When the Early Church met together, what did they do? It wasn’t just to chat to each other. It wasn’t just to enjoy singing. It wasn’t particularly to proclaim the gospel to folk who were not yet believers.
Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The First Christians met to hear from God through the apostle’s teaching. To respond to God in praise and worship and prayers. To encounter the Risen Christ in bread and wine. To meet with God.
And surely that is our greatest purpose in coming to church on Sundays. To meet with God. “God created us to be worshippers first and workers second!” Church services are amongst the most important hours of the week. They offer us a very special opportunity to meet with God. One definition of worship says that “Worship is a dynamic confrontation with the living God.” It is dynamic because God’s power is experienced. It is a confrontation because worship brings us face to face with God. When we come to church what we should be looking for is “a dynamic confrontation with the living God”!
God is always ready to meet us. But we are not always ready to meet with God. It is sadly possible to come to church and go away again without having encountered the living God. So, this week I want to remind us of 10 practical things we can all do week by week which will help us meet with God in our worship.
And here is something which I believe is very important. These ways of preparing to meet with God are not just for people who are physically present in the building with us on a Sunday. They may well be even more valuable if you are joining in our worship online over Zoom or Facebook or YouTube. When Christians meet in the church building, we have already left our sofas and our warm homes and had to walk or drive or take a bus to a different place. We have already marked out our time in worship as somehow different from what we have left behind at home and what we will return to. But if you are joining online, you are probably still at home in familiar surroundings. You may be watching on a tablet or laptop or on a television screen which you also use for all kinds of leisure activities or even for work. If so, you may find the things I am going to say particularly beneficial to your times of worship.

1 Prepare before you set off for church
You could begin with a prayer on Saturday asking God to bless the services on Sunday. Pray for the preacher. Pray for the worship leader and the musicians. I believe you would be amazed how much better the sermons would be on Sundays if the whole church prayed for the preacher in the week before! Then you could pray for the services on Sunday morning before you set out, or as you are on your way. Ask God to prepare your heart so that you can meet with Him. Most Church of England services include a prayer of confession and repentance early on in the service, like this prayer for purity.
Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy holy spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name: through Christ our Lord. Amen.
It is very good to pray a prayer like that as we come to worship God. But there is no reason why any of us have to wait to arrive at church to be led in such a prayer. We could all pray that kind of prayer before we even arrive at the building so that our hearts are ready to meet with God and the whole of our time here can be blessed. And if you are one of our many friends who are watching online, you could certainly pray before you switch on or press the link.

2 Greet God as you enter the building
Worshippers in some church traditions acknowledge the presence of God by bowing towards an altar as they enter the sanctuary. Others make a sign of the cross as they enter their church buildings. I do not particularly recommend, but neither would I criticise practices like that. Because such actions help those worshippers recognise that church buildings are special places. It is not that the building is special – but God’s people are special! And when Christians gather together to meet with God, that place becomes special because God is especially present. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus promises for where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
So, when we come together to worship God it is a good thing to acknowledge the presence of God in some way just as we arrive. We are welcomed at the door and greet the welcomers. We greet our friends as we take our seats. It is surely appropriate that in some way we greet our Lord and our God as we prepare to worship Him. Perhaps a short silent prayer, before we start talking to other people. Or a few moments gazing on the cross and recognising that the Christ who died for us is in our midst. Or looking at the banners or an image on the screen. Greeting God as we enter His house.

3 Prepare your heart before worship begins
Think of Moses at the Burning Bush. “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5, NIV) Worship is first and foremost an encounter with the living and holy God. At God’s command, Moses removed his sandals and covered his face. Taking off his shoes was an act of reverence, conveying his own unworthiness before God. God is our friend, but he is also our sovereign Lord. To approach him lightly shows a lack of respect and sincerity. When we come to God in worship, do we approach him casually, or do we come as though we are invited guests before a king? We need to adjust our attitudes because we are approaching a holy God. One thing missing from so much worship in churches today is AWE! Where is “the fear of the Lord” in churches today?
Old Testament worship consisted of all kinds of complicated rituals. These all took time and effort, and this gave the people the opportunity to prepare their hearts for worship. Unless our heart is ready, worship is meaningless. Whatever the form of worship, it is the heart attitude of the worshipper that matters to God. So, it is good to spend some time before the service preparing to meet with God. And again, this is something we can do just as easily if we are going to be watching online at home.
There used to be a very interesting sign on the door of St Thomas’s Church in Brentwood. It said simply: Please talk to God before the Mass and talk to each other after the Mass. Of course, we may wish to greet our fellow-worshippers. And we want to be welcoming to guests and visitors. But there will be plenty time for such conversations later on. The few minutes before our worship are a very precious opportunity to centre our minds and hearts on God. They give us time to put aside the cares of the world and the burdens of the day and focus on 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.”
To focus on Jesus, we need to put to one side all the other things in life which occupy our thoughts or worry us. Very deliberately we need to choose to forget those things! To ignore those things. That will require a conscious effort and it may be hard work. We should use the few minutes before the service begins for that holy purpose.

