Today we begin a new message series which I’ve entitled “Worship Can Change Your Life.” I suspect that if I went out on the street and asked people the question, “How could you change your life for the better?”, an answer of worship would be pretty low on the list. People would say things like, “Exercise can change your life” or “Getting more education can change your life” or “Working harder can change your life.” However you wouldn’t hear anything about worship.
For many people, worship is a take it or leave it proposition. Most people equate worship with going to church and for more and more people going to church and worshipping is something to do if there is nothing better to do. So today I’m going to address the question “Why Worship?” Is worship really irrelevant to our lives? Do we really even know what worship is? Many people think of worship as singing songs in church. Singing worship songs can be worship. NIV Psalm 100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Singing can be worship if it is joyful singing from glad hearts.
Here, we are beginning to get a glimpse that worship is more than just performing some religious activities. Worship is not some outward ritual, worship must come from the heart. Jesus said in NIV John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus describes two aspects of genuine worship of God. First of all, worship must be in spirit, since God is spirit. Worship must not be simply outward physical actions, whatever they may be. Worship must engage the spirit and the emotions. Secondly, worship must be in truth. Worship must engage the mind and it must be in keeping with God’s revealed truth in the Bible.
As we’ll see in a few minutes, everyone in the world worships, but it is not all genuine worship and it is not all directed toward the same object. Not everyone that worships, worships God. Not everyone who worships God, worships in spirit and in truth. So let’s look more closely at the question, “Why Worship?”
To hear more about this topic, listen to my February 19, 2006 message entitled Why Worship?