WORSHIP

WORSHIP

We were made for worship.
·      God created us to find our satisfaction in Him, as we enter into the joy of His goodness and greatness
(Psalm 9:1-2; Psalm 37:4; Romans 5:11; Revelation 4:9-11).      

Worship is a relational response to the reality of who God is.
·      The essence of worship is encountering God, comprehending truth about His nature(holy, just, gracious, sovereign, etc.), and responding in faith to the fullness of His love for us inChrist (John 4:23-24).  The essential response of worship is the intentional surrender of our whole selves to God, making every act of obedience and service, in every moment of life, an expression of worship to God (Romans12:1-2).
‍·      A heart filled with the truth and love of God will naturally seek ways to express adoration, praise, and thanks.  This outward and relational expression of worship includes singing praises to God, generously giving of our resources to God’s work, and eagerly growing in a relationship with God through the practice of spiritual habits.  Worship services help form and reinforce theseChrist-centered habits.
·       The motivation for worship flows from our gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ and from our need for what God is doing in us through theSpirit (Psalm 16:2&11; Psalm 27:4; Psalm 32:11; Psalm 37:4; Psalm 100:2;Ephesians 4:13; Phil 4:4).  Because worship is essential to our Christian life, our goal in corporate worship is to meaningfully connect as many people to God as possible.   

Implications for Worship
‍·      It’s about God.  The one, true God(Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is the sole object of our worship.  He alone is worthy of all of our praise(Matthew 6:33; Psalm 16:8; Psalm 42:1).
·      It’s about the truth of God’s Word.  God’s nature and acts are revealed in theBible, the inspired Word of God.  For this reason, the Bible plays a central role in our worship (John 17:17; 1 Timothy4:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-18).             
·      It’s about faith.  Genuine, heartfelt worship not only expresses faith, it also helps those who don’t yet know God get a glimpse of the truth and grace ofJesus (1 Corinthians 14:23-25).  Because we are committed to reaching our neighbors with the gospel and passing God’s truth on to the next generations, we will choose forms of worship which accurately reflect God’s Word and communicate in our contemporary culture.     
·      It’s about our whole lives, all week long.  Worship is not confined to a certain place, time, or form.  Worship is an everyday lifestyle, characterized by dependence on the life-giving and life-changing Spirit (Romans 12:1-2; Hebrews 13:15-16; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17;Ephesians 5:18-20).  We take worship into the week with us, discovering ways to express praise, thanks, generosity, service, and obedience to God in the home and at work (Colossians 3:23-24; 1Peter 3:15). 

‍Worship is a way of life.