Worship

Okay, let's talk about worship. What is worship and how does it relate to us? Last night I was putting together, well, I had all this stuff put together. I went to print it out and, oh, I'm out of paper.

Too late to get paper now. So I don't have handouts as I normally might, but we can work through this together. So I'm using my laptop here this morning. I have ten questions. We'll make it interactive.

Worship as a Way of Life, Not Just a Church Activity

So let's look at what is worship and how it relates to us as a body. Okay, number one. So since you don't have your handout, you've got to pay attention. Worship is, and I have four options, A, B, C, and D.

Worship is, A, what Mark Shafer and Charlie Crane do, B, singing in church, C, a way of life, or D, hymns but not praise choruses. Which one is it? Did I have E as an option, Becky? I'm just kidding. She said all of the above.

Where did I see all of the above? Okay, she said all of the above. Anybody else? C, okay. Okay, yeah, it could be all of the above. But I had C, yes. It's a way of life. One of the things that I've been doing the last couple of years after the Shepherds Conference, they give you so many books.

So I make a commitment to go through those books. But you have to start somewhere. So I always pick the first book I'm going to read after I come back from the conference. Two years ago was a book on church discipline because I was helping a friend through that at a church he was at.

But this year I picked a book entitled Worship by John MacArthur, the ultimate priority. And I'm so grateful. Very young in my Christian life, I was taught by my teachers, my mentors, those who discipled me, that first and foremost in my Christian life is the Bible, the Scripture.

But I was also taught that it's good to read solid Christian works by solid authors because that can help enhance my Christian faith. So worship, what is worship? In the Greek, so I'll have a lot to quote from here as we go through this.

In the Greek New Testament, there's a lot of words for worship, but the two primary ones are these. Proskineo ke latrevo. Proskineo literally means to kiss toward. To kiss toward. It really has the idea of bowing down, falling prostrate, revelation like the elders did that we read this morning before the lamb that was slain.

It has the idea of humble adoration. I mean, how else can you adore and worship God other than in humility? You can't come arrogantly. That's the word proskineo. The other key word that's used typically in the New Testament is the word latrevo.

It has to do with rendering honor or paying homage. It refers in the book of Hebrews as a word that's used when the writer of Hebrews describes the Levitical priests in their service to God. The word service is the word latrevo, which we render worship in the English Bible.

It comes from the word latreish, which is really a hired servant in contrast to a thulos, a slave. So in other words, it's something that is done not under compulsion. The idea is something that you do willingly, not by coercion.

That's the whole idea behind that New Testament word. This is how Pastor MacArthur talks about what worship is. We said it's a way of life. It involves all that other stuff, but it is a way of life. He says the following.

Worship is honor and adoration directed toward God. When we talk about worship, we are talking about something we give to God. Modern Christianity seems committed instead to the idea that God should be giving to us.

That consuming selfless desire to give to God is the defining element of all genuine worship. It begins with the giving first of ourselves, then of our attitudes and third of our possessions until worship is here.

It is a way of life. Worship, he continues, is not merely an activity to be injected into our schedules at certain intervals. Rather, worship is itself a whole life commitment and all encompassing response to a holy God.

Worship is life lived in the presence of an infinitely righteous and omnipresent God by one who is utterly aware of his holiness and consequently overwhelmed with a sense of his or her own unholiness.

So notice he mentions there that worship has to do much with understanding who? The character of God and his attributes. Is it not true? He continues and says, If you have never worshipped God with a broken and contrite spirit, watch this, you've never fully worshipped God.

If you've never worshipped God with a broken and contrite spirit, i .e. Psalm 51, you've never fully worshipped God. Why? Because that is the only appropriate response to entering the presence of a holy God.

Our relationship to God has become too casual. In the modern mind, God has become almost human, so affable and ordinary that we don't understand his holy indignation against sin. We have lost our sense of that fear and too many people, this hits me hard, too many people approach God with casual familiarity that borders on blasphemy.

Not true. Is not the writer of Hebrew tells us that we have our great high priest, Jesus Christ, that we can enter the throne room of grace with boldness and confidence? Yes. But boldness and confidence does not mean crassly.

So we have to remember that as we worship. Okay, question number two. If someone just simply wants to worship, they don't really need theology. True or false? False. Okay, you think I'm going to let you just answer that?

Why? Tom, you said false. Okay, you have to stand... Theology. Okay. Okay. Okay, good. So your theology has to be a God-centered theology, understanding who God is versus a man-centered theology. Bruce, very good.

