BIBLIA / BIBLICAL TEACHINGS

What is true worship?

As a child growing up at the Midway Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. in Folsom, LA, under the then leadership of my father and pastor, Bishop Vernon E. Kennebrew, I was introduced to the
term worship. My father regularly read Psalm 96:9 in our evening services: "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth" (KJV). The Book of Psalms is filled with hundreds of poetic anthems used in the religious celebrations of the children of Israel that clearly instructed them (and us) how to worship God. Yet, even though I heard the word worship in conversation, testimonies, songs, and Scripture, I didn't completely understand what it meant.

The Priority of Worship

Worship is not the slow song that the choir sings. Worship is not the amount you place in the offering basket. Worship is not volunteering in children's church. Yes, these may be acts or expressions of worship, but they do not define what true worship really is. There are numerous definitions of the word worship. Yet, one in particular encapsulates the priority we should give to worship as a spiritual discipline: Worship is to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission (Webster's Dictionary,1828).

True worship, in other words, is defined by the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities. True worship is a matter of the heart expressed through a lifestyle of holiness. Thus, if your lifestyle does not express the beauty of holiness through an extravagant or exaggerated love for God, and you do not live in extreme or excessive submission to God, then I invite you to make worship a non-negotiable priority in your life.

The Person We Worship

We worship God because he is God. Period. Our extravagant love and extreme submission to the Holy One flows out of the reality that God loved us first. It is highly appropriate to thank God for all the things he has done for us. However, true worship is shallow if it is solely an acknowledgement of God's wealth. Psalm 96:5-6 says, "For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary." In other words, our worship must be toward the one who is worthy simply because of his identity as the Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent One, and not just because God is wealthy and able to meet our needs and answer our prayers. We must focus our practice of worship on the worthiness of God and not his wealthiness.

Hence, think about this: Would you continue to worship God if, from this day forward, God's miraculous signs and wonders were not so profoundly evident in your life? Would God still be worthy of your worship? Or is your worship completely dependent upon the abundance of God's blessings upon your life? Do you only worship God for what he can do for you?

The Promise of Worship

Because of our God's unimaginable generosity toward us, God, in all of his glory, chooses to respond to us through our worship. This is the promise—that when we worship God with extravagant love and extreme submission, God will come and commune with us. The promise is not that we will feel great or that our heavy load will be lifted, but that God will come. And when God comes in his own time as a response to our worship, Psalm 96:13 declares, "Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness."

In other words, when we worship our God, he will inspect our hearts first; the other benefits that we tend to expect because we lift up our feeble hands and shout with our weak voices are worthless if our hearts are not right with God. Thus, my sisters and brothers, when we offer God our true worship, we are inviting him to inspect our hearts for anything that is not like him. This is the promise of worship—we can be transformed into God's likeness because he will reveal the truth about the condition of our hearts as we worship him

Worship is having an extravagant or exaggerated love for God, and if your life is not lived in extreme or excessive submission to him, then I invite you to make worship a non-negotiable priority in your life. Evaluate your expressions of worship so that through singing, declaring, and giving, you will "give to the LORD the glory he deserves … " (Ps. 96:8). The promise is that when we worship God in this way, he will come and commune with us. And above all, God will respond to your worship by making your heart more like his.

Delesslyn A. Kennebrew, J.D., M.Div. is the founder of Spirited Concepts Consulting Network and maintains a blog at www.spiritedconcepts.net. She hosts the Kids Korner radio program every Sunday evening and will launch a non-profit speaker’s bureau in the fall of 2012.

Source: http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/bible-answers/spirituallife/what-is-true-worship.html?start=2

Christian Worship - More Than Music
Christian worship is often thought of as the music portion of a church service - people singing songs to God, heads back, eyes closed, and hands raised in the air as they sing. Christian worship happens when we sing to God, whether in church or alone - in our cars or in the shower. If our desire is to please the heart of God, it is worship, no matter where the location or how many are involved.

Music affects our emotions and the lyrics can swell our hearts, causing us to become lost in the experience. Christian praise and worship music is a great tool for helping us feel closer to God. It's not uncommon for people to even pick a church because of the style of its worship music. Often people will emerge from a service saying, "The worship was wonderful today," or "The sermon was great, but I was really moved by the worship."

You may be surprised to realize that the entire service is about worshipping God!

Christian Worship - Showing reverence and gratitude to God
Another picture of Christian worship is showing reverence and gratitude by bowing down before God, as in this passage from Nehemiah:

"Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, 'Amen! Amen!' Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground" (Nehemiah 8:6).

Both singing and bowing down are acts of worship, but they are only part of the picture. Christian worship is so much more than that!

Christian Worship - It's all about the position of our hearts
Christian worship begins with discovering and admitting what we have been worshipping in our lives. All of us worship something, whether we know it or not. We may not physically bow down to it, or offer it songs of praise and adoration, but whatever we devote most of our time and attention to is often what we worship. Consider this Merriam-webster definition of worship: "Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also: an act of expressing such reverence; a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual; extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem."

Seen in that light, it's easy to see that we can worship God, we can worship money, or power, or a rock star, or we can even worship a lifestyle. Worship is more than an act of reverence. It is an attitude of the heart.

Christian worship is clearly of interest to God. He knows we have an inner need to worship, so He asks us to worship Him. He, being God, can handle the weight of being worshiped; humans cannot. People who are worshiped by others can often be influenced to think more highly of themselves than they ought. The Bible makes it plain that there is only one God worthy of our worship:

"Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land" (Deuteronomy 6:13-15)

Do you love God? Are you thankful for what He has done for you through His Son Jesus Christ?

"Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness" (Psalm 29:2)

You can follow the admonition of Psalm 29:2 by turning away from what you formerly worshiped and acknowledging the lordship of Jesus. Let the life you live be an act of worship to Him. Whether you are called to be a preacher, a singer, a writer, a software engineer, a salesperson, or a truck driver, you can do everything for the glory of God. When you do, you are engaging in Christian worship.

The Bible says that one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). He alone is worthy of our worship and praise. One day, both those who choose to worship Him and those who have refused His free gift will acknowledge that He is Lord above all. When that day comes, only those who have chosen Him will go on to live with Him in eternity. According to Scripture, those who have denied Him will spend eternity with Satan and the fallen angels who are condemned already.

Do you know Jesus as your Lord? Why wait? Discover, while you still can, that the Jesus Christ who gave his live for you is worthy of being your CEO, your life director, your all-in-all. All you have to do is believe that Jesus died and rose three days later. Then ask Him to forgive your sins and save you. Millions have already made that choice - you'll never regret it!

- See more at: http://www.allaboutgod.com/christian-worship.htm#sthash.BDLH5kz3.dpuf

Worship

Since the night before Jesus died, his followers have always sung.  Christian worship around the world is extremely varied, but very often involves music. 

 Church services in different centuries and continents have often featured music in praise of God, Bible readings, prayer for the needs of the world and those who are ill, statements of faith and prayers seeking forgiveness for wrongdoing.  A frequent feature is a sermon that explains the Bible and relates it to the present day.  The style of these activities matches the local culture, although some people find it most appropriate to worship God in ways echoing those that their ancestors of former Christian centuries used.

 Eating bread and wine together is a distinctive part of Christian worship because this is the way that Jesus asked his followers to remember him.  For many Christians a service involving bread and wine (known as mass, communion, eucharist or a number of other names) is central to the way they are spiritually sustained.

 Silence, which is particularly compelling when people experience it together, also features often in Christian worship.  It is used to contemplate God and seek his guidance through life.  The worship of the Society of Friends (Quakers) is almost entirely silent, and there is a long tradition of meditation in monasteries.

 Charismatic worship is common in some churches, but occasionally regarded with suspicion in others.  It involves a direct sense of the Holy Spirit alongside the other features of worship.  It is spontaneous and informal.  It includes periods during which people say or sing words in languages unknown to them.  This is known as ‘speaking in tongues’ and is recognised to be a gift given by God.  It is usually exciting and compelling.  Sometimes an entire congregation takes part at once, and sometimes one individual will speak unfamiliar words while someone else translates them.  This kind of worship also includes intense prayer for healing and words of challenge or encouragement that seem to come directly from God.  Sometimes worshippers sit or lay down and seem aware solely of the enriching love of Jesus.

 Christians also have a longstanding tradition of meeting in each others’ homes.  They study the Bible in small groups, pray for each other as they share what God is doing in their lives, and organize charitable work to help vulnerable people.  Eating meals together is often the context in which practical help and encouragement is given, which is why Christians speak positively of how they lives are improved by being part of a Christian community.

 Of course, churches are also places in which people mark rites of passage such as funerals and weddings.  This is true both for those who have a nominal faith and for those who have the kind of faith that transforms their lives.  Vast numbers of people in countries whose decency has been shaped by Christian heritage feel that it is right to seek God’s blessing whenever they make vows or at times of particular joy or sadness.  Times of national significance, meetings of councils and parliaments, and remembrance of the sacrifices involved in war regularly take place in Christian settings.

Source: http://www.christianity.org.uk/index.php/worship.php

What Is Worship? A Survey of Scripture

Many Christian churches have changed their worship styles. As is often the case with experiences, we have different impressions and reactions to worship styles. In this article, we examine what the Bible says about worship. Let's look at the way God’s people worshiped before Moses, after Moses, and after Jesus. Then let's see how that biblical insight can help inform our worship in the modern world.

Definitions

The Bible doesn’t give a formal definition of worship. But perhaps we can start by seeing what various words for worship mean. The English word "worship" comes from two Old English words: weorth, which means "worth," and scipe or ship, which means something like shape or "quality." We can see the Old English word -ship in modern words like friendship and sportsmanship – that’s the quality of being a friend, or the quality of being a good sport.

So worth-ship is the quality of having worth or of being worthy. When we worship, we are saying that God has worth, that he is worthy. Worship means to declare worth, to attribute worth. Or to put it in biblical terms, we praise God. We speak, or sing, about how good and powerful God is.

This is a purpose for which we are called: "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). We were called for the purpose of praising God, worshiping God. That is one of the job descriptions of a Christian. We should declare that God is worthy, worth more than everything else put together.

Now let’s look at the biblical words. In both Hebrew and Greek, there are two major kinds of words for worship. The first kind means to bow down, to kneel, to put one’s face down as an act of respect and submission. Our body language is saying, I will do whatever you want me to. I am ready to listen to your instructions and I am willing to obey. The other kind of biblical word means to serve. Roughly half of the time these words are translated as worship, and the other half as serve. It carries the idea of doing something for God — making a sacrifice or carrying out his instructions.

Of course, word meanings don’t prove what worship is, but they do illustrate three kinds of worship. There is

1. worship that involves speaking, and
2. worship that involves listening, and
3. a worship that involves doing.

There is a worship that expresses the heart, and worship that involves the mind, and a worship that involves the body. There is a worship that is giving praise upward, a worship that is receiving instructions from above, and a worship that carries out instruction in the world around us.

We need all three types of worship. Some people focus primarily on speaking or singing praise to God. Praise is good, but if all we do is praise God, without ever listening to what he says, we have to ask whether we believe the words we are saying. If he is really all wise and all loving, then we need to be attentive to what he is telling us, because he is worth listening to.

Similarly, all talk and no action does not show God the respect he deserves. Actions speak louder than words, and if our behavior isn’t changed by God, then our actions are saying that God isn’t important — he’s a nice idea, but not relevant to our day-to-day lives. When we really believe that God is worthy of every praise, then we will be willing to listen and to change the way we live in response to such a worthy God. We will trust him and seek him and want to please him as much as we can. Worship should affect our behavior.

Response with all our being

Another preliminary point is that worship is a response to God. We can’t know God’s worth, much less declare it, unless God reveals himself to us. So God initiates worship by revealing himself to us. Then we respond, and the proper response is worship. The more we grasp his greatness, his power, his love, his character, the more we understand his worthiness, the better we can declare his worth – the better we can worship.

