9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
God’s Infallible Purpose in Christ
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Worship is more than
the songs that we sing to the Lord. Worship is about our lifestyle; it is also
about our giving to the Lord and the sacrifices that we give unto the Lord as
well. Today I’ll be specifically talking about the singing aspect of worshipping
together. Due to Covid-19, unfortunately, service is done in our own homes and
on our own devices. In this season, God wants to encourage us to see that
online worship is not lesser than physical worship. He wants to draw us into a
deeper intimacy with Him and He wants to reveal the conditions of our own
hearts towards Him and towards worship.
Worship starts from the
heart.
When we first started
this online church service, I was manning the chats at the side and was looking
for comments. Often times, I couldn’t really engage in worship because I was
responding to people.
God convicted me one
day. I repented before the Lord. I realised that I’ve set certain criteria in
order to worship. For me, it would be having a live band in front of me or
having myself with the guitar. So, I was unable to worship from the screen for
the longest time. From that day onwards, I told myself that I was going to sing
out loud when the worship team plays.
Isaiah 29:13
New International Version
13 The
Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their
mouth and
honour me with their lips, but
their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is
based on merely human rules they have been taught.
Our worship ultimately
stems from our own hearts. It is not based on the different formats of worship.
In the Old Testament, when the Babylonians took the Israelites captive and
destroyed the temple, the Israelites’ form of worship was animal sacrifices. In
Babylon, they changed their form of worship from animal sacrifices to focus on
the studying and teaching of the Torah. Today, what we see and hear is
dependent on our devices. When we were back in church, our voices tend to be
drowned out by the crowd when we were worshipping together and that gave us the
confidence to sing out loud. Right now in our own homes, we might get a bit
awkward singing and expressing ourselves in front of our own family members. Even
though forms of worship have changed in the way we see and engage in worship,
our heart of worship should always remain the same.
John 4:21-23
New International Version
21 “Woman,”Jesus
replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.22 You
Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for
salvation is from the Jews.23 Yet a time
is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the
Father seeks.
Jesus is actually
telling the Samaritan woman that one day, people would not go to the temple to
worship anymore because the temple would actually be destroyed in the future.
Jesus is saying that people worship in the Spirit and in truth from their own
hearts where ever they are. Worship would never be confined to a place or an
environment.
Something for us to
consider today: Have we relied on the church to worship the Lord and connect
with God? Once this routine has changed, do we find ourselves unable to engage
in worship before the Lord? Have our hearts gone astray during this pandemic?
Have we gone far away from the Lord?
God is actually
challenging us to gone deeper in intimacy and worship with Him in this season,
especially when we are isolated from everybody else.
James 4:8a
New International Version
8 Come
near to God and he will come near to you.
Besides making our
hearts right before the Lord, there are some practical things that we can do to
help us to be more engaged in worship. First and foremost, we can wake up
earlier. We can also prepare ourselves through prayer. Another practical thing
that we can do is to have breakfast before service. We can also click full
screen when we worship. Lastly, sing out loud and hear ourselves sing out the
truths of God and declare who God is.
Continue to worship
even though it is hard. For some, our life schedules are all messed up. It is
hard to juggle between work and children. It is hard to set aside time for
worship. Some of us might feel lonely and isolated during this period when we
are not able to meet with people. Some might even be battling with sickness
during this year and have been crying out to the Lord for intervention and for
healing to take place. Some have lost loved ones and are going through grief. During
such times of difficulty and pain, we find it difficult to engage in worship
because the breakthrough that we are hoping for has not been realised yet.
Worship is a way that
we can declare who God is over our lives.
Worship is a way where
we can declare God’s character and His nature over our situations.
I
raise a hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies
I raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief
I raise a hallelujah, my weapon is a melody
I raise a hallelujah, heaven comes to fight for me
I
raise a hallelujah, with everything inside of me
I raise a hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee
I raise a hallelujah, in the middle of the mystery
I raise a hallelujah, fear you lost your hold on me!
I'm
gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!
Worship helps us to
place our eyes on the Lord.
Worship helps us to see
that our King is alive and that we can trust Him and look to Him in the midst
of our circumstances.
God is here with us in the midst of our suffering.
God is here with us in the midst of our loss.
No matter our condition
or our situation, God wants our worship.
You
are here, moving in our midst
I worship You
I worship You
You are here, working in this place
You are here, touching every heart
You are here, healing every heart
Healing every heart
You're turning lives around
You are here, and You are mending every heart
Even when I don't
see it, You're working Even when I don't feel it, You're working You never stop, You never stop working (You're
the way maker)
Worship is about
communion with the Lord.
Matthew 18:20
New International Version
20 For where two or three gather
in my name, there am I with them.”
God is being enthroned
in our praises and He is ministering to us and working in our lives.
Haggai 2:3-5
New International Version
3 ‘Who
of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to
you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?4 But
now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be
strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you
people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work.
For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you
when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not
fear.’
For the Israelites,
when they came back to the land to rebuild the temple, they felt that this new
temple that they had to rebuild would be nothing like the former glory of the
old temple. But the Lord declares that even though it might seem like nothing,
His Spirit still remains with them.
Likewise, even though
online worship is nothing like coming to a physical church to worship together
with everyone, God is saying, “My Spirit is here with you. Do not fear. I am
still here with you.” Even though the place of our worship looks different, the
presence of the Lord is still with us.
Worship is about
communion with each other as well.
Colossians 3:16
New International Version
16 Let
the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the
Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
As we’re singing
together, we’re reminding each other of who God is, His character and His
faithfulness.
Be encouraged that we
are worshipping together as a body of Christ. God is not bound by our
locations.
Imagine houses
throughout the Klang Valley being lit up as we worship together on Sundays. And
all churches are having their services online. Imagine neighbourhoods all
across the nation being lit up in worship on Sunday mornings. Our corporate
worship is bigger than we think as we worship together and declare the praises
of God together as a body of Christ.
Hebrews 10:24-25
New International Version
24 And
let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,25 not
giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but
encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
As we continue to
worship the Lord together, let’s allow the Lord to survey our hearts and to
renew our hearts with adoration for Him.
Continue to choose to worship
Him even though we don’t feel like it. As we sing out the truths of God, we are
also ministering to our own situation and building our faith in Him.
Let’s be reminded that
we are not alone in this. As we are having communion with the Lord and with
each other, God is not just working in our own individual lives but also
building the church as well during this time.
Worship can begin right
now in our own homes and where ever we are. Online church vs physical church
looks different but God remains the same. Our heart of worship should also
remain the same.
Reflections:
1.Have
you found it difficult to engage in online worship recently? Why do you think
that’s so? What do you think will help you engage in worship better?
2.Are
there lyrics you find difficult to sing about God? What are they, and why do
you feel that way?
3.Is
there someone you know who has found it difficult to engage with church online
or online HFs/CGs? How can you encourage them to not give up meeting up?
