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Is doing one’s best to live righteously an acceptable and sufficient form of worship?  God certainly expects us to live obediently.  When we do, He is undoubtedly pleased, but God also commands formal worship and that includes much more.  Obedience in daily living, as important as it is, is not enough.

Many believe we have great latitude in formal worship and that God welcomes all worship, no matter how offered.  We disagree.  We are not free to worship God any way we see fit.  God has specified the things we are to include in formal worship.  These things include Scripture reading, faithful preaching, singing psalms and hymns, administering Sacraments and praying.  [For more on prayer, see Affirmations 14 and 15.]  Although uncommon today, fasting can also be an acceptable part of worship.  Except for fasting, South Middlesex Baptist Church incorporates all of these elements in its worship services as a matter of regular practice.

It is not necessary for all the aforementioned elements of worship to be present for worship to be acceptable to God.  Family worship and prayer meetings, for example, may not include the administration of Sacraments or singing, yet still be pleasing to God.  Depending upon the state of the heart, the secret prayer of a lone individual may fully constitute true worship.  In every case, however, true formal worship involves conscious, deliberate thoughts and actions.

Formally worshipping God is not optional.  God commands us to worship Him and Him alone (Ex. 20:22-26).  Not only is it the duty of Christians to engage in formal worship, but it is also the duty of Christians to worship in a manner acceptable to Him.  This means knowing how to worship.  God has not left this up to our imaginations or to the deceptive suggestions of Satan.  Remember, there are things that God has absolutely forbidden when it comes to worship.  Here are a few Bible references you may wish to ponder when considering how to worship God:

  1. Exodus 20:3-6
  2. Deuteronomy 4:15-19
  3. Psalms 86:8-10
  4. Psalms 89:5-7
  5. Psalms 95:1-6
  6. Psalms 104:33-34
  7. Matthew 4:9-10
  8. Matthew 15:7-9
  9. John 4:23-24
  10. Hebrews 10:25

 

 In addition, we offer this list of affirmations concerning worship.  We hope you will find them helpful:

  1. Worshipping God is the act of honoring Him, giving praise and expressing adoration.
  2. Until Jesus died on the cross, God was worshipped according to ancient Jewish custom.
  3. Ancient Jewish worship involved animal sacrifices, incense, altars, precise rituals and priests dedicated to managing all things related to the worship of God.
  4. God specified the manner of ancient Jewish worship in great detail.
  5. Worship in the old Jewish tradition stimulated all five of the senses.
  6. Ancient Jewish worship involved objects to see, music to hear, incense to smell, the Passover meal to taste and the touch of a priest, who made it a point of laying hands upon each worshipper.
  7. The animal sacrifices of the Jewish way of worship were symbolic, foreshadowing the sacrifice to be made one day by the coming Messiah.
  8. Once Jesus died on the cross, there was no longer any need for foreshadowing.  [Most Jews, however, do not acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah, for whom they are still waiting.]
  9. With Jesus’ death and resurrection, God abolished the old way of worship.
  10. After Christ’s coming, men were free to worship God directly, without the assistance of priests or the need for animal sacrifices.
  11. The freedom to worship God directly was part of the new covenant between God and men.
  12. The new covenant was between God and all mankind.
  13. Under the old covenant, priests acted as intermediaries.
  14. Under the old covenant, priests were charged with making sure worship was acceptable to God.
  15. Under the old covenant, priests were an essential part of worship.
  16. Under the new covenant, each worshipper bears responsibility to make sure his worship is acceptable to God.
  17. For worship to be acceptable to God, one must worship only Him.
  18. One must not worship images, even images of God.
  19. One must worship in spirit, from the innermost regions of the heart (core beliefs).
  20. One must worship with sincerity.
  21. One must worship in truth, with understanding and reverence.
  22. The first four of The Ten Commandments give guidance on how God wants Christians to worship Him (see Affirmations 18).
  23. God is a spirit being and omnipresent.
  24. Worship is not limited to any specific location, such as a church building, or any particular time, such as a Sunday morning.
  25. Worship is not restricted to any specific time or location, but Christians are called upon to gather together each Sabbath day or more frequently for worship.
  26. Churches may be called houses of God, but God does not dwell in church buildings.
  27. God is present during the gathering of professing Christians in a church, but that does not make the church building his dwelling place.
  28. A church building is only a building.
  29. There is nothing holy about a church building.
  30. Although there is nothing holy about a church building, there is nothing wrong with making a church building beautiful.
  31. The design of a church and its appointments can facilitate a proper attitude among those gathered there to worship.
  32. Great cathedrals honor God and should not be criticized for their grandeur.
  33. Great cathedrals inspire awe of God and help keep the holiness of God foremost in the thoughts of worshipers.
  34. There is symbolism in the architecture of a properly designed church building.
  35. Contemporary Protestants often fail to recognize the value of beauty in church architecture and sometimes unfairly criticize magnificent cathedrals as a misallocation of resources.
  36. Worship in the sense of honoring God is a full time task.
  37. Honoring God is not a limited, church-only activity, something done each Sunday and forgotten about during the rest of the week.
  38. Honoring God is not something a real Christian puts on and takes off like a hat.
  39. Honoring God, for a genuine Christian, is a way of life.
  40. Leading a righteous life, insofar as a man is able, is an informal form of worship and pleasing to God, but it is not a substitute for formal worship.
  41. God takes worship seriously.
  42. Worship is not to be treated casually.
  43. One must approach God with a proper attitude, which involves attention, humility and sincerity.
  44. It is foolish to offend God by deliberately worshipping with an inappropriate attitude, inappropriate music, inappropriate attire or inappropriate behavior.
  45. Talking or playing with a cell phone in church instead of paying attention renders worship unacceptable to God.
  46. God is present wherever two or more Christians gather to worship.
  47. The principal reasons for a church service are to meet with and worship God.  Other reasons, such as fellowship with like-minded Christians and learning more about God, are valid reasons, but those other reasons are secondary to the main ones, which are to meet with and worship God.
  48. Christians should go to church to give worship.  Christians should not go to church only to “get something out of it.”
  49. If getting and not giving is the sole motivation for attendance, the regular churchgoer may be going to church for the wrong reasons and could be wasting his time.
  50. One both gives and receives by attending church.
  51. One gives worship and honor to God by attending church.
  52. One receives assurance of salvation, God’s peace, greater understanding of God’s Word and the comfort of fellowship with like-minded Christians by attending church.
  53. One gets closer to God in a gathering at which He is present by attending church.
  54. Churches that seek to build membership by offering shallow entertainment instead of serious worship have ceased to be real churches.
  55. God seeks those who will worship Him acceptably, in spirit and in truth.
  56. Giving worship and honor to God is our principal reason for existence.
  57. Worship should be based upon the Word of God.  The Word should be read, sung, preached and clearly explained.
  58. It is good for parents and their children to worship together frequently as a family.
  59. Christian parents should take their children with them to church each Sunday.
  60. Children should be taught to behave appropriately in the presence of God and to pay attention in church.
  61. Parents have a special responsibility to pass the knowledge of God on to their children.
  62. If children see that their parents take worship seriously, they are more likely to take worship seriously themselves.
  63. If parents fail to teach their children proper worship and fail to take them to church regularly, they should not be surprised if their children neglect worship later in life.