Many Parts, One Body: Introduction

On Tuesday, I posted my personal and ministry testimony from the opening worship of the Bifrost Arts Cry of the Poor conference. It was truly a unique gathering, as worship leaders and pastors and others brought our minds and hearts together to explore the intersection of worship, community, and mercy. 

Here is the way that the director of Bifrost Arts described it:

Conversations about worship in the church often focus on the style of our music, or on the formality of our aesthetics, or on the content of our lyrics. In many churches, conversations about worship can become completely centered around the congregation’s priorities, so much so that they can even lose sight of God’s priorities for our worship.

Throughout the Bible, God tells His people time and time again that if they are disobedient to His Word that He will not accept their worship. In His Word, He commands His people to worship Him alone and to obey His commands to serve the poor and needy. In fact, God specifically admonishes His people “whoever closes His ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13).

This April, Bifrost Arts presents a worship conference entitled “The Cry of the Poor: worship, mercy, and community.” At this event we will focus on two things: First, we will make a theological case, specifically from Isaiah 55-61 for the connection between worship and obedience. Secondly, we will have a series of practical workshops about how local congregations can better serve the least of these in our midst and in our communities. We will have conversations about worshiping with those with disabilities, worshiping in a multilingual context, worship and the elderly, forming our children for mercy, and the formation of communities through the arts.

See what I mean? I am so thankful to have been part of such an amazing conference. If I didn't worship a sovereign God, I would say it happened by accident.

You see, I had decided to take a break from speaking engagements as we adjusted to life with Zoe and life with Robbie's epilepsy. If I hadn't, I would have submitted a presentation proposal for the Accessibility Summit, which ended just a couple days before Cry of the Poor. If I had been planning to attend the Accessibility Summit, I wouldn't have been free to say yes when Isaac called from Bifrost Arts. 

Below is my session title and description, and over the next several days, I'll share the five major points I made:

Title:
Many Parts, One Body

Description: 

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 lays out God's intent for diversity in the body of Christ and in the gifts of her members. In this session, we'll talk through 5 practical ways to live out God's design for the church, specifically considering ways that people with and without disabilities can engage together in worship and Christian community.

Many thanks to the Bifrost Arts team for their hospitality and exceptional event vision and planning. It was a privilege to take part in it.