4 Concentrate on God
I read a very challenging piece entitled “The Danger of Being AT Church but Not IN Church” The problems of being at a church service but not participating properly in what is happening because your mind or your heart are somewhere else. Perhaps that happens to you sometimes “The Danger of Being AT Church but Not IN Church”. We need to recognise that that is often an even bigger danger if we are joining in online, surrounded with all the distractions of home.
During our worship we can all be so easily distracted by other people. Instead, we should be giving God our sole attention. Concentrate on HIM!
Worship is meant to be joyful! Full of joy! Our worship is not just allowed to be joyful. Our worship is supposed to be joyful! In the Bible worship is vibrant and vigorous and exuberant and expressive and exhilarating! Sometimes our worship is not joyful because we don’t have much joy in our hearts. But perhaps the biggest reason why many of us are inhibited in our worship is that we feel held back by the people around us. What will they think? What will they say? We don’t dare express the joy we feel because we are self-conscious. That’s why many people find it much easier to worship in the Big Top at Spring Harvest or New Wine where we are surrounded by strangers.
However we may express it, true heartfelt adoration is always pleasing to God. When we come to worship, we need to forget about the people around us and forget our inhibitions. As we worship, we must learn to shut out the other people around us and concentrate on God alone. Give God the whole of our attention. Forget about being self-conscious! What God thinks is all that matters. Concentrate on God!

5 Think about the words of what you are singing
In worship we aren’t spectators. We are all the performers. Our worship is a performance –but a performance for the audience of one. Worship is for God’s benefit! Not for ours! Mike Pilavachi of Soul Survivor wrote, we are “Created to worship, called to praise – playing to an audience of one.” Our true audience is God and no one else. Leaders and musicians and congregation join together to offer worship for the audience of One. We are not here to entertain or impress people, but to worship God. No-one should be allowed to become more important than God when the church gathers for worship.
True worship comes from the heart, not just the voice. God wants worshippers who worship in Spirit and in Truth. And that’s why it is vitally important to think about the words of songs you are singing. If they are empty words, they are not worship. We each have to “own for ourselves” the songs we sing. So, if there are lines in a hymn or a song which you cannot mean with your heart, don’t sing them! If the song is about joy, and for some reason you are filled with sadness, don’t sing words you don’t mean! Be honest with God! If the song expresses confession or repentance and you are not ready in your heart to confess or repent, don’t just sing words you don’t mean. If the song talks about a deep love for God and you are not in a place where you have that deep love for God, don’t sing it!
Think about the words you are singing! If God uses some words to speak to you, if a phrase or a line leaps out of the page at you, STOP SINGING and let those words speak to you until you are sure you have grasped what God is saying. Don’t lose the moment! Stay in the moment and hear God’s voice!!

6 Offer your own prayers
Just as we have to “own for ourselves” the words we sing, we also have to own the prayers as well. So as prayers are offered in a service, do add your AMEN if you agree with what has been prayed. But equally, let the led prayers be just the starting point for prayers you offer yourself. God is listening to your prayers from your heart just as much as he is listening to what the person at the front is saying. Do make the most of opportunities for personal prayer and times of silence in the service. Especially at the end of a service, it is good to take some moments for silent reflection and prayer before we begin to greet our neighbours. And I hope that if our neighbour is wishing to continue in prayer at the end of the service, even for a few minutes, we will always be sensitive and allow them to pray in peace.

7 Follow the reading and the sermon with an open Bible
I know I am getting old when I find myself saying, “in the good old days”. But one of the things I can’t help but see when I am preaching is what you the congregation are doing as I speak. And what I have noticed is how few people bring their own Bibles to church any more, and how few follow the Scripture reading either in the church Bibles in their own Bibles. Even fewer sit with open Bibles during the sermons. And nowadays it is almost unheard of for Christians to sit with notebooks jotting down the points of a sermon so they can think back and reflect later, which I always did before I was a minister. The higher the place Scripture has in our lives then the more we will hear God speaking through his Word.

8 Listen to God speaking to YOU through the sermon
Many people don’t hear God speaking to them through sermons very often. Lots of people habitually criticise preachers and sermons. They aren’t relevant enough. They aren’t well enough prepared. They aren’t deep enough. They aren’t inspiring enough. But while it is easy to blame the preacher, the reality is that the people who hear God speak through sermons are the people who expect Him to speak. They go with minds ready to listen. They go with hearts ready to obey.
People can become “sermon tasters”. Some people sit in judgement on the preacher, giving him or her marks out of ten for presentation and soundness and entertainment value. It is no wonder that such people can’t hear God speaking to them in sermons! If we really want to hear God speaking to us then we need to start with the assumption that the preacher is sound and resolve to listen and obey what is said, instead of waiting to criticise. Some people listen to sermons and ask, “did I enjoy that sermon?” or “was the preacher sound today”. Instead, they should be asking, “what is God saying to me today?” and “how does God want my life to be different?”

