#justreachUP (2)

The Theology of Worship

Lexham Theological Wordbook Worship

Worship

Worship is the awed response to the saving acts and praiseworthy character of God.

One of the things that has always amazed me is Fan Culture, especially being part of it in some ways. From fairweather fans, to people who simply enjoy something to the super or uber fan fan culture is interesting to study.

Star Wars fans, Lord of the Rings Fans, Harry Potter Fans, Browns fans, Steeler’s fans, Pirates Fans, Cleveland Baseball fans, Ravens fans Oriels fans, the list is endless of what people will go crazy over, what people will get excited about. Humans have a need to show that they are devoted. What i’m saying is we are hard wired to worship.

(talk about the way’s people show their devotion)

Lets go back to that theological definition of worship real quick and break it down.

First Awed Response (amazing pictures)

We look at these images and we are amazed at what we see. We have all had those moments when our jaws drop open and we just stand or sit there transfixed unable to speak, unable to move, unable to make any sort of comment and when we finally do we just say WOW.

Awe: an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like:

Lets look at why we respond in Awe.

Isaiah 6:1–3 CSB

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.

So we see here what we are responding too, the why the saving acts and praiseworthy character of God is equally easy to see in scripture. Look what Scripture says about God and Jesus.

John 3:16–17 CSB

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The theology of worship isn’t that hard to understand, the logistics are where we get lost.

So many times we confuse worship with aspects of worship.

Worship is more than Music

Worship is more than Quiet

Worship is more than Art

Worship is more than Sacrifice because worship is all of these things and then some.

When we get lost in the tools of worship we forget what matters.

The Mechanics of Worship

John 4:21–26 CSB

Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

Knowing John 4:22

Jesus tells the woman at the well that the Jews worship what they know and that the Samaritans worship what they don’t know. We will dig into the rest of that but one thing that is important about the mechanics of worship is Knowing who or what you are worshiping. In order to really Reach Up in worship its not enough to just sing some songs, it’s not enough to just speak words that are pretty or that rhyme or that seem to be good. So Who are we worshiping? We find that answer in John 1.

John 1:1–5 CSB

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

These verses in John let us know exactly who we are worship we are worshiping God We are worshiping the creator of ALL THINGS. We are worshiping the source of Life itself. Think about that for a moment. Notice what it says. Not the source of existence, not the source of breathing or eating or sleeping, not the source of our activities of daily living but the source of Life. Have you ever found yourself just existing? Walking through your day, checking off your activities of daily living, you get to the end of the day and look around and you may or may not have a pile of things in the to do column completed but they are not necessarily things of consequence. Many of us go through seasons of existence (expound) What if though what if instead of existing we were able to start living. What if we could tap into the very source of life itself and stop seeing things through the fog and dreariness of the every day. What if your every day, what if my every day was punctuated with the understanding and realization that we are called to so much more that we are offered so much more....

(CS Lewish the Last Battle ) The man in the story truly lived instead of just existing as the Dwarves were doing. He was seeking truly seeking the truth and found it. He worshiped and in worship lived instead of existed. We know who we worship, or we can if we just seek him and follow him.

The Real Us John 4:23

1 Corinthians 13:8–12 CSB

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.

The real us is not what we see and can touch. The real us is yet to come. When we read these words in Corinthians we understand that we are to worship in Spirit, with the part of us that is eternal, that will not end. The part that is not just a reflection but that is real, that will be face to face, that will be fully known. The part that we read about here.

Romans 8:23–27 CSB

Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

The mechanics of worship recognizes that we need so much more than physicality and our own understanding. To truly reach up in worship we must stop looking at worship as a thing we do and start to look at it as part of the very thing that gives us life.

Really Knowing John 4:24

Freedom in worship is one of the things that so many lack. When we box worship up as something that happens on Sunday morning, or when we hear a good worship song or hymn, or when we see something physical we are forgetting one thing. In order for true freedom to inhabit our lives we need the truth.

Look what Jesus Says

John 8:31–32 CSB

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

When we worship in Truth. We are truly free. What is truth?

The word truth has a root word which is of course true.

True: In accordance with fact or reality.

We worship with all that is in us (spirit) and we do so realizing that the fact, the reality is freedom comes in the realization that without Jesus we are Lost, without Jesus we can do nothing, that without Jesus we are just making noise. Without the grace and love that comes from the one that made us our lives are just a bunch of noise. BUT…the truth that Jesus is. Period, Jesus is God, Jesus is not an answer he is the Answer to life the universe and everything. Worshiping in that truth brings into focus what really matters.

The mechanics of worship real true worship brings about a freedom and an ability to be what we were designed to be.

As a church we will not just use the tools of worship, but we will apply the mechanics of worship to our daily lives as individuals and our lives as a church, and when we do so. Freedom will happen, and in that freedom will come life, and health, and peace. The ground that is Niles Christian Assembly will be ready for the Growth that comes. The growth of individuals, and the growth of the body that God has called to this community in this time to make a difference, to stand in the gap, to be the light on a hill that can not be hidden.

This Week’s Challenge

Put the tools of worship back in their toolbox, and begin to work on the mechanics. Set your alarm for Next Sunday at 10:00 AM have your coffee and your breakfast and get ready to join us at 10:30 us on Facebook or YouTube, don’t just wait till you wake up and watch later. Be intentional about reaching up in worship where you are with the rest of us.