OUR PURPOSE: TO MAGNIFY GOD IN WORSHIP
PSALM 100; 33:1-4, ACTS 2:42,43; 46-47
INTRODUCTION:
In his book, Exit Interviews: Revealing Stories Why People Are Leaving the Church, William Hendricks took a survey asking folks why they no longer attended church. Surprisingly, the most common complaint was not the music, or the facility, or that church was dull. The most common reason given for leaving the church was that the church did not provide them an opportunity to meet God. I.e., it was not worshipful! They came hoping to experience something of God, to be spiritually fed, but left empty. Hendricks wrote: “Apparently, it doesn’t matter if the service is entertaining. When interaction with God is absent, eventually the church loses it’s appeal.” You see, when people do not connect with God is some way, there is frustration, emptiness and they begin to drift away. Paul, in Acts 24 says he met with the Christians in Jerusalem for a purpose.. To worship. In Acts 2:42 (printed) we see how they were worshiping. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread (Lord’s Supper) and to prayer.” The early church came together to experience God through worship. And that’s why should come. It’s why we are attempting to accomplish our purpose of “making and maturing disciples for Christ” by our fifth practice statement: “By magnifying God in worship.. By praising and honoring Christ corporately through dynamic, inspirational worship services as well as seeking God and His will in every aspect of our life.” So, today, let’s study from a Biblical perspective the definition of worship, the purpose of worship and how we can make our worship more effective and pleasing to God.
I. WHAT IS WORSHIP?:
What exactly is meant by worship? The English word for worship means to attribute honor or worth to someone. In other words, we communicate to God His high value. The Hebrew word for worship means to bow down, to acknowledge His superiority over us. When we come we are saying, “God I understand You are greater than me.. You have the answers for my life, I bow down to Your authority.” The Greek word is two words which literally means to kiss towards. It is a picture of a small child kissing their parent or of even a dog licking his master’s hand. It brings with it an act of homage, a respect which is based on gratitude. Using the meaning of those words one author defined worship this way. “Worship is paying honor to One greater than we, bowing down and submitting to One who is over us, and showing respect out of a sense of gratitude to One who gave everything to reconcile us to Him.” You see, that makes Biblical worship more than just a Sunday experience. To worship properly entails giving our entire lives over to God’s purpose.. In our talk, our walk, play, work.. every aspect of our lives should be given over to honoring, submitting and respecting God.
And when you study the Bible you also see that when those who made worshiping God a priority in their lives, assembled together, two primary things transpired. One was a sense of awe. In Isa. 6, the prophet saw the Lord high and lifted up. And when he sensed the presence of God his response was an attitude of unworthiness. There was a sense of awe. When we come into the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords the appropriate response is one of wonderment, of respect. When we look at these mountains of grandeur, when we see the stars, we begin to understand how much holier and powerful God is than we are. We ask as David did in Psa. 8- “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers.. What is man that You are mindful of him?.. O Lord our God..” It is appropriate to sing.. “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee... How Great Thou Art!” It’s why in Acts 2:43 that the early Christians were “filled with awe” because of the miracles and signs done among them.
But there also should be, as we worship together, an overwhelming sense of joy at God’s love and generosity. Acts 2:46 says the early church met together with “glad and sincere hearts.” Their hearts were glad because this all powerful God had visited them in the person of Jesus Christ. They weren’t worshiping a terrifying, impersonal force.. They didn’t see themselves as “sinners in the hands of angry God.” They were worshiping a God of grace who loved them and had saved them by the death of Jesus on the cross. This God knew them by name, had given them a purpose for living and they were joyful as they worshiped. Look at Psa. 100 and see how many times it mentions some aspect of joy as a part of worship. V:1- “Shout for joy to the Lord..” v:2 “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.” V:4- “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise..” Why? V:5 “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.”
