TEXT: 2 Corinthians 11, Hebrews 10:25
INTRO: We are going to do part 1 of a two part message on “The Basics of Church Worship: Attitude”
I.WORSHIP IS A COMMON ACTIVITY OF THE CHURCH.
A. Christians ought to live their lives as an act of worship. But there are public and designated times and means of worship have always been a part of the Christian community and every church needs to understand the best ways to worship.
1.) First of all, in such matters, the church largely adopted the practices common in Israel.
Lk. 4:16, “and as was His custom, [Jesus] entered the synagogue on the Sabbath
Acts 13:14, “on the Sabbath day went into the synagogue and sat down.” In fact, early church services were very similar to synagogue services.
B. Christians moved from worshipping on the Sabbath to the Lord’s Day.
Church history records worship after the synagogue was moved by the second century into house churches, and begin to build structures dedicated just for assembly and worship by the early third century.
Hebrews 10:25, “[Do not] forsake the assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
II. NECESSARY ATTITUDES FOR GENUINE WORSHIP. (1 Cor. 11)
A. We’re going to go to 1 Corinthians 11, ere our focus will not be on the male/female controversy, but on the worship context in which it is discussed.
Vss. 4-5, “Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head.” Wearing or not wearing head coverings, was not an apparel issue, but a matter of proper attitude: respect and humility.
Without respect and humility, worship becomes self-centered rather God-centered.
These attitudes demonstrate a willingness to be unified and not divisive.
B. Proper attitude for the taking of the Lord’s Supper.
vss. 28-29, “But a man must examine himself. . . .for he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.” It means to consider one’s relationship to the “body” which is the church
Matt. 5:23-24, “So if you are offering your gift on the altar (an act of worship!), and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled with your brother. And then come and offer your gift.”
Worship involves repentance in the heart for harming the unity of the body. Caring about the peace and well-being of the church is a necessary preparation for entering into worship.
C. Thus proper worship demands an attitude of respect and humility and a willingness be unified, not divisive.
CONCLUSION #1
Attitudes, inward thoughts, must be appropriate to worship genuinely. RESPECT; HUMILITY; UNITY; EDIFICATION; REPENTANCE are necessary attitudes for genuine worship!