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Chip Stam, Director of the Institute for Christian Worship at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary publishes a weekly Worship Quote. You can get on his list at wqotw.org. Here it is for this week:

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

Bruce Reyes-Chow is serving on the newly formed "Worship Market Team" for Apple, Inc. (The company formerly known as Apple Computer.) Adam wants your feedback to feed back to Apple.

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)...:)

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• Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
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T. Ashton Reynolds begins asking "what does worship look like?"

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.

Stuff Christians Like gives us three alternative names for "blended worship."

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.

Confessions of a Girl who loves Jesus... tells us that she bought a hymnal and a Bible this weekend. The Psalms she quotes would make a great devotional this morning. Her Why the blog? entry is pretty inspirational too.

Julie Reid compares her recent college football experience to our worship experience.

Christian Post has Billy Graham's response to the question:

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?

Every so often, I'll find two posts about worship that sound like they might have been done by the same person, or two posts that are on the same topic. These sound like they might have been done by a worship leader and someone in their congregation. My guess is that these two don't even know each other!

Labourer in the Vineyard is a choir director n a Catholic church and is concerned about hit-and-run choir members.

Jason shares his experience of the irony of singing "Come... just as you are to worship" and seeing two mothers admonish their daughters for dancing.

BE603 recounts the current controversies about instruments and projection at his church, and how he remembers his father handling church controversies growing up.

David Gate is starting a series of posts on Worship Clichés. He has issues with the phrase "worship is a lifestyle," and not in the direction you might think.

Exotes Paremboles recommends reviving a time of family worship. The source he cites is more liturgical in nature. Does your family worship? How did you start?

Paul Glavic discusses the pitfalls of theology terminology and illustrates living a life of worship with a city metaphor.