(John 4:24) God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
Sunday service is not about going to hear gracious praise or a gracious sermon, but about going “to worship.”
What is worship? Worship is the act of giving glory to God with our voice and heart. In this definition, it should be noted that worship is an act that glorifies God. Worship means “doing something special” when we come before God, when we consciously worship Him from our hearts, when we praise Him with our voices and speak of Him for others to hear.
Paul advised the Colossian believers, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.(Colossians 3:16).”
Let’s apply it to Sunday Service. Usually, Sunday service are conducted in the following order: prayer and praise, Intercessory(representative) prayer, opening song, sermon, offering, closing song, and benediction.
When comparing a Sunday service to a movie, many people think of the preacher as the main actor, the worship leader or Intercessory prayer leader as a supporting actor, and congregation as minor actors. Some even think of the role of congregation as spectator(audience) rather than actors.
The church is said to be the body of Christ. Sometimes we participate in worship as a preacher, sometimes as a praise leader, sometimes as a Intercessory prayer leader, and sometimes as congregation, but we worship as one body baptized by the one Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) Before Christ, we are all children of God and main actor. Meeting the Lord is meeting one on one. Let’s not just watch others meet the Lord. I hope that you will participate in the worship with the attitude that you are the main actor. That is the attitude of a true worshiper.
Every order of Sunday service must be a time for me to worship the Lord. When you pray before worship, do not listen to others’ prayers, but pray your own. When you praise, do not listen to the praise of the person next to you, but praise the grace and love that has been poured upon you. When a preacher testifies of the Lord’s love through a sermon, let his testimony become my testimony and his confession my confession with Amen. When you give an offering, try to give back at least a little of what you received. He will pour it out bigger. When he gives a benediction, say “Amen” to be blessed.
Additionally, the praise or offerings sung during Sunday service should not be considered as offerings made during the Old Testament sacrifices. This is because it can easily flow into a belief in human merit. Since Jesus Christ has already forgiven our sins with a single sacrifice of his body, there is no need for us to sacrifice again for our sins. (Hebrews 10:10-18) Therefore, so all we can do is give thanks and praise Him for His atoning love by offering His body as a sacrifice. At every order of service, let us remember the love of the Lord and become a worshiper who continuously confesses with Amen that that love is true and gives thanks.
Just as in Revelation the four living creatures praised the Lord with their whole bodies day and night without ceasing (Revelation 4:8), let us become worshipers who are thankful for the Lord’s love at every moment of worship. That would be worshiping in spirit and truth.