DISCIPLING EACH OTHER IN WORSHIP

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

 

We were all created in the image of God, but Christians have received an even higher calling. They are God’s workmanship. Christians are “recreated” or “reborn” if you will, for a special purpose. This purpose is to do good works and deeds as His children, servants and worshipers. These works involve glorifying God in our body, honoring God with our actions and offering worship to God with our very lives. God expects us to live according to this calling because He has prepared for us to follow this righteous path. Part of God’s preparation involves discipling one another in our worship experience.

 

We accomplish this discipleship in worship in several ways. Worship leaders seek to involve those who have both a natural talent related to worship and a heart that desires to minister to others. These leaders are constantly looking for how to involve other Christians in the ministry of worship so that they can express both their spiritual and natural gifts as a benefit to the Body of Christ. The worship leader seeks God’s vision and direction for how worship is to be done and in what manner it is to be expressed that will bring the most glory of our magnificent and glorious God. The worship leader disciples the members of the worship team directly and the congregation indirectly as he fulfills his responsibilities.

 

Those who serve in choirs, bands, drama groups and dance teams, encourage each other in their skills and in the blending of their talents to bring a worship offering to God. This gift to God of a worship service also requires involving the congregation so that they can participate in the praise offering to the God. Support and encouragement within any worship team is crucial to ministering not only to the Body, but also each other on an individual basis. Members of the worship team disciple each other directly and the congregation indirectly.

 

The corporate Body of Believers express the continuation of their walk with the Lord through the week as well as during the worship service. They offer their gift of praise and worship during the worship service to their Lord and King. Congregational worship services are a privileged experience. They are holy moments when the Holy Spirit speaks through song, prayer, body posture, movements and gestures, as well as facial expressions. Participating in a congregational worship service is the most private, and the most public form of honoring our Heavenly Father. Members of the congregation are discipled by the Holy Spirit as they offer praises, yet there is a mutual discipling with each person present which takes place as well. The worship leader leads, the band and choir provide the music and song and the congregation follow as this mutually discipling experience takes place. While we are offering worship and praise to our Savior, we are also discipling each other in the most holy practice of giving honor to our God.

 

May we continue to seek all manner of encouragement and avenues for discipling each other in the practice of praise and worship. We minister to each other in this way to encourage spiritual growth, to foster a desire to live out our faith in our daily lives, to strengthen our commitment to the Lord God that will develop intimate marriages and families as well as friendships among the Body of Christ.

 

Hebrews 10:23-25

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

 

Consider below some quotes from pastors (both past and present) regarding the importance of congregational worship.

 

“Public worship occurs when the people of God assemble for the express purpose of giving to the Lord the glory due His name and enjoying the joy of His promised special presence with His own people.”

Ligon Duncan (Christian Author)

 

 “In public worship all should join. The little strings go to make up a concert, as well as the great.” Thomas Goodwin (Christian Author)

 

“As secret worship is better the more secret it is, so public worship is better the more public it is.” Matthew Henry (Christian Author)

 

Finally a few pieces of advice…

 

“On Sundays God wants us to do more than sing songs together and have wonderful worship experiences. He wants to knit the fabric of our lives together. For many, church has become all about me – what I’m learning, what I’m seeking, what I’m desperate for, what I  need, how I’ve been affected, what I can do. We see ourselves as isolated individuals all seeking personal encounters with God, wherever we can find them. Sadly, this reflects our individualistic, me-obsessed culture. Rather than seeing ourselves as part of a worship community, we become worship consumers. We want worship on demand, served up in our own time, and with our own music.” Bob Kauflin (Director of Sovereign Grace Music)

 

“In the process of striving to fulfill our needs and satisfy our desires, the church has slipped into a philosophy of “Christian humanism” that is flawed with self-love, self-esteem, self-fulfillment, and self-glory. There appears to be scant concern about worshiping our glorious God on His terms. So-called worship seems little more than some liturgy (high or low) equated with stained-glass windows, organ music, or emotion-filled songs and prayers. If the bulletin didn’t say “Worship Service,” maybe we wouldn’t know what we were supposed to be doing. And that reflects the absence of a worshiping life- of which a Sunday service is to be only a corporate overflow.” Pastor John MacArthur in “The Ultimate Priority”, Moody Press 1983, p. viii.

 

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him, than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”

C.S. Lewis