Community Church Blog

As a church we also believe that we are poised and ready for God to move in our community. As we begin to step out and share our faith, one by one, we can trust that God will transform lives. It’s what we see Him do in the New Testament, it’s what we’ve seen him do throughout church history and it’s what we’ve seen Him do in our own town.

In the last 12 months we have seen 30 people baptised and each baptism represents a story of how God has broken into someone’s life and brought His power and hope filled presence into their hearts and minds. We have now have a fantastic ‘on ramp’ into church life through the Alpha, Equipped to Grow and Ignite courses, which allow people to meet Jesus for themselves, build great foundations and then learn to run with their new faith all the space of 12 months if they choose to.

As each one of us embraces the call to be a witness to Christ’s transforming power in our lives, we believe that we as a church will multiply and the next step in this journey is the launching of our second meeting.

That is why from the 11th September we will meeting at 9h30 and 11h30 every Sunday; so that we have space to welcome those who God is adding to us and those who God will add to our number in the future. This has been such an exciting journey for us as a church family so far but I do believe that through each one of us embracing our call to be Christ’s witnesses the best is yet to come! #everyoneawitness

'Every posture in worship says something of both the worshipper and the One being gloried in.’ Matt Redman continues in his book ‘Facedown’ saying ‘The raising of hands tells of a soul stretched out high in praise and the worth of the One being exalted. Joyful dancing interprets a grateful heart and points in adoration to the source of that joy. When it comes to expressing our worship, what we do on the outside is a key reflection of what’s taking place on the inside [and] facedown worship is the overflow of a heart humbled and amazed by the glory of God. Facedown worship always begins as a posture of the heart. When a soul is so captivated by the Almighty, to bend low in true and total surrender seems the only appropriate response.’

Part of worshipping God is of course singing and using our voice, like we explored in the last worship blog, however how we worship God is both a posture of our heart and of our body.

Have you ever paused in a worship time and asked yourself what on earth it is you’re doing? It’s healthy to reflect on how you approach and honour the King of Kings - are you developing and growing in your worship? Is your worship more passionate than last year? Has it waned?

The Psalms alone give us nine different expressions of worship; let's explore them here:

Our Voice

1. Speaking – Psalm 34:1 says “I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.”
2. Shouting – Psalm 27:6 says “Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at His tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.”
3. Singing – Psalm 47:6 says “Sing praises to God, sing praises to our King, sing praises.”

Our Posture

1. Bowing – Psalm 95:6 says “Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
2. Standing – Psalm 119:120 says “My flesh trembles in fear of You; I stand in awe of Your laws.”
3. Dancing – Psalm 149:3 says “Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.”

Our Hands

1. Playing Instruments – Psalm 33:2-3 says “Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to Him on the ten stringed lyre. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.”
2. Clapping – Psalm 47:1 says “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”
3. Lifting Hands – Psalm 63:4 says “I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands.”

The way we communicate every day with one another has been researched and shows that only 7% of our communication is actually verbal, with 55% of what we communicate being done so through our body language. The same is true of our communcation to and of God. Whilst we are to be guided and helped by excellent worship songs, we shouldn't allow lyrics and words alone to define our worship.

When there is a breadth and depth to our worship, we honour God, lift Him up and make much of Him.

We have often heard it say at church, ‘dont worry about the person next you - bring your worship to God’ - and this is so true. God is so pleased to receive your individual expression of worship, and God is so worthy of it that giving our full self is the only appropraite thing to do.

In everyday life we stand up to honour people, when a wedding proposal is made it is often done on one knee, dancing is a part of culture expressing celebration and many other emotions too, we clap to show appreciation and enthusiasm, and we lift our arms in shouts of joy and exubernace. These motions of the body are normal and they are often spontaneous. However I wonder why they are sometime foreign to our worship?

Be encourgaed, be advenurous, bring honour to Jesus in worship - in song, in prayer, but also in body. Let it be the norm for us at CCBS, that our worship is expressed in ways that are more than words.

The core issue here is not one of instruction, but rather the truth is that we are people who are created to worship, and God who first loved us has done much for us! Our response; indeed my response to His much, is to give much of ouselves.

‘Every posture in worship says something of both the worshipper and the One being gloried in.’ Let it be true of me.