Worship Matters (Session 1)

Thanks for listening to the voice of sovereign grace.

This podcast is a ministry of Grace Church and Harrisburg with Carolina you can check us out on the web agrees Harrisburg.org. Over the next several weeks we're going to be looking at the topic of worship.

This topic has been a deep interest of mine for quite some time and it all began with my dad. He was a minister, music, and so I grew up in an environment in which us kids were up close and personal to the ins and outs of music ministry and worship planning that sort of thing. During the heated worship wars of the late 80s and early 90s I was actually apprenticing under my dad in music ministry and I really have my eyes open then to a lot of worship related concepts conflicts in the church was about 20 my dad and I attended a conference together on worship in the church and it was led by a former worship leader who had a lead worship at John Piper's church and I really think looking back, that during that conference, God began to heighten my interest in this area of worship. That's really what I began studying the topic in earnest and began to try to develop a theology of worship from Scripture.Charlotte to say the more I study, worship, the more I realize this subject is infinite. Worship is a vast subject in Scripture has so much to say about it. One author in his preface to a book about worship you like this he said to say that you know everything about worship is to say you know everything about God.

I don't and never will.

Well, we have just a few short weeks to consider the subject of worship is no way that we can exhaust this topic and that amount of time.

So how should we approach it, but I like to do is hit the high points. I look at some of the fundamental concepts that relate to worship look at some key Scripture passages that ought to shape our theology of worship that I like to try to apply some of those key concepts and passages to our practice of worship here at Grace Church in applying these truths we will no doubt encounter some of the main areas of disagreement that have cropped up over the over the course of church history so as these issues come up will try to deal with them as exhaustively as time allows.

I got a whole stack of books that I may be recommending for further reading. If you're interested in that sort of thing about primarily.

My goal for the next 10 weeks or so is for us to discover together what the Bible has to say about worship what worship is how we do it why we do it now.

I know that we are Americans we are people of action. We like to get to the, the, so what as soon as possible would like to get to the application right away. I want to encourage you.

Be patient.

I will get to the application. Eventually, but we really need to lay a foundation for the application by first of all, coming to a thoroughly biblical understanding of worship's meaning and priority first. If we jump right into the application to soon we run the risk of misapplication and that can lead to some very fundamental errors. I can't turn my kids loose in the kitchen to cook supper until they have some basic knowledge about how to follow a recipe and how measurements work and how ovens work in important things like, don't touch the burner in the same way. We can't just rush into the activity of worship without having some knowledge of what worship is and why it's to be done the way it's done, the epistles, particularly the ones written by Paul take this approach, they usually begin with the doctrinal section that lays a foundation for everything that follows and then from that foundation applications are drawn so that the epistle often ends on a very practical note, we need to approach our study of worship in the same way. We can't just rush into the activity of worship. Armed with our background experiences around musical preferences and think that were going to arrive at biblically acceptable worship we need to discipline ourselves to lay some groundwork and let that foundation determine our practice, we need to develop a working theology of worship realizes a very high goal were a big gap in light of the fundamental nature of worship.

I think we'd all agree is necessary and certainly worth it for the purpose of this first lecture is to answer the question what is the meaning of worship and I believe that if we can agree on the answer to this question. Most of the disagreement that we see in the church today over the style and form of worship will be settled. I don't think that style and form are inconsequential. They are crucial issues in our theology of worship with her not the starting point for discussion on this very foundational topic over the course of the next several weeks were to wrestle with some tough questions like one of the biblical elements of worship. What is the place of art and music in worship was a relationship between Christian worship and culture. But before we can address any of those questions wisely and biblically. We gotta make sure that we understand what worship is and what the biblical principles are that both limit and liberate us to worship in a way that pleases God. First, we need to recognize that worship is really a huge word it's it's a little like trying to define the word love. We tend to define words like worship and love in terms of what they look like, rather than what they are our understanding of worship is often limited to its its practice rather than its essence.

In other words, we define it in terms of will of what is done in worship, rather than in terms of what worship actually is. Let me start moving us toward a working definition of worship by first pointing out some things that worship is not. First of all worship is not the preliminaries before assortment the call to worship, giving him the offering and so on. We sometimes talk like this week we we say were to worship and then the pastor will preach and then will worship some more. You see what were doing when we talk that way is defining worship in terms of what we actively do in a worship service, we can't define worship in terms of the parts of a service in which were actively involved defining worship like this. If you think about it implies that are listening to the preached word of God is not part of worship and I would contend that it certainly is. So when when I talk about worship.