9 Talk about the sermon or about God at the end of the service
When many Christians come to chat at the end of service, God doesn’t get a mention! Of course, we care about other people. We want to hear what God has been doing in their lives, and to share what God has been doing in our lives too! We want to hear about the challenges they are facing so that we can pray for them. We could always pray for each other there and then and sometimes we do. There are so many aspects of our faith which we could talk to each other about – but very often, we don’t!
The Early Church in Acts 2 devoted themselves to “the fellowship”. The word simply means sharing together. And I guarantee that what those early Christians talked and shared with each other about whenever they met together was God! The apostles’ teaching! Answered prayers! So, here’s a challenge for us all after the service this morning. Talk about God. This summer’s heatwave and drought have been dramatic. But don’t chat about the weather. Talk about God. Talk about the sermon and what God has said to you through it today. Share with other people an answer to prayer you have received. Talk about the blessings God has poured upon you this past week.

10 Think back on the service in the week ahead
I often wonder what people remember of our Sunday Services the following week, or even the next day. It doesn’t worry or surprise me if people can’t remember months later every word of a sermon. But I do believe we would all get more benefit from our Sunday Services if we were to do one simple thing. Make a deliberate effort to look back on the service later in the week. Perhaps on our way to work on Monday morning, to pause and reflect on the Sunday sermon. Or later in the week in our daily prayer time to pray again for the topics which we prayed for on the Sunday. Bring to mind the topic of the sermon and read the Bible passage again. And here would be a novel idea – to look for an opportunity during the week to talk about the sermon with somebody. With a Christian friend who also heard it – or a friend who missed it that week for some reason. Or maybe even with a friend who isn’t a Christian. Share with them what God said to you from that Sunday service! If God blessed you on the Sunday, enjoy the blessing again later in the week!
“Worship is a dynamic confrontation with the living God.” We come to church to meet with God! So here again are 10 simple things we can all do which will help us meet with God as we worship!

“We were created to worship. Worship is the normal employment of spiritual beings. Worship is a moral imperative. Worship is the missing jewel of the evangelical church.”
A.W.Tozer wrote those words half a century ago but they are just as true today. Worship – the missing jewel of the church.
There are lots of things which are important to us Baptists. Sound Biblical teaching. Evangelism and the need for personal faith. Through history Baptists have always been committed to social action, bringing together truth and justice. And we have held to the centrality of the church members meeting. But Baptists are not necessarily very good at worship. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches are known for the majesty and mystery of their liturgies. The Quakers meet God in simplicity and silence. Worship gatherings in the Big Top at Spring Harvest or at Hillsongs in London are on a scale we rarely experience but these also have their shortcomings. Most Christians have moved a long way away from the powerful symbolism of worship in our Jewish roots. Tozer is right. Worship is the missing jewel of the church.
Jesus did not say very much about worship, but we have a great deal to learn from the little digression in his conversation with the woman at the well in John 4. And the first thing is this.
TRUE WORSHIP IS OUR RESPONSE TO GOD
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.
The initiative for worship does not come from human beings, but from God. God seeks our worship.
Worship is the destiny of all human beings. We were created to worship. The Westminster Catechism says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
And we are saved in order that we can worship God. 1 Peter 2 says this.
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
So like priests, all Christians are called to offer worship to God. Peter continues,
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

E.L.Mascall said, “Worship is rendering to God that of which He is worthy.” And God is indeed worthy of all our praise and worship. God is worthy because of who He is. Almighty, All-Knowing, Ever-Present, Eternal, Holy, Loving, Transcendent God.
And God is worthy of all our praise and worship because of everything He has done for us. God is Creator – He has made and He sustains all things. God gave us life. And God is our Saviour and our Redeemer. Through Jesus Christ He has given us new life, life in all its fullness, eternal life in our relationship with Himself, our heavenly Father.
On a human level, we respond with adoration and praise when we see something beautiful, either a great piece of art or a spectacular sunset. We naturally respond when we hear glorious music or powerful poetry – we don’t choose to respond: it just happens. Even more, God draws out of us a response of adoration and awe and wonder.
C.S.Lewis wrote, “God demands to be praised! Adoration is the correct, adequate, appropriate response. If we do not admire we will be stupid, insensible, great losers – we shall have missed something!”
We respond to God for who He is and for what He has done. He draws out of us praise and worship and thanksgiving and obedience and service.
Archbishop William Temple (1881-1944) wrote this
Worship is the submission of all our nature to God;
the sharpening of conscience by God’s holiness;
the feeding of mind with God’s truth;
the purifying of imagination by God’s beauty;
the opening of the heart to God’s love;
the surrender of will to God’s purpose
— and all of this gathered up in adoration,
the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.

So worship is our response to God, but not just to who God is and to all He has done for us in the past.
TRUE WORSHIP IS AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD IN THE PRESENT
John 4 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’ 21 ‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. …. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’
God is Spirit and God is everywhere. And God is especially present in His church when His children gather together.
Matthew 18 19 ‘Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.’
As we are gathered, Jesus is here.
Hebrews 10 19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings,
We meet together to draw near to God together.
Some more wise words from A.W.Tozer
“Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery … which we call Our Father Who Are in Heaven.”

