Good morning, brothers and sisters, may the grace and peace of our Lord be with you!<\/p>\n
The act of worship can purify your soul, bring you closer to God, improve your relationships with others, change your attitude, transform your mind, comfort your sadness, increase your joy, renew your strength, and give you a more positive and optimistic outlook on life.\u00a0 The worship of God is of utmost importance in a church ministry.\u00a0 I constantly tell my coworkers in the Lord:\u00a0 If a church cannot do anything right, but does worship right, then there is still hope.\u00a0 But all hope is lost if the church cannot even do worship right.\u00a0 It is the same for Christians.\u00a0 If a Christian cannot do anything right, but knows to worship the Lord, then there is still hope.\u00a0 But if he does not even know to worship God, then there is no hope.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The worship of God is a church\u2019s number one priority, and a believer\u2019s first and foremost spiritual discipline.\u00a0 The best thing you can do for yourself and for the church is to worship God in spirit and in truth during each Sunday\u2019s worship service.\u00a0\u00a0Koinonia<\/em>\u00a0is the actual manifestation of your relationship with God and your relationship with others.\u00a0 This expression of\u00a0koinonia<\/em>\u00a0is at its peak during worship.\u00a0 When you are closest to God, you will also be closest to your brothers and sisters.\u00a0 No one can observe the Lord\u2019s supper while despising his brother at the same time, and no one can worship the Lord when there is animosity towards other members of the body.\u00a0 This is impossible to do in the spirit.\u00a0 If anyone does this, it can only be done in the flesh, and not in the spirit.\u00a0 Just like all other relationships in Christ, the worship of God results in both a vertical union with God and a horizontal union with the other parts of the body.\u00a0 The path to meeting God cannot be walked alone.\u00a0 We must have our brothers and sisters as our traveling companions.\u00a0 The only exception is if you end up at a place where there are no other Christians; in that scenario, you have no choice but to worship God by yourself.\u00a0 Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason that you would worship God alone at home.\u00a0 You must stand in the congregation of the godly ones:<\/p>\n Praise\u00a0the\u00a0Lord! Sing to the\u00a0Lord\u00a0a\u00a0new song,\u00a0and\u00a0His praise\u00a0in the congregation of the godly ones<\/u>. (Ps 149:1) Worshipping God is an act of the spirit.\u00a0 Jesus said, \u201cthe true worshipers will worship the Father\u00a0in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.\u201d (Jn 4:23)\u00a0 Worshipping God is also a collective activity.\u00a0\u00a0We<\/strong>\u00a0gather together to worship God:\u00a0 \u201cO come, let us\u00a0sing for joy to the\u00a0Lord, let us shout joyfully to\u00a0the rock of our salvation.\u00a0 Let us\u00a0come before His presence\u00a0with\u00a0thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to Him\u00a0with\u00a0psalms.\u201d (Ps 95:1-2)<\/p>\n In the book of Psalms, there are fifteen psalms called \u201cSongs of Ascents\u201d (Ps 120-134).\u00a0 These are songs\u00a0which the Israelites sang while ascending the mountain together on their pilgrimage to the temple to worship God.\u00a0 In these songs, we can see that first, they are glad when they are going to the house of the Lord and second, they are joyful because they are with their brothers and companions.<\/p>\n (A Song of Ascents, of David) (A Song of Ascents, of David) This is a group of people ascending towards the temple to worship God.\u00a0 The temple was a foreshadowing of what was to come and has since been destroyed; Jesus is the actual realization of the temple (Jn 2:21), He is eternal and remains forever.\u00a0 Coming to the temple is coming to Christ, and through Christ to worship God.\u00a0 The Father loves us with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3), and His love is eternally unchanging.\u00a0 Our love, on the other hand, does change.\u00a0 If we want to continually love God and love Him more every day, then we must practice spiritual disciplines.\u00a0 God knows man\u2019s weakness, so He commanded the Israelites to \u201cremember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy\u201d (Ex 20:8).\u00a0 When Christians observe the Lord\u2019s day, and keep the first day of the week as holy unto the Lord, it is like a regular maintenance of our spiritual lives.\u00a0 Worship is \u201cto ascend\u201d, and when we ascend, we sing praises to God.\u00a0 These songs join our hearts together: \u201cWe\u2019re marching to Zion in sweet accord, beautiful, beautiful Zion\u201d, so that it is as though we are one body bowing at the throne of God.<\/p>\n When we worship God, we acknowledge our position before Him.\u00a0 We stand in our positions as \u201ccreated beings\u201d and \u201cthose who have been redeemed\u201d to give glory to God.\u00a0 In worship, there is only one seat, and that is the throne of God; His people surround His throne from all sides.