Recalling the Hope of Glory

I began reading this week, Recalling the Hope of Glory: A Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation by Allen P. Ross. As an act of providence, I had the desire to read this work by Dr. Ross when I first saw it last year, but alas, life occurred and I was prevented from doing so. This week, however, it is a required read for my Worship Leadership course at Beeson Divinity School. Dr. Ross, as professor at Beeson, has contributed greatly to the church’s understanding of worship through his influence on other staff and students. Now he has greatly contrbtured to the universal church’s understanding of worship throguh the publication of this work. If the first few chapters are any indiciation, the next 500 pages are going to challenge me to think biblically in regards to how God desires to be worshipped. Not in style or formate per se, but in spirit and in truth.

Enjoy.

“Our attention to the Lord must not be an ordinary part of life; our worship of him should be the most momentous, urgent, and glorious activity in our lives.” (35)

“For worship to be as glorious as it should be, for it to lift people out of their mundane cares and fill them with adoration and praise, for it to be the life-changing and life-defining experience it was designed to be, it must be inspired by a vision so great and so glorious that what we call worship will be transformed from a routine gathering into a transcendent meeting with the living God. When that happens, then we will be caught up in our spirits to join the heavenly choirs of saints and angels who even now are gathered around the throne of God. Thereafter, our hearts and minds will be filled with the hope of glory so that we may truly love and serve the LORD in this life.” (39)

“It is the greatness of God that makes his grace so amazing; or to express it in terms of his grace, the way to God in the highest heaven is through the lowest contrition, for those of a contrite heart may know that God dwells with them, and they will dwell with him some day in the highest holy place.” (44)



---Dr. Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory: A Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation, (Grand rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2006)