Worship—our dream

This is a dream of our church.
   1. It happens once a week, every week, and there is never an exception.
   2. This day, we wake up differently, because the first thought in our hearts and minds, is that something
       beautiful is going to happen today.
   3. No matter how difficult the week was, there’s always hope because this day has a way of rejuvenating us.
   4. We know that our heavy hearts would be lifted a bit higher.
   5. We know that our sadness would find a true reason to find hope again.
   6. We know that our lonely hearts would find a true friend to comfort and love us.
   7. We know that we might begin this day filled with the worries and anxieties of the world, but by the end of
       this day, our hearts will be ruled with peace.
   8. We know something good is about to happen to us, today.

          • Our dream is to expect and find our worship so incredibly good that it will change us—eternally, weekly 
            and daily.

Worship—what is it?

Worship means “worth-ship;” it is paying homage or respect.
Calvin—believed that the goal of gathered worship was to bring people face to face with God. His aim was not 
that people would simply learn information about God, but that they would truly hear God speak and know 
His presence in the service.

Don Carson—“Worship is ascribing all honor and worth to…God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so. We 
are therefore only truly worshipping when we are serving God with our entire beings, including our hearts, 
which must be ‘affected’ by God’s glory. The fullest definition of worship, then, is something like ‘obedient 
action motivated by the beauty of who God is in himself.’”

John Piper—“Worship is treasuring the preciousness of our God above all else.”

Lev 10:3—“Among those who approach Me I will show Myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.”
Heb 12:28-29—“Worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’”
1Pet 1:8—“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and even though you do not see Him now, you believe 
in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

In order to worship our God well, we need to ask the right questions.
1. There are wrong questions to ask in the worship of our God.
a) What did I get out of the worship?
b) How is the worship going to minister to me?
We need to learn, the essence of worship is not about “me,” but “Him.”

2. What are the right questions to ask in the worship of our God?
a) What does God think of the way we worship Him?
b) How can I worship Him with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength for His glory?

A summary of the flow of the worship, which we call, the ascent of worship.
1. Imagine a worship where you will enter it with a full sense of your worthlessness, but as the worship 
progresses, once again you taste His forgiveness, you taste His sanctifying power, you taste His communion 
with you, you taste His delight, and you leave that worship with a renewed, refreshed and committed heart to 
live for His glory.

2. In the ascent of worship, we begin at the bottom, seeing our worthlessness, but as the Lord invite us into His 
presence, we would see He has something far better in-store.

Zech 3:3-5—“Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those 
who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken 
away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.’ Then I said, ‘Put a clean turban on his head.’ So they 
put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.”

Where does the power of worship come from?
• We know that the worship of our God must be in the power of the Holy Spirit, with all of our hearts, 
according to God’s truthful word.

Jn 16:13-14—“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His 
own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me  
by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you.”

Worship—some practical tips

Here a few practical tips to help us to worship our God well.
1. When to arrive for worship—always arrive at least 15-30 minutes before the worship, so that you can pray for
    yourself, the worship, your fellow worshippers, and the pastor, who will bring God’s word to His people.
2. What attitude to have for worship—we must humbly come expecting to meet with our God during the
    worship, and to honor Him above my mere feelings (Deut 28:47).
3. What to think as you are entering into worship—“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our
    faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of
    the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
4. Where to sit during worship—not where I am comfortable, but where I can best participate and see God, in His
    word and praise.
5. How to offer your offering—please pray for it at home, and when you do arrive at church, please spend time to
    pray first for the worship, as well as give God praise and thanksgiving for all good things, thus offer your
    offering thankfully, humbly and out of love for Him.
6. How to sing during worship—with a heart, voice and attitude that best exemplifies God’s goodness, and not
    my mood.
7. How to pray—whether you are praying together with His people, or are led in prayer by someone else, please
    join the prayer wholeheartedly, so that our God, who hears our prayers, will be honored and glorified in our
    prayers.
8. How to hear the message—we must pray that we will be humble and attentive to hear what God has to say,
    and to obey what He commands, even when I differ with His thoughts (Is 55:8-9; Rom 3:4).
9. Where to look during worship—if possible, have your eyes fixed on the preacher, to “let none of his words fall
    to the ground” (1Sam 3:19).
10. How to leave after your worship—there must be a commitment to obey God’s word, as well as to be His
    fragrance to others, for we have seen Him face to face.

Your soul’s nourishment

God's prescription for your soul's nourishment is His word. Unless we eat His word, our souls are malnourished. Do you understand why we are never satisfied? Money, pleasure, success and other things bring a temporary joy, but they soon become our master, don't they? They begin to rule and dominate our lives. They are hard masters, constantly demanding more from us. The sooner God’s people understand and believe that all other masters are harsh, and there is actually only one good Master, who is better to us than we are to ourselves, the sooner our lives will find pure contentment and joy.

Let me repeat myself, the good things of this world cannot satisfy us completely. Nothing or no one can fully satisfy us, except One. Because we were created by Him and for Him, no one or nothing can fully satisfy our souls than to meet and rest in our God. And His best prescription in meeting and resting on Him is when our knowledge of Him is real and growing. As you well know, God taught us in Romans 10:17, our faith is meant to grow when we hear His word. Of course, hearing in this instance would not mean like hearing news on the radio as you are driving. Hearing here means that we are hungering for His word, anticipating that He will speak, and when hearing His word spoken, we believe and do our utmost to obey what He has taught us.

I believe one of the best ways for God's people to hear God's word is by reading His word. When reading His word you want to understand the big picture, but also see incredible nuggets of truth that are so delicious that you want to dig even deeper. Thus, to accomplish both, I am of the opinion that you need to read God's word twofold; first, read a large chunk in one seating (I recommend four chapters a day, which will help you read the Bible in one year), and secondly, choose a book to study in depth, which means you will read a small portion, like a portion of a chapter, and study. There, ask, "How is God revealing Himself?" "How am I to live in light of God's revelation?" Did you know, the more you search for Him, the more He will delight to reveal Himself to His people? Moreover, the more you find Him, the more you will fall in love with this great and amazing God that is more than you can ever ask for.

When we begin to truly see Him, we will taste what true satisfaction and contentment is. Don’t worry about cutting away your worldly pleasures that keep stumbling you. When He is near and dear to us, what the world has to offer is so small and so insignificant, that they pale in comparison. Our job as His people is see Him, meet Him, taste Him, then our desire will be for Him alone. So, open up God’s word at home. Read four chapters a day. Also, study a portion of one chapter through a book, do your QT there, and see what glimpses of your God you catch.

It is my prayer that your souls will be richly nourished as you read and digest His word!