Biblio

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. (ESV) 2 Chronicles 20:22 Worship is very powerful. It is all about lifting up God through our praises and thanksgiving. Jehoshaphat and his kingdom were in trouble because of the enemy army who wanted to attack them. However, Jehoshaphat and his people turned to God and cried to God. When they went for war, a worship team went before their army and led the army in worship. In v.22, God defeated the enemy army when Jehoshaphat and his people began to sing and praise God. Worship includes singing, clapping, shouting, kneeling down, lifting up our hands, dancing and so on. As we meaningfully engage in worship, we are lifting up God over everything. This releases God’s power over situation. In the case of Jehoshaphat, they won the battle by worshipping God, fasting and praying. As Jehoshaphat and his people worshipped, God de

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5 Prayer, Intercession, Tithing, Evangelism and many other aspects of our walk with Christ also benefits us in many ways. But you know what makes WORSHIP SPECIAL compared to everything that we offer to God? WORSHIP is the gift that we can offer to God knowing that we will not receive anything back, but instead its all about God. 1. WORSHIP BEGINS WITH LOVE Highest standard of LOVE is expressed in the key verse. LOVE- ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL AND STRENGTH. Do you love anyone in this way? Is it possible? Can we love God in this way? Yes, it is possible, but not by our own strength. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to love God with all our HEART, SOUL AND STRENGTH. WE CANNOT WORSHIP GOD IF WE DON’T LOVE HIM. WE ROB HIM OF THE WORSHIP HE DESERVES WHEN WE DON’T WORSHIP. 2. LOVE WILL GROW Anything that remains the same, ceases to develop and slowly dies. LOVE towards God wi

And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 1 Kings 8:10-11 Priests dedicated Solomon’s temple to the Lord. They sacrificed countless sheep to God (v. 5). Then they put the ark of the covenant to the Most Holy Place. In this context, God’s presence visibly manifested as a cloud inside the house of the Lord. This visible manifestation of God’s presence is called glory here. Today we are the temple of God – church and each born again individual. His presence is among us when we gather together and also in each one of us. We are hosting God’s presence. One of the ways to connect, experience and increase God’s presence in our lives is to worship him. Worship leads us into glory encounter. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalms 100:4). When Elijah offe

…but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,…(Eph. 5: 18-21) John 4:24 says God is Spirit and therefore we must worship him in spirit. God is Spirit means God has immaterial existence and being. Material existence has limitation of time and space. Thus, our worship should match with the very nature of God’s being and existence. The nature of worship should be spiritual. That’s why we must worship God in Spirit. Thus, worship is a spiritual act or a spirit filled act. In New Testament era, God unlocks to us a greatest resource to worship him: Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is essential to bring a worship that God deserves since we are not able to do so with our own ability. Holy Spirit unlocks to us great resources to worship him: spiritual languages and spiritual songs. Spiritual language or

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,. (ESV) Ephesians 5:18-20 Paul encourages believers to be filled with the  Spirit. One of the results of being Spirit filled is worship. Paul points out the following aspects of a Spirit filled worship: 1. “Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”: Spirit filled singing is an important aspect of worship. It is not just singing but Spirit inspired and filled singing is part of New Testament congregational worship. “Addressing one another” indicates the cooperate worship. Church has to worship Christ. 2. “Singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart”: God pleasing worship comes from a joyful involvement of our heart. Just singing is not worship but si

For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1Cor. 6.20-21) Our spirit, soul and body should involve in worship. Paul says that body is not for sexual immorality but we are purchased by God to worship him. Then Paul says the body is meant to worship God. We are created to worship. How can we worship God with our body? Here are a few suggestions: 1. Worship God in whatever you do (1Cor.10:31). Our body is a temple of God. We need to consciously offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God. 2. Develop worship as a life style. 3. Practice using your body to express your worship God: clapping, kneeling down, dancing, raising your hand, prostrate before God etc. worship is not an expressionless act. God wants to see that we express ourselves in celebration, adoration, awe, wonder, respect, thankfulness and joy in worship like David danced or twenty four elders prostrated before God. Let us release ourselves to glorify God with physical expression.

1 My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! 2 Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! 3 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. (ESV) Psalms 108:1-3 We are created to worship God. Heavenly beings worship God continuously without a break. These beings have direct access to the majesty, beauty, and power of God. Worship starts with our revelation about God. In Ps.108, God reveals some aspects of worship. 1. Sing to God with all our being. Our body, soul and spirit should involve in worship. It means that our thoughts, emotions and physical expressions should be directed to God in worship. God expects a very active involvement of our entire being in worship. We are not spectators of worship, but we are worshippers. 2.Singing to God with musical instruments. One of the beautiful and wonderful gifts that God has given to us is music. There is a misunderstanding that

Introduction Church and its liturgy were born in a cultural context. Further, religion and culture always have interactions and interconnectedness, though they have certain divergence in several aspects. Culture is the symbolic-expressive dimension of the social life. Christian worship is expressed through language, symbols, rituals and customs. To meet the pastoral need of the community, early church often depended on the local cultural elements. Consequently, in this expression of the worship, early church often borrowed from or was influenced by the local cultural context. This paper deals with such influences and borrowings of the early church up to the fourth century. Early Christian Worship and Culture Early Christian worship was mainly influenced by the Jewish and Greco-Roman cultural and religious elements. Following discussion may explore this aspect. Though the paper discusses it in different headings such as language, rituals, symbols and custom, they are often int

A. Theological  Aspects of  Worship  1.       What is Worship? The best definition of worship seems to be revealed in Revelation 4:9: “And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever.” In this verse three words - glory, honour, and thanksgiving - give key aspect of the definition of worship. Glory If one considers the meaning of the root word of glory and its Hebrew equivalent along with the context of Revelation 4, the word glory implies that worship is nothing but paying respect for the beauty and greatness of God. One can have an orientation to the beauty and greatness of God in Revelation 4. Honor If one analyzes, the root word and its Hebrew correspondents in the setting of Revelation 4, it would be suggested that honor means paying or ascribing the great or highest respect to the value and worthiness of God. Thanksgiving           Saying Thanks to God for all his Good thi