HOW TO MAKE PROPER WORSHIP A THEME IN YOUR PREACHING
A. Pray with your elders before the service that in every way the service would bring glory to Jesus Christ.
PRAYER CHANGES THINGS
B. Instruct the song leader in the art of worshipful choruses and hymns.
C. Give center stage to the worship, praise, and glory of our Lord. Start the service with scripture that gives Jesus the praise, reverence, and honor that He alone deserves.
D. Distinguish your worship as that which is in ``Spirit and in truth’’.
E. Magnify the attributes of God (His holiness, omnipotence, wisdom, righteousness, and love etc.)
F. Preach as unto the Lord and not to men knowing that from the Lord you will receive your reward. It is the Lord Jesus Christ whom we serve and not men. (Col. 3:23,24)
G. Let your worship include celebration in song, thanksgiving, praise, and testimonies.
H. Allow people to serve, give, and offer sacrifices of praise befitting the name of Jesus Christ.
I. Before preaching, pause to pray, asking God to magnify Himself through His word in the life of each person sitting in the congregation.
Group Prayer Has Added
Strength and Effects
J. Add the admonition in your prayer that those who hear the word of God and do not obey it are deceiving themselves and dishonoring God.
K. Encourage everyone to express his personal worship of God before, during, and after the message.
L. Provide an opportunity for the people to respond to the Lord after the message (As the Spirit directs) by a show of hands, having them stand, or having them sign a decision card for response to His word!
M. Do not allow your worship to become stuck in the ruts of traditions that have lost their meaning. (Acts 18:13) Spontaneity is vital to keep worship fresh, joyous, and personal.
N. Use the Psalms generously in your worship of the Lord.
O. Help the people to see that God is a jealous God who abhors the worship of any other god beside Him.
P. Caution the people from worshipping the Lord in vain as the Pharisees did in Mt. 15:9. ``They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’’
Q. Caution people against the worship with images. (Acts 7:43)
R. Help people to see that God exalts Himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped. (2 Thes. 2:4)
S. We must test every spirit so as not to fall into a trap of worshipping demons. (Rev. 9:20)
T. Help people to see that Christians’ chief occupation for all eternity will be to worship God. (Rev. 22:8)
U. Worship means to ascribe worth, reverence, and honor to someone.
V. Our main occupation in heaven and for all eternity will be worshipping God. (Rev. 5:12-14)
W. When Jacob learned to worship God at Bethel in Gen. 28, he gained a new outlook on life. He became industrious, zealous, and less selfish. He established an altar so that the Jews would learn how to worship God. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that worship is not done only in a certain place. Instead, true worship is done in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
X. Worship is both a revelation and mystery. We help people experience the presence of God in revelation (The Bible) and show them how to stand in awe of God in the face of mystery (God’s transcendent greatness, power, & wisdom etc.)
Y. Samuel Miller has called worship a miracle. He said, ``The miracle of worship is a sight of God seen through earthly circumstance; it is the glory of God shining through darkness; it is the power of God felt when all other strength fails; ;it is the eternal manifested in time.’’
Z. Worship is also a celebration of who God is, what He has done, and what He will continue to do! This is plenty of reason to enjoy musical praises to God in our services. Let us rejoice together in the goodness of God!
AA. Worship is not to be viewed as limited to the devotion, ceremonies, and rites that occur in church. Worship is synonymous with life. We can worship God in our work, in our conversation, in our families, in our prayers, in our fellowship, and in our giving!
BB. Worship is practicing the presence of God in everyday life!
CC. Worship is both revelation and response. God takes the initiative in revelation and man responds with obedience, prayer, singing, teaching, blessings, and witness.
DD. Psa. 96:8 says, ``Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into His courts!’’ Worship is not just to receive blessings from God but to make offerings to God. Pagans, secret society members, and other idol worshippers continue to offer sacrifices of chickens, goats, and body parts to their gods. The Bible tells us to offer a pure sacrifice, the fruit of our lips that give glory to God. The Philippians’ gifts were seen as ``a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.’’ (Phil. 4:18) Paul offered up an offering of the Gentile church to God in Romans 15:16. Paul told the Romans in 12:1 to offer your bodies as a ``Living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which was your reasonable service.’’
EE. Worship is not just something said; it is something done. It is acting on the word of God in faith.
Worship Satisfies Man’s
Deepest Needs
FF. Worship is an eschatological function of the church. Jesus said, ``As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes’’ (I Cor. 11:26) There is great hope in worship that looks forward to Christ’s return. ``Maranatha’’
GG. The Psalms are particularly helpful in leading people in worship:
1). The Psalms give vitality in worship.
2). The Psalms give an animated picture of worship.
3). The Psalms give a theological certainty to the victory by God.
4). The Psalms express the feelings of humans struggling in life and the comfort that worship brings.
5). The Psalms aid our own expressions of worship by articulating our praises to God.
6). The Psalms help organize our praises to God.
7). The Psalms give us a sense of historical and social responsibility
8). The Psalms are spiritual vehicles for devotion, praise, confession, thanksgiving, and adoration of God’s attributes!
HOW WORSHIP SATISFIES
MAN’S NEEDS
1. Augustine once said, ``You have made us for yourself, O God, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in thee!’’ In each person their are deep mental, emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual needs that can only be met by God.
2. Worship helps people’s sense of finiteness (Limitations) find a sense of infiniteness (No limitations) in God. Worship gives men a sense of completion and communion with the ultimate being.
3. Since many Nigerians are inherently spiritually minded, worship satisfies the need to contact with the highest spiritual power.
4. Worship solves man’s mysteries through knowledge of God.
5. Man finds a security for his insecurities in worship. ``God is our refuge and strength in times of trouble.’’ (Psa. 46:1)
6. Man finds companionship for his sense of loneliness in worship. ``He has called you in fellowship with His son, Jesus Christ.’’ (2 Cor. 1:9)
7. Man finds peace for his sense of anxiety in worship. (Phil. 4:6,7)
8. Man finds a sense of belonging with other worshippers. David said, ``I was glad when they said, let us go to the house of the Lord.’’ (Psa. 122:1-)
9. Man finds forgiveness for his sense of guilt. ``Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.’’ (Psa. 51:1,4,10)
10. Man finds hope when he is depressed, oppressed, or down-trodden. (Psa. 42:11)
11. Man finds satisfaction for his every need in God. Jesus said, ``Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied!’’ (Matt. 5:6)
12. Man finds purpose and fulfillment out of his own sense of meaninglessness and despair. (Rm. 8:28-30) Our ultimate sense of worth, significance, and purpose come from God not men!
13. Man finds a sense of correction in worship. (Psa. 51:1-6)
14. Man finds a sense of healing in worship.
15. Man finds a sense of comfort in his grief over loss! Jesus said, ``Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me!’’ (Jn. 14:1)
16. As the Pastor leads in worship through his example of all of the above, others will follow him. The Pastor is to include all of the above elements in his preaching, his singing, his greetings, his prayers, the offering, the announcements, and every part of the worship service. The more he is able to help the people see that the sermon is a matter of worship the more glory God will receive! (Seger, p. 83, 1981)
