The Great Commission To Worship

I was surprised that Wheeler and Whaley did not initially define the difference between Great Commission worship and traditional worship. I see traditional worship more in line with the worship that was described within the Old Testament where Israel simply worshipped God and did not attempt to witness to non-Jews and bring them to know God. Once we study the New Testament it is clear that Jesus commands us to continue to worship but to also evangelize the world. What I think is lost on many is that evangelizing is a form of worship that brings great glory to God as we endeavor to help expand His kingdom.

In their book The Great Commission to Worship: Biblical Principles for Worship-Based Evangelism, authors David Wheeler and Vernon Whaley contribute their respective expertise in evangelism and worship in an attempt to synthesize the two categories by showing each fundamental imperative of the Christian disciple to be integral to and an outflow of the other. The impetus for evangelism par excellence is the “great commission”

This book “The Art of Personal Evangelism is not to hard to read all of the task of the person who winning to believe in Jesus Christ. McRaney well said about task of evangelism as a practitioner for both the

The books that we were required to read for Bible 115 class were Engaging God’s World – A Christian Vision Of Faith, Learning And Living by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. and The Call – Finding And Fulfilling The Central Purpose For Your Life by Os Guinness. Both books offered very useful advice for today’s Christians. Engaging God’s World is written for students and will help them make sense of their education in a Christian perspective. Both authors use scripture, humor and common sense to validate their points.

The idea behind the book The Great Commission To Worship by David Wheeler and Vernon Whaley is the combining of worship and evangelism, “Thus evangelism and worship have a unique relationship. … many times in Scripture it appears that while God is always our object of worship, the concept of obtaining salvation (evangelism) appears to be the motivation” (11). As stated by the authors this book is the result of an argument between them as to which was more important, worship or evangelism.

This book not only taught me how to apply her writings to my life, but how to also apply it to others. I have better learned how to apply her writings to my life by first questioning my faith. I learned that I must first apply her writings to my life before I seek to apply it to others. By searching my own heart and my life God will help me take what I have interpreted and help me apply it to my life. After I have applied it to my life then I can point others in the right direction. I can help them learn to interpret and apply Ellen White’s

My personal view of mission revolves around Servant Leadership or what can be better called “Incarnational leadership”. This is rooted in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, as “He took a towel” (John 13:2-5) and washed Peter’s feet. He was efficient with people, had goals in sight, but was also relational over being task-driven. This kind of leadership produces new churches filled with real purpose and motivation as people are called, appreciated, loved, encouraged, discipled, involved by mentoring and discipleship before they are deployed in ministry (Prov. 27:23; Mark 10:35-45; Luke 22:26; John 13:2-17; 1 Cor. 3- 4; Eph. 4:1-16; Col. 3:13; 1 Thess. 5:13-14; 1 Peter 3:8;

• According to Dr. Wheeler, evangelism is lived out through ________________. (Be able to fill in the blank.)

E. Harrison (p. 275) summarizes the message of the Epistle in these words: The greatest single overall emphasis seems to be on the unity of the local church as the body of Christ, which is brought out not only in connection with the discussion of the groups (i.e.; the factions within the church), but also in relation to the Lord’s Supper and spiritual gifts. A corollary is the sanctity of the church as members of Christ, both corporately and individually, (note, especially, such passages as 1 Cor. 3:16-17 and 6:15-20.) We may add, it is in this Epistle that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul most eloquently sets forth the supremacy of love as “the most excellent way,” which the Christian is called to follow (1 Cor. 12:31b-13:13

It has been said that worship is the core or center of mission. The ultimate goal of any missionary is to bring people (entire people groups) into a passionate, relationship with God. John Piper states,

God has a plan to reconcile His relationship with man after sin entered the world. This plan revolves around making His name known throughout all tribes and nations. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, the Bible presents God’s missionary purpose for humanity. For this reason, Christians involved in missions will travel to dangerous places to proclaim God’s name and saving power.

A Great Commission worshipper is a person who is so much in love with Jesus, so committed to worship of Jesus, and so devoted to being obedient to every command of Jesus that he simply cannot restrain himself from telling others about his incredible relationship with the Son of God."1 In The Great Commission to Worship: Biblical Principles for Worship-Based Evangelism the writers join evangelism and love as profound orders that the Christian devotee must follow up on out of acquiescence for God. They state at an early stage that " worship is not an event or something we do for God. Rather it is an act of unbridled obedience even when rational explanations are hard to find."2

There are severals scriptures that are the foundation of this mission, one being Ezekiel chapter 3 and 33 where God chooses the prophet, Ezekiel, to be a watchman over His people. 1 Timothy 4:1-6 where Paul warns Timothy about false teachers and their doctrine and to stand against them through the preaching of sound doctrine. Other scriptures that have a watchman focus include Matthew 7:21-22; Matthew 24: 4-5, 9-13, 22-25; John 13:1-11; John 14:15; 2 Peter 2 and 3. Thus my mission is to be used by God through the leading of the Holy Spirit in bringing people to the complete submission to the Kingship of Jesus Christ based on the sound doctrine His word and calling out all deception contrary to. To put it simply my theology of mission can be described as War against the counterfeits.

Another way evangelism relates to the Christian walk is that we as Christians relate to each other. Wheeler and Whaley remind us that it is important for the members of the church to get along and love one another. I was going on a witnessing tour through our neighborhood and came across a home that was filled

The main task of the Church and of the Christian minister is the true preaching of the Word of God. Additionally, Paul in Colossians 1:25 makes the point the central purpose of ministry is the preaching of the Word. Preaching the Word of God also includes protecting the sheep from false doctrines.