The purpose of ministry through worship is to engage the congregation’s hearts, minds and spirits in a time of corporate praise where God is the sole focus of our adoration. As believers united together by our commonality in Christ we come as “living stones” indwelt by the Holy Spirit as the true temple of God bringing spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5).
The believer’s worship should be like that described in Romans 12:1-2:
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service or worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
This ministry also strives to biblically educate the believer as to how God evaluates our worship.
The English word worship means “to create honor.” The Hebrew word, shachah, means “to bow down”, “to fall flat” and the Greek word for worship, proskuneo, means “to kiss like a dog licking his master’s hand” or “to prostrate oneself in homage”. However, the Lord looks past the outward forms of worship to see the true condition of our hearts. He desires a broken and penitent heart that is committed to Him (Psalm 51:15-17).
“A pure, a holy, a spiritual worship, therefore, is such as He seeks — the offering of the soul rather than the formal offering of the body — the homage of the heart rather than that of the lips.” (Albert Barnes)
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24
“A man worships God in spirit, when, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he brings all his affections, appetites, and desires to the throne of God; and he worships him in truth, when every purpose and passion of his heart, and when every act of his religious worship, is guided and regulated by the word of God.” (Adam Clarke)
Our Sunday services are specifically for believers who continually draw near to our Lord Jesus Christ as each individual is responsible for his worship during the week so that our corporate praise might be an overflow of gratitude, reverence, honor and praise of our Holy, Majestic and Sovereign God. Non-believers are also encouraged and invited to attend in the hope that through the worship of God in spirit and truth (John 4:24), the Holy Spirit will use the Word of God to bring about a transformation and regeneration of their heart, that they might come to know Christ and put their trust in Him for the remission of sins and their reconciliation to a Holy God. |