Our worship is a response to what God has revealed himself to be, not only in who he is, but also in what he has done and is doing and will do in the future. Worship includes all our responses to God – including a response with our mind, such as our belief in God’s worthiness, our emotions, such as love and trust, and our actions and our words. Our heart expresses itself in words and songs; our mind is active when we want to learn what God wants us to do, and our bodies and strength are involved when we obey and when we serve.

Both Old Testament and New Testament tell us that our relationship with God should involve our heart, mind, soul, and strength. It involves all that we are. Worship involves heart, mind, soul and strength, too.

The fact that we believe God says something about his worthiness. The fact that we trust him and love him declares that he is worthy of love and trust. The fact that we obey him also says that he has worth. Our words complete the picture by saying that God has worth. In the words we say to one another, in the prayers we say to God, in the songs we sing, we can declare that God is worth more than all other gods, worth more than all other things.

We can worship God all by ourselves. But it is also something we do together. God has revealed himself not just to me, but to many people. God puts us in a community, he reveals himself to a community and through a community, and the community together responds to him in worship, in declaring that he is worth all honor and praise.

Moreover, God promises that whenever we gather in Jesus’ name, he will be there. We gather in his presence, and because of his promise, we expect him to be with us. He is the One who calls us together, who reveals himself to us, who initiates the worship and is the object of our worship.

One important method we use to worship God is that of music. In church, we have someone called a worship leader, who leads us in singing hymns and spiritual songs. So a worship leader is a song leader, and because of that some people automatically think of music when they hear the word worship.

Music is important, but worship is not just music – it involves our entire relationship with God, all our heart, mind, soul, and strength – it involves all the ways in which we can respond to God, all the ways we can praise him by what we say and do, all the ways we can demonstrate that God is worthy of all praise and honor and allegiance.

Worship before the time of Moses

If we survey the Bible, we will see a wide variety of methods that God’s people have used to worship him and express their devotion to him. Some of these methods were done by specific command from God; others seem to have been the choice of the persons involved. We see this pattern throughout the Bible: some things are commanded and some things are optional.

We don’t have to read the Bible very far before we encounter a story about worship. Genesis 4 tells us that Cain and Abel brought an offering to the Lord. We aren’t told why – we are just told that they did it. A few chapters later, we read that Noah built an altar after the Flood, and he sacrificed some animals.

Later, Abraham made sacrifices. He built an altar at Shechem, another at Bethel, then at Hebron, and at Mount Moriah. As part of his worship, Abraham also prayed, circumcised and tithed. Isaac built an altar at Beersheba and he prayed. Jacob set up a stone pillar at Bethel and poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it as some sort of worship. He built an altar at Shechem, and one at Bethel. He vowed to tithe and he prayed. What conclusions can we draw from this?

• First, no one needed a priest. Everyone built their own altars, sacrificed their own animals and did their own worship. The head of the household acted as the religious leader for the family. We see that in the book of Job, too: Job made sacrifices on behalf of his children. There was no special priesthood. Each person could worship without a priest.
• Second, there aren’t many commands about the worship that the patriarchs did. God sometimes told his people where to build an altar and what to offer, but for the most part, the altars and offerings seem to have been initiated by the people. There’s no mention of special times or special days or special seasons. There doesn’t seem to be any restriction on place, either. The patriarchs stayed away from Baal worship, but other than that, they worshiped the true God wherever and whenever and however they wanted. 
• Third, not much is said about method – the people could pour out wine or oil, totally incinerate an animal, or roast it and eat part of it. Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not limited by time, location or method. The key word is flexibility. The detailed rules that God gave through Moses did not apply to the patriarchs. They were not restricted by rules about special places, people, rituals and days.

One thing was important – probably the greatest commandment about worship, the most important rule about worship no matter who we are or when we live. The first and greatest commandment is this: You shall worship no other gods.

When God dealt with Jacob, he was not concerned about how he was worshiped – his primary concern was that Jacob worship the true God and no other gods. God demands exclusive worship, 100 percent allegiance. Only that can do justice to his worth. There’s no room for loving any other gods even 1 percent. We cannot allow anything to get in the way of our worship relationship with God. We cannot let money, self-consciousness, busyness or anything else get in the way. Worship is to be our highest priority.

Moses and the tabernacle

In the days of Moses, worship went from very little structure to very specific and very detailed structure. God specified exactly

• when sacrifices were to be made,
• how they were to be made,
• where they were to be made, and
• who was supposed to make them.

Worship became much more formal. Under the law of Moses, there were holy places, holy people, holy animals, holy rituals, and holy times. God designated certain things for certain uses in worship.

The tabernacle was a holy place. Wherever it was, it marked off holy space. It was somewhat holy in the outer court, more holy in the inner court, and extremely holy behind the veil. The design of the tabernacle communicated something important about God: that he was holy. You just can’t walk up on him every day. You had to be a very holy person on a very holy day in order to walk into the Holy of Holies, and you had to go through special rituals in order to do it. The tabernacle was a symbolic message about God.

The tabernacle pictured God’s holiness, but it also pictured that he was not some far-off God. No – he was in the camp of Israel. When the Israelites broke camp and the tabernacle was dismantled, the ark of the covenant could be seen. People knew what it was, but when the tabernacle was set up, it was hidden. Close, but not accessible. Although God was near, he was also holy and off-limits, and people could come to him only by using proper channels.

For worship in ancient Israel, there were holy people. The Levites were holy and assigned to work with the tabernacle. There was a priesthood between the people and God. For many acts of worship, the priests had to perform the actions. There were also holy animals and holy plants. Every firstborn animal was holy, dedicated to the Lord. The first-ripe fruits were holy, set apart for worship. There was a holy incense formula, too, and if anyone made the same formula, they were supposed to be expelled from the nation. It was that special. It was reserved for worship. It was holy.

There were holy times. Every week, one day was holy. Every year, some extra days were holy. Every seven years and every 50 years, a whole year was set apart for special use. These designated times gave structure to the Israelite worship. The who, the what, the when, and the where were all spelled out. Everything was structured, organized, formalized.

Most of those details are obsolete, but the most important principle carries over into today’s worship, too. Only God should be worshiped. It’s not that he should be worshiped more than other gods are. It’s that he is the only God worthy of worship. He is so great, nothing else is even close. There is no god like our God. Nothing can compare with him, so we give him exclusive worship. We do not divide our loyalties between him and Baal, or between him and Mammon, or between him and self. All allegiance and all worship go to him alone.

A matter of the heart

In the Law of Moses, it is easy to be distracted by all the detailed worship regulations, but that is not the real focus. All those details were given in order to serve a larger purpose, and that is God. Our focus should be on God, and the same was true for the ancient Israelites. They were to focus on God.

Worship in ancient Israel was not just at the tabernacle – it was also in the heart and in the home. God did not want people to think that they could do the rituals and then live as they please. It was not enough to "do" the worship – a person’s honor and respect for God should be genuine, in the heart, which meant that God was to be praised in all of life.

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses told the Israelites to put God’s instructions in their hearts, and teach them to their children, to talk about them when they sat, when they walked, and when they lay down. They were to write these instructions on the doorposts, to immerse themselves in God’s way of life. All of life is worship.

Some of the later prophets build on this theme. Samuel told Saul that obedience is better than sacrifice. God wants a right attitude more than he wants correct rituals. In Jeremiah 7:22, God says, I didn’t bring you out of Egypt because I wanted sacrifices. I just wanted you to obey me, and sacrifices are only a tiny part of what I commanded.

Isaiah is even stronger – saying, in effect, "I’m sick of your sacrifices. I’m sick of your sabbaths and holy days." Here is Isaiah 1:11-17: "I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.... Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates.... When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen." The people were doing rituals, bringing animals, keeping Sabbaths and festivals, even praying, but despite all that, there was something seriously lacking in their worship.

Why didn’t God like their worship? He does not say they were keeping the wrong days or doing the rituals incorrectly. The problem was that their lives were full of sin. So Isaiah counsels: "Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean.... Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."

Their sacrifices, prayers and praises were not accompanied by performance in their day-to-day lives. They had worship rituals, but they did not obey God’s commands for how to treat their neighbors, and the result was unacceptable worship. As Jesus said, quoting Isaiah 29:13, their worship was in vain. It was hypocritical to do the worship if it wasn’t changing the other aspects of their lives.

For worship to be acceptable to God, we must have obedient lives. The ritual is not enough – the attitude is what is most important. God does not want hypocritical worship, people who say he is great but do not act like it. Perhaps this is commandment number 2 regarding worship – that it must be sincere. If we are going to say that God is worthy of all worship, then we should believe it in our hearts, and if we believe it, it will show in our actions. Real worship changes everything we do, because it changes who we are. Worship must be in the heart, not just at the place of worship.

Micah tells us this: "With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn child?... He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"  (Micah 6:6-8).

We do not have to have a perfect life. David did not have a sinless life, yet overall, he pleased God. His attitude was right, and that’s the kind of worship God wants most. God even used David in two major developments in Israelite worship.

Music at the temple

Many know that David initiated the building of the Temple, a "permanent" place for worship. But David’s other contribution has lasted even longer than the Temple did. That is in the area of music. David had a background in music. As a shepherd, he played the lyre, a simple stringed instrument. He composed music and sang about God. He worshiped God while he took care of his sheep – it was worship on the job. David’s songs are called psalms. That comes from the Greek word psallo, which means "to pluck a string." Psalms is a book of songs for stringed instruments. We can worship God with songs and musical instruments.

David didn’t write all the psalms. Some were written centuries later. But David got the psalm-book started, and he organized the way that music is used in worship. He assigned some of the Levites to be worship musicians (1 Chron. 23:5; 25:1-8). Music became a permanent part of worship.

Psalms come in a wide variety. Some are historical, reminding us of God’s great works in creation, in the Exodus, in giving the Israelites the land. Some psalms offer praise. Other express thanksgiving, or ask for God’s help. Some express adoration, ask questions, or complain to God about suffering. The mood ranges from anguish to hope, fear to joy, anger to pride. These songs may have begun as private prayers, but they became prayers in which all the people could join in. The people became participants in these worship songs.

All the psalms are worship – even the psalms that complain. The fact that our questions and complaints are directed to God shows something about our relationship to him. All of life is in his hands, in his control. The psalms show our dependence on him.

The psalms are often in the form of a prayer, in words spoken to God. He is the audience, and the people are the participants, the worshipers. These songs are memorized prayers, since they are spoken to God. Some people think that Christians shouldn’t have memorized prayers. But we actually have several of them during worship services every week. We just have them with a melody, and that is a legitimate form of worship. Even without the melody, a recited prayer can be a legitimate form of worship.

Psalm 150 points out a variety of worship methods: "Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."

We might find some of these worship methods unusual today, but all these artistic expressions are permissible when they are done to the glory of God. The main principle of worship is that we worship only God, and that we really mean it.

Synagogue worship

After the temple was destroyed and Jews were scattered throughout the Middle East, a new format for worship was developed. In the synagogue, the focus was on Scripture, not on sacrifices. It was a much simpler format.

Synagogue services typically began with praises and prayers. There were standard prayers and benedictions, some of them used every week. The Scriptures would be read, translated when necessary, and explained in some sort of sermon. We can see glimpses of this in the New Testament, but the best description is in Nehemiah 8. Under the leadership of Ezra, some of the Jews had come back to Jerusalem.

"Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.... [today we might call it a pulpit] Ezra opened the book [the Law of Moses]. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, ‘Amen! Amen!’ Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground" (vv. 4-6).

Have you ever seen that kind of response in a modern church service – people lifting their hands, saying Amen, and bowing down? If it’s a genuine response to God, it is a good response. They listened with great respect, with a willingness to obey. "The Levites...instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read" (vv. 7-8). Synagogue worship followed in this pattern, with a focus on Scripture.

Even though the Temple was eventually rebuilt, the public reading of Scripture in synagogues continued to be an important part of Jewish worship. Most Jews could not go to the temple every week. But with a synagogue, they could gather for worship every Sabbath, with prayers, songs, and Scripture.

One result of this was a new focus for the Sabbath. Even in the days of David, most Israelites could not go to Jerusalem every week. The focus of Sabbath-keeping was therefore on rest, as commanded in Scripture. But when synagogues became common, the Sabbath was also seen as a day of participating in worship. Laymen had a greater role in worship – they could do every portion of the synagogue service. People could worship without a temple, without priests, and without sacrifices.

