“Worship is something the Holy Spirit is seeking to bring into the church in a deepening sense – but it only occurs when the leader sees worship as God sees it.” -Jack Hayford
Why Should We Worship? Three reasons from Exodus 25.
1) God wants to dwell among us (not atmospherically).
2) God wants to meet us.
3) God wants to speak to us.
Surely God can do these things individually with each of us on our own (“sans church”). There is nothing wrong with private worship, but it cannot take the place of worshiping together with the church. In Exodus 25 and surrounding chapters, God laid out His plan for how he wants to be worshiped. God doesn’t talk about private individual worship there. He talks about group worship.
God wants to dwell among THE CHURCH (not just you individually).
God wants to meet with THE CHURCH (not just you individually).
God wants to speak to THE CHURCH (not just you individually).
Let’s come to our churches this weekend expecting an encounter from God.
I just read that chapter, and I don’t see how it relates to worship during a church service. Can you expand that for me? Thanks!
Great point, Todd. I’m not necessarily talking about the “church service” or the “church building” or any of those things. I’m talking about the church – the assembly of believers (for most people, that’s a church service).
25:8 says, “Then have THEM make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among THEM.” (This is a great example. The group makes an action first – and THEN God dwells with the group. How cool is that?)
25:22 says, “…I will meet with you and give you all my commands for THE ISRAELITES.”
The context of the whole thing is about God connecting with his PEOPLE (plural). God sometimes connected with individuals – but that’s not all he did (in the Old or New Testaments).
Let me add some emphasis to my original post:
GOD WANTS to connect with us! Just imagine this – God wants to connect with us more than we want to connect with him. That’s a mind-job, eh?
I whole-heartedly agree!
But this doesn’t need to mitigate the need to worship God individually, does it?
I mean, if I’m not worshipping God with my everyday life, then is it really true deep-down-in-my-soul worship to God when I come to church on Sunday, or is it just an emotional song service? Or is it something in-between?
I guess a definition of what you mean by worship would help me better understand what you mean.
When I think of God coming down and dwelling, I think of God partaking in our everyday lives, even when I’m not at church, and if we are a true community (not a communal group) then God will dwell with us together…or am I missing something?
@Joe:
Surely God can do these things individually with each of us on our own (â€sans churchâ€). There is nothing wrong with private worship, but it cannot take the place of worshiping together with the church.
That’s great that you think of God coming down and dwelling in our everyday lives. Good. That’s good. That’s very good. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. That’s completely off topic, bro. I’m talking about God meeting with the church.
You asked for a definition of worship. I’ve tried to define it. I’ve heard other people try to define it. I don’t think anyone can actually do it. I think worship is just a little bit too big to actually define. Worship can’t be defined because the minute you define it – you realize its bigger than that. Worship just needs to be described. Today, I described 3 “why’s” of worship, and applied them to corporate worship. If you thought I defined it – then no wonder you had questions – questions will always arise when considering a “definition” of worship. Instead, take the “DESCRIPTIONS” of worship as they come (even if they are called a “definition”) and each time worship is described, we’ll understand a little bit more.
I guess that I can’t imagine corporate worship without individual worship. For many reasons. But one that stands out right now is simply that any group is made up of individuals. Isn’t it the worship of those individuals that comes together to form corporate worship?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not doubting the importance of corporate worship, focusing only on my personal worship is myopic. But it seems like most churches put A LOT of emphasis on corporate worship, but not much emphasis on what happens when we leave church and live the other six days of the week.
I’m trying to understand the relationship between the two, corporate and personal worship. Is one dependant on, or strengthened by, the other? Can I truly have corporate worship without personal worship? Is there a difference between worship that permeates my life on a moment by moment basis (living a life of worship) and the corporate worship services we have at church? Or is this corporate worship part of a larger whole?
I’ve never received any solid teaching in this area. I only know what I have researched and studied on my own. But this studying has left me with more questions than answers. So, I would relish some direction here.
@Adam, thanks for the clarification. I think part of the problem is that “worship” has been associated with “praise” for so long in churches, you know?