Worship

What is worship?

Literally, worship means bowing down to a superior.

Genesis 18:2 NIV

Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

Human beings communicate loyalty, respect and love through meaningful symbolic gestures.

1 Samuel 25:23 NIV

When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.

Worship can refer to anything we do that demonstrates loyalty, respect and love to God.

Romans 12:1 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Why do we worship when we gather?

We have been called to worship. (1 Peter 2:9)

1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Worship is the proper response to being in the presence of God.

Exodus 3:4–5 NIV

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Joshua 5:13–14 NIV

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

Luke 5:8 NIV

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Revelation 4:9–11 NIV

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

False worship is the main threat to God’s good design.

Romans 1:21–23 NIV

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Revelation 13:8 NIV

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

True worship is the central mission of God’s church.

1 Peter 2:4–5 NIV

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 13:15 NIV

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

Revelation 20:4 NIV

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

What does worship do?

Worship makes our allegiance to God real—which makes us a church.

Worship teaches us to love and obey God.

Romans 12:1–2 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Worship proclaims to the world the true nature of reality.

1 Corinthians 8:5–6 NIV

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

“[They] endeavoured to persuade him, saying, ‘What harm is there in saying, “Caesar is Lord,” and in sacrificing with other ceremonies observed on such occasions, and so make sure of safety?’

“Polycarp declared, ‘Eighty-six years have I served him, and he never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my king and savior?’”

Conclusion

Who/what we worship is critically important.

The most important mission we have as people and a church is to worship God alone.

Our faithful worship can change the world.

Small Group Questions:

1. Getting Started:

What did you find most interesting about the sermon this week? The most helpful, eye-opening, or troubling?

What is your favorite hymn or worship song right now? Why?

2. Into the Bible (Read Exodus 15:1-18)

The Israelites sang this song right after they crossed the Red Sea. Why do you think they stopped to sing a song?

How does this song communicate the way it felt to witness the parting of the Red Sea? How does it express the Israelites’ hearts?

What does this song teach future generations of Israelites about who God is?

Throughout their history, the Israelites divided over many things. How would singing this song help them to find unity and harmony as God’s people?

3. Going Deeper

What role does the heart play in our relationship with God? Why do we need to involve the heart as well as the head?

Today we often approach singing as a personal experience. What does it mean to approach singing as a group experience? How might that change your expectations or preferences?

How has singing in church changed you? How are you different because you sing with God’s people? If you’re not sure, then how could someone be different because they sing with God’s people?

Prayer

Thank God for the ways he has changed you through singing, and ask him to continue to (or begin to) transform you through singing with God’s people.