I'm reading Warren Wiersbe "Real Worship".
He says the Bible doesn't give many definitions but it has lots of demonstrations and descriptions about worship. Experience is important to understanding. He says true worship is balanced and involves the mind, the emotions and the will. He quotes Evelyn Underhill who defined worship as "the total adoring response of man to the one Eternal God..."
He gives a great exposition about true worship and false worship from John 4:19-24. True worship is both objective ("in truth") and subjective ("in spirit [notice lower case]"). Knowing the truth but going through the motion of "formalities" can lead us into "having a form of godliness but denying it's power" 2 Tim 3:5. Personal spiritual experience is important to accompany the objective truth of God's Word.
Worship is ideally a person communing with God that involves an "element of mystery". "Mystery and humility go together".
"Christian worship must be intelligent...thirsty for spiritual reality, will enjoy experiences with God that will transcend the merely academic...expressing the inexpressible"
In short be both intelligent (objective, "in truth") and fervent (subjective, "in spirit")
Transforming Experience; metamorphosis versus masquerade (change comes from within) -Romans 12:1,2; 2 Cor 3:18
- God asks for my body, my mind and my will. Christian love is primarily what we do, not who we feel.
- "God's Word in the new covenant is written on the human heart by the Spirit ofGod. It's a ministry of internal change"
- God's Word is symbolized as a mirror James 1:23-25
- Transformers don't create problems, they reveal them
- Transformers look for fruit while the conformer calculates results
- Transformers trust God to do His work as they worship, pray and sow the seed of the Word
Transformational experience results in the watching world seeing new demonstrations of love and harmony in the "church"
When we focus on unbiblical measures of success, 'we're like the pilot who announced from the cockpit, "Folks, we're lost, but we're making very good time!"'
Worship with a sense of "wonder", like a child
- "The more that truly reverent people know about a flower or an insect or God, the more overwhelmed they are. Scientific or theological facts may give some people a big head, but truths give to the reverent saint a burning heart, a thrilling encounter with God."
- We need to emphasize the mystery of things (Romans 11:33)
Worship should express praise to God, not impress your friends
Witness and Worship go together; don't neglect God's covenant with creation (To Jews Paul emphasized God's covenant with Israel, to Gentiles God's covenant with creation Acts 14:5-17, 22-31)
- Worship God the Creator, makes us better stewards of what he's given us Ps 24:1; 50:12; 1 Chron 29:14; 1 Cor 10:23-29; 1 Tim 6:17; Rom 14-15
- Jesus didn't lecture on budgets instead he pointed to God's bounty in creation - Matt 6:19-34
- If we worship the Lamb that was slain; then we must believe in God's holy judgment of sin. We sing hymns of Judgement "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending" should not be like a museum piece that is admired as theological antiques
Abraham described in Gen 22, his greatest test - an act of worship. Do we consider our times of suffering and deep pain as an experience of worship? Abraham focused on God's promises and not explanations (see Heb 11:17-19), on God's power, not human resources, on God's purposes, is built not his personal desires.
Crisis doesn't make a person; it shows what a person is made of. The character of a person is built day by day, in the worship and serve experiences of life.
Matthew 25:40; "you did it to Me", blessed is the person who knows when it's time to serve, to commune or to suffer. - It's about God's Grace/God's Mercy
Jacob, saw a vision, heard a voice, made a vow; man can't build a tower to reach to heaven, but God can and did build a bridge between heaven and earth. John 1:51; Gen 28:15; Heb 13:5; Phil 1:6
He says the Bible doesn't give many definitions but it has lots of demonstrations and descriptions about worship. Experience is important to understanding. He says true worship is balanced and involves the mind, the emotions and the will. He quotes Evelyn Underhill who defined worship as "the total adoring response of man to the one Eternal God..."
He gives a great exposition about true worship and false worship from John 4:19-24. True worship is both objective ("in truth") and subjective ("in spirit [notice lower case]"). Knowing the truth but going through the motion of "formalities" can lead us into "having a form of godliness but denying it's power" 2 Tim 3:5. Personal spiritual experience is important to accompany the objective truth of God's Word.
Worship is ideally a person communing with God that involves an "element of mystery". "Mystery and humility go together".
"Christian worship must be intelligent...thirsty for spiritual reality, will enjoy experiences with God that will transcend the merely academic...expressing the inexpressible"
In short be both intelligent (objective, "in truth") and fervent (subjective, "in spirit")
Transforming Experience; metamorphosis versus masquerade (change comes from within) -Romans 12:1,2; 2 Cor 3:18
- God asks for my body, my mind and my will. Christian love is primarily what we do, not who we feel.
- "God's Word in the new covenant is written on the human heart by the Spirit ofGod. It's a ministry of internal change"
- God's Word is symbolized as a mirror James 1:23-25
- Transformers don't create problems, they reveal them
- Transformers look for fruit while the conformer calculates results
- Transformers trust God to do His work as they worship, pray and sow the seed of the Word
Transformational experience results in the watching world seeing new demonstrations of love and harmony in the "church"
When we focus on unbiblical measures of success, 'we're like the pilot who announced from the cockpit, "Folks, we're lost, but we're making very good time!"'
Worship with a sense of "wonder", like a child
- "The more that truly reverent people know about a flower or an insect or God, the more overwhelmed they are. Scientific or theological facts may give some people a big head, but truths give to the reverent saint a burning heart, a thrilling encounter with God."
- We need to emphasize the mystery of things (Romans 11:33)
Worship should express praise to God, not impress your friends
Witness and Worship go together; don't neglect God's covenant with creation (To Jews Paul emphasized God's covenant with Israel, to Gentiles God's covenant with creation Acts 14:5-17, 22-31)
- Worship God the Creator, makes us better stewards of what he's given us Ps 24:1; 50:12; 1 Chron 29:14; 1 Cor 10:23-29; 1 Tim 6:17; Rom 14-15
- Jesus didn't lecture on budgets instead he pointed to God's bounty in creation - Matt 6:19-34
- If we worship the Lamb that was slain; then we must believe in God's holy judgment of sin. We sing hymns of Judgement "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending" should not be like a museum piece that is admired as theological antiques
Abraham described in Gen 22, his greatest test - an act of worship. Do we consider our times of suffering and deep pain as an experience of worship? Abraham focused on God's promises and not explanations (see Heb 11:17-19), on God's power, not human resources, on God's purposes, is built not his personal desires.
Crisis doesn't make a person; it shows what a person is made of. The character of a person is built day by day, in the worship and serve experiences of life.
Matthew 25:40; "you did it to Me", blessed is the person who knows when it's time to serve, to commune or to suffer. - It's about God's Grace/God's Mercy
Jacob, saw a vision, heard a voice, made a vow; man can't build a tower to reach to heaven, but God can and did build a bridge between heaven and earth. John 1:51; Gen 28:15; Heb 13:5; Phil 1:6
