Worship Thoughts
Worship of the true God is the most noble act that mankind can do. Worship is the specific act of a Christian bowing before God (either literally or in the heart), ascribing to our God the fact that He alone is God, and that we worship Him for the perfections of His character and for what He has done for us in creation and redemption. The first reference to worship describes Abraham’s intention in Genesis 22:5, “And Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.’“ The last references in Scripture are in Revelation 22:8-9:
Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Today efforts to worship come in many varieties. (Note: The following is a broad-brush description.) So-called contemporary worship usually appears with a few musicians singing songs that often the worshippers do not know, with the audience trying to sing a few words now and then, devolving to the worship team repeating a short phrase many times, allowing audience participation. The music usually involves an extended time at the beginning of the service and somewhat fewer numbers at the end. In between is possibly a good biblical message on a passage or theme that might have either a vertical (God-ward) or horizontal (man-ward) message. In this kind of service, worship is primarily music oriented.
Traditional worship usually includes several songs/hymns that most of the audience know with mostly full participation. Some of the songs direct our attention to God and others to some need in the worshipper’s life. Again, the sermon may be a good biblical exposition of a passage, which likewise may be vertical or horizontal in emphasis, depending on the passage. Some passages are direct hortatory messages to believers with little reference to the character of God, and some are very God-centered. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, if the preacher is faithfully exposing the message of a Bible book, varied emphases are natural. Usually in this kind of service, worship involves the whole service in balance.
A variant of this approach occurs in traditional revivalist services that typically use the music to warm the audience up for the message, often with little emphasis on the character of God. The message is almost totally hortatory with the preacher preaching several points that he thinks will move his audience in the direction he wants it to go (poor examples of topical preaching). One wonders if worship occurs in this kind of setting at all. (This is not to discount biblical evangelistic preaching.)
A survey of what New Testament church meetings included would show the following: baptisms, teaching/preaching/reading of the Word, fellowship (perhaps includes announcements, personal admonitions/exhortations, coffee!!), the Lord’s Supper, prayers, evangelism/missionary reports, singing, and offerings/collections. The church meeting involves more than worship, but New Testament church life does not exist without worship.
Finally, perhaps the best example of a pure worship service is worship built around the Lord’s Supper. All Scripture passages read would be passages that directed to God (not hortatory or historical). Offerings of prayers have the sense of bowing directly before God. All music would be hymns addressing the Person of God. The message would be an exposition of a passage that directs the heart to God and His character and work. (This is not to say that this should be the pattern of every service. This is an example of pure worship. The other God-centered services of such a church would include both worship and hortatory music, prayers, and biblical texts.) Every church should include this kind of worship regularly.
An outline of means of worship (not exhaustive) follows.
Primary ways we can worship God:
1. Corporate
a. Worship prayer – verses that give us words of worship: 2 Samuel 7:22-24; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chronicles 29:10-20; Ps. 36:5-10; Ps. 63:1-11; Ps. 86:1-17; Ps. 104:1-35; Ps. 17:1-2; Isa. 25:1-4; 37:16-17; Jer. 10:6-7.
b. Worship hymns: O God, Our Help in Ages Past, Great God of Wonders, We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer, Immortal, Invisible, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Holy, Holy, Holy, Worthy of Worship, Almighty Father, and Be Thou Exalted.
c. Worship giving – Christians must be constantly reminded and challenged to consciously give their tithes and offerings as though giving them directly to God.
d. The Lord’s Supper
e. Worship content in sermons, Sunday School, Bible studies, etc.
f. Choir sings a worship song while the congregation meditates on the words.
2. Private
a. Reading and praying words of worship in private devotions.
b. Singing or reading worship hymns in devotions.
c. Meditating on God throughout the day using worship words
John Mincy was a church planter in Singapore and California and is now pastor emeritus of Heritage Baptist Church in Antioch, California.
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