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Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, Germany
Click on this SoundCloud link to listen to an audio recording of today's Blog.
Click on this SoundCloud link to listen to an audio recording of today's Blog.
It was Saturday morning in Wittenberg, Germany when I took this picture. We had finished a tour of the Castle Church and were strolling toward the Luther House. The city of Wittenberg had come alive. Pedestrians and bicyclists filled the streets. The Marktplatz, or market place, was the center of all this activity. People of every kind filled the plaza. It was where the world came together.
Would that our churches took on this flavor of the Marktplatz.
"And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God." Luke 13:29 English Standard Version
The problem is that the people from the east don't look and act like people from the west, which can also be said of people from the north and the south. Unfortunately, we like to be with people who look like us, act like us, and even smell like us (okay, maybe not the latter).
Sadly, we also like being with people who worship like us. I live with hope that our "worship wars" will disappear. I'm tired of people saying the only way to worship is with a band and others who say it is with an organ. I'm tired of people saying that the only way to worship is with a hymnal or who say it is with a big HD television.
We have made worship more about us than about God. God acts upon us in worship. It doesn't matter whether that Word is projected on a screen or printed in a hymnal, it is the Word of God that comes to us. It is a Word that calls us to repentance. It is a Word that calls us to forgiveness. It is a Word that calls us to action.
No matter the form of worship, God invites his people to come from the north and the south, from the east and the west, to be fed and nourished by him.
Would that our churches took on this flavor of the Marktplatz.
"And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God." Luke 13:29 English Standard Version
The problem is that the people from the east don't look and act like people from the west, which can also be said of people from the north and the south. Unfortunately, we like to be with people who look like us, act like us, and even smell like us (okay, maybe not the latter).
Sadly, we also like being with people who worship like us. I live with hope that our "worship wars" will disappear. I'm tired of people saying the only way to worship is with a band and others who say it is with an organ. I'm tired of people saying that the only way to worship is with a hymnal or who say it is with a big HD television.
We have made worship more about us than about God. God acts upon us in worship. It doesn't matter whether that Word is projected on a screen or printed in a hymnal, it is the Word of God that comes to us. It is a Word that calls us to repentance. It is a Word that calls us to forgiveness. It is a Word that calls us to action.
No matter the form of worship, God invites his people to come from the north and the south, from the east and the west, to be fed and nourished by him.
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(Click on picture to enlarge.)
Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2012-2015 Douglas P. Brauner. ARR.
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