Jesus

Now let’s survey the New Testament. What did Jesus do in worship, and what did he say about worship? We may begin by noting that he grew up in Galilee. Although he went to Jerusalem for annual festivals, most of his worship was done away from the temple. We are told that he went to the synagogue, where he would read and explain Scripture. He prayed, in private and in public, and he sang songs.

Jesus would have been involved in some rituals, such as killing a Passover lamb every year. He taught in the temple and chased moneychangers out of it because he wanted the place to be worshipful, a place of prayer. But Jesus also predicted the destruction of the temple. It was not necessary for worship.

The Gospels’ most direct teaching about worship is in John 4. This is set in the context of the centuries-old Jewish-Samaritan squabble about the correct place of worship. The woman said, "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus replied, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem" (vv. 20-21). In other words, location will not be important. Worship will not be associated with any particular spot.

Jesus added, "You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (vv. 22-24).

God seeks people who will worship him. Worship is something he wants. He knows it is good for us to worship him. In speaking of "spirit and truth," Jesus is echoing the prophets: worship must be sincere. External things don’t matter if the heart isn’t right. It doesn’t do us any good to worship at the right place or with the right rituals if our attitude isn’t right. We can sing the right songs and hold our hands in the right way, but if our heart isn’t in it, it isn’t really worship.

Jesus criticized the Pharisees, quoting Isaiah, when he said, "These people worship me in vain; they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." They are hypocrites, he said. (Matt.15:8). They said the right things, but they didn’t believe them. God does not want hypocritical worship — he wants sincere worship. We aren’t supposed to fake it. We need to believe the praises we say, and if we really believe them, our lives will show it.

Externals are not primary, but if our hearts are right, then we will have externals. Rituals are not primary, but we do have rituals. Jesus himself gave us some, and it is inevitable that people will also develop some customs in their worship. But the focus should be sincere praise for God.

The early church

Acts 2 tells us how worship was done among the people who saw Jesus’ example and followed it. "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (vv. 41-42). This is their response to God, their devotion, their worship: they accepted the message — they believed, they were repentant, they were baptized — and they devoted themselves to

• being taught,
• sharing with one another,
• breaking bread, and
• prayer.

Luke is giving a summary description, not a formula for worship services.

"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people" (vv. 46-47). They worshipped in the temple, and they worshipped in their homes. They praised God, they were happy, and they were sincere.

Apparently many of the Jewish Christian in Judea continued to participate in the temple rituals until the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 (Acts 21:20-26). Christian faith did not require them to abandon the rituals – but neither did the rituals seem to help them in their faith.

When we examine worship customs, we need to distinguish between what is required, what is permissible, and what is helpful. Few things are required, and few things are forbidden. The many things in between are permissible – if they are done for the glory of God. Luke doesn’t tell us much more about worship. To learn more about worship, we turn next to the writings of Paul.

Paul’s words for worship

Paul is a primary source for what first-century churches did and how they operated. But Paul says very little about worship. Words for worship are found only a few times in Paul’s letters. He doesn’t tell us how we should worship. Perhaps that is because Paul sees worship as something we are to do all the time. John Piper expressed it in this way: "What we find in the New Testament, perhaps to our amazement, is an utterly stunning degree of indifference to worship as an outward ritual, and an utterly radical intensification of worship as an inward experience of the heart…. The very epistles that are written to help the church be what it ought to be in this age [are] almost totally devoid of…explicit teaching on the specifics of corporate worship" (http://www.soundofgrace.com/ piper97/11-09-97.htm).

Of course, the New Testament clearly tells us that Christians meet together regularly. It gives us commands regarding meeting together regularly. And if we are worshipping in all aspects of life, we will certainly worship when we get together. Paul uses worship-related words in some surprising ways. Romans 12:1 is one of the better-known uses: "I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship."

Worship is the giving of our entire self, our thoughts and our emotions, to God’s use. All of life is an act of submission, an act of worship. Our service to God is not centered on a time or a temple, but is done whenever and wherever we are, because we are the temple of God. The emphasis is taken away from ceremony, seasons, places and rituals, and is shifted to what is happening in the inner person. Worship should invade our entire lives. The test of worship is not only what happens at church, but what happens at home, on the job and wherever we go.

Paul used another word for worship in Romans 1:9: "I serve [latreuo, one of the Greek words for worship] God with my whole heart." How? "…in preaching the gospel of his Son." A similar thought is in Romans 15:16: "God gave me the grace to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

In these verses, preaching the gospel is an act of worship. Paul was not a Levite, but he had a priestly duty, and that was to worship with all his heart by preaching. In our worship services today, the sermon is just as much a part of the worship as the songs are. Whenever the gospel is preached, worship is being done. God’s greatness is being proclaimed. Worship is in the listening, too, as people seek to learn what God wants us to be doing. A worshipful attitude toward God is one that respectfully listens to what he may be saying to us.

Every act of obedience is an act of worship. It declares that God has worth. And whenever we share the gospel with someone, we are declaring God’s worth. We are engaging in the priestly service of preaching the gospel, the worship of being a witness to God’s grace. We tell what a great thing God has done in Jesus Christ, and how that has been good news in our life. We are declaring his worth. We are giving worship in everyday life. We don’t have to wait for a church service. 

We get our English word "liturgy" from the Greek word leitourgia. In the Greek Old Testament and in pagan Greek literature, it refers to public works of worship. But Paul used it in a different context — an offering of money — money to be used in helping other Christians in famine relief, or money to be used in helping spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 15:27 uses this word: "If the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to minister to them" — literally, to give liturgy to them — "with material blessings." Paul uses this word for worship to describe financial help. This seemingly ordinary service to the saints was actually an act of worship, a religious activity.

We see a similar thing in Philippians 4:18, which Paul wrote after receiving financial help from the Christians in Philippi: "I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." And in 2 Corinthians 9:12, he wrote, "This service – this liturgy – that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God." The people were worshipping with their money, which we can do with our offerings today, as well.

Hebrews 13 combines two New Testament forms of worship. "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (vv. 15-16). Some worship is given in words of praise, and some worship is given to God when we help one another.

In the old covenant, God required the Israelites to serve him through a priesthood, a sacrificial system and a temple. In the new covenant, all believers are priests, all believers offer sacrifices all the time, and we as a body of people are the temple of God. Worship is dramatically different. The ministry of worship has been given to all the people.

Devotion 

Historically, several types of devotion have been recognized as important in a person’s spiritual maturity. The top two are prayer and Bible study. These have demonstrated their value time and time again in the lives of millions of Christians of all denominational affiliations. If we want spiritual health, we need a good spiritual diet, and these disciplines are helpful. They don’t guarantee spiritual growth, but they do provide an environment in which growth can occur more readily.

If we are in poor spiritual health, we need to check ourselves: Are we doing the things that Christians throughout the centuries have found helpful? We’d like to have quick fixes, like an easy-to-swallow pill that puts us right, but there aren’t any shortcuts like that. We may be able to get away with a junk-food diet for a while, but eventually we are going to feel some negative results, and we can’t expect one week of good food to restore us to excellent health. It requires a long-term commitment for slow, almost imperceptible improvement, and the same is true for spiritual health. There are no quick fixes, no magic potions. It requires a long-term commitment and some sacrifices.

God doesn’t give us rules about prayer and Bible study. He doesn’t say 30 minutes a day or 90 minutes a day. We have to make our own decisions, and what’s right for you isn’t necessarily right for me. But we each have to make spiritual health a priority in our lives.

Of course, we do not worship entirely on our own, each going our separate way. The New Testament picture is that we regularly get together – and when we gather, we will worship. That’s what we do all day long, so how much more will we do it when we gather together! But our gatherings are not the only place we worship. True worship is in the heart, and in its outward expression it can take place in the home, on the job, and in the church. 

Worship services

In our worship services today, where is the worship? It’s in the songs, in the sermon, and in the attentiveness that we have in listening to the sermon. But there is also worship in the work that goes on behind the scenes. People who get the building ready may be making sacrifices to God that are pleasing to him. Those who help with refreshments may worship as they work. When we do good and share with others, we are giving the kind of worship that God wants.

People who work with children are worshiping as they help children understand the good news about Jesus Christ. In their actions and in their words, they are praising God. They are showing that he changes our lives, and he changes our priorities. We no longer live to please ourselves, but to serve others. This is a form of worship.

During the time of the apostles, what happened in church meetings? We don’t know for sure. Neither Luke nor Paul gives us a complete description. However, we have some glimpses. We saw in Acts that prayer, teaching and fellowship are involved. Other verses talk about songs, too. Colossians 3:16 tells us the early church sang in their worship: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Ephesians 5:19 is similar: "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord."

Prayer was also part of the worship. It was mentioned in Acts 2, and it’s supported by 1 Timothy 2. What kind of prayers were these? Did everyone say the same prayer in unison, like Jews in the synagogues did? Or did they just take turns, each saying a prayer out loud? We do not know. Either way would be possible.

Scripture reading was probably an important part of the church meeting, since it had been an important part of the synagogue service. In addition to this, the New Testament admonishes believers to stick to the apostles’ doctrine, to the standard of teaching, to the word of life, to the words of faith, to good doctrine and sound words, to sound teaching and the faith once delivered. These are different ways of saying that doctrine was important to the New Testament church. It was important to teach and learn certain truths.

One of the longest passages about church meetings is in 1 Corinthians 14. Some unusual things were happening in the church at Corinth, and Paul had to give them some guidance about it. Most of the chapter is trying to bring some control to a situation that had gotten out of control. Paul summarized their situation and provided a focus in verse 26: "What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church."

The church meeting included songs, teaching, and the use of spiritual gifts. Of all the things Paul mentions, what is the most important? Notice what he says in the last part of verse 26: That all "must be done for the strengthening of the church." In verse 31 he says the goal is "so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged."

That’s the priority: Everything should be done in such a way that the church is instructed, edified, built up, strengthened. It doesn’t matter how many songs we sing or what spiritual gifts we have — if we aren’t helping anybody, we are missing the point of gathering together. Songs, sermon, and service: All three are forms of worship, and all three are important.

Worship today

Worship involves our entire relationship with God: our words, our attitudes, and our actions. Our words may be normal conversation, songs or prayers. In any style of speaking, we can declare God’s praises and express our faith reliance on him.

God wants worship not only on our lips, but also in our hearts. He wants our worship to be sincere — he wants to be the most important thing in our lives, that we are truly submissive to him. He wants our worship to affect our behavior, that we make sacrifices, that we put to death the deeds of selfishness, that we seek justice, be merciful and humble, and help others. He wants us not just to obey him, but to serve in ways that go beyond specific commands. We are to worship wherever we go, doing all things to God’s glory, praying always, giving thanks always, never ceasing to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. Our worship involves how we work, how we drive, and how we choose what to watch on television.

There are also actions that are more specifically times of worship. We might call these private devotions, or spiritual disciplines. These are habits and actions of worship we do individually, as opposed to worship when we gather as a church.

Worship is not restricted to a specific place and time. The best thing that has ever happened to us is that we have God in our lives. The best thing that’s happened to us this week is that we have God in our lives. We have reason to celebrate all the time. When we live each day praising God in our hearts, it is natural that we praise God when we gather together, when we speak to one another about the best thing that’s ever happened to us. We worship all the time, but we also worship together at specific times at meetings designated for that specific purpose.

What’s involved in our worship services?

1. Our first act of worship is gathering together. Simply by gathering, we are showing that God has worth. Where two or three are gathered in his name, he will be present in a special way. When we gather, we gather in the presence of God. As the Old Testament says, we appear before the Lord. It’s like an ancient throne room, and we are invited to be with him.
   
