Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Foundations For Worship

ISAIAH 12:5–6 – Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

 

THEME OF THE DAY:  FOUNDATIONS FOR WORSHIP.  The life of the Christian is to be the life of worship.  Jesus even tells us God the Father is seeking such people – Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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 4:20-24).  But a fundamental question is “What is worship?”

 

William Temple served as Archbishop of York (1929-42) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1942-44). He penned a definition of worship which is widely recognized as capturing the fullness of worship in the Christian life.  Ponder it slowly . . .

 

“Both for perplexity and dulled conscience the remedy is the same: sincere and spiritual worship. For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by his holiness, the nourishment of mind with his truth, the purifying of the imagination by his beauty, the opening of the heart to his love, the surrender of the will to his purpose … and all of this gathered up into adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable” – William Temple.

 

The comprehensive nature of worship, as defined by Temple, is founded upon two things about our God provided in today’s scripture.  To worship God sincerely and acceptably, the foundations are in today’s scriptures – the glorious works of God – Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done graciously; and the nearness of the Person of our God – for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

 

When we take time to meditate on the glorious works of God, in particular, the work of salvation, worship results. It flows from a grateful heart as we remember what we once were outside of Christ, and now what we are in Christ because of God’s amazing work of grace.

 

Then, when we think on the Presence of God in our lives – guiding us, protecting us, and fellowshipping with us, the result will be worship.  His glorious works plus awareness of His glorious Person are the pillars or foundations for building a life of humble, sincere, and God-honoring worship that permeates our lives as defined by William Temple.

 

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for Your wondrous works and Your wondrous Person.”

 

QUOTE: “A life of praise is built upon remembering Who God is and What God has done in our lives.”

 

Because of Him,

 

Pastor Jim