What is the act of Worship?

[Billy Gomban Jr.]

Here is something I received from Joce Sao who has come to support the EBC Worship Team many times.  I thought that everyone would benefit from this..

hey everyone...these words were an encouragement for me as i am hoping it will be yours as well...read it...take time...and savor it....love you all!!! the following is an excerpt from the book "the worship answer book" by rick muchow:

What is an act of worship?

In the Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren called surrender the heart of worship. "True worship--bringing God pleasure--happens when you give yourself completely to God," he said.  I agree.  Although actions can be a part of worship, it has much more to do with your perspective than what you are actually doing.  First, anything you do--that you've surrendered to his truth--can be an act of worship.  That means anything from sharing your faith to playing with your children to enjoying your favorite movie can be an act of worship if you are living in total surrender to God.  

Music can be an act of worship--but it doesn't have to be.  When we roll into church on Sunday morning and sing a song just to check off another item on our to-do-list, that's not worship.  It's just singing.  On the other hand, taking a nap--when we've surrendered control over all of the unmanageable events of life, when we've relaxed into the all-powerful hands of our Lord--can be a powerful statement of worship, particularly in a world that constantly relates busyness to value.  Further, obedience is an act of worship.  One of the Hebrew words for "worship" is abad,  which refers to working or serving as when a slave serves master.  Worship in scripture tied closely to that concept.  

To worship God is to do what he asks of us.  Yet unlike slaves, we serve our Master out of gratitude and love.Finally, surrender is an act of worship.  It's worship when we surrneder our own misguided ideas about our purpose and instead accept God's vision of what we were made for, including God's four other eternal purposes for our life:  fellowship, spiritual maturity, ministry, and evangelism.  Worship is the beginning, middle, and the culmination(the superior point) of the purpose--driven life.  When we surrender our lives to the care of our spiritual family, the Church, when we make decisions that reveal how we are becoming more like Jesus, when we use our S.H.A.P.E.--Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences--to serve others, and when we tell others what God has done in our lives we are worshiping.Want to worship God?  

Live your life as God intended you to live it.  Give up your plan and accept his.  That means giving to God the ultimate act of worship--the surrender of your life to his purposes (Romans12:1). its late...my household asleep...i hope your well as you read this...its another weekend to give our christ the praises that's due him...so let's stand together and worship!!!!

joce

Thanks Joce....