Study 11 Objective: What is worship, and how is it expressed in the life of the believer?
The main features of collective worship included the preaching of the word (Acts 20:7; 2 Timothy 4:2), praise and thanksgiving (Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:18), praying for the gospel and each other (Colossians 4:2-4; James 5:16), sharing news of the gospel work (Acts 14:27), and giving for the needs of the church (1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Philippians 4:15-17).
Special worship events included commemorating the sacrifice of Christ. Just before His death Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper by changing completely the Old Testament Passover ritual. Instead of using the obvious idea of the lamb to indicate His body slain for us, He chose to use bread broken for us. In addition, to represent His blood shed for us, He introduced the idea of wine, which had no part in the Passover ritual. He redeemed the Old Testament Passover service into a New Covenant worship practice so that as often as we eat the bread and drink the wine we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:26). Worship is not just about words and actions of praise and homage toward God. It is also about our attitude towards others. Thus going to worship without a spirit of reconciliation is inappropriate (Matthew 5:23-24). Worship is physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. It involves all of our life. We offer ourselves as “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God”, which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1). Reflection: Compare worship in the Old Testament with worship in the New. In what ways does New Testament worship inform your practice in your local congregation? |
Conclusion
Worship is a declaration of the worthiness and glory of God, expressed through the life of the believer and through his or her participation in the fellowship of believers. From the Grace Communion International website:
https://www.gci.org/articles/the-churchs-worship-calendar/ “Worship is the divinely created response to the glory of God. It is motivated by divine love and springs from God’s revelation of himself in communion with his creation. In worship, believers commune with God the Father through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Worship involves humbly and joyfully giving God priority in all things and is expressed in such actions and attitudes as prayer, praise, celebration, generosity, acts of mercy, and repentance.
(John 4:23; 1 John 4:19; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Ephesians 5:18-20; Colossians 3:16-17; Romans 5:8-11; 12:1; Hebrews 12:28; 13:15-16)”ick here to edit. See GCI articles:
https://www.gci.org/articles/responding-to-god-with-worship/ Bibliography Barackman, Floyd H. 1981, reprinted 1992. Practical Christian Theology. USA: Kregel Publications. Jinkins, Michael.2001. Invitation to Theology. USA: InterVarsity Press. |