What is worship

Worship means ‘worth-ship’, to accord worth and value to something. Your worship is how you show that value either with your actions or your words.
In our series, we keep coming back to the phrase, “Human’s are wired to”, or “Human’s are designed to”. Worship is another of these.
Humans are:
- Created to want to know God
- Created to be in relationship
- Created to give
- Created to worship

Human’s are wired to Worship. Our heart is constantly desiring and longing to show our reverence and affection to something.

"Worship is to honour with extravagant love and extreme submission." (Webster's Dictionary,1828)

Worship is about treasuring, prizing and reflecting on the object’s worth.

“The human heart is a factory of idols and we’re constantly making up things in this world to long after and pursue into worship rather than pursuing God." (Calvin)

In this series we’ve talked about anesthetics. What do we use to dull the pain of our current existence or the absence of God. These anesthetics can sometimes be things we prize and value, or worship above God.

The problem with worshiping things outside of our creator is that these things will let us down. We either have a fantasised view of them which differs from reality, or the object fades and decays. Either way, the object of worship will dissatisfy.

In his book, ‘This is Water’, David Foster Wallace writes:
“In the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship [...] is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you.”

The outcome of worshiping things outside of God is that they will leave you disappointed and empty. “The stuff will eat you alive”.

We see God’s utter disappointment towards his people in Jeremiah 2v13

Everybody worships something. Worship is an immersion.

What are you at risk of immersing yourself in outside of God?

1. Valuing and Prizing

Worship originates from knowing who God is and what God has done. It is the complement of both an intellectual understanding and a heartfelt knowing. Good and pleasing worship depends on a right grasp of who God really is.

True worship is based on a right understanding of God’s nature and a right valuing of God’s worth. God’s worth is infinite.

If we worship a god of our own creation, we’re not worshiping God.

Growing awareness of what is so amazing about God and his offer of reconciliation
· Created the universe and us
· We were separated from God but God has restored us
· God has made a covenant with us
· We anticipate what God says he will do
How do we grow our value and prizing of God?
· Reading the Bible
· Sermons, teaching and devotions
· Meditating on God's word
· Prayer and listening to God
· Listening to others communicate about God

2. From the Heart

Worship is a response

The inner essence of worship is to know God truly and then respond from the heart to that knowledge by valuing God, treasuring God, prizing God, enjoying God, being satisfied with God above all earthly things. It is also obedience and commitment that reflects the relationship we have with him.

In Romans, Paul writes:

There are many tools we can use to aid our worship.
Acts of the mouth – Acts of praise and repentance
· Singing
· Poetry
· Writing
Acts of Love – with the body and hands and the feet. Acts of love that show the supreme value of God by what are we willing to sacrifice for the good of others.
· Acts of service
· Art
· Dance or movement
· Tithe and Offering
· Giving God Glory in nature

There is also something mysterious and precious as we worship our creator together. We celebrate – this is a huge deal.

Worship stems from a sense of awe about what God has done. Worship is not a feeling – that’s emotion, which is a precious and beautiful gift from God, but can be a by-product of authentic worship rather than the goal of worship.

Bad worship:

Amos writes of the people’s disingenuous, hypocritical worship:

Worship is not necessarily a mountain top experience. Some modern consumerist Christianity aims to ‘sell’ worship as an idol in itself. We love the emotion or experience rather than loving God. We can be at risk of worshiping a worship experience. We can easily mix up ‘expressions of worship’ with ‘worship’.

Matthew warns, “…they honour me with their lips but their heart is far from me.” Matthew 15v8

Worship is not going through the motions. It requires the heart to be deeply engaged.

Worship continues with a lifestyle of service to God. If we’re worshiping with our lips, and not our lives, our worship is meaningless.

God is also merciful. We are fickle – I can be worshipping God one second, and then lost in my own thoughts, or frustrated at my kids the next… God understands. Pull it back to God. He understands what we carry.

3. The Outcome

Worship is not an even transaction. Through genuine worship, God blesses our socks off. Through worship we can gain a deeper understanding that:
- God is ours, we are His.
- God knows us, loves us, we are his children – eternally
- What lies at the heart of worship is God’s continual movement toward us
- Through the acts of worship together we maintain our identity as the people of God and continually commit out lives to Him.
- The act of worshipping God helps us reorientate to God and God’s reality

Small Group Questions:

In order to alter our behaviour and habits we talk about the process:
- Reflect
- Recognise
- Choose
- Act

1) Write a list of up to 10 things that you hold in high esteem; what you prize and value. Include God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in this list
2) Prioritise this list from 1 to 10, 1 being the thing you prize/value the most.
3) Reflect on this list. How do you feel about it? Are there things you would like to prize and value more or less?
4) What behaviour can you set in motion to make this change?

5) What are three tools you find most helpful when worshiping God?

6) What can you do to ensure that your worship is heartfelt?