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    What is Fulfilling Worship?

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    It's amazing what God will show us when we come to Him honestly and let Him answer our questions. He started off by showing me that, much to my surprise, real worship has no more to do with Sunday mornings and songs in the key of G, than it does with lunch on Tuesday afternoon and a good cup of coffee. The place I can most clearly see Him is not a steepled building with witty phrases on a sign out front. The highest act of worship I could ever perform is not to sing well or lift my hands or dance or go to the ultimate church service, but to simply seek God, just as I am. After all, He created me in His image, and set my heart after the things of His heart. There is nothing I can do that reflects the glory of God more than to be the person He created me to be, doing what He created me to do. He didn't command me to go to church four times a week or to buy every CD from Passion. Christ didn't come and suffer and die and rise from the dead to give us free admission to a killer worship service and a few minutes of emotional rush. He came that we could have real life, and what could be more real than to take hold of the identity God has put in me, to live the life He laid out for me? This is why King David says the only thing he seeks is to dwell with God and to see His beauty. This is where David was created to be. This is what he was created for. This is what all of mankind was created for. And it is in that place where our desires are fulfilled, where our lives are made complete.



    And it gets better! I've never been to a worship service that didn't have to end. But guess what? When you take hold of your identity, rooted in and sustained by the love of God, it doesn't end! There's no closing prayer. No "with every head bowed and every eye closed, please raise your hand if you ... " There's no rush to beat the church next door to Pizza Hut for lunch. There's no "I wish the worship leader wouldn't play this song, it seems like we play it every week," because there is no worship leader! All our desires are completely and continuously fulfilled, because at last, by nothing short of the miraculous grace of God, we have found a place we can call home, we have found One we can call our Lover and our Friend and our Father and our God and our everything.




    As C.S. Lewis puts it, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea. We are far too easily pleased." We are sitting around waiting for God to fulfill our hearts with worship services, when He wants us to see that the only satisfaction we can find will be in Him.



    Jesus said that we will get what we ask for, and we will find what we seek (Matthew 7). Most people understand this simply as it applies to prayer. But I think it says a lot about our expectations as well. If all we expect from God is an emotionally invigorating worship service lead by an awesome band, then we will very quickly find what we are looking for. There?s nothing wrong with this in and of itself, but the problem occurs in worship when there?s no real contact with God.



    Now, three years and countless worship services later, I'm beginning to come to a different conclusion on what worship is really all about. Personally, if a "great worship service" is all God has to offer me, and all I have to offer God, I'm not interested. Count me out. Here, you can have my seat.



    What my heart aches for, what I believe all our hearts ache for, is something REAL. This is why we will never leave a worship service feeling completely satisfied. This is why our relationships on this earth can never give us what we need and want. We were made for something so much better than the most powerful of worship services or the best of friends. And if we would only seek it, we would find it revealed to us in God.



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    What do you think? What is fulfilling worship to you? Please leave your comments below by clicking the comments link.




    Oh yeah, you can read all of Adam's editorial here at Relevant Magazine.



    Todd







    In a recent editorial at Relevant Magazine, Adam Johnston talks frankly about worship.  I know not all of you will agree with everything he says, but it’s very thought provoking.  I like writings like this that cause me to think about how I really feel.  Much of what Adam says is great…


    worship


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    Comments

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    1. Bernie Dehler on Fri, October 15, 2004

      Worship is important, but I don’t think we should focus on it like a Hollywood production.  Keep it real and human—without undue stress on the music leaders for a super-duper performance…


      ...Bernie


      http://www.FreeGoodNews.com

    2. Kia on Mon, October 18, 2004

      I agree with so much of what you are saying!I have a very close relationship with God and I do go to church, but I Feel closer to God other places!

      I was divorced from an alcoholic man and got tired of feeling that I was NOT GOOD enough for the church anymore. The put downs and insinations that the church people SUBCONCIOUSLY gave me since I was a DIVORCED woman started making me LOOK Down on the church people! How dare they put me down when EVERYONE Of them had some sin in thier own lives! A sin is a sin and Jesus died on the cross for all of them!


      The 300 pound sunday school teacher should be trying to conquer her sin of gluttony instead of smuggly looking down her nose at me for being a divorced woman!


      The deacon who cheats on his taxes every year, should fix that, the youth leader who has an on-going flirtation with one of his youth, should stop that before he preaches about the sin of divorce to his class with my daughter sitting there beign taught how BAD her own mother is for being divorced!


