| What we do as a church in worship is not a warm-up to the sermon. Worship is not a style of music. Worship is not a song. It is not even the words we utter. It is not a Sunday morning charade; it is a way of life. The purpose of our weekly worship gatherings at crosspoint fellowship church is simple: to glorify God, but it doesn’t stop there. Worship does not end at the threshold of our doors. Worship is a moment by moment recognition and response to the grace of God—a constant, unceasing act that should permeate our daily lives. Worship is more than the words we sing or the music we play. Our goal is to inspire you to connect with God and with the others in your life. Jesus even said it himself, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Matt 15:8). He wasn’t interested in simply going through the motions or implementing repetitive acts. He is seeking true worshipers that worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23)
Worship is a Verb
In Deuteronomy 6:5 we are commanded to love God with all of our heart, soul and strength.” The literal Hebrew construction of the words, “and all of your strength” could be translated “and with all of your very”—with everything you’ve got. So worship is not something that we go to, it’s something we DO. You see, true worship drives to action. And that action is always preceded by truth. Each time the character of God is displayed before us in a burning bush experience or through the Word of God, it drives us to action. Our worship is action in response to God.
Worship is a Physical Demonstration of a Spiritual Reality
Just as communion is a physical representation of Christ’s blood and body, and water is a symbol of identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, so our physical actions in praise and worship are a demonstration of our hearts surrendering to God. When we praise the Lord with clapping, singing, shouting, dancing, lifting our hands, bowing, kneeling, and standing, we force our bodies to submit to what we already know—God is worthy of our praise. We make our flesh servant to our spirit. These physical manifestations of praise are the gateway to releasing our spirits to worship God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength.
A Holy Conversation
Our worship is not a monologue. The worship we bring to His throne is not about what we think of Him or about giving Him a laundry list of what we want. Praise and worship begins a spiritual dialogue during which He breathes His life into our hearts and minds— conforming us to His image. As we enter into this intimate conversation, He imparts upon us His love which leads to conviction, revelation, and intercession. God’s heart is focused on rescuing the lost and when we worship Him, we too become others-centered and are naturally led to pray and intercede. |
