Key Scriptures: Hebrews 13:15-16
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
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Lesson one: Our Worship is a response.
• Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God—for who he is and what he has done. Expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.
Psalm 100:1-5, Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.
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Lesson Two: Worship is what we were created to do.
• When we fail to worship God, we don’t stop being worshipers—we just worship other things
Exodus 32:1-6, When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
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Lesson Three: Our worship is a witness to the world.
• Our worship of God will either affirm or contradict our message about God
The central paradigm of this book is that our worship of God either affirms or contradicts our message about God. Unbelievers (including those who are churched and unchurched) will draw lasting conclusions about the veracity and uniqueness of our God based on what they see or do not see happening in our weekly church services. Sally Morgenthaler, Worship Evangelism