CHRISTIAN WORSHIP

In this verse Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman about worshipping God. Let’s look at worship.

I. First, what is worship?

The Greek word translated “worship” in the New Testament is proskuneō, which literally means “kiss towards” or even “kiss with the hand towards.” Worship is “kissing toward God.” This comes out in the Old Testament too.

In I Kings chapter 19, Elijah felt alone and without hope. The king and queen of Israel wanted to kill him. Elijah thought there was no one else who believed in the God of the Bible. But God encouraged him. God said,

“Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him”
(I Kings 19:18; p. 414).

There were still seven thousand people in Israel who had not worshipped the false God Baal – in the Hebrew, they had not kissed Baal. So, worship may be defined as “kissing toward.”

Another way to speak of worship is “falling down” or “bowing down” before God. The C. S. Lewis Institute said this:

“Worship means respectful devotion—loving, honoring, and obeying someone who deserves our highest regard.
Worshipping God means acknowledging and celebrating His power and perfection in gratitude.
Worship includes understanding and awe of God’s Holiness; we remember how great He is and behave reverently in His Presence. Worship is how we tell God that we love Him.”

Many people think worship is only singing. It includes singing, when we praise God for what He has done, for His goodness, and especially for His sacrifice in Jesus.

But it also includes obedience, spiritual service, and gratitude. In church, worship includes not only singing but also Scripture reading and prayer. The Lord’s Supper is a form of worship. Even the service we do to God in the church and in our lives is a form of worship (the Greek word for service is leiturgia, from where we get our word “liturgy”).

Do you serve (worship!) God or do you serve (worship!) someone else? You can tell from someone’s life who they serve.

II. Second, who should you worship?

You should worship God the Father. In the wilderness Jesus said to Satan, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (John 4:10). (Notice that worship and service are in the same sentence.)

You can also worship Jesus, because He is God the Son. In the Gospel of John, Jesus healed a man born blind. Jesus accepted worship from that man. The Bible says:

“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him” (John 9:35-38).

We can worship the Holy Spirit, since He also is God. But the Holy Spirit does not “speak of himself” (John 16:13). Instead, the Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin and points people to Jesus. So we do not focus on the Holy Spirit.

It is a sin to worship anything or anyone that is not God. The name of this sin is idolatry.

In Revelation 19, the Apostle John fell down at the feet of an angel. The Bible says, “I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God” (Revelation 19:10).

Again, in Revelation 22, it says, “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God” (Revelation 22:8-9).

People have worshipped animals, and even a person. The Book of Romans tells us they “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). They “worshipped and served the creature (created thing) more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). They made statues of animals and men to represent their false gods, or to worship their own leader.

In Daniel, the wicked king Nebuchadnezzar built a statue, either of himself or of his false god Marduk. Anyone who did not worship that statue was cast into a burning fiery furnace.

In the Tribulation, the Antichrist will go into the Temple in Jerusalem and claim that he is God. He will demand worship. A giant statue of him will be set up.

In North Korea, the dictator Kim Jong Un calls himself “Lord and God.” There are statues of him, and of his father and grandfather.

In Ancient Rome, the Emperor Domitian signed his name “Lord and God.”

In Germany there were posters of Hitler everywhere in the cities, on every street. In Russia there were posters and statues of Stalin. The same thing happened with Mao in China.

You can practice idolatry without worshipping a person or an animal. I have met people whose whole life purpose was to make money, and they worked hard to do it. That is their idol. That is what they worship. Some women let men have sex with them in order to become a movie star. Some people make the whole purpose of their life to become president. That is their idol. It is what they worship and serve. Whatever a person serves, whatever is the main purpose of his life, that is his god, that is his idol. And idolatry is a terrible sin.

III. Third, how should you worship?

The best known form of worship is singing. You are reaching out to God, praising Him for what He is, what He has done, what Christ has done, and for other things. Now I ask, What is the key to good singing?

It is the same as the key to prayer. True prayer is prayer to God. You address God, you speak to Him, you face toward Him and ask Him for what you want. Just mumbling and repeating words is not true prayer. True prayer is speaking to another person (God), asking Him.

It’s the same way in singing. True worship in singing is not mumbling some words or thinking about something else. True singing is singing to God. You address Him, you face towards Him, you reach out to Him. You are singing to Him.

In true worship, the words mean something, just like they do in prayer. That’s why I like the old hymns. They have content and meaning. When you sing them, think about what they mean. I don’t like the modern praise choruses with little or no meaning, focusing mostly on yourself and your feelings: “Ooh, ooh, ooh, you, you, you.”

You can worship before your prayer time. I often begin my prayers by thanking God for what He has done recently, and worshipping Him for what He is.

You can worship after your prayer time. After praying, sometimes I am overwhelmed with the greatness and goodness of God, and I praise Him for it.

You can worship at other times. Once I was watching the singing of a traditional hymn in a church, without rock music. It was such a blessing that I sang along with the computer – something I don’t often do, but I did it this time. In fact, I have a confession to make. I am not a Pentecostal, but this one time I lifted my hands in praise to God!

Christian worship is not blanking your mind. This is Hindu meditation, not Christian worship. Christian worship is directed towards God, where you sing to Him or serve Him.

One more thing. Worship is not entertainment. Many modern churches have a time of what they call worship, led by a so-called worship team. But it is really entertainment. There is a rock band with loud music. Sometimes they have women dancing on the stage (yes!). The rock band (the “worship team”) sings something. The congregation doesn’t sing much. They may put the words up on a screen but only a few sing along with them. Most of them sit there for the show, like a rock concert.

That is not worship. That is entertainment. Let me warn you. If a church puts more emphasis on the “worship” than on the sermon (which is just a motivational talk with a Bible verse in there), it is not a good church. If a church gives more time to the entertainment worship than it gives to the sermon (I have seen this on video), that is not a good church.

The main point of church is not entertainment, so you feel better. The main point of church is GOD. You worship Him. You hear a serious sermon from the Bible with real content in it. Lost people are awakened and turn to Christ. Saved people are built up, made stronger, in their faith and relationship with God.

In our church, we have lunch and dinner after the services. On special occasions, we have very nice and tasty food. We had this last Sunday for Mother’s Day. But the food is NOT the main point of church. The main point of church is GOD. And the main point of church is not entertainment. The main point of church is GOD. Honor Him!

If you are a Christian, your whole life should be one of worship and service to God. Remember, I said that service to God is a form of worship – you are honoring Him. The Bible says,

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). Here the Greek word translated “service” is latreia, meaning “service of worship.” When you sacrifice your life through what you do with your body, that is worship just as much as singing. Service is a form of worship!

The Book of Colossians says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). That’s worship. And the very next verse says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17). That too is worship.

The Book of Hebrews says, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate [to give] forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:15-16).

Thanksgiving, service to God, doing good to other people and even your giving – these are worship just as your singing is.

The Bible says, “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 96:9). You approach God with awe, with respect, with reverence. Praise Him. Honor Him. You will recognize the contrast between the holiness and perfection of God and the ugliness and sin that we have, even after we trust Jesus. Worship Him anyway. You can go into the holiest place by the Blood of Jesus. You have access to the Father. So go and worship Him.

The greatest thing God did for us was to send Jesus, His holy Son, to die for us sinners. Praise God for that! Thank Him for Jesus. And trust Jesus yourself. Some of you need to do that. Amen.