This Is NOT A Trick Question!

Worship
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"Selfless acts done toward others for the purpose of glorifying God."

Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with Reverence and godly fear:

Here we see that worship must be :

1. Acceptable to God
2. Done with reverence and godly fear (which is redundant)
3. Done by the grace of God.

The word serve in this verse is the Greek word "Latreuo" which is a form of the word worship. In the NT this word is used as "serve"16 times, "worship" 3, " do the worship " 1, and "worshiper" 1.

Another form of the word "worship is the Greek word "Therapeuo". This is most often seen as the word "heal" and is used in reference to the healing of others. In the NT it is seen in every case of Jesus' healings. Interestingly enough it is the where we get our word therapy from.

"Proskeneuo" is another Greek form of the word worship. It is always used in the context of simply paying homage. This is seen clearly in 1 Cor 14 :25.

"Sebazomai" is used only once in Romans 1:25 and is used int he sense of honoring religiously.

"Sebomai" is used in the sense of reverence and can be seen in Acts 16:14. We see this same word used in the sense of vain worship of God (Matt 15:9) Not all worship even directed at God is acceptable worship or correct.

Any act done in correct doctrine, (spirit and truth John 4:24) and for the Glory of God (reverence 12:28)

The teaching of the word of God was included in the worship of those in Acts 2:42-47. There can be found no where in scripture a division between the preaching of the word and "worship".

 

:thumbsup::applause::thumbsup:

 

If memory serves it is on the knee or flat on the face at times

 

This is not original with me, and I give credit to the one I heard (or read) it from, if i could remember.

Worship is using various methods to tell God the truth about Himself.

And tell others the truth about God.

 

I know.....

Worship for me is that time when I can tune out the rest of the world, and focus in on Him and His glory and awesome power! It can be during a praise song, a worship service of many songs that cause me to seek Him and forget about myself! Worship comes in many ways, at least to me, and it is simply letting go and letting God!

As the scripture tells us, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God" and when we can completely rid ourselves of self and those around us and just focus in on Him in me, true worship develops then envelopes my heart, soul and spirit!

Great question, and many great answers, so far! This is an extremely thought-provoking question, and I do believe, from what I know of you, that you have found what worship is, and even if you don't always recognize it, if you can just spend some "Me and Jesus" time, then you have entered the place where true spiritual worship begins!

I remember being in some services where the music was so focused on Him, that the pastor never preached a word. Everyone simply sang, lifted hands and hearts, and it was like the entire fellowship were caught up and away in the moment, and there was no need for a spoken word. In those services, the alter filled up without so much as an invitation, other than the leading of the Holy Ghost!

Now that was as close as I felt I'd ever gotten to heaven on earth, and it is one of those, "You had to be there moments" to know what all of us discovered and experienced that day(s).

BTW - both moments were in a full Gospel, spirit filled church (one was a SBC fellowship that had yielded to the Holy Ghost and the gifts)! I am sure; I will hear from many of you with this statement, but I am merely responding to the OP as best as I can!

And it didn't matter what kind of church I was in; it all came down to the individuals composing the body of Christ on those days, and having the majority of them tune into God, and tune out themselves. As we became one with the Spirit and Him, we became more and more blessed! In sense, God was pouring HImself out to all of us, as only He could do!

Like I said, both times, the service started with praise and worship music, and the pastor never got to speak! In the absence of the pastor's message was a heavenly sense og Him being present; like I said, I have only experience this twice in my life! With the exception of the night, I was called to the ministry! It was similar to those two services. God was present, and we all focused on Him and only Him!

I believe that what we all felt in those two different churches, at different times and places, was what the gathering of the saints will be like when we gather around the throne of God and sing and worship Him!

It is not necessary for any one to have this kind of worship experience to be blessed. Like I said, these were two separate services, and no one, that I knew of, was there seeking what we experienced!

I will say this HAMel, worship is what you allow it to be, and it is a matter of attitude, obedience, and the heart! You do not have to have that kind of mesmerizing experience to enter into His presence. And it can be accomplished in personal worship time as well as group worship! It is all depending on the heart of the person who seeks Him in praise and worship!

Personally speaking, I believe worship is the key to any service seeking to lift up God!

 

Music. The THIRD ORDINANCE of modern churches....or people claw, scratch, separate, and bicker over it as if it were. People don't get riled up over false teaching from the pulpit or lack of outreach, but mess with the music and the gloves come off.

 

I still hold to what I was taught so many years ago in a little sand dunes Baptist church (SBC.)

Worship is a time of intimate communion between me and the Lord. Which makes it private.

I still adhere to the idea the church service, which we called the preaching service, not worship service, is for the giving forth of the gospel and the edifying of the saints.

It can be done in different ways. Our line up SS and Sunday a.m. meetings were evangelistic. Training Union and Sunday evening preaching was edifying the saints. Of course, there was a degree of both times doing both. I'm speaking of the emphasis. Wednesday evening prayer meeting was for corporate praying.

Just my personal understanding of the scripture, but when we think "worship" is something you do in church, we take a huge step toward making people think if they are not "in church" they cannot connect with God. Trouble is, sometimes illness, or geographic location, or historical era, etc make the available church service the absolute wrong place to be. Seems to me to allow the lie that prevailed in the RCC so long, that without a priest to get you there you could not "be with" God a foothold.

I've also had the misfortune twice of what are best termed abusive, twisted church leadership. So many kept following them because after all, they "lead us to the very foot of the cross." Which meant they both liked the emotional experience those gents could drum up, and thought they could no longer access God without a "man of God" to get them there.

Admittedly it has made me a skeptic of "worship services." I still attend church weekly, but I'm careful to find one that preaches Jesus rather than expecting to go have a "worship experience."

Your mileage may vary.