What Is Worship? Part 3
“We worship to help each other recognize the truth of who God is.”
Last week we spent some time on the first of the directions of worship: Vertical Worship. Remember that Vertical Worship is about expressing our hearts to the Lord. This is focused on the characteristics and actions of God, independent of ourselves. He is love. He is glorious. He is holy. Vertical worship is central to everything that we do within corporate and individual worship. The foundation of all worship is based on who God is and what he has done. By definition, we are not worshiping God if we are not recognizing him for who he truly is. However, there are other purposes for worship which will make up the other two “directions”. This week, we will be focusing on the horizontal aspects of worship.
Horizontal - Encouraging Our Family
1.Worship is a group activity.
In the modern atmosphere of worship, things have become more and more individualistic. People church shop to find the right combination of preaching style and worship. I have attended churches where music preference alone is enough to lead some to break fellowship with their local community of believers. However, it was not always like this. In early church history, chants and music were performed by groups and choirs. In the Old Testament, there were music leaders who led worship for the congregation (1 Chronicles 16:4-7).
2. Worship is participatory.
Throughout the Bible, we are also commanded to worship with music and songs. Psalm 96:1 says “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” Not only should worship be performed in a group environment, we also need to participate in it. Music tastes may differ from person to person, however, we cannot underestimate the power of worshiping together as a body of believers. Ephesians 5:19 says, “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.”
3. Worship helps each other.
We worship to help ourselves recognize the truth of who God is. In the same vein, we worship to help each other recognize the truth of who God is. Sometimes, we as people need truth to be spoken over us. When it can be difficult for us to believe ourselves, having one’s community speak the same truth may break through doubt and fear. When I hear the person beside us boldly proclaim that amazing grace has set them free, I am moved to see God’s grace in my own life.
As is true for almost every part of the Christian life, we cannot act as if our actions in worship exist in a vacuum. It is an integral part of worship that as we individually acknowledge God and our relationship with him that we would then join together in community, encouraged and driven toward the Gospel together.
Zach is the Minister of Worship and Students at Redeemer and joined the team in early 2022. He and his wife Madison live in Terrell. You can connect with Zach here.