WHY WORSHIP?

So far we have detected two critical components to being a disciple.  The first is a comprehension of repentance and second, how important it is to trust in the providence of God along our spiritual journey.

The third component to our discipleship journey is worship.  The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 122:1 "When they said, "Let us go to the house of God," my heart leaped with joy. 


Christians can find all kinds of excuses not to go to church, but a disciple seizes the opportunity. Why?

The first reason is that we all need structure in our lives.  Sunday worship should give us a framework for leaving the humdrum and distractions of life so that we can focus on what is really important. Unless we set aside that time our relationship with God can become fragmented and meaningless.

The second reason we need to worship God is that it fulfills a command for us to bring praise to Him.  Augustine wrote, " A Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot".  Even though we may not feel like worshiping God it is something we need to do to keep our relationship with Him a priority.   We need to learn more about acting our way into better feelings. One writer puts it this way, "Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in a act of worship". 

The third reason we need to worship is that we will hear a word from God.  We can certainly do that alone, but there is something special about large corporate worship when the whole family gathers together.  We can control what we take in from God when we are alone but when we are together there are multiple mechanisms that kick in.  There is a spontaneity that flows from corporate worship.  When we come to corporate worship there should be an expectation to hear from God.

So as a pastor/ leader let these truths resonate with those who you lead.  Statistics tell us that there are still more people worshipping on Sunday than all the people who go to football games, hunting, fishing, taking walks and playing golf combined.