So, there’s needs to be a balance in our worship of awe-filled adoration and joy-filled celebration. Failure to understand both these aspects of worship causes a lot of controversy in churches today. It can actually divide a church if we don’t comprehend and accept this balance. For example if you came from a very liturgical background, one that was very strict in your worship, where you primarily experienced an emphasis of silence, reverence, quietness.. The leader may have stressed the Scriptural admonition: “Be still and know that I am God.” If you visit a church that is talking, laughing, even clapping your tempted to think, “that’s so irreverent, so inappropriate.” If you grew up in a church that accentuated celebration, one where you were clapped and where the leader may have stressed the Scriptural admonition: “Clap your hands all you people, shout unto God with the voice of triumph.” People from that background that visit a worship service that is very quiet and reverent think it’s dead! And they want to say, “Hey folks, the tomb is empty, Jesus is alive, let’s see some joy here!” I heard of a person from that background that went to a staid, quiet church say, “You know I went to one of those liturgical churches the other day and they had a guy die of a heart attack in the middle of the service & the ushers carried out 5 men before they got the right one!”
Biblical worship contained both awe and joy and it should for us too. There ought to be times when we gather here that we sense the power of God so deeply that you can hear a pin drop. There ought to be other times when we feel the grace of God so powerfully, that we can’t help but smile, shout, laugh for joy! And since we come from so many backgrounds we’ve got to be flexible, allow different expressions of worship. For example, as a child I was raised in a church where we never raised our hands in worship.. That might be interpreted as being charismatic. Scary. But I discovered through the teachings of others who came from more expressive backgrounds that the Bible says, “lift holy hands to the Lord.” They aren’t going to break out in strange gibberish, they just having a spirit of submission to God and want to express it. You know when I go back to our preschool area, sometimes one of those precious little ones that know me will lift their hands up to me.. And I don’t say, “Put your hands down you dirty, little charismatic!” I know they just want me to lift them up. And so when people lift their hands in worship they are saying, “Lift me up Father, I submit myself to You.” So I’m not offended by that and I hope if you are a “hands lifter” that you are not offended by people who don’t. Some object to clapping hands yet the Bible says, “Clap your hands all you people.” And yet that doesn’t mean you have to clap.. We need to be flexible to each expression and not look down on someone. Worship is to contain both a sense of awe and joy.
II WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WORSHIP?:
So, what is the purpose of our worship. Why do we gather here week after week? Well, the primary purpose of worship is not to entertain us but to give glory to God. We sometimes evaluate worship like it’s a performance and on the way we home we ask, “Well, how did you like church today? Well, okay, but not as good as last week.” We see those on the platform as performers and those that sit in the pew as the audience. But beloved, I want you to remember something that is absolutely essential.. When we worship God is the only audience. We are not here to evaluate each other, the truth is, while we worship, God is evaluating us! Psa. 29:1-2 - “Ascribe to the Lord.. The glory that is due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness..” You see God is the “audience of 1." We come to ascribe to Him the honor due Him, not to be entertained. When the Bronco’s won the Super Bowl last year there was a celebration in Denver to honor the team. Fans went to see the players, they cheered, waved banners. But the purpose wasn’t to please the fans but to express appreciation to the team for the joy that they had brought. When people left I bet they didn’t say, “Didn’t do much for me.” I think they were more apt to say, “Hope John, Terrell, Mike and the team felt our appreciation.” Psa. 147- “The Lord delights in those who praise Him.” We come to give honor to God.
But there are also two secondary reasons for our worship. When we worship God we are strengthened. Truth, the contemporary singing group, sang “We get lifted up when we praise His name.” When we just lift ourselves up we aren’t strengthened, when we are just entertained that soon fades, but when we exalt God and sense His presence then we made stronger. God ordained worship, not because He needs it but because He’s made us in such a way that we need it. There’s something inspirational about singing the words of Scripture, of voicing our praise and adoration with others. There’s something cleansing about taking communion together, there’s something reinforcing about hearing God’s truth proclaimed clearly in an assembly. There’s something moving about seeing people respond and make decisions for Christ. Heb. 10:25- “Do not give up meeting together as some are doing but let us encourage one another..” Our worshiping together encourages us, strengthens us.
