Tuesday, September 28

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16


My favorite definition of worship is “the offering of extravagant devotion to someone or something.” And when you consider this definition, perhaps the best illustration of “worship” in our culture is football! Every weekend, from Friday night in the small towns of America, to Saturday afternoons on college campuses, to the giant stadiums of the NFL on Sundays – millions of people gather to offer extravagant devotion to their favorite teams. Even though most of these fans (short for “fanatic” – which, when you think about it, is someone who offers extravagant devotion!) are virtual strangers to each other they will experience a powerful sense of connection because they share devotion to their favorite team. They will wear the team colors, share “tailgate” meals in the parking lot, and celebrate wildly when their team achieves a dramatic victory. In short, they will experience a kind of fellowship that comes from shared worship.

How much more this can and should be true of us as the church!

The Bible teaches that we are to worship God “acceptably with reverence and awe, because our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). The Book of Acts describes these early believers as being “filled with awe.” They were filled with awe and wonder because they had just witnessed the “Day of Pentecost” when the Holy Spirit came upon the church like the sound of a mighty wind, people heard the gospel in their own languages, and several thousand people came to faith in Jesus in one day. In the same way our own worship is to be filled with reverence and awe in response to who God is and what he has done – in our own lives and in the lives of others!

But reverent awe is only one aspect of worship. We are also connected through a sense of shared celebration. Just as football fans will celebrate together in unbridled joy when their team wins a game – so also we are to express our extravagant devotion to God through praise and celebration!

At FBCG we worship in multiple “languages,” that is, in multiple worship styles. At the East Campus our worship is led by a pipe organ, orchestral instruments and a sanctuary choir. At the West Campus our worship is led by electric guitars and drums. On Saturday night our worship feels more like a “coffee house” – with a smaller, more intimate setting. But even though we worship in different ways – we are one worship family because our worship is filled with both awe and celebration. And worship is the first step of building the spiritual Velcro of fellowship – of connecting.

Interestingly, on any given weekend, over half of the people who call FBCG their church home are doing something OTHER than worshiping with the FBCG family. This ratio is consistent throughout the churches of North America – and is probably a sign of the busyness of our modern culture. But the point is, when even one person, one voice in worship, one part of the Velcro is missing, we all miss out just a little bit. Each one of us is important to the Body of Christ (the church), because each one of us is important to God – and because each and every one of us has something to contribute to the reverent celebration of worship!

Whatever your personal style of worship, whatever your favorite FBCG service, make sure worship is part of your life and make sure you are part of worship!

Prayer: Ask God to help you make worship a greater priority in your personal life as well as in your experience of the church. Ask him to teach you to worship with both awe and celebration!
 
Brian Coffey