Worship Together (Life In Connection part 2 of 3)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1–2)

Created to declare His glory, we were made to worship—and we become like what we worship.

A People Who Worship Together

The Bible reveals that all of creation was made to bring glory to God. As Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the earth shows forth his handiwork." Not only all of creation, but humanity was created as the centerpiece of God's creation to bring glory to Him.

But the reality is that the world is not doing this. The seven billion people on the face of the earth are not worshiping the way they should. There truly is a worship disorder. Here at Cross Connection, we believe we are to be a people who worship together, bringing praise, honor, and glory to God as one voice.

This is part of our series called Life in Connection, where we articulate our mission, vision, and values. Our vision says: because of the Cross of Christ we have been connected to God and one another in life-giving and satisfying communion. As a family of faith we grow together into His likeness by worship and the application of His Word, and as a community of faith we go to labor together for the joy and justice of all peoples. At the core of our vision is a love for God, one another, and the world.

Last week we considered what it means to live a life in connection with God and one another—that which was broken by sin and the Fall is brought back to life in Christ. Jesus said in John 10, "I have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly." But that abundant life is lived in community and communion with God. This week we focus on the value of worship together, because worship is foundational to experiencing that abundant life.

God Is Worthy of Worship

Why promote a vision for worship? To answer that, consider the words of perhaps the most worshipful individual in the Bible, King David. The longest book of the Bible is dedicated to songs of worship, and most of those psalms were written by David.

In 2 Samuel 22:1 we read, "Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul." David has come to a point of security and salvation from all his enemies. He says:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. (2 Samuel 22:2–4)

God is worthy of worship. David recognized this three thousand years ago. He had seen God move mountains in his life, protect him miraculously, and conquer enemies before him in powerful ways. As he sees God move in power, he says, "You are worthy of my praise."

The first time the word worship appears in the Bible is in Genesis 22, when God instructs Abraham to journey to the land of Moriah—modern-day Jerusalem—to worship with his son Isaac. The Hebrew word, shachah, means to bow down, to bend the knee, to prostrate yourself flat on your face before someone. That symbolism is a recognition that the one you bow before is greater than you, that being in His presence is a reverential, fearful honor because He is so much higher than you.

The English word worship comes from an Old English word meaning to acknowledge the worth or value of someone—"worth-ship." We adore, praise, glory in, and revere only that which we deem worthy. So when David says, "You are worthy to be praised," he is saying there is no one greater, more valuable, or more worthy than God. When we worship and praise God, we acknowledge that He is worthy not just of songs, but of our complete and total devotion.

Created as Instruments of Worship

The very first thing we learn about God in the Bible is that He is Creator. Romans 1:20 tells us that God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by what is made. His creation declares that He is, and that He is great. When we look at the detail and beauty of creation, it reveals that God is powerful, creative, and artistic.

Even though we live in a fallen world subjected to the curse, we still see the beauty and detail of creation. In our day we can see the awesome beauty of the universe through things like the Hubble Space Telescope—grand pictures of nebulae that make us say, "That is phenomenal." When scientists look down into the molecular, cellular, and atomic levels, we see the detail in the way God has engineered everything. We have to agree with David in Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the earth shows forth his handiwork."

Just as the frescoes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling declare the artistic mastery of Michelangelo, the existence and beauty of creation declares that God is, and how awesome and wonderful He is. God created for His glory, so that the earth would cry forth of His greatness.

And we ourselves were created as instruments of worship. In Isaiah 43:7 God says, "Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." Then in verse 21, "This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise." We are instruments meant to declare the praises of God.

While Isaiah was speaking to Israel, 1 Peter 2:9 says of us that we are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, God's own special people," that we should "declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light." God fashioned us to be image-bearers, to reflect His greatness back to Him and to all of creation.

The Soloist in Creation's Song

It may seem odd, but Scripture backs it up: humanity is the centerpiece of the masterpiece of creation. God placed us at the center as image-bearers to declare His praise. If all creation is singing a song of praise—remember when Jesus entered Jerusalem and the religious leaders told Him to silence the crowd, He said, "If they kept silent, the very rocks would cry out"—then humanity is like the soloist in that song.

Why? Because God created us with the capacity to think, speak, write, build, and create, so that we could return glory to Him. You see this nowhere else in creation. Apes and gorillas do not combine ingredients to make a fine meal or design great architecture. Humanity was created in the image and likeness of God to create in a similar way, so that we can show forth His glory.

And it isn't only in grand achievements. Even in the mundane and repetitive tasks of life we can and should worship God. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God." Our entire lives are meant to be worship to God—not just what we do on a Sunday morning.

Sin Devastated Worship

But the sad reality is that sin devastated and corrupted worship. The Fall in Genesis 3 brought devastating corruption to the glory-song of creation. Humanity, through sin, separated himself from the symphony.

It's not that we no longer worship—we were formed as instruments of worship, and by nature we will worship something. If we are not worshiping Him, we will always default to worshiping someone or something else. So now we worship, but not in the right way. It's as if all of creation is playing a song of praise to God, and man in the middle is singing another tune in a different key, at a different tempo, twice as loud as everything else. There is dissonance, discord in that worship.

All Sin Is a Worship Disorder

This leads to a key point: all sin is ultimately a worship disorder. Paul expresses this in Romans 1:

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man... and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:20–25)

Notice the word changed—they exchanged. They said, "There is the glorious God who should be worshiped, but no, we'll worship something below Him, even something below us." When we refuse to worship rightly, we will worship anything else. Misdirected worship is idolatry.

God created each of us with unique talents, abilities, and gifts. Look around a room of two hundred people—no two are identical. He fashioned you in your mother's womb with those gifts, and all of them are ultimately to be used for His worship and glory. But the ruling religion of modern America is self-worship, and it is religiously taught in our educational institutions in the form of self-esteem. We are instructing people to worship themselves, and it is idolatry, because only God is worthy of worship and devotion.

