As we wrap up this series on worship it’s probably a good idea for us to talk about worship within a community. Questions like “Do you have to be in church to worship?” or “Is worship in community really important?” have made some of the Christians of this day ponder about the topic of a worship community. A few weeks ago I was involved in a conversation with a friend who is a worship leader, and they said that you not only have to fight for community worship, but also private worship. We want to go after the balance that we believe is necessary to our growth in faith and community.
Something that is evident throughout the Bible is we as a people were created for community. Starting with Adam and throughout generations of our Christian history there are examples that we were made to do life with others. Christ presented this with the calling of the 12 disciples. When you really think about it, Jesus was God in the flesh and He didn’t need people around Him to complete what the Father had set forth. He was showing us that we all need to be in a community of believers. If we were made for community, it would make sense that we would worship with other believers as well.
Just as we are stronger as a group, worship can be stronger within a group than by yourself. Although that does not mean we can go without private worship. When we worship with a group it may be easier for someone to connect with their Father or step out and experience God because the people around them make them feel comfortable. It also provides a since of community and you actually see other believers pressing into the same God that you worship. When I get the opportunity to watch a worship service while serving in an area of ministry, there is something that makes a deeper connection when you listen to a few hundred voices joining together in praise to the Lord of Lords.
Being in a worship community is very important in our spiritual development, but we should not neglect the act of private worship either. Sometimes worship in a large setting can become routine or even a little bit clique because we begin to just go through the motions of worship. It is in this time that our private worship becomes extremely important in the development of our community worship. We can only change from the inside out, not the outside in. When we begin to go through the motions we think that what we are doing outwardly will become what we are inwardly. Instead we become like the Pharisees that looked good on the outside and horrible on the inside in the area of worship. We lose the connection we once had because we are no longer sowing what is good for us.
Private worship builds self discipline within us and gives us a greater understanding of our Father. This can come in may different forms like prayer and quiet time or maybe having your own personal worship service in your bedroom. Whatever is the pathway for you, we encourage you to pursue that in your private life so that you may benefit in your outward life. Just to clarify, you should be worshiping because you love our God and not because you receive something in return. Worship was never meant to be self beneficial but a way of being obedient and praising our Creator King. After all, God gives us 24/7/365, the least we can give him is some set aside time of private worship and even that should not be enough for us.
One of my favorite worship songs is a song by Hillsong. It is called “Desert Song” and one of the verse says:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames
It captures one of the hardest examples of life that we can go through, but it is in that time that we need a worship community around us. We need people to lift us up and help us along the faith journey. It is in times that this song talks about that we will begin to reap in public what we sow in private.
Mathew West in his song “The Motions” not only gives us a good summary to what we have been talking about over the past weeks but also encouragement in our private pursuit of worship. The lyrics to the song say:
I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions
This should be enough to encourage us to pursue private worship time and encourage us to have a deeper appreciation of our worship in community. We would encourage you to pursue both of these things with a hunger that can not be satisfied. Our prayer for you is that you will never have enough of God and continue to dive into his amazing deep waters.
Next week we will be launching into a new series called “Sea of Faces”. The ministry team has been praying for great things to happen by God’s hand over this next season and we would ask that you would join us in this prayer. Over the next series, we will be looking at the reality of our world feeling like a sea of faces. We live in a world that is lost, and we are the ones that God has put here on earth to reach those far from His arms. He sent His son to die for everyone and our mission is to share that with the world no matter what differences we may have. We are much stronger as a community, and we want you and your friends to be a part of this. Look for our new post next week and some pretty cool things that we will be doing over the summer to help with our mission of reaching those who are lost.
Dive Deep,
KC
