Speaking about “cost” and “worship” in the same sentence seems a little ironic. How could great worship – an amazing experience – come with a cost? Serving God comes with a cost… a cost many of us haven’t calculated to the fullest. Our theology is a little messed up here. For some reason we often try to “sell” the gospel as something that makes our lives better – sort of like an additive to your car’s gasoline.

For more than sixty years the secrets and delight of Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937) and Lord of the Rings (1954/5) were a well kept secret, savoured by fantasy and literature “geeks”. Then Hollywood took hold! Suddenly the world was alive with tiny little men with big feet on a secret mission to save their people.

God the Spirit: The Holy Spirit is indeed true God, the distinct but inseparable third person of the Holy Trinity. The first identification of the Spirit and implication of the Trinity is found in Genesis 1:2 "…and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."

Understanding the importance of the Trinity defines our attitude/focus of worship, which deepens our knowledge of the Holy.

Remember this catchy phrase from childhood games?  Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. Did this occur to you yesterday? I know for me, I had to catch myself. As we become adults, we tend to leave behind elements from our past, the same is true of the Christian faith.  We may learn of great theology in the church from early Sunday school studies or classes, but later we often forget our learnings as we become distracted or fade into other responsibilities.

Part II continued:  The days and acts of remembrances in worship services today are mainly held by liturgical churches.  The contemporary church may mention significant days of the Church Calendar, but most do not hold worship services that center around these celebrations such as Lent.

On one hand, do our words of worship songs produce biblical connections in the hearts and minds of the worshipers? On the other hand, do our words in worship stir confusion and/or obscure Christian doctrine? As seen from the Old Testament days of Amos and David, there exists a concern in the usage of our words in song – what is pleasing or displeasing to God.