Adoration & Worship - Correll Pritchard
/A Followers Thought
Adoration and Worship
Adoration is the showing of respect and devotion to God. Worship is the showing of Adoration to God in many ways, such as going to church to worship him, praying daily, giving God thanks for all your blessings, putting others first before your needs, giving your time and money to further God's Kingdom. Those are just a few things that symbolize our Adoration to God. I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to think about this. Adoration and Worship can only come when you have Jesus in your heart and soul. You might say, where is this statement going?
Well, let me give you guys a little background of my life growing up. I didn't grow up in a Christian home. I didn't go to church; I didn't pray daily; I didn't put others first; nor did I do any other thing to show Adoration and Worship for God. Yet, I always believed there was a God. You might ask, how could that be? It could be because I did grow up in a loving home. My parents loved my brother and me very much. They taught us right from wrong, a good work ethic, respect our elders. Could it be that I grew up loving the outdoors, God's Creations? My dad would carry my brother and me hunting and fishing often. The best part about those excursions was being out there in the woods, the lake, or the rivers and creeks we explored, seeing and experiencing God's Creations! Oh yea, one more thing. My mom would prepare the fish and wild game we harvested. That was some great eating! I guess experiencing these events in my life made me realize that there is more to this creation than the Big Bang Theory. I just knew there was a higher power at work here. It was God!
Thinking back on these events in my life, it wasn't until I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior that Adoration and Worship became the focus of my life. I started looking at God as not only the creator of all things but as the creator of me. And in doing so, I must do everything that I can to follow the example of his son Jesus. In John 14;6, Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." I believe if we want to fully experience Adoration and Worship to the Father, we have to surrender to the son. It is through Jesus that our Adoration and Worship of God can be complete. God Bless.
Correll
Tammy Wendling on Adoration & Worship
/Adoration & Worship
Tammy Wendling
Adoration and worship; these words excite me. Seriously. Considering each word individually, "adoration" or "worship," my heart beats a little faster, and my spirit rejoices. Put the two words together with an AND; I almost can't type fast enough.
Merriam Webster, as you might imagine, defines adoration as "the act of adoring." Thanks, Merriam. So what does it mean to adore something or someone? "To worship or honor as a deity or as divine; to regard with loving admiration and devotion; to be very fond of." Yes, yes, and YES! I adore my God!
As believers, how do we adequately express our adoration for God when all we can tangibly understand is the praise and love we offer for earthly beings and earthly things. We adore things we can touch and feel. It's essential we figure this out. It's important we acknowledge God's eternal love and mercy, His sovereignty over all creation, His omniscience, and his total in-dwelling in every breath we take. Whew - see? It's exciting to come to understand "adoration." We often go to God in prayer with true hearts rejoicing and giving thanks for answered prayers. We plead with repentant hearts. We seek intercession for others. Oh, how God must be pleased in our efforts to communicate with him. It's vital to our personal relationship with our Lord, but my friends, each of those efforts to acknowledge what God has done for us is not adoration. Again, all very important in our spiritual journey, but adoration is not appreciating and giving thanks to God. It's a wide-open opportunity for us to lavish praise for who God is to us. True, unfiltered, unapologetic adoration moves us out of ourselves and what we need from God to connect with the mighty wonder of God. I mean, even in adoring Him, we are yet again gifted! What could be more perfect and beautiful than to get over ourselves and truly connect with God in total adoration?
The time for adoration can be whenever we let go enough of this world to pour out our awe-struck emotion for our creator. While there are no rules to when this should or could be, consider a worship service where believers are POURING out true adoration for our Lord. Yes, both adoration and worship can occur anytime, in any place, but for a moment, imagine a Sunday morning worship setting where every person has come in total adoration and wants to offer it all to the Lord? It gives me chills to consider the energy and excitement!
About 20 or so years ago, I was lamenting to a friend, a wise gentleman as it turns out. (His first name begins with a G and his last name ends with Blackmon.) Our family was attending a church where worship simply wasn't measuring up to my expectations. After listening for probably too long, my wise friend looked at me and asked, "What do you bring to worship; what's the condition of your heart in worship? What if you considered worship as a time to praise (adore) God instead of what you're 'getting' from it?" Game-changing conversation! So for the last couple of decades of my life, I consider it an honor to walk into a worship setting (inside the church or otherwise) and pour out utter adoration for a magnificent Lord and Savior. I encourage you to give it a try - it's incredibly exciting!
"Give to the Lord the glory due his name! Bring gifts! Enter his presence! Bow down to the Lord in his holy splendor!" 1 Chronicles 16:29 (CEB)
In Adoration of Him,
Tammy
Adoration & Worship - David Hand
/Adoration and Worship
Romans 12:1-2
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
So what’s the difference between adoration and worship? Adoration is an action of religious worship, while worship is the condition of being worthy. Adoration is respect, reverence, strong admiration, or devotion to a certain person, place, or thing.
“The first time we read the word worship in Scripture is in connection with Abraham’s willingness to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. Abraham was willing to offer his only son as a sacrifice” (Stanley) due to his adoration to God.
God has shown us mercy by sending Jesus to die for our sins. No longer will there be sacrifices to God. Jesus has paid our price.
The verses above tell us how we should live after we come to know God through faith in Christ.
“At times we make the mistake of thinking worship is something reserved for church” (Stanley) on Sunday. Worship is expressing our love to God, and we can do that anywhere; in the shower, while mowing the lawn, washing dishes, driving, walking on the golf course, or in my case, riding an ATV with my son. We can sing, pray, confession, reading his word, listening, giving, and serving.
