Journey of Worship

Posts Tagged ‘heart’

What does worship look like?  As the practical, pragmatic, and action-oriented Americans we are, how do we do this thing that is supposed to draw our attention to God so that we can give Him all glory and honor with our whole being?

The event of worship takes many forms.  One of the biggest ways that worship happens is through music.  This is true today and has been for centuries.  Psalm 69:30 tells us that “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”  Music, in its various forms, provides an avenue where worshippers can open their hearts to God and one another.  There is power in the corporate application of music.

Martin Luther (the one who nailed the 95 theses to the door and kicked off the Protestant Reformation), was a huge proponent of the role of music in worship.  Charles Moss in The Musical Reforms of Luther writes that “Martin Luther viewed music as having powers to repulse evil and to glorify God at the same time.”  In the forward to his Symphoniae, Luther himself wrote that “next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.  It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits. “

As vital as music is, there is a downside to the association of music with worship.  Unfortunately, we have made worship about music and the two have become synonymous in our minds.  Instead of music being an aspect of worship, worship is music.  Then we find ourselves in a place that says we can’t worship without music.

The fact of the matter is, as songwriter Paul Baloche says, “worship has more to do with relationship than with music.  Worshipping God with music is simply a tool to help us connect relationally to a living God.”

So, we return to our original question of what does worship look like.  We know one way is music.  But what other ways can we connect with the living God?  How about things like reading, hearing, and applying the Word of God, tithing, living generously, serving, loving others, meditating on who God is, making our prayers more than just requests, developing an attitude of thankfulness, surrendering full control of our life to God, and responding to the truth of God by living it out in our daily lives.

There’s a reason why the event we attend each Sunday is called a “worship service.”  All of the elements that take place in it should facilitate our whole self connecting with God and choosing to live for Him.  It’s not called a “music service” as music is but a part of the whole.

Worship looks like a lot of things. We can connect with God in a variety of valid ways both corporately and personally.  We should not be limited in our ability to worship the living God based on whether there is music available or not.

What does worship look like to you?  What helps you connect with God?  Let me know in the comments.

I have heard about you, LORD, and I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done. Show us your power to save us. (Habakkuk 3:2 nlt)

Something that has struck me as important recently is the significance of remembering. When I lead, I’ll often ask God to help us remember who He is, what He has done, and how He wants us to live. I do this rather frequently. You may wonder, why?

The aspect of remembering is huge for us. We go to great lengths to remember things that are important like significant moments in life, treasured relationships, birthdays, and more. We do so through pictures, videos, treasures, and conversations to help jog our memories. We feel sad when people forget about events that were meaningful to us, and it’s heartbreaking to watch some people forget as they age. We will also go to great lengths to block memories of situations that were painful, hurtful, or destructive.

Remembering is a huge necessity in our lives. We need to remember the stories, memories, and commitments of our life because we are forgetful people and are easily distracted. When we don’t remember, we lose a part of ourselves. We forget how God has used the events of life to shape us and reveal Himself to us. Author Robert Webber once wrote that “forgetting brings death, but remembering brings life.”

God knew this about us. As sin entered the world, He knew that we would need help in remembering who He is and what He told us. You can trace this theme throughout the Bible. God constantly told the Old Testament Israelites to build monuments to remind them and their children of the great things He did for them. He encouraged them to takes steps to remember His grace and mercy so that would not get distracted by other gods. He wrote down the 10 Commandments so they would not forget the essential things to live a God-honoring life.

As the early church began to meet, they meet weekly on the first day intentionally so that they would not forget the importance of the resurrection. Meeting together in fellowship was important throughout the week so that they would not forget each other or what God was doing. The writer of Hebrews recognized the importance of this as he told his readers to not give up meeting together. God’s message for us was that when we stop meeting together, we stop remembering and begin to forget.

So, why is remembering the greatness and character of God so important? When we remember, we are not distracted by temporary things or drawn away into sin. I think author David Powlison captures it well. “If you could remember just one true thing in the moment of trial, you’d be different. Bible ‘verses’ aren’t magic. But God’s words are revelations of God from God for our redemption. When you actually remember God, you do not sin. The only way we ever sin is by suppressing God, by forgetting, by tuning out his voice, switching channels, and listening to other voices.”

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:2 niv)

I read this the other morning, and wanted to share it.

It is my experience that the totality of our Christian lives-our entire attitude as person–must be towards the worship of God!