Very good. Good point. Excellent. Bob, very good. Yes. Excellent. Christ himself said, John 4, right? The Samaritan woman. We must worship in spirit and in truth. Yes. Turn with me to Romans 12. Let's look at this a little deeply.

Deeper. Deeply? So the connection between theology and worship. And when you get to that, it's a familiar verse. You can... I can have somebody read it. So worship, first of all, is a way of life, as we discussed.

It's entering into the presence of God. Yes, first, understanding that we can call him our Abba Father because of our great high priest, but we don't enter casually before God. We understand who he is.

And as we're seeing here in number two, for those of you who are just walking in, that you can't just simply want to worship God without desiring theology, because theology, we understand who God is, and that's whom we worship.

So let's look for some biblical support for that. Somebody read Romans 12 .1 if you have it. Yes, Tom. Thank you. Which is your reasonable service. Greek word letria. Remember I said in Hebrews the Greek word that's rendered worship.

In that case, it's rendered service. It's used for service, like the Levitical priest. Other translations say your reasonable worship. Correct? The ESV says your spiritual worship. So here Paul's making an appeal.

Therefore, he just spent 11 chapters discussing theology, how we deserve to be condemned, chapters 1 through 3, because of our total depravity before God. Chapters 4 through 5, how God has justified us in Christ.

He has declared us righteous in Christ because of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Chapters 6 through 8, about our sanctification. Then he goes on to chapters 9 through 11, discussing Jews and Gentiles.

And he says, based upon the mercies of God, verse 1, therefore, I am making this appeal to you, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, which is what? Your spiritual service, your spiritual worship. So based upon theology, understanding what God has done for you, who you were, who he is, and how he's worked in your life's salvation, all the way from condemnation, salvation, justification, sanctification.

Therefore, I want you to offer your bodies because this is true worship. So worship has to be based upon theology. Number three, you can have the right theology, yet still not be fervent in your worship.

You can have the right theology, and yet still not be fervent in your worship. True or false? True. Okay, why? How is that possible? If it's true. Yes. Christian. Okay. Letter to the church in Ephesus, yeah, in Revelation.

Excellent point. Ezra. Oh, very good. Satan's theology is on the ball. Very good. So therefore, I exhort you, come to IBS so you can have the same theology as Satan. I'm just kidding. No, we don't want that.

But that's a very good point. Theologically, he's, right? Satan is, but yet we know where he stands. Yes, Peggy. Yes. Exactly. You can have head knowledge, but it's not connected to a heart change. God has to give you, of course, first from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh.

Now, watch this. 1 Peter 2 says, grow, long for the pure milk of the word or crave the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. Now, you can know and not grow, but you can't grow without knowing.

So, yeah, you can have theology and still not be fervent in worship, but yet at the same time, as we said, that's why I backed them up two and three together, those questions. But in order to worship God properly in spirit and truth, you have to have theology right in order to know who he is.

MacArthur puts it this way. He says the following about the fervency in our worship. There are those who hold firmly to sound doctrine but have lost all the fervor of true faith. They know the truth, but they can't get excited about it.

And I love how he puts this. I really like this. Enthusiastic heresy is heat without light. Barren orthodoxy is light without the heat. Enthusiastic heresy is heat without light. But barren orthodoxy is light without heat.

So if we truly understand our theology and who God is, what he has done, how can we not worship with fervor and with enthusiasm and excitement? How many of you have gotten the CD together for the Gospel Live?

A couple? Yeah? The rest of you pagans. I encourage you to get it. It's very, very encouraging. Pastor Mike mentioned this morning, and Steve's been pushing it rightly so. Sometimes now when I'm studying during the week my Bible, I'll put that on as background, and I have to stop studying because I get overwhelmed by what they're singing about.

Powerful. Pick it up today. Okay, next question. Just a question. There's no true or false or A, B, C, D. Let's discuss this. Why is worship a priority for the Christian? Why is worship a priority for the Christian?

The question assumes that it is a priority, obviously. Okay? Very good point. By nature, we're creatures of worship, so we'll worship something or someone. So, for the Christian, it is a priority to worship.

Hmm. That's the reason why we were saved. The reason why we were saved. I like that. Hmm. Okay. So, to piggyback on what Wes said, whatever we're putting first shouldn't go first before God because He's...