Blessing,
David
(Charles Stanley (November-03-2019) Daily Devotion: The .... https://sermons-online.org/charles-stanley/the-sacrifice-of-worship)
Adoration & Worship - Brother Mike Densmore
/Worship & Adoration
"O worship the King, all glorious above, O gratefully sing God's power & God's love." (oops, you caught me singing)…
I love the church, always have and pray, I always will. From the time I was a little boy, the church has been a happy place, a place for fellowship and singing, a place for searching and learning new things. I've been blessed to be a part of over twenty different churches over the years, ranging in membership from 14 to >6000. The interesting thing about all of them, all different and, yet, in some amazing way, they were all alike. All came together in worship & adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ. All found ways to "Lift their hearts to God."
From Shady Grove in Clay County, I still remember the all-day singings on-the-ground, the Gospel singings, and the Baptisms on Easter Sunday. I remember when the confirmands would walk to their baptisms singing only the verses of "On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand" and, after their baptisms, the whole church (all 20 of them) would explode with the chorus, "I am bound for the promised land, I am bound for the promised land. O, who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land."
Here, in Alex City, I can remember great cantatas, gospel groups, marvelous Vacation Bible Schools, drama presentations, and singing on the Russell "Good-Will Hour." We sang everything from classical to bluegrass and, through it all, we "Lifted our hearts to God" and entered into "communion" with God and warm fellowship with each other.
North & south of the Mason-Dixon, east & west of the Mississippi, I've witnessed the faithful as they "practiced the presence of God" and expressed their hope with joy and thanksgiving.
Today, I worship at ACFUMC, where we have three distinctly different styles of worship services, and almost everyone thinks their particular service is the best. The truth is that God is pleased with all true worship when people "come together, seek His face, humble themselves, pray, and lift their hearts to God." The shawl I am wearing was knit for me by one of our saints at ACFUMC, and I wear it during special times of prayer and, at times in my office, when I am seeking direction and clarity concerning an appropriate word for our worship services on Sundays.
We can all share experiences of worship in many ways, in different places, at different times. This Lenten season, I invite you to look for ways to experience an encounter with God. I assure you God is already looking for an encounter with you.
1st Peter 2:9 says that "We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God so that we might declare the praises of God who called us out of the darkness into his wonderful light." I have not met many people who did not want to bask in the light of God's love, to remain faithful and true to God's call upon our lives, and to do good and seek that which is best for others. But, sometimes our lamps tend to run out of oil, our matches get wet, the darkness begins to creep in and, with it, the distractions of the world.
Well, do not be afraid. We are in good company. The Saints who have gone before us struggled with the same issues. How do we abide in the light of God's grace when grace is a gift of God and not something we can claim by merit? How can we "lift our hearts to God" and stand in the way of God's grace as God continually works to reclaim us, restore us, and renew us?
The answer is through "Adoration & Worship." Throughout the centuries, the church has turned to the scriptures, studied the teachings of Jesus, and adopted certain practices (or disciplines) through which we claim God's offer of grace and stand faithfully in the light of God's grace as we grow deeper in love with Him and with the people in the world. These practices form our approach to "Adoration & Worship" as we seek to give thanksgiving to God for the blessings of our lives and worship God in spirit and in truth. In our worship and devotional life, we are seeking an encounter with the Living Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Adoration & worship are our means to those encounters.
Let's talk about these a little:
Adoration comes from a Greek word that means "a reverence and respect directed only to the Holy Trinity and The Eucharist." Adoration occurs in those times when we are, spiritually, at-one with the Holy Spirit in such an embrace that praise & thanksgiving are pulled forth from us into the very presence of God.
To worship has a double meaning. It means to "Bow Down in humility before the holiness of God" and, it also means to "Lift up our hearts to God" as we allow God to recreate our hearts in the fashion of God's own.
And so, the church gathers for worship, where everything is rooted in the scriptures, liturgy, and traditions of the Saints who have gone before us. We are truly, "one with Christ, one with each other, and one in service to God's world." We proclaim the Living Word of God in a relevant way with Biblical, historical, and theological integrity for the people of God. We hear as the message is proclaimed, and we discern God's Word for us today in a way that brings a sense of unity into the diverseness of the world. In our finest hour, we experience an encounter with the Risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Songs are sung; the Word is proclaimed; prayers are shared; offerings are made of our resources and our lives, and the sacraments of Baptism & Communion are celebrated, as God hosts us into God's sanctuaries of healing, hope, restoration, and new life.
We come into the fellowship of God's worship. We listen as the Holy Spirit opens to us the Word of truth. We sing the songs of praise & thanksgiving. We pray for God to heal our sick, guide our lives, and strengthen us in the land of our living. We hope that mercy and grace will bring peace to our world as we repent of our sins and claim the promises of God. We "Lift our hearts to God" as we take the bread, drink the cup, and allow our hearts to be renewed in the presence of the Holy.
God is calling you, and God is calling me into a life of "Adoration & Worship," into a life of intentionally "practicing the presence of God" that leads us out of the darkness and into the light of his grace. It is in worship we remember, "Christ has died, Christ is risen, & Christ will come again," and we rise with the assurance that where Christ is, we shall be one day. We rise from true worship to go forth into the world to share the love of God with all we meet, "seeking justice, loving mercy, and living humbly."… One day at a time.
The call of God upon our hearts is to "lift our hearts to God" in worship as we "love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength." And "love others as we love ourselves." O gracious God, teach us to worship in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
"Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail; thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end, our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend…"
Worship is practicing the presence of God! Worship is loving God & loving you, Bro Mike
Note: In the message above, several phrases are in quotations. This is to acknowledge they are either from the scriptures or saints who have gone before us and are not original to me. MLD