A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"Let Us Worship"

Once while vacationing I attended a nearby church for a Sunday night service.  The teens were leading the worship and the order of the service was a bit different than I was used to.  Yet, God was especially close and I was enjoying His wonderful, gracious presence.  A young teenager preached a sermon that he had won an award for.  He did a very good job and the message was Scripturally sound.  After he preached the pastor stood and lead us to the Throne of Grace through prayer.  As he returned to his seat, the youth leader stood, picked up his guitar, placed the strap around his shoulder, and sat on a high stool.  He looked up at the congregation and said, "Let us take some time to worship now."  I was stunned. I wanted to blurt out, "What do you think we have been doing!?"  This incident reflects the fact that many Christians really don't know much about worship.

 The other day I received another invitation to attend a workshop on worship.  It informed me that all who could come would learn how to lead great worship services.  A "worship team" from one of the largest churches in the United States and "worship leaders" from some of the "finest churches" would be there to instruct us.  Worship is a hot topic among evangelicals and Pentecostals right now.  Sadly though, the hype is more about form than about worship.  It's about "how" we worship rather than about "worship."

 Scripture instructs us to "Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care." (Psalm 95:6,7)

 Jesus' response to the woman at the well when she brought up worship places was, "Yet there is a time coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23,24)

 We have this wonderful knack of focusing on structure rather than substance, don't we?  We have worship backward.  We want to know how we can make worship more exciting, more enticing, more effective, more appealing, and more dynamic for us, when worship is really about what we do for God.  Much like the woman at the well.  She wanted to talk about the "right way to worship."  Jesus instructed her about Who and how to worship.  Hughes Oliphant Old says:

 "The worship that is in spirit and truth is an act of love.  It is not superstitious or compelled by fear; it is faithful to the truth.  It does not try to fool, bribe, or force God but rather trusts God and the ways of God.  True worship is not magical in the sense that it tries to control God but is rather obedient to god and according to God's Word.  We worship God in spirit when our worship respects God's transcendence - that is, God's holiness and justice, God's truth.  The worship that is in spirit and truth is spiritual in that it is inspired, directed, and filled with God's Spirit. - Our worship is to reflect God Himself."

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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