Faith Community Church Worship

Worship:

Worship Service every Sunday. Contact the church office if you are interested in being a part of the Worship Team.

Join us for worship each Sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6 p.m.

What Is Worship

We, like churches all over the world, have weekly worship “services” on Sundays. For those who have grown up in church culture, questions like, “What is worship?” and “Who are the services for?” are rarely, if ever, asked. It is just a given that church people know what worship is. The more I interact with the Body of Christ, the more I wonder if we really get what worship is about. Perhaps it is time to ask and answer some of those questions for the sake of those who might be new to the church but, maybe, just as much for those who have grown up in the church as well.

I think that it is safe to say that a majority of people would identify worship as that 20 – 30 minute time period at the beginning of a “church service” where the congregation sings together. Certainly, the recent rise in popularity of Christian worship music has probably aided in furthering this perception. Music has become the focus of what we consider to be “worship”.

If we look for some answers in scripture, we find the first mention of the word “worship” is in Genesis 22 where Abraham is tested by God and is asked to sacrifice his own son. It is worth noting that nothing is said in this passage about singing, dancing, clapping, praising, shouting and all those action we commonly associate with worship. The main focus of this worship time was obedience and sacrifice. With this in mind, consider Romans 12:1 that says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”

In light of scripture, we start to see that worship has so much more to do with obedience, sacrifice and living lives that are pleasing to God than it has to do with music. Worship, by definition, is extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem. It means to ascribe worth, honor, respect and praise to something or someone. This definition requires so much more of us than 20 minutes of singing on Sundays. Each activity, each conversation, each moment of every day becomes an opportunity for us to worship. We show God respect and we lift His name up and glorify Him when we live lives of obedience and sacrifice – doing the things that God is calling us to and serving Him by serving others sacrificially.

As we live in this way, God responds by pouring out His blessing in many different ways. This should never be our motivation for worship but it is usually a by-product of our worship because God delights in His children and in our obedience. This is evident in Abraham’s story as God not only provides the lamb for the sacrifice (instead of Isaac) but he promises an entire nation will descend from Abraham and that “all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Gen. 22:18) As we experience the blessing of God and witness His moving in our daily lives, this should create a surging desire within the church to share what God is doing in our lives and to celebrate God’s goodness. As a result, our corporate Sunday worship experience should be one that is God focused, overflowing with praise and adoration for who He is and what He has done.

As we approach a time of corporate worship our primary question should be, “how can I properly honor You today, God?” What happens in our corporate times of worship should simply be an overflow of what is taking place in our daily, personal worship. There is no room for statements like, “I just didn’t get anything out of the worship today;” or “that music just didn’t do it for me.” These attitudes reflect “I-centered worship” as opposed to “God-centered worship”.

I challenge you to try this on Sunday morning. As you drive to church (whatever church you’re going to) pray this simple prayer to God…

“God, I choose to worship You today because You are worthy. I will not worship

because the music, the message, or the fellowship compels me, but because Your greatness compels me. By Your Spirit, may I worship You in a way that brings glory and honor to You and You alone. Help me to be obedient to the things that You are calling me to and to be open to whatever sacrifice You want me to bring to You today.”

I pray that we as the body of believers at Faith Community Church will never stop growing in our love for, devotion to and worship of the One, True and Living God!

Come…now is the time to worship!

Blessings,

Ken Bayard

Faith Community Church