Growth Group
ROOTS AND WINGS MINISTRIES
 
WORSHIP
 
THIS WONDERFUL CONCEPT, which every Christian longs to experience, is so essential to one’s personal relationship to God and to a local church’s success in ministry. Yet, it is so misunderstood today. What is "worship"? How can we come to experience it in our church?
_____________________________________
 
 
1. WORSHIP ~ The words, and their meaning …
Hebrew: shakah - "To bow down, prostrate oneself"
Greek: proskuneo - "To prostrate, do obeisance to" (see Matt. 17:5-6)
-From the root: pros + kuno - "To, toward" + "to kiss"
a. What do these meanings imply about the worshiper, the object of worship, and their relationship?
 
b. The behaviors these words call for should be motivated by: _________________________
English: worthship - "The attributing of worthiness to the object of worship"
 
c. How do we conclude that God is, indeed, worthy of our worship?
 
 
SUMMARY: "The honor, reverence, and homage paid to superior beings or powers, whether men, angels, or God."
-When given to God, worship presupposes that He exists, that He can be known and experienced by man, and it acknowledges that He is worthy far above man; worship acknowledges our perception of His divine perfections, and that God is on the throne of one’s life; that His presence is real, and your submission is true.
-In the Bible, worship is both private (individual) and public (corporate). Corporate worship became highly organized, even complex with the advent of the Jewish wilderness tabernacle, then the temple systems of sacrifice and clergy. After the Jewish exile, synagogues enabled organized (corporate) worship away from the destroyed Jerusalem temple and came to focus more on instruction than on sacrificial rituals. With the advent of Christianity, the emphasis on education in worship continued, especially since Jewish sacrificial rituals were replaced by an emphasis on the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. Christians first met in private brotherhood meetings in homes for worship.
 
2. STUDY OF "WORSHIP" ~ Consider the following in your understanding of Biblical "worship"…
Exodus 12:3, 6 - Why was each home to keep a lamb for five days before they sacrificed it in worship?
-What does this reveal about the real essence of worship?
Matthew 2:2 - Where did this worship actually happen?
( ) At their home. ( ) As they came. ( ) At the Temple. ( ) __________________________(v. 9)
 
V. 10 - Describe their worship:
 
Where must we Christians "go" to worship? ___________________________________
-Where is your best place?
Matthew 4:10 - How does the word / concept, "serve" relate to "worship"?
-Which comes first? ___________________
-Why?
Matthew 15:8-9 - How can "worship" be "vain" (empty; meaningless)?
Matthew 28:17 - What inspired worship here? And, what hindered worship?
 
 
John 4:23-24 (Phil. 3:3) - Per 1 Thess. 5:23, mankind’s most important feature is __________ (cf. Gen. 2:7).
-How does one worship "in spirit and in truth"?
 
John 9:35-38 - What inspired worship here?
 
Romans 12:1-2 - What is required for "true" (spiritual) worship? (Compare the terms "living" and "sacrifice.")
-True worship will motivate __________________________.
 
3. WORSHIP CONTENT ~ In the New Testament we see Christian "worship" services consisting of …
Preaching (Acts 2:42a; 1 Cor. 14:19) - What was preaching’s content / focus? How does this aid worship?
 
Reading of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13) - Why did they read Scripture publicly then? How does this aid worship?
 
Singing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)
-What did corporate singing give evidence of (Eph. 5:18; Col. 3:16)?
-Exactly what did they sing? ___________, _____________, and _________________________.
--Why are these listed in this order?
 
-Should this order apply today? _______
--Why / why not?
 
Ordinances (Baptism, the Lord’s Supper - Acts 2:41; 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:18-34) - How did each of these special
events contribute to worship?
 
Giving (1 Cor. 16:1-2) - How can giving money be "worship"? (Consider Eph. 6:7)
 
 
4. APPLICATION for more effective worship in your life and our church!
While "worship" appears to the casual observer to be an external behavior of religion, especially in certain settings like a religious service in a "sanctuary," does that specific behavior in that specific setting really constitute true worship?
-What constitutes true worship?
b. Which of the following is most important to the actual occurrence of true worship?
( ) A worship leader’s / team’s performance.
( ) The degree or level of the audience’s physical / vocal participation.
( ) The hearts, souls and spirits of those in the audience.
c. Does an audience seeing and sensing that a worship leader is him/herself truly worshiping mean that the
audience itself will actually experience effective worship?
-Why?
What are some essential contributions you can make to help insure our church’s corporate / congregational
worship is truly worship?