“What is Expected of a Church Member: Worship Faithfully”
Introduction:
When you commit yourself to the membership of the church you are joining a 2,000-year-old institution established by Jesus himself. Jesus said, “I will establish my church and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.” In Acts 2, it says that those who believed the message and were baptized were added to the church by God. Did you notice that the people did not have an option about being members of the church? Being a Christian and being a church member went hand in hand.
I do not believe that there is a more important institution on this Earth than the Church. I do not believe there is a greater voice of grace and truth than the church.
People always want to know what is expected of them before they commit to something. That is why most likely before you accept a new job you will read through the job description to know what is expected of you. It would not be good to dive into a job not knowing what your employer wanted you to accomplish. Many times we want to know the minimal expectations are, because many people like to meet just what is enough to make it by. We are like that some in our relationships with Christ. A lot of people may want to know what is expected of them as members of the Church. People may want to know what they need to do to be in good standing with God. This is a kind of touchy subject, because we as the church do not have any requirements other than a person be a Christian in order to be a member of the church here. While we do not revoke membership of people we do not feel are doing their role, I do feel the Bible makes it clear that God has some expectations of the members of the church. We set no requirements for you as members of Oak Grove Christian Church, but God sets expectations for you as a member of Christ’s Church, which he bought with his own blood. The expectations that I am going to talk about for the next few weeks are not ones set forth by me or the eldership, but are set forth by God in his word, which every person is subject to.
The reason why I bring these next few messages over the next few weeks is because in our world and church there is a lot of confusion. People assume that if they come to church every now and then they are saved, they assume that if they are members of a particular congregation than they will go to Heaven. Many times you will read the obituaries in the newspaper and see someone’s name and they will say they were a member maybe of Oak Grove Christian Church, but they have not been around for many years. Are we a member of the church because we came down the aisle at invitation time and placed our membership and are on the church role book? Are we members of a church because that is where we were baptized? No! Church membership is not a one-time event that we do, but is a constant lifestyle that we live.
Church membership is extremely important. Not necessarily membership to a particular local congregation, but membership to the Church is important because it is the church that is the Bride of Christ which Christ is returning for, and if someone is not a part of the church they are not saved.
One thing that the Bible plainly teaches is that God has always expected His people to worship, not only privately, but also together as a body. That is why God set the Sabbath day as a day of worship for the Jews. That is why God set apart certain days for his people to meet together to worship Him. We as Christians worship on Sunday corporately. Is this something that God really expects you to do if you a part of His church? What if you don’t do it? Can’t you worship at home in privacy just as well? Those are all questions that many of us want to know the answers to when it comes to worship.
Text: Psalms 96
I. Why Should We Worship Regularly?
Perhaps some want to know the answer to why should we worship on a regular basis. Perhaps some want to know how many times they should be at church. I believe that there are several reasons why we should worship together on a regular basis.
a. We Were Created to Worship
Isaiah 43:20-21
I want you to know that God does not need out love and acceptance of him to make himself happy. Granted, he wants us to love him more than anything else and he wants us to be with Him more than anything else. Still, we must understand that we were created to worship. I believe this is why every civilization that has ever lived has had some idea of worshiping a god of some type. God didn’t create us because he was lonely, but he created us to be in fellowship with him, and so that we might bring praise to Him for who He is and what He has done. So, worship is what we were intended to do when we were created.
b. We Are Privileged to Worship
Not only do we have an obligation to meet together to worship, but also it is a privilege to worship God. As far as I know every major religion has times set aside for corporate worship on a regular basis, and granted I do not have an insider’s perspective on those religions, I do not hear of their people questioning the idea of worshiping their god and many of them do it faithfully. Granted we are not part of a religion where we earn our salvation by worshiping or doing certain rituals, we are under grace. Many people see that as their obligation to worship is lowered, but rather I want to suggest that is the exact reason we should desire to worship regularly. We should desire to worship God because of what he has done for us. Sure, I think that we have a divine command to worship regularly, but our reason for worship shouldn’t be because we have to, but because we want to, because God is good. It is a privilege to be able to worship God. Most other religions have a god that is distant from them, and in their worship they go through meaningless rituals in order to please that god. We though have a God that through our worship we can draw near to. Though God is the creator of the whole universe, though he is holy and has the power to give and take life, we have the ability to come into his throne room and worship him. Worship is not just an obligation, but is also a privilege.
c. We Express our Hearts in Worship
Our worship to God is a way to express what we feel about God in a special way. Worship is not about just coming to church, or going through motions, it is revealing to God that we love him, that we need him, and that we appreciate all he does for us. If you read the Psalms you get the idea that David through his worship reveals his heart to God. Often times there are words we cannot express to God because we cannot put how we feel into words, our worship is laying that before God and publicly and privately thanking Him.
d. We Are Brought Closer to God in Worship
Some of the most amazing times I have had in my life have been in worship. They are things that I cannot explain. I just felt close to God. Times when I have been in a large group of people singing praises to God, and I stop and listen to the voices of hundreds of people offering praise to the same God I worship. In a foreign country hearing people praise God with enthusiasm in their language, but to the same God. Worship brings us close to God. Through worshiping God we come to know him better, we come to desire to serve him better. True worship leads to spiritual growth and a strengthened desire to serve. Do you remember the story of when Isaiah was worshipping God, and he had a vision of God? It says that he saw the Lord seated on his throne, high and exalted. He heard the angels around Him singing praises to God. What was the result of that? It was a desire to serve, because when God asked whom he should send out and speak his Word, Isaiah volunteered. Worship brings us closer to God, but a lack of worship blinds us from knowing God.
e. God is Worthy of Our Praise
During the tenure of the great orator Henry Ward Beecher, a visiting minister once substituted for the popular preacher. A large audience had already assembled to hear Beecher, and when the substitute preacher stepped into the pulpit, several disappointed listeners began to move toward the exits.
