The English verb “to worship” means, according to Webster’s Dictionary, “to adore or pay divine honors to as a deity; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration.” Jesus says that “an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Our approach to worship in the Christian dispensation must be to show the utmost reverence to God, and to do so in spirit and in truth. This means that our spirits must be involved and that we have to be obedient to the revealed will of God in rendering that worship.
The worship of first century Christians grew out of a pattern of Synagogue worship rather than temple worship. James calls the gatherings for worship “your synagogue” in the Greek (James 2:2), and the writer of Hebrews encourages Christians not to forsake “the gathering of yourselves together” for which he uses the same Greek root (Hebrews 10:25). With the crucifixion of Jesus, all sacrifices had come to an end from God’s point of view, and the need for a class of priests distinct from the people ceased. Instead, members of the church are now called “A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).
Early
Christian worship services consisted of prayers, the Lord’s Supper, the reading
and explanation of the word of God, singing, and giving to the church treasury
(Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34; 16:1-2; Ephesians 5:19;
Colossians 4:16). When Paul writes about worship in the first century he
mentions some things which happened during a service. Prayers were offered by
several men with the congregation voicing an “amen” at their conclusion, and
several hymns were sung (1 Corinthians 14:15-16). We may have portions of some
of the earliest hymns in various parts of the New Testament such as Revelation
5:9-13 and
1 Timothy 3:16 for instance.
When we gather here our purpose is to offer God our worship using all the elements mentioned above. Our prayers are offered with heartfelt intensity and we say “amen” at their conclusion. The songs we offer are “the fruit of our lips” and are accompanied only by making melody in our hearts and not on any mechanical instrument (Hebrews 13:15; Ephesians 5:19). We observe the Lord’s Supper in the manner commanded by Jesus and do so every first day of the week (1 Corinthians 11:23-34; Acts 20:7). We give liberally and cheerfully following clear biblical principles (1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians chapters 8 & 9).
The reason we have come to worship today is to give God our allegiance, to submit to His hand, and to commit ourselves to a life of continual obedience. We come to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24). That’s why we have come to worship. We come to render this reverence to God, not to be entertained, or to watch a performance.