Worship is an encounter with God. I wonder how much, if anything, you remember of our Family Service last week. Or what you will take home from this morning. Will you remember meeting with God?
If worship seems lifeless and dull that is not because we are singing the wrong hymns or that the prayers were boring and the sermon put you to sleep. Worship is only boring if we leave Jesus out. Some people make the mistake of judging worship by the programme we follow and forget that it is the presence of Jesus Christ which makes it true worship. “God is really among you!” (1 Corinthians 14:25)
The amusing story is told of a time of open prayer in a church when one speaker was full of praise and thanksgiving for all the blessings they had received at the wonderful service the previous week. The prayer went like this. “We had such a wonderful time of blessing last week, Lord. The band were on fire! The worship was heavenly, Lord. We learned so much, Lord. And the fellowship afterwards was the best ever! You really should have been here Lord, it was great!”
The proper test of time spent in worship will always be this. Did we really meet with God?
And when God is among his people, He is not merely a spectator. God is not simply watching and listening as we worship Him. He is here to speak to us, in the Bible reading and the prayers and the songs and the sermon and in the still small voice of calm speaking to every heart.
D.H.Tripp wrote, “Worship is an encounter with the Living God who BOTH speaks and hears us. Worship is a grateful conversation with Christ.”
True worship when God is in our midst with always be a dialogue – God speaking to and us responding to Him as He reveals Himself to us.

In his “Soul Survivor guide to worship” Mike Pilavachi puts it like this. Worship must be a performance FOR THE AUDIENCE OF ONE. We are “Created to worship, called to praise – playing to an audience of one.”
Worship focussed on God is not for our pleasure or blessing. Worship is not something we offer to each other for our benefit or glory. Worship is offered to Almighty God. So when we meet together as the church the whole congregation is part of the worship team. NONE are spectators. We are all participants. God is OUR audience of One, and we are all part of the band and part of the choir. We are not here to entertain or impress people, but to worship God. That seemingly self-defeating line in a song we sometimes sing actually points us to where we want to be in worship.
“So let’s forget about ourselves, and concentrate on Him and worship Him”
While we are worshipping God we should indeed focus our minds on Him – not on ourselves.
TRUE WORSHIP IS “WORSHIP IN THE SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH”
Worship in TRUTH. Our worship will always be based on God’s truth, as revealed in God written word the Scriptures and revealed in God’s Living Word the Lord Jesus Christ. Christian worship will always be rooted in Bible truth.
Paul’s letter to the Colossians gives us an idea of what worship used to be like in the Early Church.
Colossians 3 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Note the variety of ingredients in worship here: teaching, admonishing, singing psalms AND hymns AND spiritual songs, all expressing thanksgiving to God. And all these things as the Word of Christ dwells in us richly. If there is one big difference between worship in Baptist Churches like ours and worship in the Church of England, or indeed like Baptist Churches were when I first became a minister 30 years ago, it is how little we read the Bible in our services. We always start with a Bible verse, so that the first voice we hear is God’s voice from Scripture calling us to worship and everything which follows is our response to God’s call.
We do always have our Bible Reading, although I know there are many churches who do not have even one Bible Reading in their services any more. And my sermons will always be based on the Bible and usually quote a number of verses. But Anglicans will always have one reading from the Old Testament, one from the Letters and one from the Gospels, and often a Psalm as well. Perhaps we should read more from the Bible in our services too? Worship in truth.
But we also need WORSHIP IN THE SPIRIT
This means worship inspired and indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, who comes to make Jesus real to each one of us as we gather as His church. Worship in the Holy Spirit will involve the whole of our beings – not just our minds but also our hearts and our wills, our emotions and our feelings, our bodies and our spirits responding to God and inspired by the Holy Spirit. So our inward thoughts and our attitudes matter just as much as the things we say and do. If our hearts and our minds are not fixed on God then we are trapped in empty words and meaningless ritual.
That’s why it’s important to prepare ourselves for worship by prayer and repentance and by being reconciled to our brothers and sisters. The Spirit of God is the HOLY Spirit. Only those with clean hands and a pure heart can ascend the hill of the Lord to meet with God. So true worship in the Spirit will proceed from inner attitudes of humility and penitence and sincerity and faith and self-giving. Only then can we properly forget about ourselves and concentrate on Him and worship God alone. When we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit there is no limit to what God can do when we meet with Him.
God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ (John 4:24)
We need both the truth of God’s Word and the movement of God the Holy Spirit. The great evangelist David Watson was one of the leaders of the Charismatic Movement in 1970s and 1980s. David Watson said that we need both the word of truth and the Spirit of God.
“Word without Spirit and we DRY up. Spirit without Word and we BLOW up. Word AND SPIRIT we GROW up.” We need both!
In the words of his song, Matt Redman got it right.
WHEN THE MUSIC FADES, all is stripped away, And I simply come;
Longing just to bring something that’s of worth That will bless Your heart.

