Why Do We Worship?

One of the many books I'm reading recently is entitled, Christian Worship. In the second paragraph of the first page of his book he gives different possibilities of why some people worship God. He resolves to say that there is no "one-size-fits-all answer". Rather, people tend to:

1) worship to meet someone else's expectations

2) worship out of pure habit

3) worship in spite of--or because of--the fact that they are locked in some sort of struggle with God

4) worship because they are awestruck by a God who deserves a life of praise...and so much more.

I find it interesting that there are four ways listed. To me, these four ways could be broken up into seasons; seasons of life maybe?  

Granted, these ways have not been fully extrapolated. There are many more ways and reasons why we worship God. Spiritual disciplines are just one way to honor God, yet spiritual disciplines like an intricately-spun spider web filled with silk strings of countless ways to show love and honor and praise to God. 

One of my friends and I were talking about what God is doing in each other's lives recently. When she asked me, I said that I felt Him pushing me to be more mindful of the words I say and how I say them. The meaning counts. After the conversation, Jeremiah 29:13 kept going through my mind... "you will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." 

Not half-hearted. Whole-hearted. I wonder if whole-hearted worship is the season of life I desire to always serve for God. 

Why do we worship? 

If our answer to this question results in something epitomizing half-heartedness, we may not be worshiping God with our whole heart. Prayer, solitude, service, fellowship, study, and many more spiritual disciplines are ways we can learn to give God all the glory in the lives He has so lovingly given us to live for Him. Doing these things together with a friends/accountability partner is a beautiful way to engage in fellowship. "For where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am with them." --Matthew 18:20

As believers in Christ Jesus, God needs to be our foundation; not just in one area, but in everything we do. I'm learning more and more that as long as we seek Him, and give Him the glory for what He accomplishes through us, the more we honor Him as the creation He made us to be for Him.

Creative Worship Stations: some examples

In my last post, I brought up the phrase "creative worship stations" (a.k.a. "worship stations"). I have found some imagery online that will give a mental picture of what a projected station looks like.

This website provides a somewhat bare-bones example of what some creative worship stations appear:


http://gatheringinlight.com/2009/02/24/stations-of-the-lords-prayer-a-worship-resource/
*pictures are provided at this website

Creative worship stations are heavily used within the Emergent Church/Worship movement, but such stations are embraced across other denominations.

If you are interested in learning more about the Emergent Church, books by Dan Kimball such as Emerging Worship or Emerging Church.

Thoughts on Lent 2011

I went into staff meeting today with some sacred space ideas for the five Sundays of Lent (March 13th, 20th, 27th, April 3rd, & April 10th). I came out of the meeting with a more refreshed, complex, and more concrete foundation on the meaning behind this season.

We're trying something different for Lent 2011. During the five Sundays listed above (not included Palm Sunday and Easter), we'll be having creative worship stations that emphasize themes such as thanksgiving, confession, yielding, and intercession. When a Sunday is the first Sunday of the a month during Lent, we'll partake in Communion in place of the stations.

The four of us sat around the Senior Pastor's office brainstorming about specific themes we could emphasize during Lent. We took a field trip (minor as it was) to the sanctuary for approximate measurements on what materials we might need and where they would be placed during the service. We finalized our field trip by discussing possible scriptures that could explanatorily epitomize each station.

I will be posting more on what we're doing for Lent.

Feel free to share what you have learned recently about this season!