Worship: What Are We Doing?

Why are you here every week? Why show up at this building at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday? Why do we gather here and assemble? What makes this assembly any different than others you gather in throughout the week? Well, we’re here to worship. But, what does that really mean? What does that involve?

I enjoy hearing what so many think this is. Furthermore, what makes Christian worship any different than other forms and kinds of worship? Here are a few thoughts on the matter that I read in a yahoo discussion thread this past week.

Worship means “to give honor, homage, reverence, respect, adoration, praise, or glory to a superior being.” God demands worship because He and He alone is worthy of it. He is the only being that truly deserves worship. He requests that we acknowledge His greatness, His power and His glory. Revelation 4:11 tells us, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created. God expects us to worship Him as an expression of reverence and thanksgiving to Him. But God wants even more than that. God also expects us to be obedient to Him. He wants not only for us to love Him; He wants us to act justly towards each other, to show love and compassion to others. In this way, we present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him. This glorifies God and is our “reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). When we worship with an obedient heart and an open and repentant spirit, God is glorified, Christians are purified, the church is edified and the lost are evangelized. These are all the elements of true worship.”

I hope that you know what you are doing when you worship, or what you do when you merely go through the motions and do not. Will you let yourself talk during the service today or be distracted by other things? Worship requires that you engage your heart, your mind, your voice and even your soul today. Won’t you please join us as we seek to do this in spirit and in truth? If not, be blessed by it today as the church around you does.

Rob Fraser, Youth and Family Minister