I’ll bring You more than a song, for a song in itself Is not what You have required.
You search much deeper within Through the way things appear; You’re looking into my heart.

I’m coming back to the heart of worship,
And it’s all about You, All about You, Jesus.
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it,
When it’s all about You, All about You, Jesus.

True worship will always be our response to God and at the same time an encounter with God. True worship will always be focussed on the presence of God based on the TRUTH of the Bible and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
A time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’
May the precious jewel of worship never be missing from our lives or from our church!

Have you noticed how every other book in bookshops nowadays is a “How to…” book? One time Ruth was buying a book on “How to make world-record-breaking paper aeroplanes.” The couple before us in the queue were buying books called “Espresso – How to set up a successful coffee shop” and “How to run a bed and breakfast in your own home”. I was reminded of the student who once bought a book entitled “How to Hug” only to be incredibly disappointed when he discovered it was only volume 12 in a 37 volume set of encyclopaedias.

Our theme this week is “How to worship”. Just how do we worship in Spirit and in Truth? We turn to the story of Martha and Mary because I believe it speaks not only about the whole of life but it also applies specifically to our times of worship together.

Martha was busying welcoming Jesus. Mary just sat at Jesus’ feet. And rightly so! When friends visit you, they don’t expect you to spend all your time in the kitchen cooking for them. They just want to sit and talk with you and spend time together. The passage tells us that Martha was distracted but Mary was focussed. Martha was worried and troubled. Mary was contented. Martha was serving but Mary was worshipping. Are you a Martha or a Mary? Are you busy, busy, busy? Or are you sitting at Jesus’ feet?

We live in a busy world! We are made to feel guilty if we aren’t constantly “doing something.” People expect us to be busy, even overworked. It’s almost a status symbol – “if we’re busy, we’re important; if we’re not busy, we’re lazy.” That kind of busyness led Martha to tension and frustration. That’s what happens when we are consumed with the wrong tasks or trying to cram too many of the right activities into too little time. Martha had a priceless opportunity to sit at Jesus’ feet. But she couldn’t spare Jesus the time. She wanted to be with Jesus. But she allowed herself to get distracted. Her preoccupation with offering hospitality distracted her from what was more important. Martha became stressed and worried. So she became critical of Mary for not doing her share.
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.” Martha just got her priorities wrong.

Notice that Jesus didn’t condemn Martha for doing the things that needed to be done. But he did tell her off for presuming that what Mary was doing was wrong. Jesus says that Mary “had chosen what is better.” Mary and Martha each loved Jesus just as much, but Martha didn’t realise that in her desire to serve Jesus, she was actually neglecting him. She was so busy at doing things FOR Him, that she had no time to spend WITH him. There are so many Marthas in the world. If we spend so much time doing things for Jesus, but never spend time getting to know him, then we are making Martha’s mistake.

In contrast, Mary had her priorities right. She did know that Jesus would need to served, but she got things in the right order. She spent time talking to Jesus showing her love for Him. A.W.Tozer was absolutely right. “God created us to be worshippers first and workers second!!!”

This story of Martha and Mary gives us all a vital reminder of the importance of prayer and worship – of making time to be with God and sitting at Jesus’s feet! We need to get the balance of our lives right between work and prayer. The ultimate tragedy of a life which is too busy is the tragedy that Martha faced. Offered the opportunity to sit at Jesus’ feet, busy people can’t spare Jesus any time. It is hard because we live in a Martha world. But we all need times to just stop and be quiet and be still, and rest in the presence of the Lord. It is good for ourselves, good for our relationship with others and good for our relationship with God. Mary had her priorities right!

But this story also has something very important to say about our times of worship. Because the tragic truth is that, even when we are at church, even when we come to worship, we can be distracted like Martha was instead of focussed on Jesus like Mary was. I came across a very challenging piece this week entitled “The Danger of Being AT Church but Not IN Church” The problems of being at a church service but not participating properly in what is happening because your mind or your heart are somewhere else. Has that ever happened to you? Is that happening to you this morning? “The Danger of Being AT Church but Not IN Church”

“How to worship”? Let me offer you the three points found in the second verse of song 579. “So forget about yourself, concentrate on Him and worship Him.”

Forget about yourself

The things Martha was doing were NOT wrong. But they were distracting her. She was missing the opportunity to be in the presence of Jesus.

When we come to worship we need to focus on Jesus. To do that we need to put to one side all the other things in life which occupy our thoughts or worry us. Very deliberately we need to choose to forget those things! To ignore those things. That will require a conscious effort and it may be hard work. But then I believe there is something else we need to work hard to forget about.

