I read a book by Darlene Zschech (Hillsong Music) on the true value of worship. Buddy and I have been in many churches and it has always saddened me when we go into a church where the choir is singing with absolutely no emotion in the words they are singing. Contemporary and traditional alike. I turned on the tv one Sunday morning and some local church was on and the choir that was singing did not have one member with a smile on their face. I asked Olivia, my youngest, if she thought these people were joyful or were happy to be singing about Jesus. Of course she replied, "no, they look sad Mommy." And here they were on TV singing about God. How can a world full of sin, look upon sad, unemotional faces and determine that we love and serve a mighty God.
My passion is to share with churches what it means to worship God in Spirit and in truth. Psalm 34:1-3 says “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together." The Word tells us to come together and praise him and bless His name together. It is the sound of one voice, the song of the heart not the mouth, a sound that is more spiritual than musical, a sound of grateful hearts… the sound of the church at worship.
Darlene states that the act of worship is “giving due worth to God.” She explains that the root word of worship is “worth ship.” "It is the created catching a glimpse of the Creator and then responding to His awesomeness." Rick Warren, in his book the Purpose Driven Life says, "the most common mistake with Christians is that they come to worship with the attitude of seeking after an experience, or an event instead of seeking to honor and glorify God." Amos 5:21-24 says "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. 22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. 23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps." You see its not about style of worship, whether contemporary worship songs or the hymns of the faith, its about the attitude of our hearts. Its about remembering the cross and what He did for us by giving us the gift of salvation and sacrificing ourselves to worship in Spirit and in Truth, to put on the garment of praise. Romans 12:1 says “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” In view of God’s mercy. Have you looked around at the world lately? Have you seen the deprivation of sin and what it does to people? How wondrous is the mercy God gave us to redeem us to have freedom from sin and the consequences of sin. This world looks at us as a people full of do’s and don’ts, but God has delivered us from tremendous heartache. Have you ever met someone who has lived in sin all of their lives and known them to be truly joyful?
In view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices. To offer all of our being to worship Him, to have a relationship with him, to serve him. If you want an experience, seek the relationship with Him through His Word and through prayer, and the more you learn and develop that relationship, the more you will respond to Him in true heart worship. I Sam. 24 tells of David when Araunah offered to give him the offering to give to God, David says, Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.”
I have to admit I have caught myself before looking at those who seem to be a bit extreme and thought it was strange, but first of all, I don't know what that person has been delivered from. I know when God healed me of cancer, my song and my worship went to a whole other level because I was so thankful, so blessed, delivered. But part of the problem is that many of us are so consumed about what others think of us instead of what God thinks of us that we are not willing to give the sacrifice of praise. I remember one particular Sunday, God clearly spoke to me to bow down before Him in worship. We were singing a song in the choir speaking the many wonderful names of God and who He is. But I disobeyed. I said to myself, people will look at me like they think I am trying to draw attention to myself, especially being on the front row of the choir. I immediately regretted not obeying when my pastor got up and reprimanded the church (but God was speaking directly to me) when he said “ let me teach you something church, you either bow down on your face before the presence of God or you stand to your feet and worship Him, you don't just sit there." It wasn’t about the act of bowing down, it was about the sacrifice of obedience. It was about the sacrifice of worship. I don’t always come into church ready to worship. As we have always said, it seems Satan really gets in your way on Sunday morning. But it seems when I close my eyes and remember the cost of the cross and the cost of my redemption, I find myself responding to Him in worship every time.
I ask you, what does your worship cost you? When you sing a great song like "How great thou art," do you sing it in true worship with your heart to our God? What about “Great is thy faithfulness” and so on. Do you worship Him with your life?
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