Lesson 3
worship OUr loving response to jesus
PRAYEr
This week as we study about worship, pray that God would open your heart and soften it to be like moldable clay. Often our heart and mind can become very hard to the things of God, even without us noticing. This can happen in subtle ways. This week pray that through worship, the love and grace of God would flood your heart and mind, causing you to walk more deeply in the Spirit, in pursuit of Jesus.
Study
WHAT IS WORSHIP?
The Biblical words for worship mean to bow down, or to fall down flat; and to ascribe glory, honor, love, devotion and faithfulness to God (Psalm 96). It is a picture of humility before God. Worship can be expressed in many ways, but at the heart of them all is a call to surrender to the Creator of the universe, to choose to devote ourselves to God (Joshua 24:14-15). Worship encompasses all of life because the God we see in the Bible is everywhere, knows all, touches all, and can be experienced and worshiped throughout all of life (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Luke 10:27). Worship can be the attitude of our heart, the thoughts we dwell on in our mind, the work of our hands, our decisions, motives, values, what we give, who we care for, and our priorities. Whether we are out mowing the lawn, doing dishes, watching children, at school, work, playing sports, serving, interacting with our spouse, parenting, gathering with our church, or singing with the congregation, every moment can be a moment of worship and everything dedicated to God can be an instrument of praise to Jesus (Romans 12:1-2, Hebrews 13:15-16).
Worship is a response to God, who He is and what He has done (Deuteronomy 10:21). As we remember, declare, and live out God and His works, we stand in awe and wonder before our Maker and Savior. This instills a sense of confidence, beauty, and majesty in our lives. Worship strengthens and grows our faith.
Quite simply: Worship is our loving response to Jesus.
Here are just some of the ways we see people worship God in the Bible.
Thankfulness
We are all often tempted to focus on what we don't have. Gratefulness for the salvation, goodness, and blessings we have seen and experienced is a powerful act of worship that aligns us with God. (Psalm 50:23, Hebrews 12:28-29)
Obedience
Many times we won’t feel like humbling ourselves, serving, giving, or devoting ourselves, our time, our thoughts, or our words to God. However, simple obedience based on love is transformative. As we choose to cooperate with and surrender to the Holy Spirit, even when we don’t feel like it, eventually the desires of God’s heart will develop in us (John 14:15, Philippians 2:12-14).
Prayer
Talking to God and spending time meditating on His character and goodness is an act of worship. Prayer and worship go hand in hand (Acts 16:25).
Scripture
As we get into God’s Word, there is an opportunity to respond in worship by taking time to meditate, study, praise God for His Word, and apply it (Psalms 106:12).
Giving
Giving is not just a transaction, but a worshipful act than can transform the giver (Proverbs 3:9-10, 1 Chronicles 29:9, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
Devotion
As we dedicate our lives, relationships, time, resources, and ambitions to God, we make a true sacrifice to God for his glory (Romans 6:12-14).
Serve
Throughout the Bible, to worship and to serve are often used side by side. To serve God and others through a myriad of practical ways, using our spiritual gifts and sacrificing for the sake of others is an act of worship (Matthew 4:10, Colossians 3:17, 23).
Mission
The Command of Jesus to the Church, the Great Commission, is given in the context of worship. Our obedience to extending the work of the gospel is birthed in worship and expressed through worship (Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 13:1-3).
Sing and Make Music
We will outline this more below, but to sing and make music to God is an integral part of worship in scripture (Ephesians 5:18-20).
Craftsmanship
The ability to design, craft, and work with one’s hands is seen as connected to worship in the Bible (Exodus 31:1-6).
In the Bible worship leads to
Freedom
When we humble ourselves and worship the Lord, we experience the power of the Holy Spirit to bring freedom to our lives. Worship helps us live out the victory that is ours in Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:16-18).
Peace
Worship has a way of focusing our thoughts and actions on God, resulting in a renewed sense of peace (Psalm 32).
Joy
When we think about the goodness and love of God we can have joy even amid trial (Psalm 84, Psalm 16:11).
