What is Heaven’s layout for Worship?

Gather Around The Glory Pt 4:

What is Heaven’s layout for Worship?

Prolouge: So What?

Training in ‘design-process-flow-outcome’ will always bring you to a certain phrase that continues to prove itself true, again and again:

‘Your processes and structures are perfectly designed to render the product and outcome you are currently experiencing.’

The analogy of that is a statement, recently attributed to Albert Einstein, but actually found to have been first stated by Narcotics Anonymous in 1981:

“Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.”

I read blog after blog, hear leadership ‘turn-around’ strategy after strategy, and see repeated negative-church-growth statistics, and have to wonder HOW the above statement holds true to what the Church is experiencing in our day, especially related to the area of God-adoration and worship.

This series, ‘Gather Around the Glory’ asked some big questions, through the eyes of actual historical realities and Biblical context.

I guess the biggest question is: what is the Spirit saying to the Churches regarding the area of structure and layout? (Maybe seven times, like in Revelations…??)

The follow-up question then hangs: if it was something beyond the current ‘status quo’… who would actually listen?

Here’s the ‘so what?’… After studying the Scriptures, and the history surrounding ‘sacred places’, I’m pretty convinced that the so-so, luke-warm life of those in the American Church may have something significant to do with layout of our gatherings.

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Soon to Come at AdoreTheLord.blog: The Three Tabernacles

One of the ‘rabbit trails’ I ended up following in this topic-area was the themes of the Tabernacles in the Old and the New Testament. I suspect they speak to the issue of worship layout and form. Some dialogue I’ve had with worship leaders has been around ‘Tabernacle Worship’. Stay tuned, the Tabernacles will receive their own separate blog explorations!

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<>What is Heaven’s Layout for God-Worship?

The Bible is filled with super-natural encounters with the Heavenly realm. However, I looked to find descriptions of the actual layout of these encounters involving worship in Heaven.

We’ll let the Scriptures speak for themselves, the emphasis points are added (all from New International Version/NIV)

Isaiah 6

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

(art by Taylor Leong)

2 Chronicles 18

¹⁸ Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left.

(art by Albrecht Dürer)

Revelations Ch 4:

² At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. ⁴ Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits^[a] of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.

Revelations Ch 5:

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

(Photo: Hillsong 25)

TAKE-AWAY:

All this stuff about worship layout… I may have to wait until I get to that Heavenly place… until then…

written by crisbaj

© 2017-18 by crisbaj/AdoreTheLord.blog  All rights reserved.

All Scripture references from New International Version unless otherwise indicated.

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March 2018: sorry for the gaps in the blog. International travel, l-i-f-e… thanks!