God did not design us to live alone. We are all created for community. We are stronger when we are living with others and not trying to do life alone. This is especially true for believers. We need other believers around us to encourage, teach, pray, and worship with us. Our decision to follow Jesus is an awesome event but it is just the start of a journey and not one to be kept to ourselves.

The Bible is also clear that we are made to worship and adore God. However, worship is easily misunderstood. Worship does not begin and end with the singing portion of our church services. Worship is also not limited to bowing in reverence before God. When we look at scripture, we see several concepts that factor into true worship.

True biblical worship must be reverent as we must understand who is being worshiped. God is holy, just, perfect, powerful, loving, etc. We are sinners saved by grace coming before a holy God because of our Redeemer – Jesus. Worship also must be “in truth,” that is, our worship must be properly informed by God’s Word.  We need to have accurate knowledge of God to worship Him as He is revealed in Scripture.

We must also know that God sees our heart and motivation. Worship is not as much about how we feel or being prideful of our relationship with God. We revere, honor, and adore God because of who He is and how He loves us.

Lastly, worship should produce a change of heart. The true worshiper will have an ever greater desire to love and obey the Lord. Worship should propel us into greater obedience and love for others. Worship is to be more than a temporary, experience-oriented activity on Sunday, after which we revert to a “normal” life the rest of the week. True worship is constant, inner praise to the God of Scripture, expressed in prayer, in song, in service, in giving, and in living.

When we are in community and worshipping like this, we are better able to live for Christ and share what that means and looks like with someone just coming to faith.  Romans 12:1 reads, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

This type of true worship builds our faith and impacts every area of our lives. We begin to appreciate the truth that our lives are not our own. They’ve been purchased with a price.  And as we surrender to the fact that we are living sacrifices, our worship leads us to tell others about Him.

True worship and fellowship work together and rejoice together. They move us in unity towards a single purpose of making God known in all ways possible in and through us.