Holy and Acceptable Worship
Is my worship of God holy and acceptable? Pastor Thian Chye exhorts us to obey God's call to keep the Sabbath to and for the Lord, and gather to worship God in spirit and in truth.
We want to thank the Lord for the recent lifting of the restrictions that we have experienced since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Where we are right now—it is a gift from God. Praise the Lord for His Goodness! Remember the restrictions like not being able to dine in? And not even being able to worship in person? Aren’t we glad and thankful to God? I am so thankful and grateful to God that we are able to gather with families and friends, and most of all, to gather as God’s people for corporate worship.
WHAT IS WORSHIP THEN?
We all use the word “worship” frequently in our interaction with one another. The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:1: “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.”. And in the Gospel of John, it says: “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.” (Jn 4:23)
As I reflect on what worship is, three thoughts came to mind. I hope they will encourage you.
Worship is all about Jesus
Worship is all about Jesus, giving glory and honour to God through Christ. The heart of worship is all about Jesus our Lord. Adoring and praising God through songs, prayers, corporate confession of our sins, etc. It’s not about us or how good we feel about the whole service. It should not be affected by the one leading the service, or the singing, or even the sermon. Worship is not something you merely watch, it is something that you do. We have the responsibility when we come together, to be active in worship. We don’t want to be passive. For example, when someone has prayed in our midst, when you agreed to it, we should play our part by saying “Amen”. It is a good reminder that we are together in corporate worship of God. It is how we have offered our worship to God that matters! Is our worship holy and acceptable to God?
Worship is giving our best and all to God
One particular area in which we can give our best to God in worship is being on time, or even early, for service. Do you agree? Before we attempt to answer this question, we need to examine what might cause us to be late for service? Is it something to do with me or my family? Perhaps it’s a struggle getting the little ones ready? Perhaps there is an urgent need to attend to? Perhaps it is habitual carelessness? In my own experience, when I am late for service, whether it is 1 or 10 minutes, my heart will be unsettled and I find myself unable to worship God in a manner that I think would be pleasing to Him. As every part of the service is equally important and essential in leading us to worship God, I urge you beloved, to make every effort to come on time or even early so that you may take the time to prepare yourself for worship, pray for the people serving in the service and for the service itself, that Christ be glorified. For some, it may mean making all effort to come and gather as a church to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Heed the warning of Hebrews 10:25, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” For the elderly, if you need transportation to get to church, do get in touch with the Member Care Team for help. For members among us who have health issues, do allow a small group to come to you and have a home worship, so that our worship of God may not be hindered. The important and hard question we should ask ourselves is this: Do we take our worship of God seriously and reverently? Are we willing to be changed by God today?
Worship calls for obedience and holiness
Worshipping our God, who is the object of worship, calls for obedience and holiness in our daily life as disciples of Christ. We are always hard pressed by the temptations and sins of this world. Even though we are not of this world, we are living in this world. So often we are distracted by the things that this world constantly offers us, we lose focus of our identity in Christ. We come to church on the weekend, but we live our own lives for the rest of the six days. Brothers and sisters, we need one another, regardless of our journeys of faith, to do the “one another-ing” we are commanded to do outside of the weekend gathering. I encourage you to reach out to one another during the week in “doing life together”. Or if you have yet to be in a small community, like a care group, do contact Elder Caleb Yap or Samuel Ho, our Ministry Apprentice.
Beloved brothers and sisters, let’s encourage one another to come and worship our God. While we come to worship God, let's give our all and our best as we prepare to worship Him in spirit and in truth. You have six other days to do what is necessary or required of you but remember to keep the Sabbath (day of rest) to and for the Lord. May our corporate worship be holy and acceptable to God through Christ our Lord! Amen!