Part 2 - The Meaning Of Worship Series

We are coming into the heart of our worship series. This is crucial for us as a church to understand. It is my belief, that the American Church lost its identity, especially when it comes to issues of worship. We are in trouble theologically and spiritually when it comes to worship. So, I want to see us as a church arrives at a place where we are intentionally pursuing a healthy, biblical culture of worship.

I heard someone recently say, "I think that all music—not just Christian music, but all music—is worship music because every song is amplifying the value of something. There is a trail in our lives that leads to what we really worship. A trail of our time, our affections, our allegiance, our devotion, and our money. That trail ends up before a throne, and whatever is on that throne is what we worship” (Loui Giglio).

We are all wired by God to be worshipers. The problem is that most of us have really bad gods. We’re all worshipping something. We are great at it. The question is do we love [worship] the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength? Does your life reflect a life of worshiping Christ?

The purpose of this series is to transform our lives into a life of worship, especially when we gather together here on Sundays. The questions we are seeking to answer today is, “What is worship?” and “Do you understand the meaning and purpose of worship in your life?”

I. The Definition of Worship

If we are going to understand why we worship, I must first define my terms of what I mean when I am talking about worship. William Temple defined worship as “…the submission of all our nature to God; the quickening of conscience by His holiness; nourishment of mind by His truth; purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart by His love; and submission of the will to His purpose. All these gathered up in adoration is the greatest expression of which we are capable of.”

• The quickening of conscience by HIS holiness (not mine)

• The nourishment of mind by HIS truth (not mine)

• The purifying of imagination by HIS beauty (not mine)

• Opening of the heart by HIS love (not mine)

• The submission of the to HIS purpose (not mine)

The basis of our worship, and the only basis of our worship, is to be the person, nature, and character of God through His son, Jesus Christ. Look at the psalmist’s declaration:

95 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

3 For the LORD is a great God

and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

7 For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

(Psalm 95:1-11)

I want you to notice a few things about the characteristics of these few verses. Psalm 95 is an invitation by David for others to join him in worshipping God. David then thematically attributes this worship because of God’s character, God’s creations, God’s presence, God’s sovereignty, and God’s salvation. There are elements of thanksgiving, joy, music, prayer, and thankfulness all wrapped together in these 11 verses. In fact, of the 150 Psalms recorded in the Bible, 85 have elements or calls to worship.

We worship God because He created us to worship Him, not because of what may receive from it or because it makes us feel good. God created us to worship Him. In fact, that will be our eternal job in heaven.

II. Our Approach to Worship

In John, Jesus approaches a Samaritan woman at a well and strikes up a conversation with her. The conversation turns to the idea of worship. Listen to what Jesus says to her:

Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is nowhere when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24).