Regular Worship

Unlike the New Testament, the Old Testament detailed many times, places, and ceremonies for worship (Num. 28: 2). Yet whether worship involved the formal rituals of the ancient Hebrews or the simpler, more spontaneous forms of the early Christians, believers through the centuries have worshiped God for basically the same reasons.

The terms for worship in both Hebrew and Greek come from words suggesting service. Worshipers were Gods servants, who both carried out his will and fell down before him in holy fear and wonder. As for the English term worship, it originally meant worthiness and in time came to mean respect or reverence. Thus, to worship God means to pay him the respect he deserves by affirming his worth.

Old Ways and New
Gods law established a regular discipline for worship:

• Daily offerings of food and drink (Num. 28: 3-8)
  
  
• Weekly offerings on the Sabbath (28: 9,10)
  
  
• Monthly offerings at the beginning of each month (28: 11-15)
  
  
• Annual festivals, such as Passover, the Harvest Festival, the Festivals of Trumpets and Shelters, and the Great Day of Forgiveness (28: 16-31; 29: 1-38)

These patterns changed with the emergence of the early church. For one thing, the sacrificial system ended when the temple at Jerusalem was destroyed (Luke 21: 20). But more importantly, the need for sacrificeswhich turned out to be merely a shadow of the good things to come (Heb. 10: 1)ended with the supreme sacrifice of Christ, whose death made forgiveness of sins possible once and for all (10: 1-18).

Nevertheless, the importance of worship remained. Indeed, worship became more important than ever, because now Gods people had a new way by which to approach God (10: 19-22). The early Christians may have looked to the Jewish meeting place, known as the synagogue (Acts 17: 1-3), as somewhat of a model for their worship, but nowhere does the New Testament outline anything like the detailed instructions found in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Worshiping in Spirit and in Truth
Still, even if Christians have different forms of honoring God and entering into his presence, there are numerous parallels between the Hebrew and Christian understandings of worship:

• God dwells among us and we are his people.
  
  
• We are sinners in need of forgiveness.
  
  
• God offers guidance and instruction for life.
  
  
• We are members of a community of believers.
  
  
• We are to demonstrate Gods ways before a watching world.
  
  
• We have a future hope based on the promises of God.

As we celebrate these truths, God does not want us to engage in empty ritual. He desires heartfelt praise, repentance, love and honor, as he has repeatedly made clear:

• True sacrifice involves sorrow deep in our hearts (Psalm 51:17).
  
  
• When the wicked give gifts to God, it is disgusting to him; he is delighted by the prayer of his people (Prov. 15: 8).
  
  
• God cares little for empty ceremony, what matters to him is character and obedience: doing justice, showing mercy and humbly obeying God (Mic. 6: 8).
  

God requires those who worship him; be led by the Spirit into true worship
(John 4: 24).

What is the nature of your worship? Do you regularly gather with other believers to praise God, to share life in Christ together, to learn from the Bible, and to reach out to others with the message of Gods love?