At Oasis of Healing Ministries, our perspective of the worship service is more like a father joining his family around the dining room table, rather than servants entering the throne room to wait on the king’s needs. To some, worship might seem like the 20-minute prelude to the sermon each Sunday morning. Or perhaps it’s a synonym for the gathering of believers: “I’ll see you at the worship service.” “I’m not staying for worship.” “I’ll meet you just after worship.”
et worship is not confined to music and singing, nor is it limited to a building or gathering of the saints. Worship is anything you and I do to esteem and magnify the worth-ship of God. Psalm 34:3 exhorts: “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (ESV). It isn’t just a suggestion, it’s a command—and it’s absolutely essential if we are to live an obedient and surrendered life as a follower of Jesus. We can magnify or enlarge the Lord’s name when we incorporate into our everyday lives ways of honouring Him, affirming His worth, and praising Him for Who He is, not just what He’s done. While gratitude is thanking God for what He’s done, praise and worship is adoring Him for Who He is.
Here are some reasons we at Oasis of Healing Ministries believe worship is essential to the Christian
1: Worship keeps us heavenly-minded:
Colossians 3:2 instructs: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Worship focuses our minds—and hearts—on eternity. It reminds us we are not of this world—we have an eternal home with Jesus, and that’s why we can feel we don’t belong here on this earth, especially when our priorities and convictions are those of Christ’s and that sets us at odds with the rest of this world. Jesus said the world will hate us as it hated Him because He has chosen us out of the world to be called His (John 15:18-20). Worship helps us keep a heavenly focus and reminds us to Whom and where we belong when we are in constant worship of our King. It also keeps us from trying to please, fit in with, or conform to this world (Romans 12:2). Worship of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, pleasing Him, and He’ll keep us in constant touch with our purpose for being here and will give us joy and peace while we remain obedient to Him
2: Worship keeps us focused on God, not ourselves:
We can so easily be all about ourselves. Our self-love mentality can make us believe we exist for ourselves. Yet we exist to glorify God. To focus on God’s worth-ship is to get ourselves out of the picture and let Him take the spotlight. John the Baptist said this about Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). That’s what worship does…it magnifies God and shrinks us, as it should be. In Eugene Peterson’s The Message, John 3:30 is translated this way: “This is the assigned moment for [Jesus] to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.” Worship puts the spotlight on God and places us back in the humble position to grow spiritually.
3: Worship prioritizes our hearts and lives:
Another aspect of worship is giving of your time, talents, and treasure. That definitely prioritizes our life as we give our time and money to what is most important to us. When you determine to give to God first your tithes and offerings after being paid each month, it prioritizes your spending, budgeting, and stewardship of all that He has given you. When you give of your time first to Him in prayer and reading of His Word, it prioritizes your day in determining Who and what is most important to you. In Matthew 6:19-20, Jesus commanded His followers to store up treasures in heaven, not here on earth. And by worshipping Him with the first and best of all you have (including your time, money, and abilities), you are showing Him He is first and foremost in your heart.