Created for Him...A Worshiper! Takin' it Deeper
Psalm 148
Praise the Name of the LORD
"Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the LORD!"
Psalm 149
Sing to the LORD a New Song
"Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly! Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the LORD!"
Psalm 150
Let Everything Praise the LORD
"Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!"
Later in his book "The Air I Breathe" Louie Giglio defines worship this way:
"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." "In a nutshell, it's saying true worship is a whole-life response to God's greatness and glory."
He says, "Practically speaking, worship is always a verb. Worship is something you do."
Just reread the three Psalms above, but substitute the word Praise with Worship. Worship is an action...it is something that we do!
We live in a culture that is spectator oriented...we watch things! Look at how most churches are set up! All the seats pointing toward a stage (not that it is bad), all the lights in the same direction! As soon as we walk into the sanctuary everything is focused in one direction...the stage! It puts us into this watching mode of our culture.
"Worship is a participation activity in a spectator culture." Louie Giglio
We need to break out of this "watching mode" and into active participation!
"True worship is a whole-life response to God's greatness and glory. A response that taps our mind, our soul, our heart of passion...and all our strength." Louie Giglio
How do we get from Spectator to Participator?
God!
Only God can get us there!
Go back to the new, deeper definition of worship. Worship is our response...To God!
"I think the key word in our new definition is response. Worship is our response to God. In other words, we don't initiate worship; God does.
He reveals; we respond.
He discloses; we respond.
He unveils; we respond.
He chooses to show us how amazing He is; we say, 'God, You're amazing!'
Our whole relationship with God works the same way:
He loves. We love in return.
He calls. We answer.
He leads. We follow." Louie Giglio
"Worship is what spontaneously flows out of us when we come face-to-face with Him. It's the natural response to all of who He is. Our uncalculated response for all He has done. Sure, we get a massive amount out of the experience of worshiping Him. But at its core, worship is all about God. It's for Him. Our worship is to Him." Louie Giglio
The church that I attend (I think) corporately does this very well. All the pastors are in the word throughout the week, meeting Jesus at the foot of His throne. Purpose: How can they lead people to a place that they have never been? To lead the flock, they must meet with Jesus! The flock/congregation is also encouraged to do this everyday! But knowing that for many this doesn't happen throughout the week, the worship team actively does this, as well as before worship starts, the lead worshiper reads scripture. Purpose: It all starts with God! What He has done, and will do in all of our lives!
Doug is an amazing lead worshiper. He is so capable and gifted by God to become invisible as he worships, so that it truly is all about God! As a body, we are focused on one thing alone, and the is God!
Worship is our Daily response...to God!
In Christ,
David
Praise the Name of the LORD
"Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the LORD!"
Psalm 149
Sing to the LORD a New Song
"Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly! Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the LORD!"
Psalm 150
Let Everything Praise the LORD
"Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!"
Later in his book "The Air I Breathe" Louie Giglio defines worship this way:
"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." "In a nutshell, it's saying true worship is a whole-life response to God's greatness and glory."
He says, "Practically speaking, worship is always a verb. Worship is something you do."
Just reread the three Psalms above, but substitute the word Praise with Worship. Worship is an action...it is something that we do!
We live in a culture that is spectator oriented...we watch things! Look at how most churches are set up! All the seats pointing toward a stage (not that it is bad), all the lights in the same direction! As soon as we walk into the sanctuary everything is focused in one direction...the stage! It puts us into this watching mode of our culture.
"Worship is a participation activity in a spectator culture." Louie Giglio
We need to break out of this "watching mode" and into active participation!
"True worship is a whole-life response to God's greatness and glory. A response that taps our mind, our soul, our heart of passion...and all our strength." Louie Giglio
How do we get from Spectator to Participator?
God!
Only God can get us there!
Go back to the new, deeper definition of worship. Worship is our response...To God!
"I think the key word in our new definition is response. Worship is our response to God. In other words, we don't initiate worship; God does.
He reveals; we respond.
He discloses; we respond.
He unveils; we respond.
He chooses to show us how amazing He is; we say, 'God, You're amazing!'
Our whole relationship with God works the same way:
He loves. We love in return.
He calls. We answer.
He leads. We follow." Louie Giglio
"Worship is what spontaneously flows out of us when we come face-to-face with Him. It's the natural response to all of who He is. Our uncalculated response for all He has done. Sure, we get a massive amount out of the experience of worshiping Him. But at its core, worship is all about God. It's for Him. Our worship is to Him." Louie Giglio
The church that I attend (I think) corporately does this very well. All the pastors are in the word throughout the week, meeting Jesus at the foot of His throne. Purpose: How can they lead people to a place that they have never been? To lead the flock, they must meet with Jesus! The flock/congregation is also encouraged to do this everyday! But knowing that for many this doesn't happen throughout the week, the worship team actively does this, as well as before worship starts, the lead worshiper reads scripture. Purpose: It all starts with God! What He has done, and will do in all of our lives!
Doug is an amazing lead worshiper. He is so capable and gifted by God to become invisible as he worships, so that it truly is all about God! As a body, we are focused on one thing alone, and the is God!
Worship is our Daily response...to God!
In Christ,
David
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