appreciate hearing when someone has been edified by this work. ------------------------------------------------------------------- To receive the complete series via e-mail, inquire with questions, or comment on the material send your request to: "dlampel@dlampel.com" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David S. Lampel "For from Him and through Him Winterset, IA USA and to Him are all things. dlampel@dlampel.com To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Rom 11:36) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/in.unison: inu-007.txt