Having challenged the focus (obsession?) many Christians have on church buildings 2 weeks ago, the question of the priority activity that we do in those buildings seems a good follow-up.
So, what is true worship? Micah has one idea. Following Micah's lead in 6:8 - do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God - we see Jesus issuing orders to his disciples, and it wasn't 'go to church on Sunday.'
Like church sanctuaries, worship services are another form of identity for churches. Worship services are the first thing most new congregations organize. Worship service attendance is seen as the barometer for a church's health. But is this what God is seeking from us? Is this, with our overwhelming preoccupation with worship, the work of faithfulness? Is this the main witness to the Kingdom of new life and a genuine reflection of God's will?
Reading the prophet Micah from 6:1, we hear God bringing charges against his ungrateful and sinful people.
Then there is an answer from God's people (vss. 6-7). With a snippy attitude, God's charges are met with a rhetorical question: With what shall I come before the Lord? It is followed by an progressively sarcastic, even caustic series of answers.
The response to this ugly retort is in vs. 8: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
When we look for Jesus' instructions on worship, we realize that he actually has little to none. We don't find him saying to his disciples that attending worship services in a building should be your priority. But Jesus does seem to reflect the words of Micah 6:8 when he sets his disciples on a priority task in Matthew 10: 5-10. It isn't worship.
Find out how you're expected to work miracles, lot and lots of miracles. Yes, you. Check out the sermon video below and the downloads below the video panel.
So, what is true worship? Micah has one idea. Following Micah's lead in 6:8 - do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God - we see Jesus issuing orders to his disciples, and it wasn't 'go to church on Sunday.'
Like church sanctuaries, worship services are another form of identity for churches. Worship services are the first thing most new congregations organize. Worship service attendance is seen as the barometer for a church's health. But is this what God is seeking from us? Is this, with our overwhelming preoccupation with worship, the work of faithfulness? Is this the main witness to the Kingdom of new life and a genuine reflection of God's will?
Reading the prophet Micah from 6:1, we hear God bringing charges against his ungrateful and sinful people.
Then there is an answer from God's people (vss. 6-7). With a snippy attitude, God's charges are met with a rhetorical question: With what shall I come before the Lord? It is followed by an progressively sarcastic, even caustic series of answers.
The response to this ugly retort is in vs. 8: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
When we look for Jesus' instructions on worship, we realize that he actually has little to none. We don't find him saying to his disciples that attending worship services in a building should be your priority. But Jesus does seem to reflect the words of Micah 6:8 when he sets his disciples on a priority task in Matthew 10: 5-10. It isn't worship.
Find out how you're expected to work miracles, lot and lots of miracles. Yes, you. Check out the sermon video below and the downloads below the video panel.
| 08-02-15-ff-answers.pdf |
| 08-02-15-true_worship.pdf |