12/20/09 worship set

This is What Christmas Means to Me
Glorious Christmas Medley
Come Make a Place (choir special)

12/13/09 worship set

Child of Light (choir special)
Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy)
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
Hallelujah, Light Has Come (ensemble special)

worship in all directions: inward

Last week we learned that worship is made up of three directions: inward, outward and upward.  We’ll discuss the inward direction this week.

The inward direction of our worship refers to who I am when no one is looking.  It’s not really difficult to lift up praises to God when we’re at church or around other Christians.  In those environments we’re encouraged, even expected, to do so.  But what about when we’re in the privacy of our own homes, browsing the Internet or glancing through a magazine on the newsstands?  Are we being careful to please God with our private thoughts, with the things we see, with the places we visit?

Worshipping inwardly by being good is perhaps the litmus test for all of worship.  If our hearts’ desire is to please God, we can no longer enjoy our former sins.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  This refers to a change inside of us.  According to Psalm 51:16-17, God wants a broken and contrite heart more than our outward sacrifices.  He knows that if our hearts are purely devoted to him, that can’t help but affect our outward behavior.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”  A wellspring is the source from which water flows.  Likewise our hearts are the source of all our thoughts, motives and actions.  The importance of this inward direction of worship cannot be overemphasized.  As we read in 2 Chronicles 16:9, God is searching the earth not to support those who sing the best or shout the loudest.  Rather, he seeks for those “whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  As worshippers and worship leaders, that must be our foremost goal.  Without that commitment, all other expressions of worship are actually sickening to God (see Amos 5:21-23 and Revelation 3:16).

[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 17-18.]

So, because you are lukewarm -- neither hot or cold --

I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

--Revelation 3:16

worship in all directions...

At some point in your life, you may have been as I was... Anytime you heard the word worship, you assumed that word mostly referred to singing, clapping and talking to God.  In the last 2 newsletters, we have already seen that worship is actually much more than that: True biblical worship encompasses our entire lives.  In fact, in his book The Ultimate Priority, John MacArthur, Jr. explains that for our worship to be “whole-life” it must include three aspects or directions.  Most certainly, we worship God when we focus directly on him, pointing our worship upward (as we normally think of worship).  However, we should also worship God inwardly.  The third direction we should worship him is outwardly, to those around us.

You might think of three-directional worship like this:

Imagine you say to your boss, “You are the greatest boss to ever walk the face of the earth.  Furthermore, this is the best job I’ve ever had or ever will have.  In fact, I practically worship at your feet for just letting me do this job every day.” (Well, that’s laying it on pretty thick, but just stick with me...)  Ok, having said a mouthful upward toward your boss, how should you behave when no one’s looking?  If you really meant what you said, you’ll talk well of your boss and your job when no one’s watching you.  Why?  Because inwardly you really do love your boss and you want to please him or her.

Now let’s take this idea a step further.  Let’s say you’re in the service industry, and your job involves assisting other people.  Every time you cheerfully seek to help someone, every time you go out of your way to meet someone’s needs, you are outwardly honoring your employer and saying by your actions how much you appreciate working for him or her.  In much the same way, our God is honored -- or worshipped -- not only by what we say to him, but also by how much we love him on the inside and by how we respond to those he died for.

In the coming newsletters, we’ll take a closer look at the inward, outward and upward directions of worship.

In the meantime, consider Hebrews 4:12 which says that the Word of God “exposes our innermost thoughts and desires”.  Who are you really?  Are any of your attitudes or actions offensive to another Christian?  Do you cheerfully give your money as you feel led by God?

[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 17-19.]

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

--Psalm 51:16-17