Monday June 8th – Worship

DAILY BYTE

So why do you go to church? People have lots of different reasons why they DON’T go to church such as church being too full of hypocrites or the sermons being too long and boring. But I actually find it a far more interesting question to find out why people DO got to church. Why do we worship? Why do YOU worship?

Without a doubt, worship is the most important thing we DO as a church. Throughout the Bible there is this constant thread running through an incredible diversity. The people in the Bible all differ so much; they come from different times and cultures, they differ in the way that they think and who they were, but there is one common thread linking them all – they worshipped.

That same common thread runs through all the world: we have so many different churches that speak different languages and have different theological emphases but we all have one thing in common – we worship. Some like to run about with flags during worship, others crave well-crafted liturgies and soaring cathedrals but we ALL worship.

That’s what makes us a church after all, as opposed to being a social agency or a club. We worship! Worship is that which orientates our lives around God. God becomes our reference point, our life’s compass, and our past, present and future. Worship is reminding ourselves again and again that God alone is God and worthy to be worshipped.

William Temple once said: ‘To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God; to feed the mind upon the truth of God; to purge the imagination by the beauty of God; to open the heart to the love of God and to devote the will to the purpose of God.’

Reflect upon this quote and upon your own worship life. How much does worship form a part of your daily life? Do you actively worship as part of a church? As we will be learning this week, worship is absolutely vital to our spiritual growth and so worshipping in the community of a church is incredibly important. Worship is the most important thing that the church does, and therefore it stands to reason that worship is also the most important thing every individual Christian does as well.

PRAY AS YOU GO

O Lord of earth, sea and sky. You are our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You alone are our God and worthy to be worshipped. Help us to worship and love you with all of our heart, soul, and mind. In Jesus name. Amen.

FOCUS READING
Psalm 63. 1
O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is not water.