We said two weeks ago that our worship is meant to be joyful! Full of joy! Our worship is not just allowed to be joyful. Our worship is supposed to be joyful! In the Bible worship is vibrant and vigorous and exuberant and expressive and exhilarating! No chorus or hymn is too loud, no band or orchestra too large, for praising Almighty God! In the Bible, worship and praise are expressed in many different ways: bowing down; clapping; dancing; kneeling; leaping; lifting hands; playing musical instruments; shouting; silence; singing; standing; not to mention bringing offerings and making sacrifices. We only use a small fraction of this vast repertoire. Sometimes our worship is not joyful because we don’t have much joy in our hearts. But perhaps the biggest reason why many of us are inhibited in our worship is that we feel held back by the people around us. What will they think? What will they say? We don’t dare express the joy we feel because we are self-conscious. That’s why many people find it much easier to worship in the Big Top at Spring Harvest or at Leading Edge or at Soul Survivor where we are surrounded by strangers (and incidentally it’s often quite dark as well!)

That’s why our first point in “How to Worship” needs to be Forget about yourself which also means – forget about the people around you. Forget about your inhibitions. As we worship we must learn to shut out the other people around us and focus on God alone. Give God the whole of our attention. Forget about being self-conscious!

Forget about ourselves. Forget about each other. When we can do that we will be set free from worrying about what people around us think about what we are saying or doing. What God thinks is all that matters. Forget about yourself –

Concentrate on Him

“She has chosen what is better” Mary got it right. She was giving Jesus her sole attention, even if it meant that other things were neglected for a while. Mary wasn’t even going to be put off by Martha’s complaints!

In the New Living Translation, Jesus says, “There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it – and I wont take it away from her.” That’s what true worship is like! That’s what is it like to be in presence of the Lord Like Mary. You forget everything else that is around you!

Remember the old chorus? “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of Hs glory and grace.”
So we need to concentrate on Him.

The atmosphere a big football match or rugby match is tremendous. The crowds shouting and singing and cheering on the team, every person completely oblivious to what the other people around them might think of them – and that’s great! So are concerts, pop or classical! People sometimes compare worship to a big sports match or a concert. But they sometimes make the wrong comparison. Because when we worship we aren’t the cheering crowds getting carried away! We are not the spectators. We are the performers. We are the players on the pitch. We are the orchestra. We are the band. We are the choir.

Worship is an ACTIVE verb. It is not something done TO us or FOR us, but BY us.
Whether you are playing a match or singing in a choir you have to learn to shut out the spectators and be totally focussed on what you are doing, the shot you are taking, the notes you are playing or singing. You have to concentrate!

Church worship is a performance – but as Mike Pilavachi’s Soul Survivor guide to worship reminds us, worship must be a performance FOR THE AUDIENCE OF ONE.
Worship is for God’s benefit! Not for ours! We are “Created to worship, called to praise – playing to an audience of one.” Our true audience is God and no one else. And the whole congregation is part of the worship team – not just spectators! God is OUR audience of One, and we are all part of the band. Leaders and musicians and congregation join together to offer worship for the audience of One. We are not here to entertain or impress people, but to worship God. So we need to concentrate on Him. Nothing must be allowed to become more important than God when the church gathers for worship.

There are some things in life worth giving your best for! Our Olympic athletes have been training for years in the hope that next year they will win a medal as they give their best. The more important the competition, the harder you try. We encourage our teenagers and students to give their best in exams and conscience demands that we give our best in our jobs. Musicians aim to give the best performance they possibly can. We preachers all aim to give our best! Worship should be no different! Our capacity for worship is not determined by natural talent, or skills, or training or experience. Every single one of us can worship God well or badly simply by whether we give our best or not! And in worship God deserves our best! Not second best. Not a half-hearted effort! But our very best!! So forget about yourself, concentrate on Him, and just

Worship Him

In our story we see Mary sitting at Jesus’s feet, being in His presence. This is the start of worship. That was not a burden for Mary – it was a delight! It was a joy!

Worship is our response to God. We saw two weeks ago that we should sing a new song to the Lord – a fresh response to a fresh experience of God! As we worship we are adding our voices to the saints around the world and the angels in heaven and the whole of creation praising God.
100:1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
One way to worship is to move through a progression. We begin with THANKSGIVING, rejoicing in all God’s blessings to us. We move on to PRAISING God for His mighty acts of Salvation. Finally we come to ADORATION, rejoicing in Who God is in Himself.

We can start with THANKSGIVING – for all God’s blessings to us.

Psalm 103 1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

We should give thanks for God’s blessings given to everyone, and we also should give thanks for God’s blessings to ME individually. Thank God for food and drink and family and friends. for answered prayers. for the hope of heaven. for the Bible and the fellowship of the church. for His peace and protection. for the wonderful joy He gives us. for His guidance and strengthening.
92:4 .. you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the work of your hands.

We give thanks. Then we can move on to PRAISE – for God’s mighty acts of salvation. Looking beyond ourselves to what God has done for others. The Psalms speak of praise 233 times – the rest of the Bible as many times again! Since we are going to spend eternity praising God we may as well start practising now! Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise! (Psa 48:1)

We give God our praise for all he Has done for us
Psalms 117:1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. 2 For great is his love towards us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD.