   In our worship services, we want God to be present. We specifically ask him to be present. He promises to be present. And if we are sincere about this, we should expect him to be present. And when we sing in God’s presence, we are singing to him. It’s not just a song about God — it is a song to God. These are words spoken to him. Like many of the psalms, the hymns we sing are often prayers set to music. He is the audience; we are the participants.
2. Like the psalms, our music comes in a wide variety. Some songs express positive emotions, such as adoration, praise, thanksgiving, confidence, faith, joy or excitement. We should always be happy that God is in our life. Even when we have trials, we are to rejoice. The psalms tell us to come before him and rejoice, to praise the Lord, to sing a new song unto the Lord. Praise him in the heights. Praise him, praise him, praise him. Our joy in him should spill over into praises. Our worship should be dominated by praise.
   
   But joy is not the only legitimate emotion we can have with God. The psalms also have prayers of confession and supplication. Some of our hymns are more meditative than celebrative. Some ask questions, some express sorrow, or anguish or fear. All of these are legitimate emotions we can sing about.
3. Our worship services usually contain several prayers, too. They include praise, usually a request, sometimes a confession. When someone near the beginning of services asks God to be in the service, to inspire the service, this is something we all want. We join in the prayer not as an audience, but as participants. When we say "amen," we are saying, that’s my prayer, too. I want God to be here, too.
   
   When we express our dependence on God, when we give all our requests to him, it shows his worth. When we want to be in his presence, it shows that he is good. When we confess our sins to him, it shows his greatness. When we give him thanks and praise, it exalts him and glorifies him. We worship when we participate in the prayers. 
4. A fourth major part of our worship service is the sermon. The sermon is a communication of God’s word to us. It explains to us what God’s will is for our life. We expect God to speak to us through his Word, by inspiring the speaker, and we listen for what God is telling us. God’s truth affects our lives and our hearts. It affects real life, and it demands a heart-felt response. The sermon should therefore appeal to our mind and to our emotions.
   
   In the sermon, we are not just an audience — we should also be participants. We should actively think about the Scriptures, think about the sermon, think about what it means in our lives. This isn’t just information about God — it is information about how God wants to change our lives. Part of our worship, part of our respectful response to God, is listening for what he wants to teach us and how he wants to change us.
   
   We have to listen with the expectation that the sermon contains something God wants to tell us. It may be different for you than it is for me. The point is that we have to participate in the listening. Just as we participate in the music, and we participate in the prayers, we are all supposed to participate in the sermon, too.
5. As we listen, we should also be ready to respond to the message. The response can come in many different forms, depending on the message we have heard. One way to respond is to do what God is telling us to do. Some people are doing this by serving in various capacities within the church. Others respond with service outside of the church, and some may respond by telling others how good and great God is — worshiping him by doing the priestly duty of sharing the good news of salvation — and hopefully all these responses will be common.

Sometimes the proper response is more in emotion than it is in action. The most important response is that of faith – a willingness to believe what God has said. The response may include thankfulness, sometimes expressed as an offering during the worship service. Sometimes the appropriate response is simply joy. Sometimes it is repentance, a change in behavior or a change in attitude toward other people.

Sometimes silence is the best response. Sometimes we are simply dumbfounded at God’s greatness, or his mercy, and we just don’t have the words to say anything intelligent. So we cover our mouths and sit in awe of God. We are speechless at how utterly different God is from us, how holy, how righteous, how perfect, how powerful, how completely beyond limitations of time and space he is. And we are awe-struck that he has been so humble as to care about persons such as ourselves. Overwhelming awe is one of many possible responses to God, depending on how he reveals himself to us.

No matter what, we should expect God to affect both our emotions and our minds. Our relationship with him involves all our heart, mind, soul and strength. God wants all of us, not just part of us, as we worship him.

The real test of worship is not what happens at church, but what happens at home, and on the job, and wherever we go. Is God important enough to make a difference in the way we live, in the way we work, in the way we get along with other people? When the Holy Spirit lives in us, when we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, worship is a part of everyday life.

Worship rituals

Last, I will comment briefly on worship rituals. To some people, ritual suggests meaningless actions. Some rituals are like that, but not all rituals are bad. God has commanded us to have some rituals, some repeated actions. We don’t want them to become meaningless, and to avoid that, we need to keep reminding ourselves of the meaning.

Some churches have many rituals, a highly structured service, a liturgy with carefully designed prayers, responsive readings, reciting creeds, and other repeated actions. In some respects, this is like what the temple worship was. Other churches are much simpler, more like the synagogue, with a focus on Scripture. Neither approach is commanded or forbidden.

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™  Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

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This article was written by Michael Morrison. Copyright Grace Communion International. All rights reserved.

We in Grace Communion International have traditionally been on the simpler side of things. We have a small number of ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, ordination, blessing of children, anointing the sick, and a few others. But two ceremonies are much more important than the others – baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Both of these practices picture in a symbolic way, in physical actions, some spiritual truths about the gospel. They proclaim God’s worth not only in what we say, but also by what we do. In different ways, they picture the death and life of Jesus Christ. (See articles on baptism and the Lord's Supper.)

I conclude with a simple three-fold test regarding worship practices. This test encapsulates some of the major themes of worship. To analyze a worship practice, we need to ask these questions:

• Does it glorify God? That is one major purpose of worship.
• Does it build up the body of Christ? That is another major purpose.
• And third, does it help us be what God wants us to be in the world? Does it have practical results in our lives?

Perfect worship

There is a serious problem with the way the worship: we don’t do it right. We try to be living sacrifices for God, but we don’t always do that right. As some have said, the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off of the altar. Like the people of ancient Israel, our lives are mixed with sin. We do not have the faith that we’d like to have. We do not have as much love as we’d like to have. We do not pray as well as we wish we could. Our songs do not express our emotions as well as we’d like. We would like to present our king with sparkling jewels, but we have only plastic trinkets to give.

How do we face our failure in the area of worship?

We respond in the same way that we respond for other areas of failure: we look to Jesus. He has offered the perfect sacrifice for all of us; he has given his life to God as an act of worship for all humanity. He is our substitute — this is what theologians mean by a vicarious sacrifice. What he did counts for us. He had no sins of his own, and yet he gave himself as a sacrifice for sin — our sins.

Many Christians realize that Jesus was our substitute when it comes to sacrifice. “Christ died for us” is part of the New Testament message. He has given the worship that we could not.

But Jesus is our substitute in other ways, too, because our lives are hidden in him (Colossians 3:2), and he lives in us (Galatians 2:20). The prayers that we offer are not perfect, but we pray in Christ’s name, and he intercedes for us. He takes our defective prayers, removes the parts where we ask amiss, adds the details that we have neglected, and offers those prayers to God as perfect worship.

Because Jesus Christ is our representative, he offers perfect worship on our behalf, and our role is to join him in what he is already doing for us. Whether it is sacrifice, prayer, study or response, he has already been there and done that for us. The worship he gives to God is a vicarious worship, done for us, on our behalf.

We do our best to “get it right,” but part of being “right” is admitting that we aren’t always right (1 John 1:8). So the last word on worship is that we must look to Jesus as the one who is doing it right for us, and he invites us to join in what he is doing.

Source: http://www.gci.org/God/worship

John 4: True Worship

Jews and Samaritans simply didn’t get along. The trouble went way back, five centuries or so, to the days of the Jewish leader Zerubbabel. Some Samaritans offered to help the Jews rebuild their temple, and Zerubbabel rebuffed them. The Samaritans responded by complaining to the king of Persia, and the work stopped (Ezra 4).

Later, when the Jews were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, the governor of Samaria threatened to take military action against the Jews. The Samaritans eventually built their own temple on

Mt. Gerizim, and in 128 B.C., the Jews destroyed it. Although their religions were both based on the laws of Moses, they were bitter enemies.

Jesus enters Samaria

But Jesus was not shackled by the squabbles of the past. Although most Jews avoided Samaria, Jesus walked right into it, taking his disciples with him. He was tired, so he sat down at a well near the city of Sychar, and sent his disciples into town to buy some groceries (John 4:38). Along came a Samaritan woman, and Jesus talked to her. She was surprised that he would talk to a Samaritan; his disciples were surprised that he would talk to a woman (verses 9, 27).

Jesus shows us a simple way of dealing with people who have different religious beliefs, people who are from a different ethnic group, people who are traditional enemies: just treat them like normal human beings. Don’t ignore them, don’t avoid them, don’t insult them. But Jesus had something much more profound than that to say.

He began in the simplest possible way: He asked the woman for a drink. He was thirsty, but he had nothing to draw water with — but she did. He had a need, she had a means of fulfilling it, so he asked her for help. She was surprised that a Jew would actually drink from a Samaritan water pot — most Jews considered such a vessel ritually unclean. And then Jesus said: I have something a lot better than water, if you want it. I am willing to ask you for a drink of water — are you willing to ask me for something that’s better? (verses 7-10).

Jesus was using a play on words — the phrase "living water" usually meant moving water, flowing water. The woman knew quite well that the only water in Sychar was in that well, and there was no flowing water nearby. So she asked Jesus what he was talking about. He said he was talking about something that would lead to eternal life (verses 11-14). He was talking about religious ideas — but would the woman be willing to listen to spiritual truth from a religious enemy? Would she drink Jewish waters?

The woman asked for the living water, and Jesus invited her to get her husband. He already knew that she didn’t have one, but he asked anyway — possibly to show that he had spiritual authority. He was the vessel from which she could receive the living water. The woman got the message: "I can see that you are a prophet" (verse 19). If Jesus knew the facts about her unusual marital status, then he probably knew spiritual truths, as well.

True worship

After learning that Jesus was a prophet, the woman brought up the age-old controversy between Samaritans and Jews about the proper place to worship: We worship here, but you Jews say that people have to go to Jerusalem (verse 20). Jesus responded: The day will soon come when that won’t be relevant. It won’t matter whether people look to Mt. Gerizim or Jerusalem — or any other location. The hour is already here when people will worship God in spirit and truth (verses 2124).

Has Jesus suddenly jumped to a different subject? Maybe not — the Gospel of John gives us some clues about what he meant: "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63). "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:16). True worship means listening to the words of Jesus, and coming to God through him. Worship does not depend on place or time or ethnic group — it depends on our attitude to God as shown in our attitude to his Son, Jesus Christ. True worship comes along with the living water.

Jesus was revealing a profound spiritual truth to this stranger — a truth just as profound as what he had discussed with one of Israel’s religious leaders (John 3). But the woman was not quite sure what to make of it, and she said, When the Messiah comes, he’ll tell us what’s right (verse 25).

Jesus responded, I am he — probably his most direct claim to be the Messiah — and yes, what I am telling you is right. The woman left her water jars behind and went back to town to tell everyone about Jesus, and she convinced them to check it out for themselves, and many of them believed. They believed not just because of the woman’s testimony, but because they listened to Jesus himself (verses 39-41).

Worship today

Sometimes people today get too opinionated about worship — true worship has to involve a certain day of the week, a certain type of song, a certain posture or some other detail. But I think that Jesus’ answer to the Samaritan woman covers it well: The time will come when you will worship God neither this way nor that, because God is not to be found in earthly places, rotations of the earth, cultural music or human gestures.

God is spirit, and our relationship with him is a spiritual one. We live in time and space, and we use time and space in our worship, but those details are not the meaning of worship. Rather, our worship centers in Jesus, and in our relationship with him. He is the source of living waters that we need for eternal life. We need to admit our thirst, and ask him for a drink. Or to use metaphors from the book of Revelation, we need to admit that we are poor, blind and naked, and ask Jesus for spiritual wealth, sight and clothing. We worship in spirit and truth when we look to him for what we need.

In marriage, different people express love in different ways, and some forms of expression are appropriate in public, and some are not. This is true of worship, too. We express our adoration in different ways, and some ways are more appropriate in private than in public. Certain activities, though they may seem worshipful to one person, may appear disrespectful or distracting to another person. When we worship together, we do not want our activities to put other people off. At the same time, believers who are more formal need to be tolerant of a little diversity. True worship is not defined by external matters, but by our attitude toward Jesus Christ.

