THE OBJECT OF WORSHIP
My body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1).
The inner need to worship is found in every group, every culture and in every individual. Everybody has a need to look beyond oneself, weather it is looking to humans, a group of people, or to deity/deities. Christian worship helps direct that need to the proper place, to the one God who made us. True worship is directed to Him and only Him.
The God who created us revealed Himself to us through the writings of the Old and New Testament and ultimately through His Son Jesus, who together with the Father and the Holy Spirit are the proper objects of our worship.
FORMS OF WORSHIP
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:2).
Although true worship is directed to the one God through His Son, worship takes on different forms for each individual, for each church, for each generation, and for each culture. However diverse forms worship may take, the above mentioned scripture defines the universal elements of worship.
THE TIMES OF WORSHIP
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his/her own mind (Romans 14:5).
The Law of Moses set aside days or weeks for the Sabbath and for festivals. During the Church’s 2,000 year history, some generations, groups or individuals focused on certain times to worship (in chapter 8:1-3, the Didache set aside 3 times a day for prayer and 2 days a week for fasting). The New Testament, however, gives no preference for one day over the others, but rather suggests that each person walk according to his/her own convictions.
THE PLACES OF WORSHIP
…For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them (Matthew 18:20).
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near (Hebrews 10:25).
Although we can worship God any time and in any place, individually and corporately, the Bible encourages regular corporate worship. When Paul said you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, he did not say “you” as an individual are the temple, he said “you (plural)” are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16 & 2 Corinthians 6:16).
THE DISCIPLINES OF WORSHIP
We worship in many ways which include devotions, in prayer, fasting, preaching of sermons, sacraments, reading and in times set apart for God such as church attendance and involvement in church activities.
THE GENERATIONS OF WORSHIP
Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy (Ezra 6:16).
Tradition connects present and oncoming generations with generations of the past. Tradition also connects us to our own past in that when we get older we like to connect to what we grew up in. When young and old worked together on God’s house in the Book of Ezra, there was a division between generations, so that when work had begun on the temple, the older generation wept while the younger one celebrated (see chapter 3). When the temple was finished, they all celebrated together. As we worship and build the kingdom together, we find unity in worship.
THE QUALITY OF WORSHIP
When Moses was building the tabernacle, God chose certain people who were filled with the Spirit of God and with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs (Exodus 35:31). God is still concerned about the craftsmanship, about excellence, and about the creative details of worship today.
According to Pope John Paul II:
Today, as yesterday, musicians, composers, liturgical chapel cantors, church organists and instrumentalists must feel the necessity of serious and rigorous professional training. They should be especially conscious of the fact that each of their creations or interpretations cannot escape the requirement of being a work that is inspired, appropriate and attentive to aesthetic dignity, transformed into a prayer of worship when, in the course of the liturgy, it expresses the mystery of faith in sound.
(Hakim, Naji (2003). "Music in the Catholic liturgy in France at the end of the 20th century". Retrieved 2010-08-16)
THE RELEVANCE OF WORSHIP
21st Century cultures are changing faster than at any other time in all of history. Because we are facing such speed in change, the church cannot hold on tightly to what worked in the past. For sure, we must learn from the past, build upon what the past has accomplished, and use many of the tools past generations has given to us; but we must change with the times. We are continuously moving into a new world and we must be able to adjust with the changes in our culture, or we will lose much of the next generation.
In this generation, media and technology has dominated our culture and changed the way we work, the way we play and the way we live. It is no surprise that the churches that grow the most have learned how to use these tools for the glory of God.
THE SACRIFICE OF WORSHIP
Believers in the Old Testament offered sacrifices that were costly for most people of the day, giving from their flocks and from their crops. Although they gave for different reasons (such as for sin, fellowship, thanksgiving, and tithing), there was one dynamic that was the same for every sacrifice. Every sacrifice cost the giver something they needed connected to their survival. Givers sacrificed for the work of God in their lives and in the lives of the worshiping community.
Sacrificing animals and crops is no longer a Biblical command, as Jesus has become our supreme sacrifice, but we still sacrifice financially by tithing according to the command of Jesus (Matthew 23:23).
THE CHALLENGES OF 21ST CENTURY WORSHIP
- Remaining theologically sound while focusing on being relevant.
- Bringing in past traditions and forms and staying relevant.
- Connecting worship of the individual to the entire body. We are not simply a Church of individuals with each person individually worshiping God. We are a body of believers connected in faith and in corporate worship.
- Using neglected forms of worship. Many of the psalms praise God, and most churches focus every service around praise, but there are also psalms of lament, psalms of thanksgiving, and psalms of supplication. The challenge today to find ways to include these other forms psalms into worship.
- Not falling into the traps of the culture the 21st Century American culture. While much in our culture can be used for good and can be used for God’s glory in worship, there are some things that can hinder growth in our faith. Some examples include our American individualism and “can do” spirit. Although there is a lot of good in these cultural values, we must be careful to bring Christ and the Bible into these cultural principles and not let these values to become preeminent in our faith.
- Teaching and experiencing the holiness and the fear of God.
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