That's who we're worshiping, yes. That's what we're worshiping if it's not God, exactly. The object of our worship. Bruce. Yes. Yes, because it's simply of who He is. Yes. Great points. Tom. Okay. Okay.

Good. So, it puts us in a rightful place of realizing who He is in His transcendence. Very good point. So, that's very important. Worship is a definite priority for the believer. And, again, we describe...

Keep in mind, though, that worship is not just something, as I highlighted in the first question, or I try to. It's a way of life. It's not some... Okay, you know, we describe in our evangelical culture.

We have a worship service, and we'll get talking about that a little bit more about what happens here on Sunday. And we have worship leaders, you know. But we describe worship as a way of life for us as believers.

Okay, the next question. Worship is God-centered, whereas evangelism is man-centered. True or false? False. Strong false. Why is that false? So, worship is not God-centered? What's false about it, Peg?

Okay. So, when you evangelize, just for those who didn't hear it and just have it on tape. When you evangelize, it doesn't matter the results. The point is you're doing it to give God the glory. I saw a hand back there.

Jonathan. Oh, very good. In evangelism, you're pointing people to who they are to worship. And Nayara said earlier that we're saved for worship. So, if God does save them by His grace, then they know who they are to worship.

Very good point. Anybody else? Turn to Romans 9. I'm not going to go into an in-depth exposition of it. But we're going to go to the latter half of the passage. Romans 9 is one of the two central passages of sovereign election.

Of course, he goes back to the Old Testament. Just to give you a little background, he goes back to Jacob and Esau. And before they were born, before either of them had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose in the election might stand.

But then he goes on, and as Paul, as he does typically in Romans, that as he lays out his argument, he knows that his audience is going to have questions. So, he asks those questions. For example, in Romans 5, where he says that where sin increased, grace increased all the more, right?

So, he knows his readers are going to say, oh, great. When I sin, God's grace increases all the more. Therefore, let me just sin more. That's why he begins chapter 6, verse 1 with a question, what shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? So, he does the same thing here. His readers, he asks the questions that he knows his readers are going to ask. And they're saying questions like, well, he asks, is God unjust to save some by his sovereign election?

And they ask another question. And here is his answer. Let's read from verses 20 to 24. Somebody can read that for us. Verse 20 of Romans 9 to 24. Jonathan, nice and loud. Thank you. This is really the clincher of the passage as he builds up in the climax, responding to those questions that he lays out.

And I love he goes back to the Old Testament illustration, does he not? The potter and the clay. I remember walking a friend through this, and he was really struggling with the idea of unconditional sovereign election.

Well, I just present the word to him and allow the Holy Spirit to work in his heart to open his eyes. And this is when we got to this part of Romans 9. The light just went on. Who are you? You're the clay.

He's the potter. And notice what he says in verse 23. What is the purpose? Verse 22, if God desiring to show his wrath to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath versus vessels of mercy, why verse 23 in order to make known the riches of what?

His glory. So both worship and both evangelism. And if we want to add on top of that, anything else we do as believers individually and as a body is for what? The glory of God. So that is a false statement.

Both evangelism and worship are both to be God centered. Unfortunately, in the history of the church, some people didn't think evangelism should be God centered. Men like Charles Finney. So they came up with man-made concoctions to make sure they could bring in the fold, bring in the sheep on their own.

But when we do evangelism, as we do worship, that's God centered. We'll give God the ultimate glory. Okay, here's an option question. Worship is A, for Sundays only. B, not for home groups. C, for the mature believers who have put away their binkies.

I see some binkies in the back row there. What's going on? Well, is that you? No. Or D, for all the believers. D, pretty obvious. It's for all the believers. Now, as you mature in the faith and become more knowledgeable of who God is in this character, of course, you can worship on a deeper level.

But yet, once God saves you, we're saved for the purpose of worship, you can begin to worship Almighty God. So, it's not B, so use it for home groups and not for Sundays only. All right, here's another one.

A non-believer cannot truly worship. A non-believer cannot truly worship. True or false? Why? They don't know who God is at all. Hebrews 11 .6, which says, help me out here. Faith chapter, okay. Did you take my class now?

Hebrews 11 .6. Without faith, it is impossible to what? Please God, because the person has to believe that God, what? Exists, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. So, yeah, good answers to both.

A non-believer cannot truly worship. Turn, let me give you another reference to that. Philippians chapter 3, verse 3. Let's turn to that. Philippians chapter 3, verse 3. This is the preface of Paul's testimony in Philippians chapter 3, as he outlines his testimony to the Philippians, the church in Philippi.

