So, What About Worship, Do I Really Need It

So, What About Worship, Do I Really Need It?

INTRO: The last three weeks I have been preaching about things that help make a church strong, lasting and effective for the Lord. I talked about how important prayer was the first week; In that we looked at our talking with God. The second week I talked about the blessings of obedience, which is our doing the things of God. Last week, I continued along these lines, using Four Pillars For A Strong Home. Here I dealt with our need to have strong, healthy loving homes. These need to be homes that will nurture and care for our children and us. So part of this is teaching our children about God. Today, I want to look at worshipping God, the blessings of praising and honoring God in our lives.

What is Worship? A dictionary definition is: 1. A prayer, church service, or other rite showing reverence for a deity. 2. Intense love or admiration of any kind.

We often get so tied up in doing the church service, the ritual, that we forget the underlying cause for our worshipping to begin with - LOVE, FEAR, RESPECT, HONOR OF OUR GOD.

One pastor, Rick Warren, defines worship -- Worship is from believers to God. We magnify God’s name in worship by expressing our love and commitment to him.

He further states, "Worship is expressing our love to God for who he is, what he’s said, and what he’s doing."

We believe there are many appropriate ways to express our love to God: by praying, singing, obeying, trusting, giving, testifying, listening and responding to his Word, thanking, and many other expressions. God - not man - is the focus and center of our worship.

So, we can see that worship is for us to focus on God and not ourselves. Lets look further into God's Word and see what else we can learn.

First, we need to understand….
We are meant to worship GOD.

Not -- Buddha, Confucius, Allah, The Earth, Mary, A Rock, Our Home, Our Car, Our TV, etc.

When we look into God's Word, we can see that…
He expects it

Matt 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

We also see…
He blesses it

Psalms 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.

From His Word, we know that
God's only Son, Jesus "exampled" it in His life

Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

We can also see that…
The Apostles enjoyed it

Luke 24:52-53 ⁵²And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

^{53And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

And no matter how many times someone tells us they do not need to…
His Word encourages it

Heb. 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Understanding, truthfully, we are meant to worship God, I want us to understand some things about worship.
When we worship God, we praise Him

Because He is God
Because He is worthy

1 Chr 16:29 ²⁹Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

With our voices and actions - prayer, song, etc.

Not only do we praise Him, but…

When we worship God, we please Him

Because…
We exalt Him
We show obedience
We love Him

When we worship God, we express His love to others

They see His love in us
They sense His love through the Holy Spirit
They can know His love through His Son

John 3:16-18 ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
So, What about Worship? Do I really Need it? What Do I do about it?
First,

We worship.

You need to worship.

God expects it, blesses it, and you need it

Lest we forget,

We need to worship (corporately as a group)

God's Word commands it, and like the Apostles, we will enjoy it

Not only do we worship,
We worship well

We do our best to praise the Lord for who He is and What He is and what He has done for us through His Son and His love.

And…
We worship Him

Not ourselves, the preacher, our buildings, our works and labors, etc. We are here to worship the One True God and Him alone.

And last…
We worship for Him

Yes we will enjoy it (hopefully), but we worship for Him. To give Him glory, honor, and praises that He deserves. Even if the message is dry. We still worship for Him. Even if the message is SO uplifting, we worship for Him.

Gary Marcum - New Beginnings Church - 022005am}