PRAISE MINISTRY

WHY PRAISE GOD?

PSALM 150: 6 commands: "Let everything that has breath give praise to the Lord! Hallelujah!"

Each and every one of us should praise the Lord, but from a heart of love overflowing with thanksgiving for all that God is and for all that He has done!

HOW DO WE PRAISE AND WORSHIP GOD?

"Praise", in the BLD Covenant of Communion (CC), is defined as "the verbal acknowledgment of God's Holiness and Majesty, His inherent and inexhaustible Goodness and Benevolence. Our praise of God establishes His place within and amongst us, and our place in Him. We are His creation: His handiwork flowing from His mind and heart, endlessly and absolutely dependent on Him. We are 'in' Him, as we are in Christ. He, in turn, is present in and to us, nourishing and sustaining us, offering us a limitless and ceaseless flow of grace."

CC defines "worship" as the celebration in our lives—in our spirits, minds and hearts, and in our beliefs, words and acts—of the Holiness and Sovereignty, and of the Loving Kindness and Majesty of God. We worship as we outwardly express our repentance, reverence and awe, our love, joy and thanksgiving, through acts of praise and exaltation, of music and song, and of prayer, silence and prophecy."

The highest and purest form of worship is the Eucharistic Celebration, instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and handed down through the centuries as the sacrament of worship. All forms of worship are derived from, and serve to affirm, the memorial and sacrificial character of the Eucharist.

WHY SHOULD THERE BE MUSIC?

PSALM 150:3-5 says: "Give praise with blasts upon the horn, praise Him with harp and lyre.Give praise with tambourines and dance, praise Him with flutes and strings.Give praise with crashing cymbals, praise Him with sounding cymbals."

"The expressions of our worship flow as springs of living water through the merged medium of music and song-rhythms lifting in our spirit, fused with words flowing from our heart. The sentiments we feel about God and towards Him are expressed from the core of our spirits in deeper, more intimate ways through music and song. In both song and prayer, we are first of all the instruments of God's Word, and only then, the vessels of our own human spirit. As we sing and pray at worship, the Spirit transforms the dialogue between God and ourselves into a mystical communion of persons." (CC)

WHAT DOES BLD CORPORATE WORSHIP MEAN?

CC states, "Corporate worship is the Community's anointed act of ministering unto the Lord in solidarity and order, with one mind and one heart. The entire Community is gathered together as God's special people to come into His presence and communion and receive the power of the His Spirit. We dedicate the moments of Corporate Worship to fulfill the commandments of His Love and follow the directions of His work as wellsprings and guidelights in our Community's life and programs and in our day-to-day lives." The Praise Ministry, coordinated by the Music Leader and in accord with the Worship Leader, ministers to the entire community -- enabling all to fully participate in the expressions of praise through music and song.

WHY IS PRAISE MINISTRY IN FRONT DURING WORSHIP SERVICE?

2 Chr 20:21 says: "And when he had consulted with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endures forever."

2 Chr 5:12 - "The Levites which were the singers…having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar…"

Ps 68: 25 - "The singers went before, the players on instruments after…"

WHO MAY JOIN THE BLD PRAISE MINISTRY?

CC enumerates the qualities/qualifications of the Praise members as follows:

7.3.a. QUALITIES / QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS

• A member of the Praise Ministry must be known to exhibit the gifts of prayer and exhortation, to find joy in giving praise and worship to the Lord, and to bear the fruit of the Spirit in his/her life.
• Members should substantively demonstrate the outward as well as interior qualities of true discipleship in the Lord. They are particularly cleansed in speech and refined in demeanor and attire, and are living faithfully the Word they proclaim in song and music.
• Members must demonstrate God-given talent for either singing, playing appropriate musical instruments, supervising sound-enhancement systems or administering to the material needs of the ministry.
• All members of the Praise Ministry must be Covenant Disciples of the Community.
• Non-covenant members may, however, be accepted as trainees, apprentices or understudies under the following conditions:

• they have gone through the Life in the Spirit and have completed their Service and    
   Intercessory Ministry residencies.
• they pass the auditions.
Full member status can be granted only after all requirements for discipleship are completed and the prospective member signs the covenant.

Guidelines on How to do LSS Baptism Exhortation.