I'm not referring to the elements in a service that precede the sermon or that the whole congregation is actively involved in. Secondly, worship is not music, the Beatles, Elton John that even a Satanist can all make music but are they worshiping God. Certainly not music is not essential to the meaning of worship. Now I would say it is essential to its practice, but not to the meaning of worship are language often betrays her misunderstanding at this point, the term praise and worship has come to be synonymous with a certain style of sacred music week we talk about praise and worship choruses versus hymns for the life of me, I'll never understand that dichotomy again must've come from Nashville or something. Music is not the essence of worship. Worship is not. Thirdly, emotionalism you can experience very deep, moving emotions and never have worshiped.

Don't misunderstand me, worship will always involve all of you including your emotions. It should include that if your emotions are untouched by Dr. worshiping God but our emotions can be tricky. We can so easily confuse an emotional experience with the spiritual. This probably is not the main problem with Presbyterians. If anything, we tend to go baby to the other extreme and be stoic, but we need to be aware that emotions don't constitute and of themselves worship. Fourthly, worship is not attending a worship service this because we come to church and done our thing doesn't mean we've engaged in worship we must not confuse worship with the particular things we do on a Sunday morning is much broader than merely a Sunday morning activity. Also, worship is not evangelism.

Now, this misunderstanding doesn't seem to be as widespread and reformed circles but say what it still is still there and still like a very real misunderstanding this idea that evangelism is the main focus and goal of worship has infiltrated the church and in some places in an unparalleled way in and threatens our understanding of worship to talk more about this issue as we go on, but for now understand that while worship may result in evangelism. The essence of worship is not evangelism and then finally, worship is not self-expression.

This was huge. I think that this misunderstanding probably permeates our practice of worship, more than any of the others that I've mentioned the very first error related to worship, had to do precisely with this misunderstanding. Lucifer was a glorious being who dwelt in heaven and he decided he wanted to be like God, he wanted to be the object of worship, and thus sin came into existence, worship, by definition, must take the focus entirely off of self and onto the object being worshiped, so biblical worship is not about me expressing to God how I think and feel about him in ways that reflect my personal taste. My personal preferences will talk some more about this as well, but for now, suffice it to say that worship is not a means of self-expression. So if worship is none of these things, what is it what were not going to find in the pages of Scripture and explicit working definition of worship about his essay. Worship is blank, but we do find many, many descriptions and principles that give us a very accurate understanding of the biblical concept of worship, so that some of these clues that are given to us and see if we can't come up with a definition that fits with Scripture.

There are two primary words in Hebrew that are translated worship in our English Bibles there shut, and a bod to Hebrew word shut, and abide they occur together in the second of the 10 Commandments Exodus chapter 20 verse five says you shall not bow down to them. This is the command for bidding to the making of graven images to use and worship.

You shall not bow down to them that's shut, or serve them a bod for I the Lord your God am a jealous God so shucked Commies to prostrate oneself, to bow down to stoop before the one being worshiped a bod on the other hand, connotes the idea of of worker bond service labor, general service being offered to visit to the one being worshiped. The primary word used for worship in the New Testament is the word press Kineo again meaning to prostrate oneself bow down in homage to to revere and the door divides dictionary bold New Testament words says that the worship of God is nowhere defined in Scripture, it is not confined to praise broadly. It may be regarded as the direct acknowledgment to God of his nature attributes ways and claims with by the outgoing of the heart in praise and thanksgiving or by deeds done in such acknowledgment. So the very basic word level. The way the word worship is used in Scripture you see that it includes both the aspect of homage, adoration and service so it means to revere and to obey both of those aspects are a part of this big word worship this process a little bit further, we realize that Scripture uses the word worship to convey the idea of revering and obeying God in what context did this take place only suggested in the Old Testament the act of worship was most closely associated with what went on at the tabernacle and later at the temple there was a physical place where outward acts of homage and obedience to God took place. This way of thinking about worship is reflected in passages like Isaiah to verse three says come let us go to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. There was a central location. A geographic place you can go to that was associated with worship by virtue of the fact that God's presence dwelt visibly in the holy of holies that's not to say that there was no sense of worship taking place in the heart back in the Old Testament. I think we see an example of this idea of of heart worship in the heart in David's prayer of confession in Psalm 51 he says in verses 16, 17 to the Lord.

