Brian Croft - Gather Gods People: Understand, Plan, and Lead Worship in Your Local Church

Praise for Gather Gods People

Gather Gods People is a manual for corporate worship filled with wisdom, practicality, and biblical rooting. Whether or not one holds to the exact form or philosophy of worship put forth in this book, every reader will find great stimulation and strong biblical support for each of the various aspects of the theology and practice of worship advanced. Few books discuss with such clarity the range of issues and practices this book takes up, and it does so in an engaging and winsome manner. As pastors and worship leaders take to heart insights from this book, local churches and their worship services will surely be blessed.

Bruce A. Ware, professor of Christian theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

What an exceptionally helpful book! As a pastor and church planter with a generationally diverse congregation, I found this book to be a fantastic resource for helping us think through what we do when we gather. Brian and Jason have cut through the polarizing chatter on the topic of worship to provide a helpful framework for crafting our corporate gathering. More than just presenting concepts, they take us with them into their own planning sessions. Whether you are on staff at a large congregation or a volunteer in the band at a new church plant, this book will serve you well. It needs to be in the hands of anyone participating in your worship gathering.

Matthew Spandler-Davison, pastor of Redeemer Fellowship Church, Bardstown, Kentucky, and executive director of 20schemes.com

Christian worship must be built upon, shaped by, and saturated with the word of God. In this helpful book, Croft and Adkins challenge us to think biblically through every aspect of corporate worship. From theological foundations to practical help, this book will help equip you in leading Gods people.

Matt Boswell, pastor of ministries and worship, Providence Church, Frisco, Texas, and Founder of Doxology & Theology

This is the book on planning corporate worship which Ive been looking for! Drawing from years of local church ministry, rooted in sound theology, and written with pastoral care this book is a wonderfully helpful resource for all those involved in planning corporate worship services. Croft and Adkins engage worship planning with intentionality, carefulness and joy, writing with theological conviction as well as awareness of differences among Gods people and awareness of particular needs and situations of each local congregation. I also particularly appreciate their encouragement for churches to re-engage the historic practice of singing the psalms. I heartily commend this book!

Ray Van Neste, PhD, professor of biblical studies at Union University

ZONDERVAN

Gather Gods People

Copyright 2014 by Brian Croft and Jason Adkins

ePub Edition November 2014: ISBN 978-0-310-51936-2

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Croft, Brian.

Gather Gods people : understand, plan, and lead worship in your local church / Brian Croft and Jason Adkins.

p. cm. (Practical shepherding series)

ISBN 978-0-310-51935-5

1. Public worship. I. Adkins, Jason. II. Title

BV15.C76 2015

264 dc23

2014022269

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design and illustrations: Jay Smith Juicebox Designs

Interior design: Matthew Van Zomeren

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 /DCI/ 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Greg Van Court, a beloved and faithful fellow laborer we fondly remember how you nourished us with prayer and the reading of Gods word

CONTENTS

by Bob Kauflin

DETERMINING WHAT THE CHURCH should do when we gather on Sundays has contributed to no small number of tense discussions, heated debates, and church splits throughout the centuries. Christians rightly want to know what pleases God when we meet. After all, Paul admonishes us, Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lords will is (Ephesians 5:17). That includes our corporate gatherings.

But even when we agree that Scripture is our only authority, church meetings can end up looking vastly different from each other. Thats due to a number of factors. Some leaders are influenced by a business marketing model. They define success by communication skills, administrative excellence, and numerical growth. Others focus on facilitating meaningful personal encounters with God. They value individual emotional engagement and provide a buffet line of options for worshipers to choose from that might include painting, lighting candles, or reflecting on images. Still others emphasize the importance of tradition. Their meetings include a variety of elements, mostly chosen for how they connect people to practices and prayers proven over centuries.

Brian Croft and Jason Adkins offer a different approach. They really believe Gods word is sufficient to guide us when it comes to matters related to the church meeting on Sundays. While God hasnt told us everything wed like to know about what to do when we meet, he has communicated clearly what we need to know. We dont have to scour the Internet to find elements that are more interesting, approaches that are more innovative, or content that is more relevant. What matters most is right in front of us in the pages of our Bibles.

As I read through this book I was grateful for the wisdom that has come from years of study and experience. Its right in line with what Ive come to know of Brian through our friendship over the past ten years. Brian and Jason havent written mere theory. They share abundant examples of ways theyve fleshed out their biblical convictions. But their goal isnt to persuade us that our churches should look exactly like theirs. Rather, they want us to ask hard questions about whether weve thought biblically about corporate worship (hint: its more than music), and whether our beliefs have led to more intentional preparation resulting in more fruitful leadership.

While any leader will benefit from reading this book, not every leader will benefit in the same way. You may realize you need to hammer out the details of your theology of worship. You may discover tools and practices that will help you in your planning. Or you may be equipped to pray publicly, read Scripture, lead singing, and administer baptism and the Lords Supper in ways that are more Christ exalting.

A common problem among leaders is thinking that God cant use us because we lack certain gifts. You may not have the most charismatic personality. You may not have thousands of people downloading your sermons or subscribing to a weekly podcast; you may not even have a podcast. You may consider your administrative and technological skills to be just average. Thats okay. Wherever youre at and whatever kind of church you lead, this book will remind you of the great things God can accomplish through any leader who submits joyfully and faithfully to his word in the power of his Spirit.