Ripe for Harvest

S ESSION 1: S EEING THE B IG P ICTURE • 33

The Power of Praise Dr. Don Davis • www.tumi.org/churchresources

What is the relationship between theology and music?

There has always been a close association between theology and music. A theological drama, such as Calvin’s Geneva Liturgy, would be barren without the musical settings of the Psalms provided by Louis Bourgeois. A social expression of faith such as the civil rights movement of the 1960s would have been greatly diminished without the hymn “We Shall Overcome.” Karl Barth’s theological endeavors, culminating in twelve massive volumes of Church Dogmatics, would, by his own testimony, have been arid had he not begun each day listening to Mozart while he shaved. No theological statement of divine ineffability can begin to compare with the wonder and mystery communicated in Beethoven’s last string quarters, particularly the Cavatina in Opus 130 and the opening fugue in Opus 131. If we wish to enter into the spirit of medieval faith, we had better not only read St. Thomas’ 24-volume Summa but also listen to (or, better yet, sing ourselves) St. Francis’ “Canticle of the Sun.” ~ Robert McAfee Brown. Theology in a New Key . as quoted in Alive Now, Jul/Aug 1987.

E XPERIENCING THE P OWER OF P RAISE

I. Seven Convincing Reasons Why Urban Church Planters Must Make Praise Their Central Priority

A. Reason One: The entire universe, animate and inanimate, was created to give the infinitely beautiful and glorious triune God triumphant, unceasing, and massive praise.

1. Ps. 145.10 (NKJV) – All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You.

Context Values/Vision Prepare Launch Assemble Nurture Transition Schedule/Charter

2. Rev. 4.8 (NKJV) – The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”