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Post date: Aug 29, 2014 4:59:56 PM
An excerpt from Love Your God With All Your Mind by J.P. Moreland
Worship
1. Def: directed at God, the intentional ascription of worth, service and reverence to God
a) for the integrated believer, everything in life can be understood as an act of
b) expressed in one's overall approach to life, and in every area of life (Rom 12:1)
c) form of occurs in specific acts of praise and exultation, such as, conscious expression of worship in the very act of study in school or in and through the vocation of a believer
2. and Nature of God
a) a person ought to proportion his respect and reverence to the actual worthiness of the object of that respect and reverence
b) God is a maximally perfect being; not merely the greatest, most perfect being who happens
to exist; He is the greatest being that could possible exist
1) no other greater god can come along and God does not grow in His excellence
c) it is impossible for a greater being to supersede God for or Him to improve Himself in any way
1) God is owed our supreme total worship when he is not, we commit idolatry (the activity of giving more dedication to something finite than to God.
2) He is worthy of the very best efforts we can give Him in offering our respect and service through the cultivation of our total personality, including our minds
3) dedication to intellectual growth is not merely to be done for dedication of the worshiper, but as an act of service rendered to God.
a) halfhearted study is an unworthy offering
4) worship should never be reduced to an act of intellect—it involves all that we are
3. Corporate Worship
a) John 4:24: God is spirit and worshipers must worship in spirit and truth
1) worship is rooted in the inner being, should be sincere and earnest and in agreement with God's true nature, His revelation and acts.
2) God is a spiritual being, He is immaterial, not a material object (which are located in specific places and times; are finite) . Psa 139:7-12
a) He is a living, active being (Gen 1:2; John 7:37-39)
3) worship is in response to a God who initiates toward His people, gives them life and shows Himself active on their behalf.
4) the emotions and will can be more sincerely and intentionally directed toward God if the mind has been given the chance to recall, understand, or reflect on truth
b) marriage and worship
1) See Eph 5:31-32
a) in ideal sexual acts in marriage, there is union, openness, mutual adoration and tenderness and a degree of intimacy not found in other aspects of the marriage relationship
b) the same intimacy is characteristic of the church's (believers') relationship to Jesus.
c) if sexual union is to approximate the ideal God intended, then a husband an wife ought to prepare each other prior to that union by thinking true, good, tender, affectionate thoughts about each other, by focused communication etc.
1) see also For Men and For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn
d) if the two simply did the act and went on with their lives, it would hardly be what God intended
e) in a similar way, this is what most of us do when we go to church
1) we need to transition from the Sunday morning rush to a time of intimacy with God and His people.
2) we need a time of warmup for worship, learning and fellowship
f) how:
1) have a handout to be given before main service that have exercise that prep one's mind for the theme of the service; word study; suggested prayer; current news events—something that engages one's mind, feelings, and will to warm up for corporate worship and prep for topic of the day
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