And just to give you the context before we read this verse, this is the latter part after this verse where Paul says, you know, he used to have a righteousness of his own by obeying the law. And actually, it's in this passage where he lists his religious credentials.

Hebrew of Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, right? On and on and on. He says, but what I have counted gain, I now count as loss for the sake of what? Of knowing Christ. But before he says all that, notice what he says in verse 3.

If somebody can read that. Philippians chapter 3, verse 3. Will, go ahead. Thank you. So you see the term worship there, who worship in the spirit of God. He says we are, the emphasis in the Greek is the circumcision.

That's why the new American standard says we are the true circumcision. We are true believers versus somebody who's just been circumcised physically. We have been circumcised of the heart. Therefore, because God has done a circumcision of our heart, we can worship the Lord.

Yes. Excellent. Proverbs 15, verses 18 through 19. Very good. Sacrifices of the wicked. So, yeah, nonbeliever cannot truly worship God. So you can have, you know, unbelievers walking into, again, that worship is just what happens Sunday morning.

It should be a way of life for us as believers. But you can have an unbeliever walks into a Sunday morning service. They could just be, you know, lipping the hymns or the choruses. Sometimes we can be doing that too, right?

Just going through the motions. But they're not truly worshiping God because they haven't been saved yet. If God has intention to do that. Okay. Okay. Number eight. These are options. And I have an all of the above.

So, Becky, you might like this one. During the Sunday service, we worship God when we, A, sing. We worship God, B, when we give. We worship God, C, when we pray. D, when we hear the word. Or E, all of the above.

E. Okay, help me out. How do we worship God when we sing? That's usually what's talked about as just worship. We just relegate it to the singing portion. But we're seeing that it's more than just that.

But how do we worship God when we sing? Making a joyful noise unto the Lord. Yes. Very good. Somebody else. How do you worship God when we sing? It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me, we sing this morning.

How do you worship God when you sing in a hymn or a praise chorus? You make a joyful noise. Jonathan, sorry. Okay. We're highlighting characteristics about God in the songs. Good. To focus on his character.

Very good. Did I see a hand here? How about when we give? When we give. Offering. How is that worship? Carmen. Okay, very good. So it's a sacrifice. We're giving back to God what he's given to us, and we're not holding on to it.

Just to piggyback on that. Right? Naked. I was sharing at my uncle's funeral. Job. Naked I came from the womb, and naked I shall return. Right? Everything you have and I have is not ours. It's on loan.

So it's good to worship God by giving. Very good. Good. Very good point, the perspective. So what we give to the ministry of the church and everything the church does in its ministries, evangelism, preaching the gospel, we're supporting that because it brings glory to God.

How about when we pray? Pastoral prayer up there. Elder Scott Brown was praying this morning. I hope you're also praying too. How do we worship God when we pray? Whether it's on a Sunday morning or when you're in your closet, Matthew 6, praying.

How is that worship? Okay, very good. Because he's the focus. Okay? Of course, a lot of times a lot of churches will say when it comes to the hearing of the word, the reading of scripture, the preaching of scripture, say, well, now we finish with our worship, which they really mean singing.

Now we're going to focus on the word. But preaching the word, reading the word, hearing the word is also worship. Listen to what John Stott says in his book Between Two Worlds about this. He says, and I quote, word and worship belong indissolubly to each other.

All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God because it is the adoration of his name. Therefore, acceptable worship is impossible without preaching, for preaching is making known the name of the Lord, and worship is praising the name of the Lord made known.

Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. So everything that we do on Sunday in our service is totally about worship.

When it's preaching, hearing the word, praying, giving, everything. Okay, next question. What are some hindrances to worship? What are some hindrances, some things that can hinder our worship? Good question.

Jonathan. Our own sin. I had that listed, yes, our own sin. Well, we all still sin even as mature believers, right? We have a growing awareness that we've discussed of our sinfulness, but a growing hatred of our sin.

But I wouldn't say just our own sin, I would say unconfessed and unrepentant sin. The issue is, what are you going to do with it? You're going to confess it, 1 John 1, 9, and repent of it, forsake it as Proverbs 28, 13 says.

So it's unconfessed and unrepentant sin. Did I see a hand somewhere back there? Yes. Insufficient what? Insufficient view of God. Very good. So it goes back to theology. You have the right theology, though you can have the right theology and yet not worship God in spirit and truth, but you need the right theology to worship Him in spirit and truth.