When it comes to worship, though there will always be room for improvement and maturity, may we continue to learn from Jesus not only about what worship really is, but also the way we interact with people who think about it differently than we do.

http://www.gci.org/bible/john4

Worship Looks Back, Looks Forward

The ancient Israelites recited their history as a reminder of who they were in the world, what their relationship with God was, and how they were supposed to respond to the God of their salvation. Their expressed who they were, and how they were to live. Deuteronomy tells us one of their confessions:

My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O Lord, have given me. (Deuteronomy 26:5-10)

Remembering our salvation history is part of our worship. It is part of our confession and part of our understanding of who we are before God and how we are to respond to him in the world. That is one reason most Christians celebrate Advent, Easter and other commemorations of our Savior. These say something about who we are, because they rehearse the story that is central to our lives and our identity. Jesus the Christ defines who we are in the world.

We do not know exactly when the story began. The creation story starts simply “in the beginning.” We do not know when Adam was created, nor do we know exactly when the Word became flesh. We do not need to know. However, we know that the Incarnation happened at a definite point in history, as recorded by the Gospel writers Matthew and Luke. The story is unparalleled good news, and because it is, we celebrate. It is good news for us, and good news for the entire world.

The Christian church has a history, too. In one way, we could say that it began before Moses, with the call of Abraham. In another way, we could say it began with Jesus’ birth, or with his calling of his disciples, or with his death and resurrection. From any viewpoint, of course, we could say that the Pentecost recorded in Acts 2 was a significant beginning point for the church. The rest of the book of Acts expands the story, helping us see our connection to the Jesus who died and rose again, and how the church spread from Jerusalem into a worldwide mission. Rehearsing the story, we are reminded of who we are and our call to be about our Father’s business.

Church history marches onward, though most of it did not become part of Scripture, as Acts did. The martyrdoms of Polycarp, of Perpetua, and of many others, help us glimpse the faith of the early believers. The rise of Constantine, the council of Nicea, the writings of Augustine, the rivalry between Rome and Constantinople, were major developments that helped shape the future of the church for centuries to come. Sometimes everyone “did what was right in their own eyes.” Sometimes there was a powerful leader who ruled well, and sometimes there was a leader who abused the people with excessive power. There were times of sin, of captivity, of exile and of restoration.

A significant moment came in 1517, when Martin Luther challenged the authority of the Roman pontiff on doctrinal grounds, resting his case on the Word of God. There were significant milestones in Geneva, in Holland, in England and in America. People remember these milestones, for they help shape our identity. Though we are not Lutherans, we can identify with the stand of Luther. Though we are not Methodists, we can identify with the Aldersgate experience of John Wesley, when he found his heart strangely warmed as some of Luther’s work about the grace of God was read.

We do not want to forget where we have come from, how Christ has led us toward himself, and how grace liberates us from legalism. Many people not in our fellowship have benefitted from our story, just as we benefit from Martin Luther’s. Many people can identify with our struggle, with seeing our relationship with God in terms of our works, in terms of what we do. Many well-meaning Christians still need to be liberated with a new and personal reformation.

But we do not need a new holiday on our church calendar. There is something more important to think about than ourselves, and that is Jesus Christ. He is where our salvation begins, where our reformation begins, where our identity is centered and where our response is given. Our identity and our life are based on God made flesh, on God so humble as to freely choose to be born in poverty and oppression as one of us.

What ironies! Jesus, a Jew, was persecuted by Herod, king of the Jews, but Jesus found a safe place among the Gentiles, in Egypt. But he did not remain in safety — he returned to his people, to be rejected by them in his home town and in the capital city. He was killed by religious leaders who prided themselves on their superior ethics, and by political leaders who prided themselves on the administration of justice.

The Holy One died a cursed death, the Righteous One became sin for us. The Author of Life died — all because we humans could not be saved in any other way. We could not save ourselves. Our only hope was that God himself would come to us as one of us, that he would be without sin and be a sin offering for us.

This is where our identity is — in humility, in suffering, in trusting God from birth to death. Jesus set that example and calls us to follow him. Our story begins, as Matthew tells it, with Abraham. Our story includes Gentile ancestors, a prostitute and an adulterer, and a woman who became pregnant before marriage. The glory of God was hidden in Mary’s womb in what was, as far as everyone else could see, scandalous circumstances. The glory of God is often hidden today, too, isn’t it?

That is our identity — humility and sometimes shame. We don’t look like much, even though the glory of God is living within us. Our story begins in shame, in sin, in God seeking us. We have nothing to boast about; we must simply admit our inability and look to God for mercy — mercy he has already shown to us and guaranteed for us in Jesus Christ. Our story becomes merged with his, a story that includes shame and a glory that is hidden until the resurrection.

Jesus is not only our point of identity, he also shapes the response we give to God. The formula “Be holy, for I am holy” is given shape by the saying “Be merciful, for I am merciful” (Luke 6:36). Or, “Forgive, as I have forgiven you” (Colossians 3:13). God’s graciousness toward us, shown most tangibly in Jesus Christ, carries with it the power to be gracious toward others. In him, we can do for them what he has done for us. This is how ethics is built in the new covenant; this is how grace teaches us to have godly lives (Titus 2:11-12). As he has loved us, we are freed to love others — tangibly, not just in pious sentiments.

We trust our lives to Jesus and know that our salvation is secure in him. We are freed from the fear of death, freed from the fear of persecution, freed from the fear of ridicule, freed from feelings of insecurity. Because we are secure in Christ, we are free to do good works despite the negative consequences that sometimes come with good works in this fallen world — and we are free not to withhold forgiveness until the other person has been punished enough or is sorry enough. We are free to forgive right away.

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This article was written by Joseph Tkach in 1989 and updated in 2012. Copyright Grace Communion International. All rights reserved.

We are also free in Christ to worship any time, any place. We are free in Christ to meet when it is most expedient for the congregation and the mission field, rather than when it is most comfortable for us personally. In short, we are free to join one another in the stable and make the feed trough our bed, to serve one another in the love of our Savior, to be harmless as doves, wise as owls and always willing to learn.

Time cannot stand still. We can reminisce about and reflect on our journey, but our focus must not stay there. We must move on, for our journey is not yet done. Christ has commanded us, “Go, make disciples, baptize them and teach them to do what I have commanded” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Our understanding is shaped by our history, but our future is in Christ. Our vision is informed by the past, but it exists for the future. Any attention we give to our history is pointless unless we also ask how it shapes what we do right now, and how it affects our ultimate destination. So where we were five years ago may not be as important as where we plan to be five years from now. What kind of people do we want to be — rather, what do we believe Christ wants us to be?

Whether we look backward or look forward, let’s make sure that we look to Jesus. It is to him that we owe our lives, it is in him and for him that we live and move and have our being. It is his kingdom that we belong to and serve. Christ the King, born in a manger, pleased to dwell with the humble who admit their need for him.

The Object of Worship

The law given to ancient Israel was designed to last only until Christ came, and it should not be confused with the law of Christ given to the church. The Christian Sabbath is not a day of the week, but our eternal rest in Jesus Christ. In this article, we will look at aspects of the purpose and content of Christian worship.

Worship in the Old Testament

No human activity has greater relevance and meaning than that of the worship of God. There is much to learn about how we can worship more effectively today by looking at how the people of God have worshiped in the past.

The Old Testament is a treasure trove of instruction about God and worship. It is primarily from the Old Testament that we learn what we know about this invisible Being we call God. In the Old Testament we learn that God is unapproachable by anything or anyone unclean, or anyone tainted by sin. In order for the people of Israel to come into the presence of God, they had to undergo careful and detailed rituals of sacrifice and cleansing from sin.

In the Old Testament, we learn about God’s holiness, his absolute perfection and complete “otherness” from all created things. God is revealed as so bright that he must “clothe” himself with dark clouds in order for the Israelites not to be destroyed by his mere presence on Mount Sinai.

Free and faithful

In the Old Testament we learn that God comes and goes in the affairs of humans as he pleases, not as humans decide. We learn that God is the architect and maker of all that is, and that everything has its being and continued existence only in him.

We learn that God is not manipulated by rituals, magic, sacrifices or incantations like the gods of the nations around Israel. We learn that God is completely and eternally faithful, that he loves his people with a steadfast love, and that he makes promises and keeps his word. We learn that nothing can keep God from doing what he decides to do. And we learn that God’s purpose is to save and redeem broken men and women, to heal the weak, to lift up the weary.

We learn that God cares about and is intimately involved in every detail of his created universe. We learn that even though sin is catastrophically destructive to human beings, God does not forget his work, and he acts to save and repair and set humans right so they can be restored to him.

We learn that humans are helpless without God, that everything humans do is possible only because God allows them to have their own way. We learn that God wants people to love him and obey him because that is how they can have and achieve everything for which their souls truly long and become everything they were created to be.

We learn that God prizes and values the people he has made, and that it grieves God’s heart to see people destroying themselves and others by their evil deeds and their evil hearts. Above all, we learn that God decided long ago that at the right time he would act powerfully and decisively, in accord with his covenant faithfulness, to redeem and heal humans from their sin and rebellion.

Israel learns to worship

The people of Israel were given precise instructions about how they must go about worship of the one true God. These instructions were designed to teach the Israelites that God is completely unlike the gods of Egypt and completely unlike all the gods they would encounter in the nations around them or in the lands they would possess.

As they followed God’s instructions for worship, the Israelites learned that God is perfect and holy, that he is good and faithful, that he is never deceived or tricked, that he knows everything, and that impurity cannot even come into his presence. They learned that he is subject to nothing and nobody, that all things are subject to him, and that he is to be worshiped on his own terms.

They also learned that God is personal, and that there are degrees of intimacy humans can have with him. The tabernacle, and the temple that replaced it, had an outer court, an inner court, the holy place and finally, the most intimate place of all, the holy of holies. No one was permitted to come that close to God except the high priest, and even then only once a year, and only after intensive purification rites.

Through this elaborate system of worship, Israel learned that God is absolutely holy, and that it is impossible for a person to come to God unless God makes it possible. They also learned that the most intimate relationship with God is possible only through the high priest, who represents the people before God and must be as ritually pure as possible.

When the Israelites left Egypt, their concepts about divinity were heavily influenced by the Egyptians and the other nations of the region. There was much to learn. The table at the end of this article illustrates a number of aspects of the education about himself that God revealed to Israel and preserved through them for the world in the Old Testament.

Worship in the New Testament

In the New Testament, something completely new happened. Yet even in its stark newness, what God did in Christ was nevertheless in complete harmony with everything he had done before. Just as the Israelites learned that only one person, the high priest whom God appointed to represent the people, could come into the most intimate presence of God, so Christians learn that only by being identified with Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, can they come into the presence of God.

Jesus is our High Priest. He represents us before God. In him only can we come into intimate fellowship with God. That is the meaning of the Lord’s Supper—a profound object lesson of our identification, or unity, with the sinless Son of God, our perfect and eternal High Priest.

Jesus is everything to us and for us. He is our perfect High Priest; through him we can come into intimate personal fellowship with God. He is our perfect Prophet, who declares to our innermost being the perfect and certain Word of God.

He is our perfect sacrificial Lamb, whose slaughter purifies completely our sins and our consciences so that we can enter into the “holy of holies” with him. He is our perfect King, who rules us in perfect righteousness, wisdom, justice and mercy. He is our perfect Teacher, who instructs us perfectly in the ways of God.

Barrier destroyed

When Mark recorded in his Gospel that the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, he was recording much more than the mere tearing of a piece of cloth. The veil was the curtain that separated the holy place in the temple from the holy of holies. When Jesus died, the barrier between God and humans was destroyed. In Jesus, and in Jesus alone, humans may now enter freely into the “holy of holies,” that is, into the most intimate communion with God that is possible for redeemed humans (see Hebrews 9 and 10; Mark 15:38).

In the New Testament, worship is no longer defined by the regulations of the old covenant. That is not because those regulations were faulty. It is because those regulations had served their purpose. Through the rituals and regulations of temple-centered worship, God taught the Israelites, and through the Israelites the world, who he is and how humans can be restored to their original purpose and standing with him.

World prepared

In the fullness of time, Paul writes, God sent his Son, born of a woman (Galatians 4:4). Think of that! God sent his own divine Son to become one of us, so that through him, the perfect, sinless sacrificial Lamb, we might be cleansed of our sinfulness and brought into harmony and communion with God.