There’s another secondary purpose to our worship and that is that our worship is a testimony to the unsaved/unchurched person that comes to our services. In Acts 2:47 we see that the people were praising God and enjoying each other and the last of that verse says, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” When people on the outside come inside and see people genuinely worshiping I think the Holy Spirit works through that to draw people to Christ. When they see us praising, adoring, listening, responding to Jesus as He’s lifted up they are drawn to Him. There are some every week who, for the first time, are trying church or trying church again, and our worship needs to be a testimony to them. That’s important because there are a lot of churches today emphasizing what’s called “Seeker Sensitive Services.” Now, I want our church services to be “seeker sensitive” that is a service where seekers can feel warmly welcomed, physically comfortable and spiritually fed. Who amongst doesn’t want guests to be glad they came? But many churches are going past being “seeker-sensitive services” and instituting what I call “seeker-driven services.” It’s important to know the difference because our goal is to be seeker-sensitive services but not seeker driven. A seeker driven service is one where the worship is adjusted to make it more palatable to the unbeliever or unchurched. In fact, I went to one last week. It was an independent Christian Church like ours, but it was seeker-driven. There was no congregational singing, just specials because seekers don’t want to sing. There was no communion offered because the seeker might be offended by talking about death or blood. There was no invitation because they don’t want to put the seeker on the spot, and the sermons are not expository because they don’t want to gag the seeker with too much scripture. I understand the philosophy but I want you to also understand that I do not want to be the preacher of that kind of church. Now, don’t misunderstand, I want to be sensitive to those seeking God, for the church is the only institution that primarily exists for those outside of it. But I don’t want to become seeker-driven compromising things like strong Biblical preaching or communion. I do think we can become a little more seeker sensitive. That’s why Tim Sutton is heading up an A.M. Service ministry where we are working at greeting our guests with a little more warmth, where we offer clearer information on where child care is, where they can go to wash their hands (among other things), & where they can gain additional information about our church. It’s why we work hard at planning our services so they run smoothly and are attractive. It’s why we instituted decision counselors to help those who want to make decisions be more comfortable, it’s why we are even now, re-doing our welcome packets so seekers can be informed. All these and more so we can be sensitive to those who are unsaved or unchurched. But.. Please hear me.. we will NOT stop singing God’s praises and we will NOT stop preaching God’s Word.
You see I believe when the unsaved and unchurched see our genuine worship they will be drawn to WHO we worship. When we worship God the Holy Spirit works through our worship and in their hearts. Paul told the church in 1 Cor. 14 to do everything decently and in order and preach clearly so when the unbeliever comes in “the secrets of his heart are laid bare and he will fall down and worship God exclaiming, “God is really among you!” Paul & Silas worshiped God in a prison cell in Acts 16.. They sang praises, prayed to God. A jailer heard them & when there was an earthquake that night the jailer ran to them and said, “What must I do to be saved?” Their worship had cultivated his heart to receive the seed of the Word of God. The primary purpose of worship is to glorify God and the secondary purposes are to strengthen us and to be a testimony to anyone who visits our assembly.
III. MAKING OUR WORSHIP MORE EFFECTIVE:
Now, what can we do to make our worship more effective? Let me suggest two “P” words.. The first is preparation. Solomon wrote in Ecc. 5:1- “Guard your steps when you go into the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know they do wrong.” Guard your steps when you come he said. Don’t just tip your hat to God.. Prepared. I think you can do that by establishing some healthy habits, some things that you make a priority BEFORE you come. I know one family who’s tradition it is to play Christian praise music on Sunday morning through the house as they get ready for church. I think our preparation for Sunday morning needs to begin on Saturday night. When you have a big day at work, a special presentation or something, when you have an important test or game you think about getting a good nights rest so you’ll be at your best. Shouldn’t we at least do that for God? Be rested when you come to worship. Do you think it’s “guarding your steps” when you’re tired and nodding off during your worship of Him? And bring with you a couple of essentials.. An expectant attitude. Come saying, “God has something for me today and I can’t wait to see what it is!” And bring the proper equipment. Most of us wouldn’t think of going to work without the proper tools of our trade or hitting the golf course without our clubs or going to school without our books. So why is it we come to worship without our Bibles, without something to write with and maybe write on? These things communicate to your heart that “something important is going to happen here.” Prepare for the priority of worship.