\u00a0 The twenty-four elders were originally seated, but left their seats when they worshipped the Lord:<\/p>\n the\u00a0twenty-four elders will\u00a0fall down before Him who\u00a0sits on the throne, and will worship\u00a0Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their\u00a0crowns before the throne, saying\u2026 (Rev 4:10)<\/em><\/p>\n The throne is the center of worship.\u00a0 We must cast our crowns before the throne, and fall down before Him to worship Him.\u00a0 We must draw near to Him with a humble heart.\u00a0 We are not singing praises to the person next to us, we are singing praises to God.\u00a0 We are all worshippers, we are not an audience.\u00a0 The choir is not singing for us but singing for God.\u00a0 We can only say \u201cAmen\u201d as worshippers, offering up the song to God together, but we cannot cheer and applaud as if we were an audience.\u00a0 From beginning to end, there is only One who can receive our worship, and He is the God who sits upon the throne.<\/p>\n Yet\u00a0You are holy,\u00a0O You who\u00a0are enthroned upon\u00a0the praises of Israel<\/u>. (Ps 22:3) If the throne of God is firmly rooted in the church, then the church will stand firm.\u00a0 If the throne of God is firmly rooted in your heart, then you will stand firm.\u00a0 When the throne of God is firmly anchored,\u00a0koinonia\u00a0<\/em>will happen naturally.\u00a0 If a church does not worship God, it is impossible that the brothers and sisters there will get along peacefully and joyfully.\u00a0 We must first give glory to God in the highest, and God will give peace to those on whom His favor rests (Lk 2:14).<\/p>\n What marvelous grace given to us, that we can worship God!\u00a0 For we were once sinners, unclean and unworthy, unable to draw near to a holy God.\u00a0 But by the blood of Jesus, we now have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place (Heb 10:19), to draw near to the throne of grace (Heb 4:16).\u00a0 Without Jesus\u2019 salvation, there would not be any children of God; without the Lamb that was slain, there would not be any worshippers.\u00a0 In some worship services, the songs have no substance.\u00a0 Some are just songs that make you feel good, while others make you transcend to some \u201cspiritual\u201d plane.\u00a0 It seems as if you are worshipping God, but in reality, everything is centered on yourself.\u00a0 Maybe there are some praise songs, but these focus only on the power of the Holy Spirit, without any mention of the salvation and redemption that comes from Christ.\u00a0 Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus must be at the center of our worship.\u00a0 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>And they sang a\u00a0new song, saying, \u201cWorthy are You to take the\u00a0book and to break its seals; for You were\u00a0slain, and\u00a0purchased for God with Your blood\u00a0men\u00a0from\u00a0every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them\u00a0to be\u00a0a\u00a0kingdom and\u00a0priests to our God; and they will\u00a0reign upon the earth.\u201d\u00a0 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels\u00a0around the throne and the\u00a0living creatures and the\u00a0elders; and the number of them was\u00a0myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,\u00a0saying with a loud voice, \u201cWorthy is the\u00a0Lamb that was\u00a0slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.\u201d\u00a0 (Rev 5:9-12)<\/em><\/p>\n Praise God for His salvation, so that we can come before the throne of grace together with our brothers and sisters, to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:16).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good morning, brothers and sisters, may the grace and peace of our Lord be with you! 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\n<\/em>Sing praise to the\u00a0Lord, you\u00a0His godly ones<\/u><\/em>, and\u00a0give thanks to His holy\u00a0<\/sup>name. (Ps 30:4)<\/em><\/p>\nA Song of Ascents<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>I was glad<\/u><\/em>\u00a0when they said to me,\u00a0 \u201cLet us\u00a0go to the house of the\u00a0Lord.<\/u>\u201d
\n\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Our feet are standing within your\u00a0gates, O Jerusalem \u2026
\n<\/em>May peace be within your\u00a0walls, and prosperity within your\u00a0palaces.
\nFor the sake of my\u00a0brothers and my friends<\/u>, I will now say, \u201cMay peace be within you.\u201d
\nFor the sake of the house of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0our God, I will\u00a0seek your good.\u00a0 (Ps 122:1-2, 7-9)<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>Behold, how good and how pleasant it is, for\u00a0brothers to dwell together in unity<\/u>! (Ps 133:1)<\/em><\/p>\nSurrounding the Throne of God<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>And\u00a0every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, \u201cTo Him who\u00a0sits on the throne, and to the\u00a0Lamb<\/u>,\u00a0be\u00a0blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.\u201d\u00a0 And the\u00a0four living creatures kept saying, \u201cAmen.\u201d And the\u00a0elders\u00a0fell down and worshiped. (Rev 5:13-14)<\/em><\/p>\nWorthy is the Lamb that was Slain<\/strong><\/h3>\n