What Is Worship?

January 31, 2008 | Filed Under Family, News, Publius Contributor, Religion, Society/Culture, Thomas Brewton |

-By Thomas E. Brewton

True worship is in every individual’s heart and soul.

Sunday’s sermon at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) was preached by Pastor Josh Feay.

His message was that worship is realizing Who God is and giving thanks for what He does for us.

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)

Worship is more than the physical trappings of attending church services – music and a beautiful sanctuary.

However much joy we may have in these things, they don’t evoke in us the spontaneous awe that overcame a doubting Thomas, suddenly realizing that he stood in the presence of God:

Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27-28)

None of this is to say that coming together in church services, participating thereby in the body of Christ that is His kingdom on earth, is not important. We all know that mutual support, through church services, Bible study groups, and the countless community service and support groups in our churches, are essential aids to keep us on the right path in our walk with God.

But the danger is that we may come to worship these things and lose sight of God, the Creator of the cosmos, the source of life itself, the spiritual substance of the the universe we inhabit.

Worshipping God in reverence, awe, and thankfulness should be a part of our daily lives, wherever we are.

Speaking to the Samaritan woman he encountered at a well in Samaria, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph:

Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:21-24)

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Thomas E. Brewton is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc. The New Media Alliance is a non-profit (501c3) national coalition of writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets.

His weblog is THE VIEW FROM 1776 http://www.thomasbrewton.com/

Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Thomas E. Brewton

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