worship in all directions: upward

Our final aspect of directional worship is upward worship.  It’s what most folks think of when they hear the word worship.  In Hebrews 13:15, the upward direction involves  two specific actions: praise & thanksgiving: “Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name”.  Praise is primarily acknowledging God for who he is.  Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is giving thanks to God for what he has done for us.    In a future newsletter, we will dedicate ourselves to a better understanding of praise, but today’s focus will be on the priority of being thankful.

We can be sure nothing ever happens to us that our loving God doesn’t permit.  After all, like Moses, he protects us “in the cleft of the rock” as he covers us with his mighty hand (Exodus 33:22).  His rod of protection and direction should bring us great comfort at all times (Psalm 23:4).  But let’s be honest -- we know we should be humbly grateful.  Yet there are times when we are tempted to humbly hateful!

A story is told of a young Christian couple who went into the hospital to have a baby and, upon testing due to complications, found out their baby had Down Syndrome.  As word spread throughout the hospital, doctors & nurses listened to hear anger at God for how their circumstances had changed.  What they heard was not anger but trust & thankfulness in their Lord.  They said no matter what, they knew God would work the situation out for their good and his glory.

Apparently that new mom & dad understood that God would be with them in the midst of unexpected or difficult circumstances.  Before any of us can give thanks and praise to the Father and really mean it, we, too, must accept God’s sovereignty in our hearts.

I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Notice that we are not told to give thanks for our circumstances, but rather in them.  We are not expected to be thankful for problems and hardships that come our way.

However, if we clearly understand that God reigns and that he is using our circumstances to make us more like him and to bring him greater glory, then we can be thankful to him constantly, even while we’re going through the tough times.

[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 20-21.]

1/10/2010 worship set

Let It Rise
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
I Fix My Eyes on You

Hear Us From Heaven (praise team special during offering)
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Tommy w/Sherry accompanying)

worship in all directions: outward

Think back -- way back to December 9...that was the last time we were together for rehearsal!  In that newsletter, we discussed the meaning of worshipping in an inward direction.  

Now let’s consider the outward direction of worship.  There are actually 4 distinct outward ways we can bring glory to our Lord, and they all have to do with our relationships with other people.

First of all, God is worshipped when we share our faith with someone or in some way play a part in a person’s coming to know Christ.  What a privilege!  Once we’ve helped someone become eternally transformed, we’ll be hooked on sharing our faith for life.

Second, we worship God when we help others.  These days, old-fashioned neighborly help can be hard to find.  And if we’re really honest,  most of us are OK with that trend.  We often lack the motivation to lend a hand.  We build privacy fences so we don’t see our neighbors, and then we fill up our schedules so we don’t have time to notice if they need our help.  But as followers of Jesus, we can’t afford not to be the good Samaritans he has called us to be.  Jesus clearly taught us, in Matthew 10:42, to give “a cup of cold water” in his name.

Philippians 4:16 touches on the giving hearts of the people there, “...for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.”  Paul goes on in verse 18 to describe the Philippians’ gifts as “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God”.  Giving financial aid to those in need is a third wonderful way to express our love for God.  However, it’s imperative that we be cheerful when we give, not grudging, because that represents the real motives of our hearts (2 Corinthians 9:7).  Once again, God considers our willing and compassionate hearts as the source of true worship.

The fourth way we worship God outwardly is by being sensitive to our weaker brothers and sisters.  The entirety of Romans 14 focuses on strong and weak Christians.  According to verse 13, we are to “live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall”.  In verse 18 we discover God’s view of this: “If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God”.

We’ll take a look at the final direction of worship, upward, next week.

[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 18-19.]

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