If you do not know the presence of God in your office, your factory, your home, then God is not in the church you attend either!

I became a Christian when I was a young man working in a tire factory in Akron, Ohio. I remember my work there–but I remember my worship there too! I had plenty of worshipful tears in my eyes. No one ever asked me about them, but I would not have hesitated to explain them.

You can learn to use certain skills until they are automatic. I become so skillful that I could do my work and then I could worship God even while my hands were busy.

If the love of God is in us and the Spirit of God is breathing praise with us, all the musical instruments in heaven are suddenly playing in full support! Even our thoughts become a sanctuary in which God can dwell.

Dear Lord, I pray that Your Spirit will so fill me today that my heart and mind will overflow in praise to You.

These words were written by A.W. Tozer, a pastor and author in the mid-20th century. His was a voice that called people to pursue God and live for Him fully. His words still carry weight today. You can find more writings like this in Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings.

Imagine this scenario with me…you’ve arrived at the church building for a Sunday morning service. You’ve made your way in and found a seat. The service begins as usual with a welcome and announcements about important things. Perhaps you hear a missionary share about the work they are doing. Maybe there is a video conveying a spiritual concept. Then the music starts. You’re invited to stand with everyone else as the leader encourages you to express praise through singing. You’re singing along with the words that declare the truth of who Jesus is, and then it happens. The words disappear off the screen, and there is just music playing. What do you do now?

In our modern gatherings where the same types of things happen regularly and we know the routine, it can be hard to know what to do in those “free” moments. Our natural tendency is to look around, wonder what’s going to happen next, or think about where you’re going to eat lunch. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the things that has been on the front burner lately for me and for our church is helping people to understand that worship is more than a Sunday morning in church thing.

I had the opportunity to teach this morning in a Sunday School class we are doing during the summer to equip people to be mentors. The topic was a lifestyle of worship. It was a little intimidating to approach this topic because it is so vast and complex, yet at the same time I realized there is a unique simplicity to it when we grasp it.

Anyway, the class went really well. The challenge was keeping in the time frame and yet handling the subject well. There was a lot of stuff that I didn’t necessarily end up including.

One thing that I came across was a series of article by Dwayne Moore who wrote the study Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship. He has posted three articles on his blog. They have some great content and insights.

If you are looking to gain a greater understanding of what it means to have a lifestyle of worship (which is a necessary discipline for the growing Christ-follower), then I encourage you to check out what he wrote. Let me know what you think.

Three Directions of Lifestyle Worship, Part 1

Three Directions of Lifestyle Worship, Part 2

Three Directions of Lifestyle Worship, Part 3

Why do we worship?

The obvious answer is that it’s what we do in church. But it’s much more than that. It’s what we were made to do, and worship is much more that a Sunday morning gathering (but more on that another time.)

At the core, we worship because of Christ. Worship means to give worship to someone or something. We give worth to Christ because or and as a response to God’s love extended to us long before we knew of God. The fact is that when we really understand (and believe) how much God loves us even though we don’t deserve it, our world should be rocked.

The thing is that it’s hard to understand and comprehend how God could love us so. We perhaps don’t think God could love us that much, or we don’t really believe we are worth being loved. We choose to live in a way that minimizes the power and impact of God’s love, and act like we have to earn God’s love.

Richard Foster in The Celebration of Discipline says this:

Worship is our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father. Its central reality is found ‘in Spirit and in Truth.’ It is kindled within us only when then the Spirit of God touches our human Spirit. Forms and rituals do not produce worship, nor does the formal disuse of forms and rituals. We can use all the right techniques and methods, we can have the best possible liturgy (a form and arrangement of public worship laid down by a church or religion) but we have not worshipped the Lord until Spirit touches Spirit. Singing, praying, praising, all may lead to worship, but worship is more than any of them. Our spirit must be ignited by divine fire.

We worship as a response to the amazing reality of God’s love. On the one hand, it is something we must choose to do, but on the other hand it is something that is truly beyond us. As with most things in the Christian life, worship is somewhat of a paradox.

The next time you gather to worship with others or spend time giving worth to God on your own, think about why you are doing it. It is becuase it’s “what we do” or is it a deep, mystical (can I use that word?), whole-hearted response to the indescribable love of the vast, unchanging Creator of the universe who loved us first. And because of that love, we are made right before God and invited into full membership in the family of God.

Why do you worship?