God had prepared the world for this time of all times. Through the people of Israel and his covenant with them, God had prepared a lineage through which his Son would be born. He had also prepared the context, through Israel’s worship of him, necessary for the world to understand who Jesus was.

Had there been no promises to Abraham, no Israel and no Exodus, no covenant, no priesthood and no prescribed worship form, no captivity, no Davidic royal lineage and no messianic promise, then there would have been no context in which the world could rightly understand who God was, who Jesus was, and how Jesus’ death and resurrection could be the salvation of the world (see box).

Note: The church is the new Israel in Jesus Christ, the dynamic continuation of the Old Testament people of God, a new community of faith without national or racial walls, transformed and empowered for God’s service by the Holy Spirit. Peter expressed the Christian understanding of the church as the people of God in 1 Peter 2:9-10: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy” (New Revised Standard Version).

God acts, the people respond

When Christians come together in worship, they are responding to the grace and power of God in their individual and corporate lives. God acts; the people respond. This is the essence of Christian worship: the response of the people of God to what God has done.

This response—the corporate worship of the people of God—involves some form. The people gather at particular places and particular times and participate in worship in particular ways. Through this means, the people of God respond to God together in humility—to his holy majesty and righteousness, his power and glory, his grace and mercy, and his great acts of salvation.

They recall what God has done, take joy in what he is doing, and look forward to what he will yet do. They rehearse, re-enact, participate, proclaim and celebrate. They listen to his Word. They confess, repent and intercede. They praise, rejoice and give thanks.

The Israelites were given a temporary form or system of worship appropriate to the content of that worship. That form, described in the law of Moses, enabled the Israelites to respond in worship to the miraculous things God had done for them—saving them from Egypt, bringing them into the Promised Land and making them his own people. That form of worship was to last until Jesus came, and then to fade.

Then, just as God had planned from the very beginning (Ephesians 3:9), through Jesus Christ he did something amazingly new and transcendent, both for Israel and for all peoples everywhere. As a result, the worship practices of God’s people demanded a new response to the new thing God had done.

A new act demands a new response

Just as Isaiah had prophesied, at the fullness of time God did a new thing (Isaiah 43:19)—he sent his Son. The response of the people of God to this new thing is a fitting new response. A new response to a new thing demands new worship content — content that must be carried out in appropriately new forms. In other words, the new wine of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be placed into new wineskins, new containers or structures (Matthew 9:17).

Old covenant worship forms have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus brought something new to the worship of God. Since worship is the response of God’s people to his mighty acts of salvation and grace, the content and form of worship is a direct reflection of the fundamental beliefs of God’s people.

Jesus summarized the essence of Christian belief in Luke 24:44-48:

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Likewise, Paul recorded the heart of the Christian faith in his letter to the church at Corinth: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). 

New content, new form

A comparison of the biblical creeds of the people of God under the old and the new covenants illustrates the passing of the old and the arrival of the new. The old covenant people of God remembered and celebrated the great power and grace of God displayed in their miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt and gift of the land promised to the patriarchs.

The new covenant people of God, on the other hand, remember and celebrate the great power and grace of God displayed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the defining point of our salvation. The content and form of our worship reflects our belief that through confidence in Jesus, all peoples everywhere can be delivered from slavery to sin and given entrance into the new life of the kingdom of God.

Israelite worship was for ancient Israel. It lasted till Christ came. Now God’s people worship in new forms reflecting their response to new content—the transcendent new thing God has done in Jesus Christ. Table 2 below compares biblical creeds of the old and new covenants.

New festivals for new Exodus

Christian worship involves new festivals because it celebrates the new Exodus, an Exodus from slavery to sin for all humanity, not the old Exodus, which was an Exodus from slavery in Egypt for the people of Israel. In worship, the people of God do not merely look back to a historical event. Through worship, we enter into the essence of our faith—the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We gather before God in Jesus’ name. We rehearse the gospel story. We submit to God’s Word, repent of our sins, rejoice in our Savior and give him thanks.

When Christians worship, what God did in Christ is brought into our collective “here and now” experience as his people gather in his name. This rehearsal of the gospel story unites us with and renews us in God’s miraculous saving work in Christ. Regardless of when Christians choose to gather, the real issue is whether their celebration becomes a genuine rehearsal of the gospel story.

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In summary, Christian worship is entering into, or participating in, the gospel; it is not entering into the Israelite Exodus. The worship pattern given to ancient Israel was for them, given specifically to them so they could properly respond in worship and celebration for what God had done for them at the Red Sea, in the wilderness and in the Promised Land.

Christian worship, on the other hand, is Spirit-guided and is not found in a written code (John 4:24), just as the law of Christ is rooted in the Spirit and not in a written code. Christian worship specifically responds to the gospel—the surprising and amazing new thing, planned from the very beginning, which God did in the fullness of time in Jesus Christ for the salvation of all the people of the earth.

In this chapter we have seen that worship is our response to the gracious acts of God on our behalf. Israelite worship was designed to help Israel respond in worship to their miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt and the gift of the Promised Land. Christian worship has transcended Israelite worship, and is designed to help Christians respond to God’s supreme and conclusive act of human deliverance from sin and death through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on behalf of all who believe the gospel.

In the next chapter we will look at the biblical events that shaped the new “wineskins,” or basic forms, into which the new “wine,” or content, of Christian worship was poured.

Table 1: A Brief Comparison of the ‘Gods’ of the Nations  and the Lord God of Israel as Revealed in the Old Testament
The ‘Gods’ of the Nations	The Lord God of Israel
There are many gods, and they often fight with each other.	There is one God.
The gods can be manipulated by magic and ritual, including human sacrifice.	God cannot be manipulated.
The gods are fickle.	God is faithful and keeps his word.
The gods are sometimes good and sometimes not.	God is always good.
The gods are local, and are usually impotent outside their geographic area.	God is God of heaven, earth and all that is.
The gods often exhibit selfishness and immorality.	God is holy, just and merciful.
The power of the gods is limited.	God is almighty and his power unlimited.
The gods emerged from primordial matter.	God created everything there is.
The gods have the same moral problems as humans.	God is the author of righteousness.
The gods manage and manipulate human beings.	God loves human beings.
Some gods are wise; others foolish.	God is all-wise, the author of wisdom.
The gods operate only on a repeating annual cycle.	God promised a Messiah who would break into history and redeem his people.
The gods only have local influence.	God rules not only his people Israel, but all the nations of the world.
The gods were induced to provide fertile crops by the participation of the priests and rulers in sexual rituals.	God eliminated sexual activities from all worship.

Table 2: Creeds of the Old and New Covenants

Biblical Creeds of Israel  Reflected in its Worship “Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried unto the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ ” Deuteronomy 26:5-9 “Tell him: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.’ ” Deuteronomy 6:21-25

Biblical Creeds of the Church  Reflected in its Worship “For what I received I passed on to you, that which is of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16 “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:6-11

Reflection

1. What was ancient Israel to learn about God through practicing the hundreds of worship commands he gave the nation?
2. What was the meaning of the tearing of the veil in the temple at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion?
3. Why is the history of Israel in the Old Testament important for us to understand?
4. Does the new thing that God has done through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit demand a new worship response on the part of Christians? 
5. Who and what do Christians celebrate in their worship?

http://www.gci.org/law/chr-sab4

Responding to God With Worship

We respond to God with worship, because worship is simply giving God what is fitting. He is praiseworthy, not only for his power but also for his gentleness.
God is love, and all that he does is done in love. This is praiseworthy. We praise love even on a human level, don’t we? We praise people who give their lives to help others. They did not have enough power to save their own lives, but what power they had, they used to help others—and that is praiseworthy. In contrast, we criticize people who had the power to help but refused to do it. Goodness is more praiseworthy than power is, and God is both good and powerful.
Praise deepens the bond of love between us and God. God’s love for us is never diminished, but ours for him often grows weak. In praise, we rehearse his love for us and, in effect, fan the fire of love for him that the Spirit has started within us. It is good for us to remember and rehearse how wonderful God is, for that strengthens us in Christ and increases our motivation to be like him in his goodness, which increases our joy.
We were made for the purpose of praising God (1 Peter 2:9), of giving him glory and honor, and the better we are in harmony with God’s purpose for life, the greater joy will be ours. Life is simply more satisfying when we do what we were made to do: to honor God. We do that not only in worship, but also in the way we live.

A way of life

Worship is a way of life. We offer our bodies and minds as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). We worship God when we share the gospel (Romans 15:16). We worship God when we give financial offerings (Philippians 4:18). We worship God when we help other people (Hebrews 13:16). We say that he is worthy, worth our time and attention and allegiance. We praise his glory, and his humility in becoming one of us for our sakes. We praise his righteousness and his mercy. We praise him for the way he really is.
This is what we were made for, to declare his praises. It is simply right that we praise the One who created us, the One who died and rose to save us and give us life eternal, the One who works even now to help us become more like him. We owe him our allegiance, and we owe him our love.
We were made to praise God, and this is what we will do eternally. John was given a vision of our future: "I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’" (Revelation 5:13). This is the right response: awe at the awesome, honor for the honorable, and allegiance to the trustworthy.

Five basic principles

Psalm 33:1-3 tells us, "Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy." Scripture tells us to sing, shout, to use harps, flutes, tambourines, trumpets, cymbals—even to worship with dancing (Psalms 149-150). The picture is of exuberance, unrestrained joy, and happiness expressed without inhibitions.
The Bible gives us examples of spontaneous worship. It also gives us examples of very formal approaches to worship, with stereotyped routines that stay the same for centuries. Both approaches to worship can be legitimate, and neither one can claim to be the only authentic way to praise God. Let me review some of the broader principles involved in worship.

1. We are called to worship

First, God does want us to worship him. This is a constant we see from one end of Scripture to another (Genesis 4:4; John 4:23; Revelation 22:9). Worship is one of the reasons we are called: to declare his praises (1 Peter 2:9). God’s people not only love and obey him, but they also do specific acts of worship. They make sacrifices, they sing praises, they pray.
In Scripture, we see a wide variety in the way that worship can be done. In the law of Moses, many details were specified. Specific people were assigned to do specific actions at specific times in specific places. The who, what, when, where and how were spelled out. In contrast to that, we see in Genesis very few rules about how the patriarchs worshipped. They did not have a designated priesthood, were not restricted to a certain place, and were told little about what to offer or when to offer it.

In the New Testament, we again see very little about the how and the when of worship. Worship activities are not restricted to a certain group of people or a certain place. Christ did away with the Mosaic requirements. All believers are priests and continually offer themselves as living sacrifices.

2. Worship only God

Despite the great variety in worship styles, we see a simple constant throughout Scripture: Only God should be worshipped. Worship, to be acceptable, must be exclusive. God requires all our love—all our allegiance. We cannot serve two Gods. Although we may worship him in different styles, our unity is based on the fact that it is him we worship.

In ancient Israel, the rival God was often Baal, a Canaanite deity. In Jesus’ day, it was religious tradition, self-righteousness and hypocrisy. Actually, anything that comes between us and God—anything that might cause us to disobey him—is a false god, an idol. For some today, it is money. For others, it is sex. Some have a bigger problem with pride, or with concerns about what other people may think of us. John mentions some common false gods when he writes,

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

No matter what our weakness is, we need to crucify it, to kill it, to put all false gods away. If something distracts us from obeying God, we need to get rid of it. God wants people who worship only him, who have him as the center of all life.

3. Sincerity

The third constant about worship that we see in the Scriptures is that worship must be sincere. It does no good to go through the right motions, sing the right songs, meet on the right days and say the right words, if we don’t really love God in our hearts. Jesus criticized those who honored God with their lips, but who worshipped in vain, because their hearts were not close to God. Their traditions (originally designed to express their love and worship) had become obstacles to real love and worship.

Jesus also stresses the need for sincerity when he says that worship must be in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). If we say that we love God when we actually resent his commands, we are hypocrites. If we value our freedom more than we do his authority, we cannot worship him in truth. We cannot take his covenant upon our lips and cast his words behind (Psalm 50:16-17). We cannot call him Lord and ignore what he says.

