Today's WORSHIP QUOTE presents three brief passages from the Gospel of Matthew. We know that all of Jesus' teachings are true and good and perfect; but these three have somehow been referred to as great--the Great Confession, the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission. What do these familiar texts tell us about Christian worship?

CHRISTIAN WORSHIP: THE GREAT CONFESSION
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

--Matthew 16:13-20, NIV

CHRSITIAN WORSHIP: THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

--Matthew 22:34-40, NIV

CHRISTIAN WORSHIP: THE GREAT COMMISSION
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

--Matthew 28:16-20, NIV

Our first two weeks at LifeWayWorship.com have been incredible and hundreds of you have already purchased and downloaded WorshipCharts, WorshipTracks, and PowerPoint® presentations. Now that a couple of Sundays have passed, we would love to hear from you. How are you using the resources at LifeWayWorship.com? Are they making a difference in your ministry? Let us know by emailing us at worship@lifeway.com, or by commenting here at the LifeWay Worship Project Blog.

Best comment:

Obviously, you want to set up a breakaway church to be called the MAC(USA), whilst us computer dinosaurs will have to remain in the PC(USA)...:)

LifeWayWorship.com is now open! Over 200 arrangements of top hymns and praise and worship songs are now available for download in WorshipChart, WorshipMedia and WorshipTrack formats

Plus, three arrangements are absolutely free:

• Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
• Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee -II
• Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus - II

These three titles also include a preview of our groundbreaking new SongMap™ feature.

If you have questions, please feel free to visit the Frequently Asked Questions (yes... there are already questions that have been frequently asked!) or our Customer Service page for more details.

Ten songs will be available for testing and downloading in their default versions for WorshipCharts, WorshipTracks, PowerPoint®, and basic worship planning. Of these ten, seven will be available for actual purchase and the other three available to test the SongMap™ application; mapped arrangements may be downloaded at no charge.

In order to properly test checkout, you will still need to use a credit card or your LifeWay account number, even to download the three free SongMap™ titles. If your order consists of free arrangements exclusively, your account will not be charged and your receipt will reflect no charge. The test is open to everyone!

To get started:

• Click here to open an online guide and instructions


• Have a major credit card or your LifeWay account number and PIN code ready.


• Should you need technical assistance during the test, please contact Scott or Daren at 800-436-3869.

Take your time exploring the site and trying out all the features--those of you who participated in last week's test are encouraged to test new arrangements in SongMap, or perhaps features that you didn't test last week (like the basic planner tool).

Thanks to you, we're on target to release over 200 titles by the end of this month, with 100+ to be released at regular intervals beginning mid-November. Thank you again for your time--your contribution to LifeWayWorship.com's testing will help us become better servants for generations of worship and music ministries worldwide.

Does it look like a bunch of people standing in, what in any other context would be considered a rock concert, with their hands lifted and their eye closed in that kinda worshipful squint? It is sitting in church singing songs composed 400-600 years ago? Is it a capella (no instruments) voices working for perfect harmony? Is it falling on our face saying nothing?

He answers it with an unexpected answer: Isaiah 58:6-7.

I'm cool with blended worship. Honestly. Although I tease, I should probably warn you that the church I start, iGracePointeLifeTruthHouseNorthRiverElevate, is going to have blended worship. It's going to be a blend of awesome and wicked awesome.

I know I'm supposed to worship God when I go to church, but I can't say I always do. My thoughts wander, or I get to thinking about the people around me and I come away disappointed in myself for not really worshipping. How can I keep from being distracted?