| QUOTE (Elspeth @ 18-Sep-2004, 12:51 PM) |
| So many words get bandied about until they no longer have meaning. What IS worship? How does one do it when involved in the process? (choir, reader, greeter, usher, etc and etc.) Is it a private thing, a public thing? Just what does God want from us when we are to worship? |
Here are some thoughts on and a definition of "Worship" I found:
The word worship is a shortened form of the old word worthship, which means showing God the worth he holds in your life.
And now the wants are told, that brought
Thy children to thy knee;
Here, lingering still, we ask for naught
But simply worship thee.
William Bright (1921- )
How often Christians assume they have worshiped God simply because they have been in church! We are told that the church building is "God's house" (an inaccurate designation borrowed from the Old Testament temple) and conclude that worship must take place there! Not necessarily. God was not pleased with the worship at Jerusalem (the Holy City). Nor is he impressed with beautiful cathedrals.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
I lay my "whys" before your cross in worship kneeling,
my mind too numb for thought,
my heart beyond all feeling:
And worshiping,
realize that I in knowing you don't need a "why."
Ruth Bell Graham
Worship is not a part of the Christian life; it is the Christian life.
Gerald Vann (1906-1963)
All the previous quotes from: Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992)
Writing more than one hundred years ago, Alexander Paterson Smith gave this definition of worship: "To worship God is to make Him the supreme object of our esteem and delight, both in public, private, and secret."
-- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
Hope some of these help to answer the question.
MacE
