Why Do We Worship Each Week? Series

Why Do We Do What We Do?

Why Do We Worship God Each Week?

Psalms 100 1-5 & John 4:19-24

This week in our Why do We Do What We Do series, we are talking about Why do we spend time worshipping God each week? I shared that title with someone this week and they said to me well the answer to that one is easy. He said that was pretty simple because we love God. And that is about as basic as you can get. If we love God then we will want to worship Him. If you have your Bibles with you today I want you to look up these two passages with me.

The first one is found in Psalms 100 1-5: 1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Now let’s go over to the New Testament and see what John has to say to us. Look at John 4:19-24: 19"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." 21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

I think before we can answer the question of why do we worship each week, we must answer the question What is Worship?

Worship is to open our hearts to the love of God

When we worship we declaring God’s worth as we find in Revelation: 5 12-14 12In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Worship is as natural for man as it is for him to breathe.

Worship is to Christian what as engine to a car.

It is an absolutely crucial and it is the center part of a Christian life

Worship is an act of honoring God because of his great worth to be honored.

I’ve always liked hearing oxymorons, or self-contradicting phrases. The word itself comes from “oxus” which means sharp and “moros” which means dull. Here are some of my favorites: Jumbo shrimp; Freezer burn; White chocolate; Plastic silverware; Airline food; Sanitary landfill; Truthful tabloids; and Professional wrestling

And, here’s another self-contradictory phrase: boring worship. That reminds me of the little boy who asked his mother if she could remember the highest number she ever counted to. The mother didn’t know so she asked him about his highest number. He answered, “5,372.” The mother was puzzled and asked him why he stopped at that particular one. The boy responded, “Well…church was over.”

In various surveys, when people are asked why they don’t go to church, they often reply that church is just too boring. I recognize that sometimes a church service can seem dull, especially to a non-Christian, I want to suggest this morning that true worship is anything but boring. The very essence of what worship is does not allow us to be bored. When we come before the majestic God of the universe, who has created everything and has done amazing things in our lives, we can’t help but break out into adoration.

So why do we come to worship together each week? The first reason is that we are to Glorify and Exalt Him. True worship is the heartfelt acceptance of God and all His power and glory in the things we do. To truly worship God, we must know Him. In a nutshell, worship is to glorify and exalt God; to show our loyalty and admiration to our Heavenly Father!