"Learning To Worship"

“Learning to Worship God”

June 10, 2007

For most of the past year we have been studying and learning about why we are here. It took us quite a while and a lot of work – but we discovered our purpose. After much thought and prayer and brainstorming we came up with our purpose statement. It is: “The purpose of the Mount Shasta Abundant life Church of the Nazarene is to bring Christ to the community.”

It seems so easy and simple now – but it took a lot of work to make it easy and simple. Most of you know that “Christ” in our purpose statement is an acrostic. The “C” stands for “Church Purpose. The “H” stands for “Help others come to Christ. “R” stands for “Rejoice in worship”. The “I” stands for Inspire and encourage in fellowship. “S” stands for “Serve and equip”. “T” stands for “Teach Christlikeness”. That is our purpose.

I have to tell you, the more I talk about our purpose; the more I think about it; the more I pray to accomplish it; the more we do it, the more I like it. I think it may be the most significant thing we have done as a church. It is so important to know why we are here and what we want to accomplish.

This morning I want to highlight the second part of our purpose – which is to “Rejoice in Worship”. We need to know how to worship God. A.W. Tozer said,

“Worship is the missing jewel of the church.” Someone once said, “We have become a generation of people who worship our work, work at our play and play at our worship.” Certainly the worship of Almighty God, Creator of the universe is worthy of more of an effort than that.

The Bible says,

“Sing to the Lord, O Earth, Declare each day that he is the one who saves! Show his glory to the nations! Tell everyone about his miracles. For the Lord is great and should be highly praised; He is to be held in awe above all gods. The other so-called gods are demons, But the Lord made the heavens. Majesty and honor march before him, Strength and gladness walk beside him. O people of all nations of the earth, Ascribe great strength and glory to his name! Yes, ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name! Bring an offering and come before him; Worship the Lord when clothed with holiness! Tremble before him, all the earth! The world stands unmoved. Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; Let all the nations say, ’It is the Lord who reigns.’ Let the vast seas roar, Let the countryside and everything in it rejoice! Let the trees in the woods sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love and his kindness go on forever.” 1 Chron 16:23-34 (Living)

"Fear God," he shouted, "and extol his greatness. For the time has come when he will sit as Judge. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all its sources." Rev 14:7 (Living)

“For the Lord had made a contract with them--that they were never to worship or make sacrifices to any heathen gods. They were to worship only the Lord who had brought them out of the land of Egypt with such tremendous miracles and power.” 2 Kings 17:35 (Living)

“And I saw another angel flying through the heavens, carrying the everlasting Good News to preach to those on earth--to every nation, tribe, language, and people. "Fear God," he shouted, "and extol his greatness. For the time has come when he will sit as Judge. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all its sources." Rev 14:6-7 (Living)

The Bible is clear that we are to worship God. One of our purposes on earth is to worship Him. But how do we do that? What does it mean to worship God? Someone defined it like this:

"Worship is honor and adoration directed to God. The New Testament uses several words for worship. Two of them particularly are noteworthy. The first is proskuneo, a commonly used term that literally means "to kiss toward," "to kiss the hand," or "to bow down." It is the word for worship used to signify humble adoration. The second word is latreuo, which suggests rendering honor, or paying homage.”

We may be emotionally uplifted by worship, and thank God for that. But that is a side benefit, and not the main purpose of worship. The main purpose of worship is to express love for God the Father; God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

How do we do that? Let’s look at some examples of worship.