      Maybe if all these SELF-Proclaimed saints knew that the reason for my divorce was not JUST that he was a drunk…maybe if they knew that my ex-husband peed in the bed every night that he drank more than one drink, they would have a little more compassion and understanding! The fact that my ex KNEW that he was going to wet the bed (with ME in it) every time he took that second drink, yet he CHOSE to drink 4-5 nights a week!


      How many of these good Christians would have put up with that for eight years?? The disgust that I had to endure so many nights by being woke up by the wet feeling of someone elses urine! Having to take off my ex’s nasty urine soaked underwear, roll him out of bed, try to scrub the pee and that awful smell out of the mattress and put clean sheets back on the bed, just to have him do it again in a few hours!


      I have no hate towards this man now, but I do have hate for the church that put me down for being divorced, the people who think that they are BETTER christians than me, because they were fortunate enough to have a stable marriage and esepecially for my ex-mother in law who for 25 years has looked down on me for leaving her son!


      She even wrote a letter to my mother saying how she prayed that God would DO SOMETHING to me to make me see my sin…...God answered her prayers….her son wrapped his car around a tree one night and was so drunk that he did not even realize he had broken his neck!


      He has spent the last 20 years in a wheelchair with his mom having to help take care of him!

       

      God gave her the answer, just not the one she was expecting! In all her HOLIER than THOU glory, she got an answer to prayer and God made HER resposible for cleaning up her sons urine….although it is a little easier for her….his urine goes in a bag now for the rest of his life!


      Thankyou God for relieving me of that cross I bore for 8 long years!


      Do you think his Mom, or any of these other so-called Christians would pray for me to be able to stand the smell of pee now! I get sick to my stomach at the smell of pee to this day!


      Yes, divorce is a sin…but so is the judgement that so many church people put us sinners through!


      I now have found that I can worship God so much better in any way but in church! Be it walking in the woods, dancing at a club, or just sitting here at my computer where I can just be ME…sins and all and thank God for how wonderful He is and know that I have been forgiven for all the sins I do!


      I even pray for my ex and wish him well!

       

    3. Cindy Brown on Mon, October 18, 2004

      This is more a comment to Kia than to the article, though they do tie in together.  Kia, I am so sorry you have been hurt and then treated so badly by the “Christians” who should be lifting you up.  My word of encouragement to you, having experienced the pain of divorce myself (and the condemnation that goes with it in the church), is that the one thing God really taught me is to trust solely in Him and never allow my focus to be on what others think.  Only God knows the real truth about your situation, and only He can know your pain.  Give it all to Him, and look for others who are going through similar trials, in order to give them the love and support you didn’t receive from fellow believers.  Your testimony can become a great witness to the grace of God, and serving others in the name of Jesus is the greatest act of worship I know.

      To the article, I say that I love a great worship service and killer praise bands, but as in anything, worship is a matter of the heart, and it means nothing if our lives outside the church do not reflect the love of Christ and the glory of God!  Worship services, bands, singers, and even preaching are only tools to encourage believers to worship God with their lives.

       

    4. Jeanne on Mon, October 18, 2004

      It sounds to me like you have not gotten over your hatred for anything. As I read your comment it came across to me as if you were somehow ‘pleased’ with what happened to your ex-husband; almost as if you have been somehow justified. Those are not words of someone who is not hateful or someone who has forgiven those who have wronged her.  I understand that you have been hurt (both in your marriage and in your church), but to use the church’s reaction as an excuse not to worship corporately is, well, just an excuse. I know that all churches are not loving, understanding, or supportive to people who are going through crises.  I would suggest you find another church. We cannot be ‘solo’ Christians. We are commanded to be the Church, and that includes being an active and effective part of a local body (church). I totally agree that we can worship God anywhere (and we should worship Him with our entire lives, not just singing on Sunday morning once a week), but we also need corporate worship. It’s biblical! The Church coming together to worship, pray, comfort, learn, seek, support and yes, even rebuke/correct one another.  I’m sorry that your church was not there for you, but there are other churches out there who could help you.

      I’m just wondering if you’ve had any counseling to help you with the anger, resentment, hurt, and betrayal you’re dealing with? I think healing is a process and you’re in the early stages. I hope you find the healing and peace Christ only can provide and a loving church that will be Him to you. Don’t assume all churches are the same.

       

    5. Rev RJ on Mon, October 18, 2004

      Back to the article…


      If worship is everything, then it is nothing. (Here is where Spock, indeed, can help with logic).  Logic:  All things are not worship therefore worship cannot be all things.  In this context, there is something special about the body of Christ gathering.  In Hebrews 10 it says to “spur” one another on to love and good deeds.  Not really “fulfilling’—more exhortive and irritating. 

