Key passage: John 4:23-24; Hebrews 12:28, Romans 12:1 – 2
Introduction
Worship is not about music – fast or slow. Worship is not about you and me. Worship is not the slick performance of an awesome choir or band with the congregation as the audience to be entertained. It is not the rendition of a heart stirring song whose impact fades as the music fades. An emotional experience without Truth, without eternal significance. Worship is not a keep fit exercise class, an empty frenzy of dance, noise and clashing cymbals.
False worship is the worship of anything other than God. The worship of God in ways that dishonor Him or are about self, wanting, demanding, man-centred. We have strayed so far from the concept of biblical worship. It is time to evaluate!
Paradigm Shift
Worship must rest on a true perception of God. True worship comes only from those who have been saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit living in their heart.
Worship, from the latin word meaning “worth-ship”, is where we express God’s worth to us in our lives. Worship involves attitudes of awe, reverence, respect, godliness and holiness and the actions of bowing, praising, serving. Worship is the total adoring response of man to the one Eternal God, self-revealed in time. True worship is about giving God His due in all the ways He has commanded.
Worship is about God and every decision is an act of worship. When Mary sat before the Lord Jesus, He informed an upset Martha that her sister had “chosen the good part,” something that “will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). That something special was time spent in worship at the feet of Jesus.
God created us to worship Him. Our worship must be toward God who is worthy simply because of His identity and worthines, not because God is wealthy and is able to meet our needs and answer our prayers. Paul states in 1 Cor.10:31, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Worship is who we are, not what we do.
Jesus, the Christ is the way, the TRUTH and the life. The TRUTH centers on His person and His work. The TRUTH anchors and fills worship that is truly of God.
Application
Our truest act of worship is a life lived in total surrender to God; a life set apart and dedicated to the service of our King. We must take our everyday moments – sleeping, eating, walking around, work – and place it all as an offering to Him. A life lived in obedience to the desire and will of the master is a life lived in worship.
What Would Jesus Do
Jesus would declare that all He does is as instructed of the Father and that was the reality of his life. He showed us worship goes beyond lifting of hands and singing slow songs, but it is truly about a life of obedience and surrender.
Prayer
Lord, I surrender all of me to you. My morning, noon and night, I declare it is yours. I hold nothing back in service to you. I give myself wholly and fully to you. I offer myself as a living sacrifice before you. Let my everyday living be acceptable as a sweet smelling sacrifice before you. May I truly worship you in Spirit and Truth.