Importance of Worship
Case in point from last posting on worship being the key element of our church services and not the sermon itself. Take the most impactful sermon ever preached, Peter’s message at Pentecost. Why was it so effective? Because Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, because the disciples had spent countless hours in prayer and worship. Notice it wasn’t just Peter, and it wasn’t just the eleven other disciples. Acts 1:15 tells us there were about 120 praying and worshiping together. Genuine worship ushered in the power that converted thousands.
We can beg people to serve, to visit the sick and the lost, to do this and that, but until the Power is present, it is all to no avail. A worshiping church is not one that has a “party” every Sunday and dwells in euphoria. A worshiping church is one that has its priorities straight and has the power to carry out its mission.
A.W. Tozer once stated, “I must take issue with those in the churches who insist that the worshiping saints do not get anything done but worship! Such an attitude reveals that they have not done their homework. The beautiful part of worship is that it prepares you and enables you to zero in on the important things that must be done for God. Listen to me! Practically every great deed done in the church of Christ all the way back to the apostles was done by people blazing with the radiant worship of their God! The great hospitals and the mental institutions have grown out of the hearts of worshiping and compassionate disciples. It is true; also, that wherever the church has come out of her lethargy and into the tides of revival and spiritual renewal, always the worshipers were back of it. A survey of church history will prove that it was those who were the yearning worshipers who also became the great workers and the selfless servants. If we give ourselves to God’s call for worship, everyone will do more for the Savior than they are doing now!”
from my notebook 