Yes. Somebody else, what are the hindrances? Unforgiveness of others. Ah, I had that listed too. Unforgiveness of others. Turn to Matthew 5. This can hinder your worship. Not having a forgiving heart.

So, unconfessed, unrepentant sin, having an inadequate view of God, as Lyndon mentioned, which takes us back to knowing our theology, so we know God Himself personally, so we know who we're worshiping, and an unforgiveness of others.

Do you want to read that? Do you have it? Matthew 5, I'm sorry, 23 to 24, Sermon on the Mount. Thank you. Note there are a couple of things. My uncle, who had passed away, as I mentioned, there were some issues with some close friends of his, and he had a hard time forgiving.

And when I visited him back a couple months ago in the hospital, one of his close friends, who they had blacklisted each other, they didn't want to talk to each other, see each other, anything. His friend came to visit him in the hospital, and they hadn't talked for a number of years.

And that made quite an impact on my uncle. Don't know how God, and if He used it to save him. His friend came and started giving him Scripture. But this whole issue. Greeks typically say, that's why, maybe I love how Jesus puts it here, they remember, you're offering your gift at the altar, and they remember that He doesn't say that you have something against your brother.

Greeks will say, well, if he has something against me, let him come to me. Now remember Matthew 18, the onus is always on you. Always. Matthew 18, if your brother sins against you, go and talk to him in private.

So you're the offended one, he's the offending party. In this case, you're the one who's caused the offense, correct? Because it says, Jesus says, if you remember that your brother has something against you, meaning that you've offended him.

Jesus says, you, stop your worship, go and first, first be reconciled to your brother. So an unforgiving heart, an unreconciled relationship, is definite hindrance to worship. Any others that we might have missed?

Tom? Lack of study. Lack of biblical study. Very good. Psalm 119 verse 11, your word I've hidden in my heart. So the study of God's word, continuous, is very important. Very good. Okay, next one. Worship on Sunday, true or false, worship on Sunday is not affected by our lives Monday through Saturday.

A pretty simple answer, right? It's obvious. So which helps us understand when we started out at the beginning, that worship is more than just what happens on Sunday morning, more than what happens when we sing.

It's something that happens as a way of life for the believer. Romans 12, 1, your spiritual act of worship. How is it affected? Let's discuss it a little bit. How is worship affected with what goes on in our lives during the week?

How can worship on Sunday be affected? Yes. That's good. Dragging your mind off of, dragging your mind on earthly things, which takes your focus off the Lord and heavenly things, which is what we were exhorted to this morning, right?

Pastor Mike, maturity is not focusing on the temporal, but focusing on that which is eternal. Very good point. And, of course, when we're going through our week, day in and day out, we can have a tendency to focus on that which is earthly and temporal and not eternal.

Very good. Anybody else? Yes, Peg? Okay. Okay. Good. So trusting the Lord throughout your week, focusing on His promises and on His faithfulness to His promises, that will help cultivate ultimately your worship as you come Sunday.

Wes? Oh, very good. What you took from the previous Sunday, Wes is saying, if you take it and apply it and follow it and learn it, you can take that with you throughout the week and as you come to service for worship again.

Very good. That way we're making it a way of life. John says this about this aspect of worship. I quote, Music and liturgy can perhaps assist or express a worshiping heart, but they cannot make a non-worshiping heart into a worshiping one.

The danger is that they can give a non-worshiping heart the sense of having worshiped. So the crucial factor for worship in the church is not the form of worship, I repeat, or John repeats, I repeat, John, the crucial factor is not the form of worship, he says, but the state of the hearts of the saints.

If our corporate worship isn't the expression of our individual worshiping lives, it is unacceptable. If you think you can live any way you please and then go to church on Sunday morning and turn on worship with the saints, you're wrong.

John says he continues. Worship does not occur in a vacuum. As believers, we are responsible to the rest of the church to maintain a consistent lifestyle of genuine, acceptable worship. Our failure to do so will adversely affect the rest of the body of Christ.

What we do throughout the week will affect the members of the church with whom we worship on Sunday. So nothing is ever in a vacuum. We don't want to dichotomize and put everything like that. We have to look at our Christian life as the Bible looks at it.