He says you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it you will not be pleased with the burnt offering the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart of God. You will not despise the Old Testament worship are certainly conceived of this personal aspect to worship with the prevailing attitude was that worship took place at the temple. If you want to commune with God you went to Jerusalem become the New Testament is very interesting conversation that takes place between Jesus and the woman at the well how a woman from Samaria. In fact, John four is perhaps the most explicit teaching of Jesus on the subject of worship it so it been key to our understanding of of what Christian worship is supposed to be the Samaritans had abandoned the traditional worship in Jerusalem that set up their own system of worship in Shechem and for this reason there is great tension between Jews and Samaritans. So when the Samaritan woman asked Jesus where true worship should take place. We expect him to say in Jerusalem that was the Orthodox position. That was the tradition, but instead he says we just read it. John four beginning it beginning in verse 19 of the woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain member there and Samaria and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship Jesus said to her woman. Believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Worship the father you worship what you do not know. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews, but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The father is seeking such to worship him.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth, so we begin the idea that worship is not just external acts of reverence and obedience but that it is set to be somehow reflected in the very spirit of a person. It's not about being in the right place, or doing certain things. The location in which worship takes place is the spirit now I would think that this concept of worship being something internal is not difficult for us to comprehend and accept absolutely worship takes place in the heart the spirit of a person. Our attitude, our internal response to God is the key. What was Jesus saying that since worship is to be offered in spirit the external expressions of worship don't matter anymore. In other words does Jesus make worship entirely an internal activity or we could say an individual activity know he doesn't worship is spiritual because God is spirit, but worship is also corporate. It takes place in a context among the people throughout John four. Jesus refers to the ones worshiping in the plural, something that they do together so. However, Jesus may be changing the paradigm for worship and John for he's not changing it from a corporate act to an individual act.

They get are overly individualized culture. It's important that we understand this, there is an aspect of worship that is very personal, and internal. If you're not referencing and obeying God in your heart that it doesn't really matter what you doing on the outside with God's people on Sunday morning about worshiping your spirit must be engaged, but there is also very public and corporate aspect to worship. The New Testament is full of instructions for us concerning how we are to worship together how we are to express reverence and obedience to God before others in an acceptable way sore definition of worship, they must acknowledge that worship is both private and public, both personal and corporate. It's internal and external. We can't just make those those things mutually exclusive.

If we understand it in terms of just one side of the other week we get off balance very quickly, so we seen from just these word studies that worship includes both our attitudes and our deeds, reverence and obedience we seen from Jesus's discussion with the Samaritan woman that worship is not merely external it is at least external audit starts in the spirit of a person finally want to consider that Jesus said true worshipers are those who worship God in spirit and in truth was he made by truth, I think at least two things are included in this description.

First of all, our worship is to be genuine.hypocritical were to approach God in truth and integrity with with honesty with whole heartedness to be a people of integrity in our worship, but it also conveys the idea of worshiping on the basis of God's truth we worship.

In other words, in accordance with what God has said with with the principles of Scripture to worship in a way that is contradictory to biblical revelation is no worship at all. So based on what we look at this morning our understanding of worship must include reverence and obedience. It must include internal and external expression, and it must include submission to God's revealed truth. Think about this for a minute and then try to come up in your mind that with a working definition of worship we give you some examples may be of of some helpful definitions. Here's one that I wrote for my own use. Worship is the process through which the believer that would be private worship or the church public worship in response to the self revelation of God and in accordance with the commandments and principles of Scripture demonstrates the beauty and worth of God through acts of praise, confession, Thanksgiving, supplication, and obedience. Kind of a wordy definition but I'm trying to capture as much of of the various principles that need to be there is a couple other definitions.

James Boyce said true worship occurs only when that part of human beings there spirit, which is akin to the divine nature. Because God is spirit actually meets with God and finds itself praising him for his love of wisdom, beauty, truth, holiness, compassion, mercy, grace, power, and other attributes. Jonathan Edwards a little more 68. He says seeking this one thing, the soul ravishing views of the beauty and love of Christ.