Praise God for the BIRTH of Jesus; for the TEACHING of Jesus; for the MIRACLES of Jesus; for Jesus’s SUFFERING and TRIALS; for Jesus’s DEATH on the CROSS; for Jesus’s glorious RESURRECTION ; for the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT;

Psalm 96: 2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.
Our THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE finally lead us on to ADORATION – of God for who He is within Himself The focus is on God alone! Richard Forster says, “When I give thanks my thoughts still circle around myself to some extent. But then my soul ascends to self-forgetting adoration, seeing and praising only the majesty and power of God, His grace and redemption.” So rejoice in Who God is within Himself – the beauty of the Blessed Holy Trinity.

God is worthy of our adoration for His LOVE; for His FAITHFULNESS; for His ALMIGHTY POWER; for His COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE; for His HOLINESS; for His GRACE and FORGIVENESS; for His PRESENCE everywhere. Praise God because He is our CREATOR Praise God our LIBERATOR Praise God our LORD Praise God our REDEEMER Praise God the JUDGE Praise God our FATHER!
Psa 145:3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no-one can fathom.

As C.S. Lewis says, “We praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.”

Psa 96:6 Splendour and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
9 Worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness;
145:7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

Thanksgiving, praise and adoration. A.W.Tozer said “We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.” In our worship on earth now we are preparing ourselves for heaven where we will be eternally preoccupied with God. But in worship we can so easily be distracted by other things. “There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it – and I wont take it away from her.” Martha got her priorities wrong. Mary chose what was better. At least for this hour of worship we need to choose what is better, the only thing worth being concerned about! So forget about yourself, concentrate on Him, and worship Him.

An oxymoron is a self-contradicting phrase. A phrase where the words just don’t fit together. Phrases like white chocolate, jumbo shrimp, plastic silverware, truthful tabloids, professional wrestling. My favourite, especially with the new film of superspy Johnny English, is probably “British Intelligence”

But here’s another oxymoron, another self-contradictory phrase: “boring worship.”
I realise that a church service can seem dull, especially to somebody who is not a Christian. But true worship is anything but boring. The very nature of true worship would never allow us to be bored. If we do find worship boring sometimes, then I dare to suggest we are doing it wrong. And by we, I don’t mean the worship leader. I don’t mean the musicians. I don’t mean the preacher. I mean all of us, we the worshippers, we must be doing something wrong somewhere if we find worshipping God boring.

So this morning we are going to learn about worship. Listen very carefully, because afterwards we are going to have an opportunity to practise what has been preached!

Psalm 96 teaches us so much about worship:-
Who should be worshipped? God! God is mentioned in every verse except 11& 12.
Why should we worship? In verse 2, because God has saved us; in verse 4, because of His greatness and because He is to be feared! in verse 5 because of His power; in verse 6, because of His splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty; and in verse 13, because God is righteous and true and He is coming to judge.
Where are we to worship? We are to worship the Lord among the nations (verse 3); in His sanctuary (verse 6), and in His courts (verse 8).
When are we to worship? Verse 2 calls us to sing and proclaim His salvation day after day, every day!
How should we worship? With music (verse 1); with proclamation (verse 2); by giving Him glory (verse 8); by bringing an offering (verse 8); by coming into His courts (verse 8); by living holy lives (verse 9); and by witnessing for Him (verse 10).

When we think about HOW we should worship, there are two vitally important things I want us all to get hold of today:- The first point is this.

1. WORSHIP IS OUR RESPONSE TO GOD

The word worship means to “fall on your face or to bow down”. It is found more than 170 times in the Bible. Worship is the proper response of human beings to Almighty God.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

God has chosen us and called us so that we will be able to praise Him for the wonderful salvation He has given us! Worship is our RESPONSE to God. The Wise Men worshipped the Christ Child for who He is – King and Lord of all. When He calmed the storm, the disciples worshipped Jesus for who He is and what He had done. (Matt 14:33) Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” When the Risen Christ appeared to them, those same disciples worshipped Him even though some of them still had doubts and questions. Paul tells the Corinthians that in their worship, (1 Cor 12:24f) if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25 and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” In other words, even somebody who is not a Christian will be brought to a place of worship when they are confronted with the presence of the Living God. Romans 12:1 tells us that worship is our response to God, not just for an hour a week when we meet together, but all day every day. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Worship, in view of God’s mercy! So our worship is our proper response to the amazing God He is and all the amazing things God has done for us. Our proper response comes in singing and praising God!

Psalm 96:1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.

Sing a “new song” to the Lord! This can mean something “brand new”. It can also mean something which is new because it is fresh. Whether we are singing songs we have known for years, or learning new hymns and choruses and praise songs, we should sing all of them from our hearts as “new songs”.

I really enjoy the topical news quiz, “Have I got news for you”. The way the contestants find humour in current affairs is hilarious. They show repeats of old programs with news from a couple of years ago and call it “Have I got OLD news for you”. Somehow it isn’t nearly as funny. It’s not up to date. It’s not relevant. That’s why just about the only thing that doesn’t get endless repeats on television is old news bulletins. Nobody wants to hear the old news – there’s another oxymoron – “old news.”

