 |
Select an article from the menu below:
Discovering Worship
July 7th, 2007
By: J.D. Heiney
It is exciting to see where the Lord has brought the church in the area of worship. In many churches across the world you can see lively worshippers dancing, clapping, shouting, and crying, along with countless other expressions and manifestations. There are innumerable testimonies of wonderful and miraculous encounters with God as the body of Christ has engaged in true praise and worship. What makes worship so powerful? How does our worship affect God? Is worship more than just outward expression? Why is worship so important both to the church and to God? I hope to answer these questions and uncover the true heart and purpose of worship in this short essay. So, I invite you to come along as we…discover worship.
Law of First Mention
The Law of First Mention is a bible study technique that attempts to more deeply understand any given topic, word, etc, by finding where it is first mentioned in scripture. As we apply this technique to our study of worship we see that the first mention of the word in scripture is in Genesis 22:5.
“And Abraham said to his young men, You stay here with the ass. I and the boy will go over there that we may worship and may return to you.” Genesis 22:5 (LITV)
The obvious context here is Abraham’s sacrificing of his son Isaac in obedience to the Lord’s command. We can draw several powerful truths regarding worship from this passage in response to the law of first mention.
In verse 5, Abraham referred to what he was about to do as being “worship”. As we know, Abraham was on his way to sacrifice his only son Isaac as the Lord had commanded him. We immediately see a connection between worship and sacrifice.
Worship must cost you something! The very nature of worship is sacrificial. If it doesn’t cost you something it isn’t true worship. I believe this is also reinforced in John 4:23,
“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeks such, the ones worshiping Him.” John 4:23 (LITV)
It is interesting to note that the Lord differentiates between worshippers and “true” worshippers. He goes even further in stating that the Father prefers one to the other! The Father is looking for the “true” worshippers. He is seeking the ones who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. This is sacrificial worship at it’s best. The motive becomes spiritual and the worship is truthful. I believe it is safe to say that the opposite of this “true” worship would be worship coming from other motives and not based in truth.
Worship cannot be selfish or self-centered. This goes against the very nature of worship. Abraham’s “worship” was based out of his obedience to sacrifice the one thing that meant the most to him, his only son. Not only was Isaac his only son, he was also the symbol of the promise God had given to Abraham. Isaac was Abraham’s seed and God had promised to bless Abraham’s seed. Killing Isaac meant not only killing his only son, but also killing the promise of God over his life. Because Abraham was obedient to God and willing to do this, it was worship! I believe that many people fail to realize how surrendering our dreams to God is actually one of the purest forms of worship we can offer. Sacrificial obedience to God is pure worship and it costs us everything. Only then can we truly see God resurrect the promise and fulfill it in our lives.
Abraham’s obedience to worship God sacrificially sealed the promise over his life and ushered him into the fulfillment of those promises. When we move from selfish worship to sacrificial worship we too will begin to see the promises God has spoken over our lives begin to be fulfilled! This is God’s design: sacrificial worship produces resurrected promises.
Tommy Tenney says that, “ everything that happens in
a church service is for us. Worship, however, is for God.”
People that skip worship only to hear the preaching are incredibly
selfish. They want to be filled but they don’t want to
give anything to God. We even make the offering about us in
that we give only so that we can proclaim God’s promise
of giving us something back! The more the church learns to give
of themselves to God, the more of God’s glory we will
begin to see filling our churches. Worship isn’t about
us; it is about God and God alone...
continue
 |
Sign up! for my exclusive e-newsletter |
which will bring you ministry updates and exciting news all via email! |
| - Get all ministry updates and current events |
| - Receive powerful teaching and devotionals |
| - Receive periodic video email updates |
 |
