This past Sunday I had the opportunity to meet someone who was visiting Amberlea for the first time. As we chatted at the end of the service, the individual mentioned how delightful it was to see a child, sitting a few rows ahead, dancing during the praise time. He also said that he was brought to tears by the amazing testimony of a child during the KidsZone moment. He said,

“Their worship is so unhindered and authentic”

It’s true, isn’t it, that the response of a child is so real and honest. When Anna spoke, she spoke from her heart of what she knew to be true. She praised God and in doing so, blessed us.

And when the little one began her moves during the praise time it scarcely mattered who saw, she just responded to the music and moved as she was created to move. As I think about it my thoughts turn to King David and how in 2 Samuel 6:14 “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might”. And in Psalm 149:3 David himself writes, “let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.”

What is worship? The dictionary definition of worship is:

reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; and
extravagant respect or admiration for, or devotion to, an object of esteem.

True worship, the kind of worship that God seeks, is described in John 4:23-24:

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

True worship is when one’s spirit adores and connects with the spirit of God – when the very core of one’s being is found in loving HIM.

True worship is not about songs being sung. Although music is a wonderful expression of worship, it is not itself the essence of it.

Worship is everything we do on Sunday morning: singing, praying, giving, works, and (yes) even dancing. But would you believe that we could do all these great things, and do them well, and still not worship God? It’s because those actions alone miss the essence of what worship is all about.

Mark 12:30 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” This verse, I believe, captures what worship really means.

True worship is a lifestyle and it happens when we put God first in our lives.

I hope you will join us this Sunday as we continue our series called Virtues for Life. We are tackling another doozy this week. Please plan to be there. Sure you can hear the sermon on line but you really want to see what goes on. Last week a purple wig…this week? Come and bring a friend!