Worshipping Our Lord

Worthy of Worship

Our Lord is certainly worthy and deserving of our worship. This is made clear in many places in the bible.  Consider these examples of what the word of God has to say about this.

______________________________

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 95:6-7

______________________________

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:28-29

______________________________

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 4:8-11

What is Worship?

Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians that at some point everyone will acknowledge and bow in worship before Jesus as our Lord and God.  We can choose to do so now or when we face Him in judgment.

________________________________

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:9-11

________________________________

People often think of worship as something that is done on Sundays.  We gather to sing praises, pray to our God, give according to our means, and remember Him when we share the Lord's supper.  These and other things we do together are certainly worship, but that is just a small part of worship.  Worship is intended to be very personal and include our whole lives.  Notice how Paul puts this expectations of disciples of Jesus.

________________________________

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Romans 12:1-2

Worshipping together

Doing good things with good intentions in the name of God is not sufficient  Listen to Jesus' teachings:

_______________________________

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Matthew 7:21-23

_______________________________

It is important to worship and serve Jesus in His way, as He described it.  When determining how we should worship we need to examine the scriptures to understand how the Lord wants us to do it.  Here are just 2 places that are important to consider.

_______________________________

"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 4:23-24

_______________________________

"...addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."

Ephesians 5:19-21

_______________________________

Also consider the instructions provided for the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 to understand better what is and is not the communion Jesus instituted for His church and how we should be partaking in it.