Worship isn't just singing on Sundays!

Dearly Beloved, 
 
Worship isn’t just singing on Sundays. As you’ve noticed, we do a lot of that though! Why is that and what is the role of the Holy Spirit in our congregational worship? 
 
This past Sunday we continued our series, Ghost Stories, and gave focus to the element of musical worship in our corporate gatherings and the work of the Spirit in worship. I wanted to revisit what we covered in the message because, well, we’re gonna keep gathering and singing together so it’s good to have reminders, isn’t it?! 
 
Why do we sing and praise and clap our hands and sometimes even raise them in the air and sometimes close our eyes and sometimes cry and sometimes shout and sometimes kneel when we gather to worship together corporately? I think we can all agree that if one were to zoom out, lift the roof off the auditorium, and observe it from above, it might look strange without context. Let’s look at 4 reasons why we worship together. (This isn’t an exhaustive list, of course)
 
We worship because He is Worthy
 
Firstly and most importantly, He is God. He is King. He reigns victorious over sin and death. In Revelation 4 and 5 we get a beautiful picture of what our King is worthy of and so when we gather on Sundays, we bring offerings of praise and adoration for our Creator, Redeemer, and Beloved King. 
 
We worship to tell the Story of God
 
Our worship has one object of our affection, but three unique audiences. The triune God (being the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is the object of our affection. He is the first in our audience. The second is one another, the body of believers, and the third is those who don’t yet know God through Jesus. Since forever, music and song have been used as teaching tools. If you want to remember a story, or perhaps even the alphabet, you slap a melody on it and all of a sudden the ability to remember the message increases exponentially. So, when we sing with one another corporately, we bring our offering of praise to God and we recall and remember the Story of God with one another for the purpose of edifying and strengthening our faith. Singing the Story of God is a powerful means of sharing the gospel message to those who have joined us that are on a journey of discovering Jesus. 
 
We worship to unify the body of believers in Christ
 
We are diverse and unique by God’s loving design. As it says in 1 Cor 12:12, the body of Christ is made up of many parts. All unique, all important. Sometimes our diversity can get in the way, causing conflict when we allow our differences to become speed bumps (classic humans, eh?!). But, when we gather in our gatherings together and declare in song the power of Christ, the story of the gospel, the love of the Father, and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are able to remove what has been a speed bump and stand in unity together under one name, Jesus. There is beauty in our diversity and when it comes together in unity under the name of Jesus, our diversity becomes a powerful force that can move together as one on mission for the Kingdom. Awesome!
 
We worship to stand in protest against the gods of this age and temptations of sin
 
In Ephesians 5:18 when Paul tells the believers in Ephesus to ‘not be drunk on wine, but instead be filled with the Holy Spirit…’ he was doing so not just because it’s good instruction. These instructions were challenging Christ followers to do the opposite of what the other temples in the region were doing; that is, engaging in cultish worship gatherings that included wild drunkenness, idol worship, and sexual immorality. All of these things were done in the hopes of pleasing the gods and thus being filled with his or her spirit. So, Paul instructs the Christ followers in a dramatic way to instead be filled with the Holy Spirit and honour one another with purity and love. When we gather in worship together we are courageously protesting, personally and corporately, that we will not give in to the gods of our age, to the lies of the enemy, to the temptations of sin around us. No! Instead, we declare our allegiance to Christ and that we are set apart and filled with the Holy Spirit for the sake of the gospel. Powerful! Next time we gather to worship, keep this in your mind - you might find yourself singing a little louder and believing a little stronger the words that we are singing! Like the song Raise a Hallelujah declares, “Sing a little louder, louder than the unbelief!”
 
So, what role does the Holy Spirit play in all of this? Well, Paul said to be filled. Holy Spirit is the one who does the filling! Holy Spirit is the one who unifies us. If our hearts are the key, the Holy Spirit is the ignition, the engine, the vehicle, the gas, the oil, the road, the directions, the starting point and the destination. Our hearts, the key, is important. And when we come willing, the Holy Spirit will build our faith, bring to mind a person to pray for, lovingly convict our hearts, and then guide us and help us in the changing of our ways. How beautiful. 
 
This Sunday when we gather to worship, we gather with deep and meaningful purpose. We tell the Story of God, we unify our hearts under the name of Jesus and we stand in protest against the gods of this age and temptation in sin. You have a role to play in our corporate worship! It’s important and powerful. And through the power and work of the Holy Spirit, we see it activated, empowered, we are refreshed and filled with faith. 
 
Don’t wait for the first song to stir you up, come ready! 
 
See you on Sunday!
Pastor Laura