When we gather on Sunday morning it should not be only to meet one another, but we should gather to meet God, and our very hearts should be raised to give Him honor. But not at the Sunday morning hour only—our worship to God should be a lifestyle. It should be something that we give ourselves to daily. God is not a denominational God! He is not Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic, or Methodist. He's God! We worship Him for Who He is. Worship points directly to the heart of God. John 4:24 makes no distinction as to denomination, nationality, ethnicity, or culture. It merely states that "God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Neither does this passage make any reference to music. Great music does not guarantee worship. Worship is a private attitude sometimes expressed in public. We use music sometimes as a vehicle toward worship, or our worship may take on the form of music or singing, but music and worship are not synonymous. In my over 25 years of gospel musicianship, one of the things I have learned is that those who worship apart from their instruments exude more power in their ministries because they make worship a priority. They make the worship of God priority not only in their ministry of music, but in their daily lives. My question to all musicians everywhere is if God is not running your life, how can he run your ministry? There is a deeper dimension that God wants to take us to. It is a deeper dimension that many of us have yet to experience. God grants us daily such a level of extravagant grace, that it should propel all of us to offer Him extravagant worship! The most we can offer God is sincere, heartfelt worship that flows from a heart filled with gratitude for His awesome power in our lives.
Living the worship lifestyle is a daily pursuit. Worship is not mere action—it is an encounter. We must never measure the worship experience based on outward manifestations. In other words, singing more loudly, or lifting our hands higher than the person next to us does not qualify as worship. Attitude is what qualifies the action as worship. Real worship is not about what we are doing, but it is about what God is doing. This is the core difference between traditional and prophetic worship. When we receive a revelation from God, it gives us a reason to worship Him. The prophet Isaiah knew this all too well. Isaiah tells us in Chapter 6 of his book that in the same year King Uzziah died, he saw the Lord "high and lifted up". In verse 3 of that chapter we are told that the Seraphim cry out "Holy, Holy, Holy. . .the whole earth is filled with His glory". This revelation not only led Isaiah to worship, but it also threw him into a state of self-examination, according to verse 5:
5. Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
Experiencing Worship, The Study
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
One user said..."Your 5 week study course has made a tremendous impact on my life in the study of worship... I would like to express my thanks for a well written study course that leads into a higher realm of praise and worship."
Experiencing Worship, The Study