Hello everyone!

I wanted to know what you all thought about what worship is. It's sort of strange that I'm asking this question, since I was raised Lutheran from the time I was still in my mommy's tummy. However, I haven't read much on the topic. What do you think Christian worship is?

The dictionary says worship is showing awe or adoration to a divine being. But that's not very detailed and I wanted to know your thoughts on it.

In the Lutheran denomination, a worship service has confession, hymns of devotion and praise, three readings from God's Word, a sermon, prayers, communion, and a blessing at the end. These seem like the types of ACTIVITIES that would be conducive to "showing awe or adoration to a divine being," but what IS worship itself?

As I think about this I remember back to the time when I attended a Kingdom Hall meeting in Mexico. Now that I think about it, what they did does not seem like worship to me. They started with a hymn and a very brief prayer, and then spent 45 minutes proof-texting the Bible and another 45 minutes in regurgitating a magazine. I would call that a "discourse" or "lecture," not "worship." Maybe that's why they refer to their Sunday gatherings as "meetings" and not worship. (Maybe also to differentiate themselves from the mainstream Christian churches who they consider to be houses of Satan.)

Peace be with all of you!!
Jay

Good day Jay,
I don't think I've ever talked with you before so first let me say welcome!! And, by the way, GREAT question. I was thinking about it as I was reading what you wrote and at first I was thinking along the same lines as what you've already talked about, you know, going through the motions, but what is "Worship"? For me, it happens inside me, not because I pray, but what I feel inside when I pray, not because I sing to to Lord, but how I feel when I sing to the Lord, I don't think you can see it on the out side, but I know God knows when I worship, and for me anyway, thats what counts.

¡Qué onda Bruce!
I was thinking more about worship and I think at its core it's an understanding between us and God: we remember that God is the boss and we are not. We can SAY it easily enough, and just about every Christian song refers to God as "Lord" or "King" -- but when we worship in Spirit and truth we KNOW in the deepest part of our being that God is the sovereign, everlasting, and righteous keeper of our lives. That soul-knowledge produces that feeling you described when you pray and worship...the indescribable feeling that we as Christians experience when we are in true communion with the living God.
The thing that got me started thinking about worship was I was reading in Judges chapter 6-8 where it has the story of Gideon and how he led Israel to victory against the Midianites. He had heard one of the Israelite soldiers recount a dream in which the tiny Israelite force led by Gideon (numbering only 300) was going to defeat the Midianite army, which was many times larger. His response is found in Judges 7:15 -- "When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, 'Get up, for the Lord has given the army of Midian into your hand.'"
Gideon's response to the supernatural victory God was about to give him struck me. He stopped what he was doing and acknowledged God's rule over the situation. That makes me wish that during the very low points during my first year of teaching I would have taken more time to worship God like Gideon did.
As I was thinking about this I remember a quote that one of my friends said about worship once...I'll end with it for tonight: "Worship is giving God what He deserves."
¡Que así sea! (May it be so!)
Jay

Ok, I don't know what "¡Qué onda" means, but you seem to be a nice guy so I'm guessing it's not a bad thing


Agreed, no question, that really sums it up doesn't it?

Qué onda literally means "What's the wave?" -- it's an informal Mexican expression that means "What's up."

I LOVE Spanish and since I suddenly have a lot of time on my hands I would be interested in making some of the material on this website available in Spanish. Mexico and other Latin American countries are rapidly growing in numbers of Jehovah's Witnesses. If Cal is interested I could start working on it right away.

Peace be with all of you!
Jay

I know most Christians refer to the singing at church as worship, but I believe worship is any and everything we do to show our love and devotion to our God. That means when we sing we are worshipping, when we pray we are worshipping, when we read the Word and speak to others about the Lord we are worshipping, even when we do the ordinary daily tasks of working, keeping house, loving our spouse, so long as we do all things for the glory of God we are worshipping Him.



Here in Miami the Cubans say Que bola', Colombians say Que hubo? and Puertoricans say Que Paso' Pa! I guess just saying Como Estas got too boring!

I love Jay's idea to translate to Spanish the information at Towerwatch. If that's something you ever consider Cal, you can count me in.

God bless,

Mrs. R

Yes, Mrs. R, my thoughts exactly. I found this devotional in my mailbox today and it sums this subject up nicely. I copied it and thought I'd put it on here; It's the Purpose Driven Life devotional, it's quite long but worth the read. Enjoy!

Playing Second Fiddle
by Jon Walker



“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1 NIV)

Next time you bite into a hamburger, I want you to think about how your trip to the fast-food-burger-barn can become a “spiritual act of worship.”


Yes, really.


The Apostle Paul calls us to be living sacrifices, alive in Christ – moment-by-moment being conformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ. Our spiritual act of worship includes gratefully acknowledging that our heavenly Father is still on the throne of grace and that he has the right to guide us, lead us, and prompt us about any particular thing we do or any specific decision we make throughout the day, no matter how insignificant it may seem.


