What Do These Words Mean to You?
The sermon explores the meaning of praise and worship, emphasizing the importance of understanding and responding to God's presence in our gatherings.
Gareth Evans delves into the essence of true worship, distinguishing between praise and worship as expressions directed towards others and towards God Himself respectively. He highlights the importance of understanding the presence of God in our gatherings and how it should transform the way we worship. Evans challenges the congregation to reevaluate their worship practices in light of worshipping God in spirit and in truth.
Text
Jesus told us that true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. (John 4:23)
When I became a Christian most of the songs we sang were hymns. Many of them I loved ,and still do - their theology was rich and helped to produce Christian maturity in those who meditated on them.
However, we must admit that many of them - and a great number of the choruses we sang, were quite poor, both theologically and musically. The advent of choruses that were more Biblical during the '70s' came as a breath of fresh air, and today, you can hardly find a church where they do not have a time of "Praise & Worship".
"Praise & Worship" - what do these words mean to you? I once attended a two day seminar on "Praise & Worship" but became confused with the teacher's meaning whenever he mentioned 'worship'. Realising that my confusion was probably due to semantics - a different understanding of the words used, I asked him to define his terms for me.
I was amazed when he said that he had never tried to define these words. No wonder, I, and others present, were confused by his teaching.
I shall be defining these words in this way: PRAISE is the sum of those actions we take to express God's attributes. This would primarily be directed to others and would include songs of testimony and proclamation. It is essentially 'horizontal'.
WORSHIP is man's response to his awareness of the presence of God. This would include songs of adoration and thanksgiving but it is expressed to God Himself and is essentially, 'vertical'. It would also include expressions of dance and moments of silence.
The Scriptures teach us that the Lord Himself is present in the gathering of His people. Do we believe that? If we did, would we present our worship to Him in the same way as we currently do? I suggest that much of our so-called worship would change considerably with the realisation of this truth.
God is still seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth!
Sermon Outline
- Defining Praise and Worship
- Worship is man's response to God's presence, expressed to God Himself
- The Lord's presence in the gathering of His people
- Do we believe the Lord is present?
- How would our worship change if we believed the Lord is present?
Key Quotes
“Praise is the sum of those actions we take to express God's attributes.” — Gareth Evans
“Worship is man's response to his awareness of the presence of God.” — Gareth Evans
“God is still seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth!” — Gareth Evans
Application Points
- We should strive to understand the difference between praise and worship and express them accordingly.
- Believing the Lord is present in our gatherings can change the way we worship and make it more meaningful.
- Worshipping in spirit and in truth means responding to God's presence with sincerity and authenticity.