That’s when the minister stood and said loudly, "All who have come here today to worship Henry Ward Beecher may now withdraw from the church. All who have come to worship God keep your seats!"
We as people are not worthy of worship, but God is worthy of worship. On top of all of those reasons why we should worship, God is worthy of our worship.
Psalms 18:1-3
He is not some idol set up in a temple somewhere, which was crafted by the hands of men. He is not some distant God that doesn’t care about us. He is a God that loves us and cares for us. He is a God that sent his son to die for us so that we might be saved. He is worthy of our praise because He is Holy. In fact the very word worship implied in it’s meaning worthiness.
I. What Does Worship Require?
f. Faithful Attendance
Hebrews 10:25
Perhaps you feel like the little boy who attended church for the first time and was asked how it went? He replied, "The music was nice but the commercial was too long."...
We meet together for corporate worship on the Lord’s Day because of the example that the Apostles set before us, but that is not the only example they set as far as worship goes. In fact, they meet together daily in order to worship, fellowship, and pray together. Worship requires us to be together and faithful in attendance. We cannot grow and enjoy the presence of God without being faithful in our attendance. In reality worship is not a burden and an obligation that we have, but rather is an opportunity for us to grow and become more like Christ. When we give up meeting together for worship we are really making a statement of our hearts. We are saying that we are above worshipping God. Perhaps some people really do not like the idea of worship because in worship we declare that God is God and we are not. We are also saying when we give up worshiping together that we do not need the strength and encouragement that come from being in God’s presence. There is not way for us to be able to describe how important it is for us as God’s people to bring worship to God. It just so happens that God appointed the first day of the week; Sunday as a day that we meet together a the body of Christ and worship Him. I know that it is not always easy, and I know that there are many things that compete with our time for worship, but God is worthy of our time, and worship benefits us in that we grow more like Christ, but also glorifies God. Our presence when the church comes together to worship is valuable because the church is a body and each member should have a function, because we are declaring at that time to the world who we serve. Faithful attendance is required for true worship.
g. Active Participation
Also true worship requires active participation of those that come to worship. We are not worshiping just because we are physically present at a place where others are worshipping. Worship involves our participation, but even more it really involves our hearts being directed towards God. I believe a lot of times we go through the motions of what we are supposed to do, but we really are not participating in the worship. Worship requires an active participation. Worship, however is not a one-time event that when we leave church we are done worshipping. Surely we need to actively participate in the worship when we come to church. The songs that we sing and the things that we do are not done just because we think it would be a fun thing to do. The words that we sing to God should come from our hearts and it is really an amazing thing that we are entering God’s presence and are showing our love and devotion to Him. Worship does not end though when we walk out of the building today, worship is a lifestyle that we live.
Romans 12:1
In this passage Paul was drawing people’s minds back to the Old Testament sacrifice system. The people would have known that under the Law God required His people to bring certain sacrifices to Him so their sins could be rolled back. These sacrifices pleased God and they were the people’s worship. The sacrifices that God accepted were considered pleasing to God. Paul is saying here that no longer do you have to go and bring an animal to God and sacrifice it to worship, but your life surrendered to God is a act of worship and it is pleasing to God.
II. How Are We to Worship?
When we come to worship, what attitude should we have when we worship? What does the Bible say should be our attitude when we come to worship God.
a. With Reverence and Awe
Hebrews 12:28-29
When we come before God we should not come before Him flippantly or like we would anyone else, but we come to him in reverence and in awe because of who God is and what he has done. The word reverence means: A feeling of profound awe and respect and often love, an act showing respect. The word awe means: A mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might. This makes clear the respect that people should have for God in worship. As you read the Psalms you see that David always came humbly before God, because he held God in reverence.
b. With Gladness and Praise
Psalms 100:1-4
This may be the one aspect that we have the most trouble with in today’s world. We live in a world, which is driven by emotion and experience, and many have carried this over into their worship. I think that those people have one thing down right; they understand the idea of having passion in their worship. I do not know if it is pride, if it is ignorance, fear of embarrassment or following the crowd that inhibits us from being passionate in our worship, but the Scriptures teach that we are to come to God with gladness and in praise and we have reason to. During our worship we are reflecting on God’s character. We reflect on the fact that God is loving, graceful, fair, just and holy. We also reflect on what God has done for us in our lives. God has been good to us. On top of providing everything that we have in life, he has provided salvation for us. I think that the reasons why we read of people in the Bible being so passionate in their worship to God is because they realized their dependence upon God and their need for him to save them from their sins. We have reason to worship with gladness and praise; Jesus has saved us from our sins. So if through our worship we want to stand and praise God, if we want to clap, if we need to cry, or shout, we need to realize that worship is a reflection of our hearts and we shouldn’t fear revealing that to God, after all David revealed his true heart as he worshiped God.
c. In Spirit and Truth
John 4:23-24
We are also told that true worshipers worship in Spirit and in Truth. The worshiping in Spirit implies the passion behind our worship, and the truth implies the use of our minds in worship. God wants our worship to be based on objective truth. He doesn’t expect in our worship to leave our minds at the door, but expects our minds to be engaged and active as we worship because we have reason to worship God.
