Worship, Part 2 of 3

   In worship we have the opportunity to live out the JOY of being disciples, followers, of Jesus Christ.  He is the resurrected and living LORD.  Fully human and fully God, now ascended into heaven and sitting at the right hand of God the Father.  That same power the raised Jesus from the dead--that made the blind to see, the lame to walk, that set the captives free--is at work in our lives in our worship of God.  

We forget that JOY when we feel pressure to pursue the status quo in worship.   When we bring our expectations of what we did last time and expect it to be the same this time.  When we worry about the questions that are secondary to our primary call we lose the JOY of worship.  

Questions like:
Are we going to sing the songs I want to sing?
Am I going to hear something that I want to hear?
Am I going to get “fed” today?
Is it going to finish when I want it to be over?
Are we going to say the things I want to say?

These questions focus too much on the "what" of worship.  Experiencing the JOY of worship is the "how."  The main thing is not necessarily WHAT we do in worship, but HOW we worship.  Christian worship never compromises the focus of Jesus Christ and the work that He did on the Cross.  As the Only Son of God, He makes the way for us to know God.  We do so today by the power of the Holy Spirit.  That is a JOYOUS thing!  Are you ready to experience that JOY?

We experience the JOY of worship when we engage fully.  We must participate with our entire being: heart, mind, body, and soul.  Remember that JOY is different than mere happiness.  Happiness is contingent upon our immediate circumstances.  JOY is an attitude.  We may not feel JOY when we come into worship.  But through our worship, we experience a JOY that is like no other--the JOY of the LORD.  We do so not for our sake, but for His.  Take the Psalms for an example of the JOY in worship. The Psalms were and still are often used in Worship.  The word “rejoice” appears no less than 55 times in the Psalms.  When we worship the LORD in Spirit and Truth we can do nothing but experience His JOY for His sake.