We have been spending these past few weeks focusing on some very basic components of what it means to build up our faith. During this time we are looking at six key spiritual disciplines and we’ve already looked at the importance of praying and reading.
Today, we focus on the very important topic of worshiping. The title of this sermon says it all. There’s just something very special about gathering every week as the people of God to offer our worship and praise.
It doesn’t matter if you worship in a small rural church with 15 or so people or if you worship in a great big cathedral with lots of high church rituals or if you worship in a multi-purpose auditorium that has loud guitars and high end technology or if you worship in a university church like we have. What matters is that we make communal worship one of the very top priorities in our commitment to Jesus Christ.
Dr. Elaine Robinson, Academic Dean and Associate Pastor of St. Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University tells how she often visits local churches. And one of the questions she likes to ask church members at each of the churches she visits is, “Why do you go to church.”
And she said that people usually give her these types of answers… “I come to church to see my friends” or “It’s how I get spiritually fed,” or “I love to hear our choir and the great music.”
And Dr. Robinson said that while all of those are nice answers, rarely does she hear someone say what should be the most important reason to attend church. The reason we should be attending church is to worship God! Somehow, we have made going to church about us and we forget that it’s really all about God and offering our worship to God.
Even if the sermon is below average or our friends are out of town, or the music is so-so, the most important thing about being in this place every week is that we have the incredible opportunity to worship the one who is our Creator and our Redeemer.
Jesus himself made worship a top priority in his life and ministry. Jesus followed the Jewish Shema which says to worship the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Jesus was known to worship regularly in the local synagogue and he traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem on feast days throughout the year. Worship was very important to Jesus.
In fact, one of the rare times that we read about Jesus being angry was around this topic of worship. This was from our scripture reading this morning when Jesus entered the Temple and drove out the money changers. Jesus was upset that God’s own people were trivializing worship. Instead of God being at the center of worship, they were making other things more important.
I’d like to offer three reasons why weekly worship is one of the things we can do to help us be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. There’s a reason why it makes it in the top six things along with prayer and reading the bible.
The first reason why weekly worship should be a top priority is because it provides us with a sense of community.
Worship in church reminds us that God did not create us to follow Jesus on our own. God created us to be in relationship with one another, and it’s important to gather as a community to focus our minds and hearts on God.
As crucial as the individual devotional practices are, they are no substitute for worshiping as a community. Just as worship is enhanced by our individual devotional practices, those practices are enhanced by our corporate worship.
Sometimes people will point out to me that they can grow in their faith without going to worship. And they say how they pray and read their bible on their own. And that’s all important to do those things privately, but then I ask, “But what do you make of the scripture that we read this morning from the Book of Hebrews?”
You’re home alone reading through your bible and then you read a scripture like this which says, “Do not neglect to meet together as is the habit of some, but encourage one another.” The bible itself talks about the importance of worshiping with others, about meeting together, about encouraging one another. How do we do that? We worship together.
Each week, we gather together, we worship, and then we are sent out with a benediction, a blessing to be the people of God out in the community and in our world. Worship is a drawing in and a sending out. It is what forms us into a community of faith, a family of God.
Often times, when I send a personal welcome note to first time worship guests, I’ll write, “Thank you for helping us to worship God together this past Sunday.” There’s something very special when God’s people make a commitment to gather each week to worship God.
One of the best things that cold ever happen to a church happened last Sunday. We ran out of bulletins! That’s a good problem!
Have you seen that popular sign message that you often see in front of church buildings. It will have the letters, “CH” at one end and “CH” at the other end. And then it has the question, “What’s missing in church?”
UR!
I read about a tavern near a college campus. It was a favorite hangout for many of the students. As Parents’ Weekend approached, they posted a sign that said, “Bring your parents to lunch. We’ll pretend we don’t you know.”
One of the local churches just across the street from this tavern countered with a signboard that read, “Bring your parents to church. We’ll pretend we do know you.”
The good news is that we don’t need to pretend that we know each other because whenever we gather in this place for worship, we know who we are. We know that we are a community, called to be the people of God.
Today is World Communion Sunday. It’s a Sunday each year when churches all around the world celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion as a way to remind us that we are part of a much larger community of people who are seeking to be followers of Jesus Christ. Regardless of our country or language, together, we form the church of Jesus Christ.