Eugene Peterson, in The Message, paraphrases Paul’s words this way: “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering ….” (Romans 12:1a MSG)



In other words, your whole life becomes an act of constant worship when you live, work, and breathe as unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:23)


Paul’s language in Romans 12 refers to the work required by priests to prepare the temple for worship; he’s suggesting that the mundane tasks of the temple are acts of worship equal to the seemingly more spiritual moments of community worship. Time warp into the present and think of it like this: God can be worshiped as well when you vacuum the carpet in the worship center as when you stand in the same place during a worship service.


Paul continues in his letter to outline specific and practical behaviors that can be offered to God as acts of worship as we, living sacrifices, move from self-centeredness to other-centeredness. By giving up our own choices and preferences in deference to others, we please and worship God.


Now, you may be thinking, What does this have to do with ordering a burger and fries at the fast-food-burger-barn?


Let’s step into that answer with a confession about myself: You could say I’m in recovery for impatience, a sin I took my sweet time to confess before God. (Meaning God showed patience at my impatience!) When you get honest about it, impatience is a form of pride. It says: “I require immediate attention (because I’m too childish to wait).” “My time is more important than the time of others.” “I know better than anyone else what must be done.” “My need is urgent; everyone else, get in the slow line.”


Yet Paul says that when we sacrifice our own choices and preferences in deference to others – when we honor others over ourselves – we please and worship God. (Romans 12:1, 10) Eugene Peterson suggests Paul is saying, “Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.”(Romans 12:10 MSG)


As I read this passage, I felt the Holy Spirit’s nudging – you know how that goes – “Hey, this passage is about you and your impatience; now what are you going to do about it?” My immediate answer was ... to head off to the fast-food-burger-barn for some “comfort food.”


It was lunch time, and as I was walking into the burger barn, I started jockeying for position, trying to get through the door before any slow looking people got in front of me. As I grabbed for the door, the words “Practice playing second fiddle” lit up my French fry-deprived mind like neon sign energized by the Holy Spirit. And in that moment, God spoke into my thoughts: “What does it matter in eternity if I get my Big Burger Deluxe 35 seconds later than someone else?” I stopped and opened the door so the people behind me could go through in front of me.


Here’s my point: Allowing others to go before me when I was in such a rush went against my natural inclinations, but God was telling me to sacrifice my natural tendencies, to lay them on the altar before him so the Holy Spirit could energize my actions. As Ian Thomas teaches, God replaces our instincts with the Holy Spirit.


By practicing at playing second fiddle, this mundane moment became an act of worship: “God, I have failed so often to honor others over myself, but I want to start now. I acknowledge you are my God, and I am submitted to you. You are a great and gracious God, and you will take care of me, so it does not matter when I get to the front of the line, or if I even miss this one meal.”


This thought of worshiping God in all we do, think, and say is a difficult truth to handle, and I am way at the back of the line in understanding it and living it out. In fact, it seems quite impossible.


I can’t, but God can.


So what?


· Honor God in all you do – “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering ….” (Romans 12:1a MSG)


· Go with faith, not fear – As God guides you to places in your life where you’re still not living in sacrifice (that is, being a living sacrifice), ask him to show you what specific fear is keeping you from the faith of your living your everyday, ordinary life before God as an offering.


· I can’t or I won’t – When God confronts you with a natural instinct – a portion of your life where you tend to be self-centered instead of other-centered – ask him to show you the difference between “I can’t change ….” and “I won’t change ….”


· Pick one behavior – Read through Romans 12:6-17 and pick one behavior that you need to offer before God as part of your living sacrifice. Chose an area where you are weak but willing to submit to God’s great and gracious strength.


© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved

Good point in your comments, Mrs. R and Sahm...that worship should not ever be confined to Sunday morning "worship activities" at church. By that I do not mean to demean Sunday morning...on the contrary, once I came to Christ at age 16, the liturgy we used every week at the Lutheran Church began speaking more to me and it definitely helps me to focus my mind on praising and appreciating God.

Your comments remind me of when I was living in Mexico and I had the grandiose dream of being a missionary there. But, at least for the time being, God has clearly called me to the teaching profession. And I now realize that being a teacher IS being a missionary. There are a lot of hurting kids in the schools who need a Christian influence, even if I am legally prohibited from outright preaching. Teaching for me has become part of my daily worship of God.

I've had other odd jobs to earn money while I was in college, and the same thing applied...when I worked as a groundskeeper at a cemetery, I was a missionary at the cemetery. When I worked at a restaurant, I was a missionary at the restaurant. God moved in an especially mighty way there...I was given opportunities to witness almost every day. If the Lord is in my life, He will be glorified in any setting no matter how ordinary it may be.

Que el Señor Jesús sea alabado y adorado por los siglos de los siglos. (May the Lord Jesus be praised and worshiped forever and ever.)

Jay