      Here is a good thought to have in real worship: 


      “Darn, this whole life really is not all about me is it?  God is here and I am blown away just like Isaiah was!  I am not satisfied because I am not seeing things (my sin, my world) Your way or grabbing ahold of all that is already at my disposal.  Woe is me…”


      The point is, the worship service, or public liturgy, is not primarily a “personal” activity, but a communal one.  The thing special about the singing is not the music but the fact that we are all confessing or praising together.  There is a difference between my personal worship and the worship expression of a body of believers.  The Lord’s Supper is not done in my quiet times, for instance.  And personally I may feel more woe than fulfillement.  Really, both.

       

      So, my expectations of what is fulfilling really are not the point if my personal fulfillment is irrelavent.  It is the maturity and commitment of the group that makes a group’s experience greater then that of the individual.

       

    6. barbara on Fri, October 22, 2004

      about kia, i can relate to what you feel having been divorced myself and yes church people can be judgemental and cruel but i think that is the relevance of this article on worship is to focus on God whether it’s in an assembly or in our own personal time. because you’ve been hurt and rejected by people it’s now easy for you to focus on them. worship in all aspects is only for God, when we put our focus on man’s traditional way of worship we are always disappointed. i’m glad to read this article, as we are now in our church doing a study on worship, it is not only a lifestyle it is our life, it’s who we are, we are worshippers of God. i think it’s easier to worship corporately than individually because we surrounded by people, but this shouldn’t be so, God wants our worship day in and day out, whether it’s talking to him, singing to him, or just meditating on him. people who fail to worship God daily go to worship service and expect to be fulfilled, it’s like we want an affair with God instead of a relationship. Thank you for this article, i think it’s vital at this point and time when the church has limited worship to a song and a 2 hour time frame on sunday mornings.

    7. Daniel on Sat, February 05, 2005

      The idea of having church has changed drastically over the years to what we now experience as having church. In many cases having church can be defined as a two hour service that takes in a short sermon, some announcements, and a few minutes to turn and greet each other, a few hymns or songs and at the end an offer to those who need prayer to come forward and we call this worship. It is a sad thing to see how far we have drifted from true worship.


      I believe Adam Johnston is right on with his article. Worship does not begin in a Church service, but the moment we open our eyes to a new day. To be intimately aware of God’s presence and to commune with Him as you go about your daily tasks is worship. Worship of the highest kind is when a sinner meets the savior and understands the infinite love that God has towards him, and the cost God has paid in Christ to set him free from sin. Worship of the highest kind is when this sinner understands the cost of being forgiven and falls to his knees in humble adoration and cries out Abba Father. Worship of the highest kind is when we through Christ our risen Lord are led into the presence of our Heavenly Father to be enveloped in his presence and changed into the likeness of our Lord. Once we have understood true worship it is then that the songs and hymns we sing take on a different effect. The objective of the music and songs are no longer for the purpose of hyping us up or to get us in the mood, but now the music and songs are the expression of our love and gratitude to our God for having revealed Himself to us through Christ.


      When the church comes together it is to corporately worship the Lord and to change the world and society by agreeing together in prayer. The church’s agreement in prayer is one of the most powerful tools of worship. By prayer we bind the enemy and weaken his hold on mankind. It is through prayer we support those men and women on the front lines and mission fields giving them that covering that only the saints of God can bestow upon each other. It is through prayer and believing that we have whatever we ask for; that great things are accomplished for God.


      We are children of the Most High God who loves us; and once we understand this, ask what we will and we shall have it. We are not those who ask amiss, but those who through Christ have entered into the very presence of God and we shall have whatever we ask because we have met the one who loves us and calls us sons. 


      Look at the example of a church service from the book of Acts Chapter 4: 32 – 37 and Acts chapter 5: 12-16. They had a special anointing that most of our churches have lost and they have lost it because the emphasis is on buildings instead of discipling people. Let’s take a look and may the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts.

      32And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. 33And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.


      36Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.


      Acts Chapter 5


      12At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. 13But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. 14And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, 15to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. 16Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick ?or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.


      Now this is church and God gets all the glory.

       

    8. Rick on Mon, March 07, 2005

      Hey Todd,  I friend sent me this article and I think it’s spot on.  I remember realizing that worship is defined in Rom 12 “present your bodies as a living sacrifice…this is your spiritual worship”.  Since that moment I desire to live in a state of continual worship.  No service, worship or otherwise, compares to the joy of living sacrifice.  Grace and peace to you…and thanks for posting your thoughts.

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