“All the nations You made will come and bow before You, Lord; they will praise Your holy name. For You are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God.” (Psalm 86:9-10 NLT)
Worship is the one thing that human beings can do that gives them opportunity to distinguish themselves from all the other creatures God placed on this earth, yet, among all of God’s creation we’re most reluctant to do so. Why is worship of the Lord God Almighty so foreign to us?
Because it’s contrary to our human nature. Humans, for all their positive qualities, have a love affair with themselves. While worship is second nature to us, it takes a spiritual heart transplant to give us insight into Whom we should be worshipping and why.
Worship is common among virtually every people group. Often, worship ceremonies are a means of either giving thanks for provision or in preparation for the procurement of food, either through crops or hunting. Perhaps a carry over in current societies, especially in the Christian Faith, is giving thanks before a meal.
For centuries worship has been accompanied by music and or dancing, and has been a communal event, often involving many participants. What many churches have done with worship is to make it more performance oriented, to be led by the “experts,” which has served to destroy much of the purpose of worship, make it exclusive rather than inclusive, and allow it to become boring.
One of the many things I appreciate about our church is that the musicians and vocalists don’t see themselves as “performers,” but prompters. While they are excellent, they don’t point the spotlight of attention on themselves, but often remind us that they, with each person present, are the worshippers, and there’s only One person in the audience – the Holy God who deserves all praise, adoration, and worship.
Corporate worship is the highlight of my week, but I have time set aside everyday and throughout my day to worship the Lord individually and with my wife. God’s Word and prayer are key elements in my and our times of worship, but another key that is, at least for me, the most enjoyable, is listening.
Jesus said: “My sheep listen to My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.” A.W. Tozer wrote: “The fellowship of God is delightful beyond all telling.” Listening isn’t something I do intuitively. Just ask my wife. I struggle to listen well. One thing that has been helpful for me to understand is that listening and hearing are two very different things.
Often, I will turn on Christian music when I’m working on a project in the garage, and I’ll enjoy the music, but I often don’t pay a lot of attention to the words. And I suspect I’m not alone in that. Unfortunately, we often do the same thing in conversation, but especially when listening to a message. And I intentionally didn’t use the word “sermon.”
When the Pastors of the church of which I’m a part speak, I listen. Why? Because they don’t preach sermons, they deliver messages from God. You can see for yourself at hopechurchlv.com/watch. You can watch services live on Thursday evenings at 6:30 and Sunday mornings at 8:30 and 10:30. Special Christmas services will be on Thursday, December 21st at 6:30 p.m. and on Sunday morning, December 24th at 8:30, 10:30 and 12:30 pacific time.
In my humble opinion the only way anyone could be bored with worship is if they haven’t met the King of kings and Lord of lords. To know Jesus is to love to worship Him.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 