Experiencing Worship (Part 1)

​A couple of years ago I was at the Passion conference where 6000 young adults were gathered together, praising God. The stated aim of the conference was to encourage people to worship Christ. It was almost overwhelming: 6000 students sang: “Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to God, forever”. 

God judges the heart, so we’ll leave it to God to judge their sincerity. But it made me wonder: why can’t Sunday services be like that? Most people would blame the service, but that would be dishonest. If we can only experience worship with great music and big crowds the problem might lie elsewhere. The problem might be us. 

What exactly is worship? Worship in the proper sense is the acknowledgement of God’s worth in all of our lives. But I want to focus on what happens on a Sunday. Worship happens when believers in the Lord Jesus Christ gather together as the church of Christ, praying, singing, reading and explaining the Word of Christ, obediently conforming to the image of Christ.

Col. 3:16 states that singing is part of it, but not just singing. Everything in the service should be an act of worship, even the sermon. Worship is the earthly expression of our heavenly vocation: glorifying God and enjoying Him for ever.

What needs to happen for us to experience worship in that way? First, we must have a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Deut. 6:4-5 made it clear that only those who love God can truly worship him (see also Ps. 95:6-7). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6), or truly worship Him.

Do you know the God you claim to worship? Have you put your faith in Him and Him alone? That is where true worship starts.

Because of Christ,
Pastor Pieter