So worship is a way of life. Any thoughts or questions on that? Okay. Yes. That's right. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. We're also ambassadors for Christ. Yes. So during the week, that's what we are people are watching and we need to continue to proclaim the gospel.

Very good. Tom, did I see your hand? No. Okay. All right. What I want to do in the last six minutes, I want to now, again, worship we talked about is not just the music, but I do want to take a few moments to talk about the music.

Hymns, Gospel Songs, and Praise Choruses

Who knows who is considered back in the late 19th century, the end of the 19th century, uh, hymns were being written. We sing here hands and we sing courses, but him would have been written consistently.

But around the end of the 19th century, him just suddenly stopped being written. And what replaced him was what was called gospel songs. Does anyone know who the, who is considered the father of the gospel song by many, very good.

Bob, Iris, thank you. Tell us who he was just briefly. He worked with Moody. It was relevant for the day. Relevancy is the cry, right? They wanted to drop people. Yes, because Moody was an evangelist and in his evangelistic campaigns, right in Britain and in America.

So in contrast to him, which him focused the audience and hymns was directed towards God. Whereas those gospel songs that Iris started to write for Moody, because they were written for evangelistic campaigns that were written in advance to draw an audience that was written for the people.

So yeah, he is the father of that. Um, they were obviously lighter in doctrinal content than hymns. Um, and they expressed personal testimony many times because they had a certain purpose for that. It was to draw people in an evangelistic meeting.

Well, gospel songs hung around. And then the next century, the late 20th century gospel songs were replaced by the praise course Hill song. No, as you notice, a lot of times praise courses there, there's a lot of repetition, a lot of repetition, a lot of repetition.

I can't recall how many youth conferences I've been to where it's just, okay, let's go to the next one. You know, it's a lot of repetition. Um, that was the whole point of a praise course. Unlike Kim's though, I'm rather unlike gospel songs where gospel songs were directed towards the people.

Praise courses were directed towards praising God. So in that sense, they are like hymns, but they have no didactic purpose, no teaching you doctrinal content or anything like that. Turn with me for a moment to Colossians chapter three.

We have a three more minutes, Colossians chapter three. If somebody can read verse 16, Colossians three 16. And again, you'll notice the connection between the word and the musical aspect of worship here.

Colossians three 16. Well, you got it. Great. Very good. So we see at the, at the outset, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. So we see the word there teaching and admonishing one another, how singing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

So as we worship with the musical portion, because that's not just that worship is, as we said, that there to be some teaching in that in some admonishing and praise courses. Sometimes don't necessarily always have that.

I was at a church recently where I was preaching and a couple of months ago, I preached there also. And they asked me, they do just, they basically do courses. They don't do hymns. So they asked me if at the end I would like a hymn.

So I said, sure. So I chose a hymn and I was cringing. They didn't even know the hymn, even the person who was playing it. I was like, I shouldn't have picked that, but they just don't know. And it's not because I'm an old fogey and I just want to hymns, but some of the courses that are sung today there.

Unfortunately, there are some courses that have, that have rich biblical truth. How deep the father's love for us versus shine, Jesus shine. Or as I was listening to the CD last night, I, I couldn't help but stop my study.

I had to pause and can it be that I should gain? A lot of times what I do with the hymns, I'll, I'll read through them. I won't sing him, but I'll read through them and I'll pray through them. You know, you get to verse four.

I mean, if that's not total depravity long, my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night. Then I defused a quickening ray. I woke the dungeon flame with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free.

I rose when forth and followed thee. So as you're singing, even that aspect of our worship, as we're singing the hymns here, as we're singing the courses that are on a deeper level, it helps you. Those lyrics help us to focus on God and his character.

And that's why it's important to remember that as we sing any final comments or questions you might have on this aspect of worship or any aspect of it. But yes, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Amen. Amen. It's very true.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Exactly. Amen. The character and attributes of God. That's true. Well, let's pray. Lord, we do bow down with humble hearts before you this morning. And we do say, as the Psalmist said, not to us, oh Lord, not to us, but to your name, be the glory because of your love and faithfulness.

Help us to worship more as believers more deeply and to see worship, not as just a segment of what we do on Sunday morning, even just to sing, but it's a way of life that we would offer our bodies as living sacrifice in view of what you have done for us.

In view of your mercy for our lives, that we would get to know you more and more deeper and deeper in terms of your attributes and your character, so that we would be able to worship you individually and as a corporate body so that ultimately we give you all the glory.

We pray in Christ's name. Amen.