Worship, Praise and a Church ON ITS WAY...
Worship Leader – Stanley Johnson
Other leaders - Jonathan Abraham, Stanley Chacko, Ruby George
The Psalms declares in chapter 95:1-2, "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with
thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song." What a glorious and appealing
statement this is by the psalmist to come to our God and approach Him the way He
wants to be approached, in worship, music and song. Our God is a God of order
and He expects us to draw near to Him in that way. There are other references
that acknowledge this approach about coming before the Lord in thanksgiving and
with music and song (ex: Psalms 100:4). This ministry is so important that it
comes first in our advance towards Him. What an integral and dynamic role the
ministry of music through praise and worship continues to play even today!
My name is Stanley Johnson, leader of the worship ministry for Chattanooga
Christian Assembly. It's hard to imagine that 20 years ago music would play the
role it does today in CCA. Gone are the days of just a singer, piano and drums,
and here now are the sounds of a united melody of a more than 10 member group
and an equally essential sound team. We praise God for our beginning, but by His
grace this is a ministry that continues to grow, thrive and push forward on the
road towards excellence.
We have a vision and mandate from God for this church regarding worship:
- To offer Him more than just an offering, but an "acceptable offering (Gen.
4:4b)." This requires more than just an offering through music, but with our
lives ( Rom. 12:1-2, Amos 5:23-24). And through living lives of worship, music
and songs will be the outflow of actions and overflow of our lives to Him (Luke
6:45b). Worship is not exclusively music or a song… it's a lifestyle!
- To recognize that we as the body of Christ globally, this church locally and
its praise team are called to the ministry of worship and moreover the family of
God by His grace. We have never achieved anything by our own power to deserve or
earn the gifts that have been given to us.
- To understand the power of our praise and worship and to spread that knowledge
to body of Christ so we can feel the awesome manifestation of God's presence not
just on Sundays or Wednesday nights, but every second of everyday in our lives.
God dwells in praise, so you can be at church or at home, in your car, at
school, work or anywhere else giving praise to Him and He will inhabit that
worship (Psalms 22:3) and effect your surrounding with His glory!
Today is the greatest opportunity for the church and music ministry. We are in
no way professionals or qualified by our own merits. It is nothing but the grace
of God and driven passion that has been placed in us by Him. We approach this
calling broken and yielding, but also with the power and anointing to play and
sing to romance our King Jesus. We humbly ask for your gracious prayers and
support in joining us as we continue on this road to uplifting the name that is
above every name, JESUS, through our lives and our music!
God bless you friend and live to worship…
Stanley Johnson
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