What Is Worship? Series

WHAT IS WORSHIP?

SCRIPTURE READING:

Judges 1:1-5 "After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?”

2 The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.”

4 When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites.

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

INTRODUCTION:

Today, we are going to talk about worship.

What is worship?

Let me start with a story.

There was a story of a member of the British Parliament named Neil Marten.

He was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament.

During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then lord chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office.

Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and cried, "Neil! Neil"

Not daring to question or disobey the "command", the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees!

They misinterpreted the name of Neil to "kneel".

I took this from "Today in the Word, " July 30, 1993.

Well, they knew how to kneel in respond to a command but they did not know that it was not the intention at that time.

There are many Christians who are like that.

They are ready to kneel and bow down to anything and anyone that excites them even when it is inappropriate.

They desire to worship but they don't know why they worship and who to worship.

They have no clear understanding of what real worship is all about.

You might be listening to me right now and say, "That's me."

"I desire to worship God every Sunday but in reality, I am at a loss whether I have given my all to God.

"I don't fully know whether there is something lacking in my worship.

"I want to give full reverence to God but I have no idea whether this is the way He wants me to worship Him."

If you feel that way, you are not alone.

There are a lot of Christians who are feeling the same way.

And so, it is time for us to re-investigate our worship and learn from God's Word.

You see, God might require worship differently than we think.

Sometimes, we think that worship is merely attending a Sunday morning worship service.

But God looks at our hearts and He knows that we still fall short of His desire.

And so, we had to be honest with God and with our selves if we are serious in our worship to God.

If there is a need for us to improve in the way we worship God, we had to make those necessary changes even if it is uncomfortable at first.

Why? Because ultimately in heaven, we will be worshiping God for all eternity.

When I say, for all eternity, it means forever.

And our worship on this earth is only a foretaste of things to come.

While on earth, we better study about true and sincere worship or we will not be ready for heaven.

In our message for today, I want us to analyze three elements of worship that are significant to our Christian growth.

What does worship include or associated with and why are these important to our lives?

Here in this first chapter and the very first verse of the book of Judges, we find Israel inquiring of the Lord regarding their future direction as a nation.

Judges 1:1 "After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?”

Remember that last week, we said that Joshua has just died and the work of claiming the Promised Land has not yet been completed.

There are still a lot of things to do and a lot of lands still to be conquered.

But at this time, Israel has no leader and they been subdivided into twelve tribes each occupying a specific territory.

They have grown comfortable in dwelling in their respective lands that it was very difficult for them to unite together to claim more lands.

At the same time, the previous occupants were active in reclaiming their lands.

Something or somebody must bring them together to accomplish their purposes as God's people.

And so, they have no where to turn to but God.

They did just that, they turned to God to worship Him in the first verses of the Book of Judges to ask for direction.