Purpose
Many times people in the Bible discovered their purpose and direction during times of prayer and worship (Isaiah 6:4-8).
Healing
Worship provides a sense of closeness and intimacy with God that restores what life at times can take from us (Psalms 103:1-5).
Strength
Worship renews our strength in God. Spiritually we can be strong even in times of physical weakness (Isaiah 41:10, Exodus 15:2).
Wisdom
To humble oneself before God leads to wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).
Love
As we worship God, God “softens” our heart and makes it like His (Psalm 63:3).
Life in the Holy Spirit
To worship God is to interact with the Holy Spirit living inside of us to guide, strengthen, teach, empower, and comfort us (John 4:23-24).
False worship and true worship
The Bible warns us about false or “empty” worship and worship of other things besides God, which is counterfeit worship. (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 23:23, Exodus 20:3, 2 Timothy 3:5)
As outlined in Isaiah 29:13 we must be careful to guard against:
Lying Lips
This happens when we try to “worship” God with our lips but our hearts and actions don’t align. Not that we will be perfect, but the Lord examines the heart (Jeremiah 17:10). The Psalmist provides a safeguard against this, proactively asking God to search our hearts, knowing that we will be tempted to stray and asking for God’s help to live out our worship (Psalm 139:23).
Distant Hearts
When we begin to allow other things to captivate our hearts more than God, our worship will become an empty shell, just a form of religious activity. We must examine our hearts to make sure we are listening to the voice of God (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Traditions Divorced from the Gospel
Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, we can begin to make rules that we think help us worship or function as a church, but in the end, can conflict with the heart of the gospel. We must continually examine our motivation and practices in the light of scripture to make sure we do not drift from the heart of worship. Jesus, the Master, challenged us to focus our hearts on Loving God and Loving people (Matthew 22:36-40).
What keeps us from worship?
Our lack of worship or false forms of worship can manifest themselves in many ways, but at the core of all of them is pride (Psalm 10:4, 1 Corinthians 4:7, 1 John 2:15-16). If the foundation of worship is humble surrender to Jesus, the opposite of worship is pride. Jesus shows us the way in that though being God, he humbled himself, even unto death on the cross (Philippians 2:1-11, Hebrews 5:7-9, Luke 22:42). Pride can keep us from the blessing God has for us in worship. In our strength we cannot overcome pride.
Pain in our lives can also keep up from worship. Sometimes when we have faced heartache, tragedy, or injustice it can be difficult to worship. The is understandable, but it is helpful to know though we still suffer in this life, the God of the Bible suffers with us (Isaiah 53:4-6). The Good News is that Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us to worship God in the freedom that comes through humility (John 14:16-17). When we surrender our pride and our pain, worship can flourish again and healing can take place in our lives.
A community of worshippers
In all this, it helps to be engaged in community, where believers can encourage and watch out for one another. If our brother or sister seems to be struggling or drifting, scripture calls us to lovingly reach out to them to help (James 5:19-20).
Music and worship
Singing and making music to God in praise and worship is commanded hundreds of times in the Bible (Psalm 33:1-3, Psalm 27:6, Psalm 149:1, Psalm 81:1-2). To sing to God is one of the most numerous commands in scripture. The hearts and lips of God’s people are instructed to offer up sacrifices of praise. Both the Old and New Testaments instruct us to lift our voice, to make music, raise our hands, shout, clap, bow, even dance before the Lord to express adoration, joy, devotion, surrender, and thanksgiving to God. Music fills the Bible. The book of Psalms, for example, is one giant worship collection. Music fills the church (James 5:13, Ephesians 5:19-20, Colossians 3:16), believers are called to sing and make music with and for one another to God. Music fills heaven as the redeemed bow in honor of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Worship is for all people of all ages (Matthew 21:16).