Weekly worship reminds us that we are a community of God’s people.
The second reason why weekly worship is to be a top priority is because it is about celebration. We gather in worship to lift up and celebrate all that God is doing in the life of our congregation. God is at work in our church and weekly worship provides us that time each week to celebrate what God is doing in and through us.
We sing opening hymns and songs of praise. We offer our prayers of joy and thankfulness for what God has done and is doing. Worshiping together helps us to celebrate.
And thirdly, weekly worship helps us to connect. Whenever we gather for worship, we connect with God. We remind ourselves that God truly is the Lord of us all. Just as we need one another, we need God’s active presence in our lives, and whenever we gather, we remember that Jesus is the One who has brought us together. Worship helps us to connect with Christ in a very real way.
Weekly worship helps us to be a community. It helps us to celebrate. And it helps us to connect with Christ.
To help us with this fourth commitment in worshiping as part of our Faith Builder’s series, up on the screen are some choices for us to consider. I’m going to give us time to think about these choices and which one we would like to be our commitment in this area of Sunday worship.
• Today, I’m not ready to make a commitment.
• I will attend worship three to six times a year.
• I will attend worship once a month.
• I will attend worship twice a month.
• I will attend worship three times a month.
• I will attend worship four times a month.
• As my health permits, I will never miss worship.
• Worship will be a priority in my life, growing to include the following:
I will be passionate about worship as a true priority of my life. Bad weather, sports, or holidays will not keep me from attending worship. I will prepare the day before, so that I can arrive at worship without last-minute rushing. I will warmly greet those who sit around me. I will surround my friends and family with worship. Through worship I will seek to find strength, power, and direction to face the week.
I’ve asked Jeff to play some music for the next minute or so as we silently make our commitment to God. [PAUSE]
One of my favorite moments as a pastor is when we receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion together during worship which we will be doing today.
Whenever we receive Holy Communion in worship, I have the privilege of standing up here in the middle as you all come forward to receive the Sacrament at one of our stations.
Often times, we make eye contact as you come forward and this always reminds me that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s such a personal moment for me that’s hard to describe. It’s one of those special privileges in being a pastor, seeing all of you come to share in this holy meal.
So, when it gets right down to it, worshiping together reminds me that we are a family. We come together with all of joys, sorrows, hopes, and brokenness to received God’s mercies anew through the sharing of the bread and the cup.
And there’s only one phrase that comes to mind when I think of moments like that as your pastor. This one phrase keeps going through my mind again and again.
It’s a privilege to be here.
Faith Builders: Worshiping
Sermon Discussion Questions
Hebrews 10:19-25 & Luke 19:45-48
October 6, 2019
Dr. Elaine Robinson, Academic Dean and Associate Pastor of St. Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University tells how she often visits local churches. And one of the questions she likes to ask church members at each of the churches she visits is, “Why do you go to church.”
Why do you like to go to church?
During our Faith Builders sermon series, we are focusing on six key areas for us to have a vital and growing faith. This week’s area is worshiping. Worship is one of the most important things we do as a church on a weekly basis. Pastor Robert shared three reasons why worshiping every week is so important and they all begin with the letter, “c.”
COMMUNITY: Worship provides us with a sense of community. How does worship give you a sense of community?
CELEBRATION: Worship provides us with a spirit of celebration. How does worship help you to celebrate?
CONNECTION: Worship provides us a way to connect with God. How does worship help you to connect with God?
We are invited to make a commitment in worshiping God. Read over the options below and reflect on which commitments you’d like to make and why.
- Today, I’m not ready to make a commitment.
- I will attend worship three to six times a year.
- I will attend worship once a month.
- I will attend worship twice a month.
- I will attend worship three times a month.
- I will attend worship four times a month.
- As my health permits, I will never miss worship.
- Worship will be a priority in my life, growing to include the following:
I will be passionate about worship as a true priority of my life. Bad weather, sports, or holidays will not keep me from attending worship. I will prepare the day before, so that I can arrive at worship without last-minute rushing. I will warmly greet those who sit around me. I will surround my friends and family with worship. Through worship I will seek to find strength, power, and direction to face the week.
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