4. Obedience

Throughout Scripture, we see that true worship includes obedience. This includes God’s words concerning the way we treat one another.
We cannot honor God when we dishonor his children. "If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20-21). It is similar to Isaiah’s scathing criticism of people who perform worship rituals while indulging in social injustices:
Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. (Isaiah 1:11-15)
As far as we can tell, there was nothing wrong with the days the people were keeping, or the kind of incense and animals they were bringing. The problem was the way they were living the rest of the time. "Your hands are full of blood," he said—and yet I am sure that the problem was not just with those who had actually committed murder.
He called for a comprehensive solution: "Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow" (verses 16-17). They needed to get their interpersonal relationships in order. They needed to eliminate racial prejudice, social class stereotypes, and unfair economic practices.

Five facts about worship 1.      God wants us to worship, to respond to him with praise and thanks. 2.      Only God is worthy of our worship and total allegiance. 3.      Worship should be sincere, not a performance. 4.      If we really respect and love God, we will do what he says. Worship is not just something we do at church — it involves everything we do.

5. In all of life

Worship, if genuine, should make a difference in the way we treat one another seven days a week. This is another principle we see throughout Scripture.
How should we worship? Micah asks the question and gives the answer:
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:6-8)

Hosea also stressed that interpersonal relationships are more important than the mechanics of worship: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6). We are called not only to praise, but also to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).

Our concept of worship must go far beyond music, days and rituals. Those details are not nearly as important as the way we treat our neighbors. It is hypocritical to call Jesus Lord if we do not also seek his sense of justice, mercy, and compassion.
Worship is much more than outward actions—it involves a change of behavior, rooted in a total change of heart, a change produced in us by the Holy Spirit. Instrumental in this change is our willingness to spend time with God in prayer, study and other spiritual disciplines. The transformation does not happen by magic—it happens through time spent in fellowship with God.

Paul’s expansive view of worship

Worship involves all of life. We see this especially in the words of Paul. He uses the terminology of sacrifice and worship in this way: "I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1). All of life is to be worship, not just a few hours each week. Of course, if all of our lives are devoted to worship, this will most definitely include some time each week with other Christians!
Paul uses more words for sacrifice and worship in Romans 15:16 when he speaks of the grace God had given him "to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." Here we see that preaching the gospel is a form of worship.
Since we are all priests, we all have the priestly duty of proclaiming the praises of the One who called us (1 Peter 2:9)—a worship any believer can do, or at least participate in by helping others preach the gospel.
When Paul thanked the Philippians for sending him financial support, he used words for worship: "I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18).
Financial help given to other Christians can be a form of worship. Hebrews 13 describes worship given both in words and in works: "Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (verses 15-16).
We are called to worship, celebrate and glorify God. It is our joy to be able to declare his praises, to share the good news of what he has done for us in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Joseph Tkach

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Questions for discussion

• What characteristic of God do you feel most thankful for?
• Some Old Testament sacrifices were completely burned up — nothing left but smoke and ashes. Have you ever felt that any of your sacrifices were like that?
• Spectators cheer when their team scores a goal or wins a game. Do we respond to God with equal enthusiasm?
• For many people, God is not very important in day-to-day life. What is most important for people you know?
• Why does God care about the way we treat other people?

Why Our Worship Style Is Changing

God has done marvelous things for us! The love he has shown us in Jesus Christ is beyond our ability to understand (Ephesians 3:19). The joy he gives us in salvation is beyond our ability to express (1 Peter 1:8). The peace he gives is also beyond our comprehension (Philippians 4:7). Words simply fail to describe adequately the experience of salvation we have in Jesus Christ.
How shall we respond to these magnificent blessings? With worship — with praise and thanksgiving, giving glory and honor to God. This is our privilege and our joy. Our relationship with God is characterized by love, joy, peace, praise and worship. All that we do should be for his honor and glory — and we rejoice in being called to proclaim his praises (1 Peter 2:9).
In recent years, many congregations have changed the way they do things in their weekly meetings. Church services are called worship services. Song leaders are called worship leaders. We have more music, and a greater variety of music. The goal, of course, is that we become more conscious that we are gathering to worship our Creator and Savior, and that we express that worship in the words we sing and in the emotions that songs can convey. In a way, the “culture” in the church is changing.
It should be no surprise that some of us find this change uncomfortable. We have grown used to our traditional way of doing things, and we can easily view a change in music as an unnecessary interruption of our comfort levels. With that in mind, I would like to share with you a slightly edited letter I sent a member in response to questions about our changing worship format:

You question whether a revised worship format can bring anyone closer to God. It is true that simply changing terminology and behavior cannot force anyone to change their hearts. However, it can facilitate a change of heart. I do not know what songs were done in your church area. I do know that contemporary worship songs have helped many members come to greater awareness of why we gather each week: to worship, to praise God, to rejoice before the Lord.
Salvation is a wonderful gift — better than winning a million dollars in a sweepstakes. Should we treat it as a ho-hum, matter-of-fact experience? I think not. The knowledge of salvation should make us excited, expressive, enthusiastic, anxious to praise our Father and Savior. For many people, this is done with lively songs.
As you note, the way people sing praise to God has varied from culture to culture and century to century. Eighth-century chants were effective worship expressions in the eighth century. Today, they are not. Eighteenth-century hymns were also worshipful in the 18th century. Some still are; others are not. Each type of song began as contemporary music. As time went on, it became traditional and some other style became contemporary. Today, different styles are becoming contemporary, and 18th-century hymns do not invoke worshipful thoughts in large segments of the population.
You suggest that we are changing our worship song styles without scriptural precedent. I believe that Scripture actually gives us precedent for much greater change. Scripture tells us about very expressive worship styles:

• “I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Psalm 9:2).
• “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (Psalm 32:11).
• “Shout with joy to God, all the earth!” (Psalm 66:1).
• “May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the Lord — and rejoice before him” (Psalm 68:3-4).
• “Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!” (Isaiah 49:13).
• “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you — I, whom you have redeemed” (Psalm 71:23).
• “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation” (Psalm 95:1).
• “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!” (Zephaniah 3:14).
• “Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise” (James 5:13).

Have you ever shouted for joy — in the presence of other believers — at the blessings God has given you? Have you ever exulted in God? Has your heart leaped for joy? Have you clapped hands in worship? There are scriptural precedents for these. We want our worship services to allow people to express their praise and joy in the Lord.
You note that some of our minority members prefer traditional music. That is true. It is also true that some of the majority members enjoy minority music. We want to provide a variety of musical styles that reflects the variety of people that we have in our fellowship. Of course, music preferences change over time, too. After listening to a style of music for a while, it can become more enjoyable.
Another thing that we need to consider is the people who do not attend our services, and yet we want them to. What styles of music will help them worship? What songs will best express to them the joy Christ is giving us? What will magnify the Lord to them? If we want our church to grow, if we want people to stay to hear the gospel message, then we need to consider their preferences, too. Some songs are more beginner-friendly than others. I hope you can take that into consideration, too, because that is another reason we wish to have more variety in our worship music. We want the church to grow, to bring more people to salvation through Jesus Christ.

Worship and cultural diversity

Worship styles are fundamentally a matter of culture. That means that the outward form of the worship service does not need to be the same everywhere. The key to the worship service is that a suitable environment is created in which people can come into the presence of God in the context of the body of Christ. Worship is a meeting between God and his people.
Robert Logan puts it well when he explains that the worship service should take people through a process of active response to God – helping them recognize who he is, what he is like, who we are and what we are like in relation to him, the change he desires to make in our lives, and our proper response to his will for our lives (Beyond Church Growth, page 77). This should be done in a way that is culturally relevant. In other words, the goal of worship, leading people to meet God, is best attained in the context of their particular cultural expectations.
Why we worship and what happens to us when we do are the substance of worship. How we worship, or the form, is rooted in our culture. If we first understand why we worship God, then we can adapt the form so that it is culturally relevant. This means that although it is essential that the substance of worship be the same everywhere, the form of worship will inevitably vary from region to region and from congregation to congregation. Certain forms of expression are more comfortable, expressive or appealing in some areas than others. Resources also vary from place to place, allowing some to enjoy worship styles that are not feasible in other places.
We do not need an identical worship form in all our congregations. What we need is to provide an environment in every congregation that allows a congregation to express its worship and praise to God in a way that is meaningful to them as they experience and share his forgiving grace and empowering love. Because our congregations come from different cultures, we will naturally gravitate toward varying worship environments.

Joseph Tkach, 1996

Worship - a small group study

Introduction:

"The Lamb is worthy – the Lamb who was slain. He is worthy to receive the power, and the riches, and the wisdom, and the strength, and the honor, and the glory, and the blessing." In these beautiful words from Revelation 5:12-13 we see a powerful example of worship. These inspired words are filled with wonder as they describe the reality of Jesus Christ.
The Bible teaches us how to worship and lift up the name of God so our lives can be changed through it. In John 4:23 we see that God is the one who seeks and draws us into worship. Worship is our human response to God’s divine initiative.
When they think of worship, some people think of singing, attending church services or praying. These are certainly beautiful expressions of worship, but it goes beyond that.Worship is what our lives ought to be – a dynamic, everlasting celebration of God. Our spiritual service of worship is ultimately giving ourselves to Him gladly and sacrificially with each passing day — it is a lifestyle. This is our privilege, our purpose and our fulfillment.
Key Passage: Rom. 12:1-2 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Please share with the group what worship means to you. Discuss with one another what may be new to you about this topic, and what you have learned in the last few months or years.
We just read that we ought to "offer our bodies as living sacrifices." What do you understand that to mean?
What does verse 2 of the key passage add to your understanding of true worship?
In your own words, what is the difference between attending worship and living in worship?
How does regular fellowship with other believers help you worship God with new and fresh eagerness?
When is it the hardest for you to concentrate on worshiping God?
When I’m sick or hurting
When bad things happen to me or someone I love
When something really good is happening to me
When I’m really busy
Other:
Have you found ways that help you remain focused on God?
How can worshiping Jesus transform lives of people around us? Have you seen any of that kind of change in the people with whom you have had contact?
In John 4:23 we read, "A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." How does God seek you, drawing you to worship Him?
"Because ‘God is spirit’ (without material being), worship must be bound up with spiritual realities, not physical formalities. Consequently, true worship is not limited by time, place or ceremony. To worship in ‘truth’ means to worship the true God, honestly, genuinely, and from the heart." -J. Carl Laney
As we know, there are many different ways, forms and traditions that may aid us in worshiping God. The New Testament does not tell us to follow a particular form for worship, other than to worship in spirit and truth. The forms Christians use today are not the worship, they simply help lead us into the worship. How do you see this happening in your congregation and in your personal worship?

The first commandment Jesus gives us is to worship God above all other things: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). Richard Foster makes the following statement about the priority of worship: "The divine priority is worship first, service second. Our lives are to be punctuated with praise, thanksgiving, and adoration. Service flows out of worship. Service as a substitute for worship is idolatry. One grave temptation we all face is to run around answering calls to service without ministering to the Lord himself." Please discuss this concept.

Question: "What is the meaning of Christian worship?"

Answer: The meaning of the New Testament Greek word most often translated “worship” (proskuneo) is “to fall down before” or “bow down before.” Worship is a state (an attitude) of spirit. Since it’s an internal, individual action, it could/should be done most of the time (or all the time) in our lives, regardless of place or situation (John 4:21). Therefore, Christians worship all the time, seven days a week. When Christians formally gather together in worship, still the emphasis should be on individually worshiping the Lord. Even in a congregation, participants need to be aware that they are worshiping God fully on an individual basis.

The nature of Christian worship is from the inside out and has two equally important parts. We must worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Worshiping in the spirit has nothing to do with our physical posture. It has to do with our innermost being and requires several things. First, we must be born again. Without the Holy Spirit residing within us, we cannot respond to God in worship because we do not know Him. “No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11b). The Holy Spirit within us is the one who energizes worship because He is in essence glorifying Himself, and all true worship glorifies God.

Second, worshiping in spirit requires a mind centered on God and renewed by Truth. Paul exhorts us to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:1b, 2b). Only when our minds are changed from being centered on worldly things to being centered on God can we worship in spirit. Distractions of many kinds can flood our minds as we try to praise and glorify God, hindering our true worship.

