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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

I Will Be Regarded As Holy - Conclusion

Worship is no small matter. It is to be the lifestyle of the believer. It is to be the day-by-day attitude. Bringing glory to God must be accomplished every day in all we do. When it comes to Sunday worship, it should exemplify this concept both in the congregational and leadership attitudes and actions. As life is to be lived to the glory of God, the church service must be conducted with God’s glory as the focal point. Everything we do must be worship, in life and in church. If the business model of church is to be used, then the customer is God, and the customer is always right. If the “seeker-sensitive” model is to be used, then the seeker is not Man (Rom. 3:11), but God (2 Chron. 16:9). He is seeking a people who will worship Him. In all cases, God is the primary focus, not the people who attend. It is Him we seek to glorify.

God is a holy God and demands that all who come near regard Him as holy. The human tendency is to shift the focus from God to the things that are intended to point to God. We tend to focus on the wonderful singing, the warm emotions, the moving preaching, and forget about the God of whom we are singing, feeling, and worshiping. To engage in trivial entertainment or, worse, idolatry of worshiping anyone else but God in church is blasphemous. We must move toward worship as God would have us worship. The primary purpose of the human being is to glorify God and enjoy Him. We must not disengage from that marvelous purpose the moment we enter the church service. If sin is defined as falling short of the glory of God, then worship would be the opposite of sin. Let’s not let our worship be an affront to God. In the words of the hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of Earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
In the words of the apostle Paul:
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).

3 comments:

Refreshment in Refuge said...

Stanley, I think this is a truly great series! I love talking about worship. I agree worship is a lifestyle, not an event, in fact, I think I've said this before. :) Even though God doesn't say a lot in the Bible about our day to day activities, I do believe that He regulates our activities as His children, His people. I also believe that He will speak specifically to each of us about our day to day things, if we ask Him.

Refreshment in Refuge said...

P.S. I don't see stuff on your sidebar... did you decide to keep a clean house? LOL

Stan said...

I think you've struck a misunderstanding on the principle of "Christian Liberty". Some think "That means anything goes." No, indeed! That means that what is right is determined by God for you. I agree with you there. Christian Liberty simply says, "There are some things that are not 'universal rules' for Christians, and we ought not judge one another on those things."

On the P.S., I haven't "invested myself" enough yet to work on the sidebar much, so I'm just keeping a clean house so far. If I find there is a readership and I think I can offer them more with sidebar stuff, I'll be sure to add more.