And an equally important word is participation. Jesus said in John 4 - “The time is coming and has already come when the true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth.” Worship is an activity, it’s a participation together, it’s not a spectator sport. Singing for example. Col. 5:19- “Speak to one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” When you sing it encourages other people. Some of you are saying, “When I sing I don’t encourage anyone.” Well, the Bible commands us to sing to Him. Psa. 33- “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to Him on the 10-string lyre. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.” You see, it doesn’t matter how well you sing but it does matter to God that you sing and make music to Him. Now since music is the most controversial issue in America churches today, let me very briefly say a few words about our philosophy of music in worship. I can’t spend a lot of time and so if you need more detail please call me. It is our intent that our music will be blended in style. That means we will use both old hymns and new chorus’. The old hymns tie us to our past, remind us of good memories and have beautiful words, like “How Great Thou Art,” “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” “The Old Rugged Cross.” The new chorus’ are songs that many times come directly from Scripture, like “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise,” “As the Deer,” “Why so Downcast?” So, we’ll use both. One of the questions we’ve asked each music minister candidate is: “Are you in in favor of a blended style of music.” If they weren’t they were eliminated. And our music will be fresh. We are going to learn new songs.. Because that’s Biblical. 9x in the O.T. it says, “Sing to the Lord a new song.” We don’t want to sing songs so often that they become so familiar that we don’t pay attention to what we are singing to God. And our music will display our unity. When the hymn lovers sing the new chorus’.. They have a smile on their face as they sing “He’s the lifter of my countenance..” And as the chorus lovers sing the great old hymns with reverence, “I am thine O Lord..” we demonstrate our unity. You see, not everyone is ministered to by your style of music, so be tolerant of one another and understand when we do that it pleases God and encourages one another. Sometime look at Psa. 150. It mentions 9 different types of instruments and ends by saying “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
But there’s more to participate in than just singing. Communion is a participation activity. 1 Cor. 10:16- “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the Body of Christ?” When you take communion Jesus said that you proclaim His death until He comes again. Preaching is a participation event too in worship. You should check on the Scriptures I quote, use the notes, listen.. The Bible says, “today as you hear, do not harden your hearts.” 1 Cor. 1:21- “It pleases God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.” I can’t explain it but there’s something supernatural that happens when God’s Word is taught. The time of decision is an important time of participation in worship. The song at the end of worship is not just a time to gather up your things and get ready to leave. It is of eternal importance to some.. If you leave just to be able to get out of the parking lot ahead of the others than you communicate to people that are thinking about giving their life to Christ, it’s really not that important. And even your rummaging around to get your stuff may distract someone enough to keep them from answering the tug of the Holy Spirit. Now, I know that sometimes there are emergencies and valid reasons to leave but as much as it depends on you recognize that this is a time to participate in prayer, singing and rejoicing as people think of responding. The most important part of worship is what you do when you leave this place. Rom. 12:1- “..I urge you.. In view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.” If you come and you go and don’t change then you are like those that Jesus said, “honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” The best worship is to come and honor Him and then continue to acknowledge Him with an obedient life.
Several years ago I had the honor to baptize Neil Zwieban, a young man who was a Jew. He had come to church through an invitation of a friend and there was something about what he heard and the warmth of the people that prompted him to return. Finally, after hearing God’s Word for several weeks, he walked forward to accept Jesus Christ as his Messiah. When I went back to baptize Neil, we prayed and just before we climbed the steps to go into the water, I said, “Are you ready?” To which he said, and I’ll never forget, “Oh yes! He gave everything for me, I can’t wait to give myself to Him!” We worship because we believe that there is a Creator who loves us so much that He’d rather die than live without us. So “..enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever.”