The English etymology of the word tells us that worship is ascribing worth to something worth ship declaring how much something is valued how much it's worth. How much is God worth of the answer that question as it is expressed in my life and heart is worship that was we discussed worship over the next several weeks are our discussion will no doubt take place in the realm of several different categories I think will be helpful for us technologies categories upfront sometimes will speak of worship in broad terms, the adoration of God in all of life sometimes will discuss worship in terms of how it's expressed in specific contexts at three in particular come to mind the context of corporate worship in the church. The context of family worship in the home and then private worship, individual devotion, as some of the principles will talk about will apply to all of these categories. So for example, the command to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

That certainly would be universally applicable. Advised every context every category of worship. On the other hand, speaking to one another in hymns and songs and spiritual songs that command obviously wouldn't apply to the context of private worship, you can't speak to one another when you're alone, failing to recognize these category distinctions I think can lead to some misunderstandings concerning worship used to know a drummer who love to play his drums at church.

He was good at playing the drums. But when he played. He was often very insensitive, musically in terms of volume, the tempo those sorts of things to those around him in the worship service they would get in his own little zone is all the world in the corporate worship service and if anyone talked to them about it express their concern about how distracting is playing might be in any given worship service. It say something like you not just caught up in worshiping God. He's he look at my heart not my drumsticks. You see what he was doing was misapplying a broad principle in worship. I think to a very narrow context of worship. He was he was right in saying that worship is something that takes place in the spirit of man, that does look at the heart but God is also established explicit principles to govern our corporate worship of him. Though the principle of deference to the weaker brother we find in Romans 14 the principle of authority.

The principle of edification for script is 14 and so on. So keeping these distinctions in mind, though the broad view of worship in all of life and in the specific view of worship within certain contexts. Keeping these distinctions in mind I think will help us along the way, Tim Keller, who is a PCA pastor in New York City has some interesting things to say about these category distinctions. He says this is worship primarily what happens on Sundays when we do specific activities of singing, praying, offering, confessing, and so on, or is worship primarily the way we live all of life for the honor of the Lord in such a way that Sunday gatherings are no more worship than any other time in the week within Protestantism. This is an old debate. Low church advocates have traditionally leaned toward the second view and insisted that Sunday services are not distinctive from all of life worship. While high church advocates have held to the view that is that it is supremely in the gathered corporate service that real worship actually happens. Keller goes on to explain that when we overemphasize the all of life aspect of worship we end up downplaying the significance of corporate worship, sometimes to the point that the gathering often becomes overly cognitive on the other hand, when we overemphasize corporate worship to the neglect of the all of life aspect of worship. Corporate worship becomes often times overly emotional. We end up trying to fabricate some kind of mountaintop experience because of the amount of significance we place on the gathering of Christians for worship. What you see is that both extremes are dangerous, but probably everyone listening thinks of worship, primarily in terms of one of the other. We tend to emphasize one or the other and my point is that balance is essential is paramount.

Worship does involve all of life. But the Bible also has much to say about the specifics and distinctives of corporate worship as well, so we've we've got to keep both paradigms in mind, here's the bottom line. Worship is about our response to God. Why then do we spend so much of our time haggling about the form of our worship there really are to answer to that question. On the one hand, may be we haggle about the forms because we are so captivated by the glory of God that we want to make sure our expression of worship is worthy of him and if this is the case, then we have a good and noble reason for splitting hairs over worship forms. But I suspect if were honest with ourselves, were not always driven by so noble a motive. Probably more times and would like to admit our passion about the form and style of worship springs from the fact that form and style are the main thing for us. The object of worship has become. Worship is like a relative of mine who had never seen the ocean I took of the rightful beach and his only response to what he saw was it's just water and he was totally unaffected by what should have on him is the reason that we are so preoccupied with worship style because were no longer awed by God. CS Lewis said the best liturgy is the one that goes unnoticed and I hope that the end result of our study of worship is worship. Worship in spirit and in truth because it was anything else to work really just playing a religious game. I don't want to be like the woman at the well tried to divert God's work in her heart by turning attention away from true worship. Let's ask God to make us a congregation that worship him in spirit and in truth.

Thanks again for listening to our podcast. If you're ever in the Charlotte area and would like to visit Grace Church.

We love the beach located in Harrisburg, North Carolina, and we worship every Sunday morning at 1030 and every Sunday night at 6 o'clock. For more information visit Grace Harrisburg.org