Last night at our Prayer and Praise service I asked a question that was designed to help worshipers to examine why we come together at church to worship. Are most of the things we do in worship possible in other settings? If they are, then why must we come to a church to worship? I gave it as a homework study, Below is possibly part of the answer. This is an excerpt from Rick Warrens Ministry Toolbox that is published weekly to pastors via E-mail. Read and see what you think.
"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.
God is the consumer of worship Although unbelievers cannot truly worship, they can watch believers worship. They can observe the joy that we feel. They can see how we value God’s Word and how we respond to it. They can hear how the Bible answers the problems and questions of life. They can notice how worship encourages, strengthens, and changes us. They can sense when God is supernaturally moving in a service, although they won’t be able to explain it.
When unbelievers watch genuine worship, it becomes a powerful witness. In Acts 2 – on the day of Pentecost – God’s presence was so evident in the disciples’ worship service that it attracted the attention of unbelievers throughout the entire city!
Acts 2:6 says, "... a crowd came together.” We know it was a big crowd because 3,000 people were saved that day.
Why were those 3,000 people converted? Because they felt God’s presence and they understood the message.
I believe both of these elements are essential for worship to be a witness.
God’s presence must be sensed in the service. More people are won to Christ by feeling God’s presence than by all of our apologetic arguments combined.
Few people, if any, are converted to Christ on purely intellectual grounds. It is the sense of God’s presence that melts hearts and explodes mental barriers. Worship without this yields few evangelistic results.
I believe there is an intimate connection between worship and evangelism.
In the first place, the goal of evangelism is to produce worshipers of God. The Bible tells us that "the Father seeks worshipers” (John 4:23). When we recruit worshipers, that’s called evangelism.”
On the other hand, worship provides the motivation for evangelism. It produces a desire in us to tell others about Christ. The result of Isaiah’s powerful worship experience (Isaiah 6:1-8) was Isaiah saying, "Here am I, send me!” True worship causes us to witness. … Rick Warren
Why do you come to worship? Worship has a definite purpose however I am concerned that many come out of habit. That may be why some churches are dead. They have forgotten the purpose of worship. Habit is not bad. It may help us in times of discouragement. However, for worship to be truly meaningful it must have Biblical purpose.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
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2 comments:
Great post. I hope you keep posting. I think a lot of people need to here what you say. Have you bought the book "The Blogging Church". If not, then I will let you read it. Keep it up.
For me, a great reason to "come to worship" is to be with other believers. Sometimes as we see craziness happening all around us, it's easy to feel as if we are alone - certainly something Satan wants us to feel. But when I go to church and see others worship & join them in that worship, I feel a unity and a bond. It is empowering and assuring in a dark world! Let the rocks keep silent, because we aren't finished praising the Lord!
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