Sometimes the reason we find worship difficult is that there isn’t any “new news” in our Christian experience. If it’s been a long time since we’ve experienced God doing anything new and fresh in our lives then it’s very hard to sing a new song to the Lord. Sometimes that’s why we get bored! It’s all old news. No new songs to sing! Martin Luther said, “Christ is now as fresh unto me as if He had shed His blood but this very hour.” When we walk with God daily and experience Him in new ways we won’t be able to stop ourselves breaking out into joyful praise and new songs. Fresh outbursts of rejoicing and reverence are important to God and helpful to us.

But worship must be centred on God. God doesn’t want us just to get emotional or sing loudly for our own sake. Our focus should not be on how worship makes us feel. Our worship must be centered on God alone. David danced and shouted, but he did it “before the Lord.” We need to make sure our music is centred on Christ. Instead of singing about how happy we are to be together worshipping God, the Psalms call us to sing directly to God. To worship is to engage our body, soul and spirit, complete with all our emotions, in a total preoccupation with God who is the Rock of our salvation. … On to my second point –

2. WORSHIP SHOULD BE JOYFUL

It is important that we remain respectful and reverent in our worship. We must never forget that we are worshipping the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are worshipping God who is Almighty, Every Present, All-Seeing and All-Knowing. We are worshipping our Creator and our Sustainer and our Redeemer. So our worship must remain reverent.

But Bible worship is not only reverent. In the Bible reverence is the second most important characteristic of worship. The first most important characteristic is JOY. Rejoicing! Celebrating! There are 579 references in the Bible to joy and rejoicing and being joyful and glad and happy. And 142 of these, one whole quarter, come in just one book – the book of Psalms – the prayer book of Jews and Christians for 3000 years.

Psalm 96:11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; 12 let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy!

Message translation: “Let’s hear it from the Sky with the Earth joining in, and a huge round of applause from the Sea! Let the Wilderness urn cartwheels and the animals come dance. Put every tree in the forest in the choir!”

Our worship is meant to be joyful! Full of joy! Worship is not meant to be private or silent. We sometimes worship God in our heart or even sing quietly, when God is longing for us to sing out to Him. In the Bible worship is vibrant and vigorous. We are to participate with joyful, grateful praise and to be exuberant in our worship. Someone has said that the characteristic note of Old Testament worship is exhilaration. No chorus or hymn is too loud, no band or orchestra too large, for praising the Lord of Hosts!

There are many reasons why our worship is not as vibrant and vigorous as the worship we see in the Old Testament, or in other places around the world today. Maybe it’s a cultural thing. Maybe we’ve just gotten into a rut. Maybe were just not very expressive in general. Or, maybe it’s because we don’t have much joy in our hearts. Whatever the reasons, the Psalms challenge us all to become much more exuberant and expressive in our worship.

Our worship is not just allowed to be joyful. Our worship is supposed to be joyful!

118:24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
32:11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
28:7 My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
33:1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
33:3 Sing to him a new song; play skilfully, and shout for joy.
47:1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
47:5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.
100:1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
98:4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;

Our worship is not just allowed to be joyful. Our worship is supposed to be joyful! In so many places the Psalms show us at least three reasons to be joyful.

1. WE REJOICE IN ALL GOD’S BLESSINGS TO US

God is worthy to be praised! And our praise should be joyful!

Ps 5:11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.
126:3 The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
92:4 .. you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the work of your hands.
30:11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with
joy,
31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
70:4 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
.

2. WE REJOICE IN GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS OF SALVATION

Psalm 96: 2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

God our Saviour is worthy to be praised! And our praise should be joyful!

71:23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you- I, whom you have redeemed.
95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
35:9 My soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.
105:43 He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
68:3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

3. WE REJOICE IN WHO GOD IS IN HIMSELF

Some people call this praise. Other people make a distinction between praising God for what He has done and adoring God for who He is within Himself.

Psa 96:4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
6 Splendour and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.
10 ¶ Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.

God is great and splendid and majestic and strong and glorious. God is holy and righteous and just. God reigns! God is worthy to be praised!

9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
145:7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
67:4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the
nations of the earth.
90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
21:6 Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your
presence.

C.S. Lewis says, “We praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.”
If it were possible for a created soul fully to ‘appreciate,’ that is, to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme blessedness. To praise God fully we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God, drowned in, dissolved by that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves as incommunicable bliss, flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression. Our joy is no more separable from the praise in which it liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable from the brightness it sheds.

So – worship is our response to God. We should sing a new song to the Lord – a fresh response to a fresh experience of God! And that worship should be joyful!

1. WE REJOICE IN ALL GOD’S BLESSINGS TO US
2. WE REJOICE IN GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS OF SALVATION
3. WE REJOICE IN WHO GOD IS IN HIMSELF

Our worship is not just allowed to be joyful. Our worship is supposed to be joyful!

I read once about a Christian conference where people were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. All during the service balloons were going up, but when the service was over, 1/3 of the people were still holding on to their balloons!

This morning, let US Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.