Did you enjoy the interviews during the "True Joy" sermon series? For me, it was an absolute delight to sit down with each person as he or she spoke about praying, serving, suffering and thinking with joy.
There were many emotional and inspirational moments. If you missed one, please visit our website where you can find them under "Sermons."
Sitting down, David Letterman or Jimmy Fallon style, and interviewing a guest is not something that is taught in worship classes at Calvin Theological Seminary. What we're taught in seminary is that a worship service is to be set up as a dialogue between God and his people. In this dialogue, God welcomes his people, the people respond with songs of praise and prayers for forgiveness, God reassures his people of his pardon, the people respond with more songs of praise and an offering of thanks, God then speaks to his people through a sermon preached on a Bible passage, the people respond with a closing prayer and song while God sends us on our way with his blessing.
If a worship service is to be thought of as a dialogue between God and his people, how does an interview fit? Does it even belong? I can imagine some churches where interviews such as the ones we heard would be nixed.
I happen to believe that interviews do fit into Reformed worship because they are redemptive stories about God's activity in our lives today. As personal testimonies, they testify to the work of the Holy Spirit and the life changing love of Jesus. Each person's story, solicited by means of interview questions, confirms what is preached in the sermon: the love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ is not just a past occurrence or a future hope; it is a present reality.
The leadership of Hope Fellowship has always celebrated the use of testimonies on our annual Stand Up Sunday and various other occasions. They have often encouraged me to invite others to share their walk with Christ in our worship services. Our church leadership understands the inspirational power of a personal story.
Their request for more stories was on my mind when I spent a morning of my sabbatical googling various church services. I came across The Hour of Power, the ministry founded by Dr. Robert Schuller that has been restructured after going bankrupt. This much reduced Protestant congregation, renamed "Shepherd's Grove", is now led by Pastor "Bobby" Schuller, Dr. Schuller's grandson. Their worship service, still broadcast around the world and still called The Hour of Power, included a sit down interview by their young pastor with a guest. As I watched, I realized that I had found a format that could help us bring out the life changing stories that Hope Fellowship's leadership had requested. Consequently, on my return, I asked our visual arts team to design an interview set. And you know the rest.
I thank God for Yolanda, Katherine, Amanda and Reuben who agreed to be interviewed during the "True Joy" series. They contributed to our dialogue with God by effectively using their own lives to illustrate his goodness and love. I'm also thankful to God for a church and a visionary leadership that gave me the time to explore new ways of communicating the "old, old story of Jesus and his love."
When will we experience the next interview? You'll know the minute that you step into church. If you see the interview set in place, our dialogue between God and his people will include another opportunity for someone to "tell of all His wonderful acts" (Psalm 105:2) in that person's life today.
- Pastor Peter
There were many emotional and inspirational moments. If you missed one, please visit our website where you can find them under "Sermons."
Sitting down, David Letterman or Jimmy Fallon style, and interviewing a guest is not something that is taught in worship classes at Calvin Theological Seminary. What we're taught in seminary is that a worship service is to be set up as a dialogue between God and his people. In this dialogue, God welcomes his people, the people respond with songs of praise and prayers for forgiveness, God reassures his people of his pardon, the people respond with more songs of praise and an offering of thanks, God then speaks to his people through a sermon preached on a Bible passage, the people respond with a closing prayer and song while God sends us on our way with his blessing.
If a worship service is to be thought of as a dialogue between God and his people, how does an interview fit? Does it even belong? I can imagine some churches where interviews such as the ones we heard would be nixed.
I happen to believe that interviews do fit into Reformed worship because they are redemptive stories about God's activity in our lives today. As personal testimonies, they testify to the work of the Holy Spirit and the life changing love of Jesus. Each person's story, solicited by means of interview questions, confirms what is preached in the sermon: the love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ is not just a past occurrence or a future hope; it is a present reality.
The leadership of Hope Fellowship has always celebrated the use of testimonies on our annual Stand Up Sunday and various other occasions. They have often encouraged me to invite others to share their walk with Christ in our worship services. Our church leadership understands the inspirational power of a personal story.
Their request for more stories was on my mind when I spent a morning of my sabbatical googling various church services. I came across The Hour of Power, the ministry founded by Dr. Robert Schuller that has been restructured after going bankrupt. This much reduced Protestant congregation, renamed "Shepherd's Grove", is now led by Pastor "Bobby" Schuller, Dr. Schuller's grandson. Their worship service, still broadcast around the world and still called The Hour of Power, included a sit down interview by their young pastor with a guest. As I watched, I realized that I had found a format that could help us bring out the life changing stories that Hope Fellowship's leadership had requested. Consequently, on my return, I asked our visual arts team to design an interview set. And you know the rest.
I thank God for Yolanda, Katherine, Amanda and Reuben who agreed to be interviewed during the "True Joy" series. They contributed to our dialogue with God by effectively using their own lives to illustrate his goodness and love. I'm also thankful to God for a church and a visionary leadership that gave me the time to explore new ways of communicating the "old, old story of Jesus and his love."
When will we experience the next interview? You'll know the minute that you step into church. If you see the interview set in place, our dialogue between God and his people will include another opportunity for someone to "tell of all His wonderful acts" (Psalm 105:2) in that person's life today.
- Pastor Peter
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