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            Turning our car radio to worship music is a common practice for us as we travel.  We are blessed that it is readily available on Life 103 and Christian Satellite radio channels.  But I do think it sad that contemporary Christianity seems to have redefined worship as only music whether it be listened to in the car, or the musical portion of the Sunday morning service.

            Acts chapter two gives us a little insight into the daily lives of believers following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.  In verses forty-six and forty-seven we read:  They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people.  We are not given any details of the worship activities they practiced at the Temple but please note that worship was part of their daily life both in the temple and in their homes.

            Note especially that phrase “all the while praising God”.  It would seem that their entire lives became one characterised by worship.

            The word worship comes from the Old English word ‘weorþscipe’ or ‘worth-ship’ which means ‘to give worth to’. In a Biblical context, the Hebrew word for worship is ‘shachah’, which means to depress, to fall down, or to lay prostrate before a deity. It is to hold something up with such reverence, honor, and esteem that your only desire is to bow down before it.

Sacrifice in the Old Testament was a key component of worship.  Moses under God’s direction pleaded with Pharoah to let the people go so that they could be free to worship by making sacrifices in the desert.  In the New Testament Paul urges his Roman readers to present themselves as a ‘living sacrifice’ as a method of worship acceptable to God.

            So, affirming God’s ‘worth ship’ can be done in a number of ways.  Yes, I believe that music will continue to be something that inspires us to worship.  Just thinking about the amazing gift of music by the creator should quicken our hearts to worship!  Worship can be motivated by the traditional or contemporary genre’s especially when the lyrics do recognize and emphasize God’s ‘worth ship’!

But I believe we cheat ourselves and disappoint God if we contain our worship to just music and even more restrictive if to our own preferred music style.  Worship is much more comprehensive!  Something as simple as praising him as the creator on your morning walk. Or something more personally costly by increasing your sacrificial giving of time and resources to his cause and Kingdom.  One thing is that is true is that if we wish to lead a life characterised by worship like those early believers, we will have to move beyond just music and just the once a week event.                                         Pastor Dave