I was pondering this with musically talented celebrities. How many began singing praise in the church but have since moved on to self-glorification and self-gratification with the gifts God gave them? The list includes Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Avril Lavigne, Snoop Dogg, Whitney Houston, John Legend, Katy Perry, Jessica Simpson, Usher, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Underwood, Diana Ross, Elvis Presley, and many others—all of whom got their start in church. It's easy to pick on them, but every human being who is not using their gifts ultimately for God's glory has a worship disorder. Even after we come to Christ, we still struggle with these disorders, and we need to learn how to rightly bring praise, honor, and glory to the only One worthy of it.

Worship Is Transformational

Why does this matter so much? Because worship is transformational. Psalm 115 says:

The idols... are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear... Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them. (Psalm 115:4–8)

The god you worship is the god you will ultimately become. In Romans 1, Paul said that professing to be wise, they became fools, and God turned them over to a debased mind—because they worshiped things that were foolish and vain. If you worship foolishness and vanity, you will become foolish and vain.

Consider the documentary Ben Stein made years ago. In the final scene he sits with Richard Dawkins, the most antagonistic atheist of our day, and presses him about where life came from. Dawkins admits the intricacy of life couldn't have simply appeared, and offers: "Maybe aliens seeded the earth." That's the best he's got. Professing to be wise, they became fools.

The 19th-century American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The gods we worship write their names on our faces. A man will worship something. That which dominates will determine his life and character. Therefore it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming."

This is true for bad, but also for good. That's why Paul, writing to Christians living in a hedonistic, pagan, pluralistic culture much like ours, pleads in Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren"—I am begging you—"by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies"—this instrument of worship—"a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." As our vision statement says, we grow together into His likeness by worship. As we worship Him, we are being changed more and more into His image. God uses proper worship in our lives to make us more like Him.

We Fulfill Our Purpose and Destiny in Worship

This brings us to two truths: we fulfill our purpose when we worship together, and we experience our destiny when we worship together. Revelation 5 gives us John's awesome vision of a scene still future in heaven—multitudes of angels and tens of thousands of saints from every tribe, tongue, and nation gathered before the throne of God.

A strong angel cries out, "Who is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals?" No one is found worthy, and John begins to weep. Then one of the elders says, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll." You anticipate a great lion stepping forth—but instead John sees "a Lamb as though it had been slain." Jesus, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, still bears the scars of His slaying, yet now comes as a conquering King. And then:

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation." (Revelation 5:8–9)

Our purpose, for which we were created as instruments of worship, and our ultimate destiny is the worship of the one true God. When we gather as a body to worship together, we are tasting our destiny and fulfilling our purpose, joining the chorus of creation in praising Him. And though all of life is worship and we should worship daily wherever we are, gathering together is essential—which is why Hebrews says, "Do not neglect the assembling together."

How We Worship Together

When we gather, we worship in three ways: in song, in sacrificial giving, and in the study of the Scriptures. Hebrews 13 shows this is biblical:

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Hebrews 13:15–16)

In the Old Testament, worshipers brought tangible sacrifices—a lamb, a goat, a bull, a grain offering—and God was pleased by the incense that rose. Those have been done away with in the New Covenant, but we still have New Testament sacrifices: the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips; and the sacrifice of doing good and sharing. The word for sharing is the Greek koinonia—fellowship, communion, community, but also participation, contribution, and collection. When we give sacrificially of ourselves, it is worship, and God is well pleased.

We also worship in the study of God's Word. In his book Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin writes, "The more accurately we know God through His word, the more genuine our worship will be... there is no authentic worship of God without a right knowledge of Him." When we study Scripture together, our understanding of who He is grows, which increases our worship. A service like this is not necessarily the end of worship—it ignites our worship, so that we go from here continuing to worship Him.

Music: An On-Ramp, Not the Destination

Finally, music is important as an on-ramp to worship, and not the destination. Music in itself is not worship, but God—not man—created music as an avenue to worship, and I believe it is the fastest on-ramp to worship.

Just as a freeway on-ramp is designed to bring you up to speed so you can merge smoothly, music is meant to be a fast on-ramp to worship. God made music to affect us at a soul and emotional level. Have you ever watched a movie without music? The heightened sense that music adds is remarkable. In the Batman film with the Joker, composer Hans Zimmer created an unnerving sound—made with a saw, slowed down and layered with effects—that signals the Joker is coming, and it's terrifying. Music should affect us emotionally.

When the music engages your emotions, and your mind is engaged by lyrics directed Godward, the outcome can be worship. The heart is engaged emotionally; the mind is engaged intellectually toward God; and there is worship. You don't even need music—you can have a worshipful experience standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon if your mind is engaged toward God.

But music is an on-ramp, not the destination, and we must be careful. There is no such thing as emotionless worship, just as there is no emotionless love. Yet in Christian culture today, emotion has too often become the focal point of the worship service. A person says, "I worshiped," only if they felt heightened emotion and happiness. The enemy is cunning; he has taken something deeply spiritual and turned it toward idolatry. If heightened emotion is the point, then you have become the focus, not God. You say, "That wasn't very good—I didn't cry, I didn't feel." Then worship was all about you and not about God. So music is an on-ramp to worship, not the destination—because God alone is worthy of our worship.

Closing Prayer

As we prepare to worship the Lord, let's close our eyes and pray. If you today have never bent the knee in worship of Jesus Christ, never acknowledged Him as your Lord and put your trust in Him, you are not experiencing the fullness of what you were created for. The Bible says in Philippians 2 that one day every knee will bow—but it is far better to choose to do so now. I want to give you the opportunity today to do that, if you never have.