Third, we can only worship in spirit by having a pure heart, open and repentant. When King David’s heart was filled with guilt over his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), he found it impossible to worship. He felt that God was far from him, and he “groaned all day long” feeling God’s hand heavy upon him (Psalm 32:3,4). But when he confessed, fellowship with God was restored and worship and praise poured forth from him. He understood that “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17). Praise and worship toward God cannot come from hearts filled with unconfessed sin.

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-worship.html#ixzz1U3XR0FnC

Question: "What are the ingredients to a truly biblical worship service?"

Answer: Humans are instinctively worshiping creatures. The psalmist best expressed this when he wrote, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1). As far back as the time of Cicero of the first century B.C., it was observed that religion, regardless of its form, was a universal trait of man. Seeing that men are going to worship something or someone, we must ask what is worship, whom and how shall we worship? What constitutes a biblical worship service, and, most importantly, will we be “true worshipers” (John 4:23) or false worshipers? True worship involves a deep sense of religious awe that expresses itself in acts of devotion and service. The English word “worship” literally means “worth-ship,” denoting a being or object deemed worthy of devotion.

Christ commanded that true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). The apostle Paul explained that we worship by the Spirit of God (Philippians 3:3), meaning that true worship comes only from those who have been saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit living in their hearts. Worshiping in spirit also means with the proper heart attitude, not simply adhering to rites and rituals. To worship in truth means worshiping according to what God has revealed about Himself in Scripture. In order for our worship to truly be biblical, it must not go beyond that which is authorized by the Bible (Leviticus 10:1; 1 Corinthians 4:6), abiding within the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9; see also Deuteronomy 4:12, 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19). True worship involves only the instructions given in the Bible and nothing else—not a Book of Confessions, Rules of Order, or other manmade books of instructions or guidance.

The first-century church engaged in several devotional acts in their worship services, from which we can determine what makes up a truly biblical worship service. The communion supper was observed (Acts 20:7), prayers were offered up (1 Corinthians 14:15-16), songs were sung to the glory of God (Ephesians 5:19), a collection was taken (1 Corinthians 16:2), the Scriptures were read (Colossians 4:16), and the Word of God was proclaimed (Acts 20:7).

First, the communion supper commemorates Jesus’ death during our worship as we memorialize His resurrection until He returns again (1 Corinthians 11:25-26). As with the Lord’s Supper, prayer must also conform to the divine pattern taught in the Scriptures. Our prayers should be directed only to God (Nehemiah 4:9; Matthew 6:9), never to any dead person as in the practice of Catholicism. We are not authorized to use devices such as rosary beads or Buddhist “prayer wheels” that supposedly send written requests into the far regions of the universe. Most importantly, our prayers must be in harmony with the will of God.

Third, we are authorized to sing. The apostle Paul commands us to “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-20). Singing to the Lord and to one another conveys truth set to music as a form of teaching (Colossians 3:16), singing with both the spirit and the mind in order to produce understanding on the part of those involved (1 Corinthians 14:15-16).

Part of true biblical worship is giving of our offering, as Paul instructed the Corinthian church: “Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). Our regular giving for the support of the Lord’s work is a serious responsibility and is part of true biblical worship. Our giving should be viewed as a thrilling blessing, not as a burdensome matter for grumbling (2 Corinthians 9:7). Additionally, it must be stressed that giving is the only authorized method for financing the work of the church of Jesus Christ. We are not authorized to operate businesses, conduct bingo parties, hold pay-at-the-door concerts, etc. The church of Christ is not meant to be a commercial enterprise (Matthew 21:12-13).

Finally, preaching and teaching are major ingredients of true worship. Our teaching must be the Scriptures alone, the only means of equipping believers for life and godliness (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The godly preacher or teacher will teach only from the Word and rely on the Spirit of God do His work in the minds and hearts of his listeners. As Paul reminded Timothy, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). A church gathering that does not include the Word of God as a major component is not a true biblical worship service.

Without question, God, in His divine wisdom, has provided the perfect model of true biblical worship so that we can worship in a manner pleasing to Him. As we follow the course of true worship, let us worship God with great passion. We must not convey to the world the impression that the worship of our God is a boring, lifeless ritual. We have been redeemed from sin. Let us therefore praise our Creator as His children who are grateful for His bountiful blessings. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28-29).

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/worship-service.html#ixzz1U3X05KNi

Question: "Dance in worship - what does the Bible say?"

Answer: Dance is mentioned on many occasions in Scripture. The first appearance of God’s people dancing as an act of worship is found in Exodus 15:20: “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.” This joyful dance to the Lord, led by Miriam, followed Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea and celebrated Israel’s newfound freedom from slavery.

However, dancing is not always presented in a positive light in the Bible. Soon after Miriam’s dance of praise, the Israelites were found dancing before a golden calf in worship. “When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain” (Exodus 32:19). On this occasion dancing was part of a wicked, idolatrous carousal. Thus, dancing is a mode of expression that can be used for good or for evil.

Other instances of dancing in the Bible Include 2 Samuel 6:16, which has David “leaping and dancing before the LORD.” Also, the Amalekites danced in celebration after plundering Judah and Philistia (1 Samuel 30:16); theirs was a short-lived dance, however, as David and his men soon defeated them (verses 17-20).

The Psalms offer a unique look at dance as an act of worship. In Psalm 30:11, the psalmist says, “You turned my wailing into dancing.” Psalm 149:3 encourages the use of dancing to worship God: “Let them praise his name with dancing!” Likewise, Psalm 150:4 urges, “Praise him with tambourine and dancing!” just like Miriam.

Some have argued that dance is an Old Testament form of expression. Since dance is not mentioned as a method of worship in the New Testament, Christians should not worship in this manner. However, this is an argument from silence and is not based on clear biblical teaching. Most early Christians were Jewish and likely would have incorporated Jewish forms of worship in their praise to the risen Messiah.

Another concern has been the association of dance with sinful activities. The idea is that, if dance is used in worship, it could be seen as approving dance in other situations that do not honor God. However, this is not necessarily the case. The Amalekites’ dancing in 1 Samuel did not prevent David from dancing in 2 Samuel. Christians can and should utilize dance as they do any other art form such as music, painting, drama, or filmmaking. As long as dance is worshipful, God-focused, and praiseworthy, it can have a proper place in worship. Worship dance is a far cry from the seductive dance of the daughter of Herodias (Mark 6:17-28).

Finally, it is important to understand that dance in the context of worship is not simply self-expression. It should be done in a way that is helpful to the entire congregation. Paul noted that “everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” in the church (1 Corinthians 14:40). “Everything” would include the use of dance in worship. Anything during a worship gathering that distracts from a focus on Christ should be left out. Each congregation bears the responsibility to structure its worship service in a way that honors God and encourages those within their group.

Dance is used as an act of worship in Scripture and can continue to be used in that way today. However, churches should take care to avoid dance that leads others to temptation or sin, and the focus must remain on worshiping God rather than drawing attention to self. When practiced in this way, dance is a beautiful art form that can communicate truth, bringing glory to God and edifying others.

Recommended Resources: For the Beauty of the Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts edited by W. David Taylor and Logos Bible Software.

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/dance-in-worship.html#ixzz1U3WqQ8uz

Question: "Should we raise our hands/clap our hands during worship?"

Answer: Scripture commands that we worship God, that we exalt His name and offer Him our praise. There is biblical precedent for both the lifting of hands and the clapping of hands as an act of worship. Psalms 47:1 says, “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.” In this instance, both clapping and shouting out joyful worship to God are urged. In 1 Timothy 2:8, we read, “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.” The emphasis of this verse is the attitude of the heart; however, we see that lifting hands is an appropriate posture for prayer and worship. Having these biblical precedents, we can safely conclude that both of those expressions can be an act of worship.

What we need to ascertain is if those expressions, or indeed if any specified expression, is an actual requirement for worship. In examining specific acts of worship in the Scriptures, we see there are a variety of expressions and postures. We’ve already seen the command to clap our hands and shout to the Lord. “The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: ‘He is good; his love endures forever.’ Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud” (2 Chronicles 5:13). So we see that singing praises and playing instruments were also appropriate expressions of worship. Singing as worship is also found in Ephesians 5:19, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.”

The postures of worship include standing, kneeling, prostrating ourselves, eyes lifted up, eyes cast down, and hands raised. We do not see one specific posture universally required in worship, and neither do we see one specific “authorized” expression of worship. We can conclude, therefore, that the raising of hands and/or the clapping of hands during worship is an appropriate expression of worship, although neither is required for worship. John 4:24 says, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." Worship is a spiritual event, and true worship comes from the heart. If our worship is not heartfelt, it doesn’t matter what posture or expression of worship we use. If our worship is from the heart, God accepts our worship.

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/worship-hands.html#ixzz1U3VtgOsx

Question: "What does the Bible say about liturgy? Should a Christian participate in liturgical worship?"

Answer: The American Heritage Dictionary defines "liturgy" as follows: "1. The rite of the Eucharist. 2. The prescribed form for a public religious service; ritual." Looking at Scripture, there is not a "prescribed form for a public religious service" set forth for the church. At the same time, several New Testament passages do give us important ingredients that should be part of a healthy local church. Among these are the following:

True fellowship: treating fellow believers as they are—family, with the associated love, unity of heart, and giving toward others that is common to a good family (Acts 2:44-46).

The observance of the ordinances: baptism of believers and remembrance of the Lord's Supper / Communion (Acts 2:41,42,46; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32).

Steadfast observance of the apostles' doctrine, the reading of the Word of God, and the teaching / preaching of the Word of God (Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 4:13-16; 2 Timothy 4:2).

Prayer and praise, with dependence upon the Holy Spirit's direction (Acts 2:42,47; Acts 13:1-4; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Ephesians 6:18).

Evangelism and discipleship, with all members of the church using their spiritual gifts to serve Christ as part of the Body of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 1 Timothy 4:5; Ephesians 4:11-16; Romans 12:3-8).

While some churches are labeled as "liturgical" because of their very formal and predetermined order and manner of worship, all churches to some degree have a format that they typically follow. The major distinction would be both the degree to which this is true, and the possibility of changing that common format if necessary. It is obvious from Acts 13 that the church in the city of Antioch was flexible in that they were open to the Holy Spirit's leading. If a church is so liturgical that changes according to His leading are not a possibility, liturgy has gone too far. A church that is too structured would never allow for the Spirit’s leading—they already have their own "agenda"; they don't need His.

There are two additional possible dangers in relation to liturgical worship: (1) Liturgies designed by men are fallible and thus need to be examined to see whether they are scriptural. But this is true both for so-called liturgical churches as well as for those not given that label. In both cases fallible men set the format of the service. (2) Liturgies that call for the recitation of repetitious prayers, responses, etc., can begin to be done in rote without thought or true worship from the heart. And when this happens they become "vain repetitions." But nonetheless, it is still very possible for one of a sincere heart to worship God with repetitious prayers, etc., as he reflects upon what is being said and thus enters into those prayers from the heart. Besides, even in non-liturgical churches, certain songs and choruses are sung repeatedly over time and carry the same danger of being sung glibly rather than with reflection upon what is being said and sung.

Whether a church is liturgical is not as important as the soundness of the doctrine of the church and the soundness of the pastor doctrinally and spiritually (1 Timothy 4:16; Acts 2:42). I was once a part of a very liturgical denomination. My reasons for leaving that denomination did not involve its being liturgical, but chiefly concerned its doctrine. For although they daily read from three different portions of the Scripture (Old Testament, Gospel account, and an Epistle) as part of their liturgy, the beliefs of this denomination were not in keeping with what was being read. Rather, it differed on a number of essential issues such as how a person gets to heaven, whom prayers should be directed to, whether a person can be secure in his salvation, etc. So, the main issue may not be whether a church is liturgical, since all are to some degree, but whether its teachings and practices are in line with Scripture on core issues. Agreement with Scripture, not liturgy, determines whether a church’s practices are compatible with those of a healthy and Biblically-based church.

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