Praise and Worship at Sundry
At Sundry we want our all our worship to be centered on Jesus. The Bible places a high value on praise and worship in the church, and so at Sundry we endeavor to do the same. Praise, worship, and prayer are seen as providing an atmosphere of freedom, healing, spiritual breakthrough, intercession, divine direction, mutual strengthening, encouragement, and an outflow of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:25). While our goal is to help everyone feel welcome and “comfortable” at our worship gatherings, we also want to see all people continually pursue and encounter God in a life-changing way. When we do this, we know we will reflect Jesus. We know that one important way this happens is through praise and worship. We know this because scripture declares it and because we experience it. So we will always lovingly encourage people to take the next step in their worship experience. Above all, the goal of worship is to glorify God. The beautiful thing is, as we glorify God, we are glorified in Him, our lives connect with God’s abundant life (Romans 8:29-30). This is what we were created for, what our hearts truly long for, and the only place we will be truly satisfied. All other “gods” and all other “worship” will only leave us empty.
At Sundry we want our worship to be
Sincere
Whether in our praise and worship, serving on any of our ministry teams, giving to missions + outreach, or serving our city, we want to always do what we do for the right reason. That reason is not to grow our church as an organization. That reason is to lovingly glorify Jesus and serve others with the love of the gospel, to love God and love others.
Sacrificial
Since our goal is not just to “grow the church’s numbers” but to grow people spiritually as disciples who pursue, encounter and reflect Jesus, we won’t be satisfied just gathering a crowd or managing ministry programs that allow people to sit on the “bench” instead of getting “in the game” for Jesus. This requires stepping out of our comfort zone to follow Jesus where He wants to lead us instead of simply where we feel comfortable going. Because of this, we will encourage people in the church to continuously take the next step in their worship and service to God.
Transformative
We believe worship should be powerful in our lives, a consuming fire that never goes out. That as we worship, our heart and mind is flooded with heaven and the Spirit of God moves to the forefront of our thinking and doing. Worship can heal and restore lives that are wounded and hurting, families that are broken, and marriages that are cold. If we are worshiping and not being continually transformed, growing in our faith, we should ask ourselves what needs to change in us and seek God and connect in community to renew our sense of worship and intimacy with God.
REFLECT
(Based on your study and reflection, journal about the following concepts in your own words, these questions will form the basis for your upcoming Community Group discussion, be prepared to share some of your journal entries to these questions.)
What “gods” or false forms of “worship” do you see in the world. What do you struggle with?
How does pride or pain challenge your ability to worship God, personally?
Of the false forms of worship, do any resonate with you? Describe that.
What helps you worship? How could you grow as a worshiper?
Write down 5 practical ways you can worship God this week.
What forms of worship listed do you resonate with most? Feel free also, to list any others not given in the lesson.
How is worship a blessing to your life?
Serve CHALLENGE
Give like it isn’t yours to keep
Worship is an acknowledgment that all the blessings we have ultimately come from God, including our very life. Taking in the very breath in my lungs, when dedicated to God in thankfulness, is an act of worship to the Creator. Pride and self-centeredness lead us to think that our life and possessions are really just ours, not God’s. With that, we can be very tempted to withhold, thinking, “this is mine, I worked hard for it, and I know what is best”. But, when we realize that all our stuff, even our very life, is a gift from God, the result should be worshipful generosity of heart and trusting action.
When we are tempted to withhold what is “ours”, may we be reminded to give like it isn’t ours to keep. In the book of Malachi (Malachi 3:8-10), God warns the people that they are “robbing” Him. In this case, they were neglecting to give the instructed tithe for the work of the temple and support of the poor. God said they were hoarding what was His all along. God calls us to live in a way where we can give like it isn’t ours to keep in the first place. Whether it be time, energy, ability, kindness, money, possessions, the words of our mouth, the thoughts and attitudes of my heart and mind, or the song on my lips, you name it. When we realize our lives are not ours to cling to, but our blessing to give back to our Savior, worship will begin to rise up in our lives.
1. This week give or do something in worship that you have never before. It could be a variety of things or means. The important thing is to make it sincere, sacrificial, and transformative.
2. Write about your experience and be prepared to share that with the group.
Additional Resources/Notes
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