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Sep 29, 2019 08:00am

Three Kinds of Worship

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One Sunday morning a small boy was sitting by his mother during the morning worship service. Like most small children, his attention span was shorter than the length of the pastor’s sermon. So, he began looking around the auditorium.

As he did, he noticed a bronze plaque on the wall. The plaque had words, stars, and the outline of an American flag. He nudged his mom and asked, “What’s that?” She quietly replied, “Oh, that is a plaque in memory of those who died in the service” (referring to men and women who died in the military service of our country during war).

The little boy thought for a few seconds, and then he tugged on the sleeve of his mother’s blouse and with a sense of panic asked, “Mom, did they die in the morning service or the evening service?”

We laugh because all of us have attended a worship service that started at 10:30 sharp and ended at 12:00 dull.

Before the fall of Communism, there was a law in Romania that allowed for freedom of religion, and yet, all Christians who were caught worshipping were arrested. According to the law it was illegal to drink alcohol, play cards and waste time.

The Communists considered worship a waste of time. Unfortunately, there are many people, and even some that call themselves Christians, who also feel that worship is a waste of time.

There are three kinds of worship described in the Bible:

False Worship –worshipping the wrong God. Most worship today is false worship – people are worshipping a god that does not exist.

In actuality, people have rejected the God revealed in the Scriptures and are worshipping a god that they have created in their own hearts and minds. The Scriptures are clear – God condemns idolatry. An idol represents a god who does not exist and is a rival to the true and living God.

Vain Worship– worshipping the right God in the wrong way (Matthew 15:9). Worship is vain, or meaningless, when:
- It does not come from the heart (Matthew 15:6-8).
- We substitute the traditions of men for the word of God (Matthew 15:6, 9).
- We try to worship God in our sins (I John 1:7, 9).
- We try to worship God when we have offended our brother (Matthew 5:23, 24).
- We try to worship God when we have not forgiven our brother (Mark 11:25).
- It is not done in faith (Romans 14:23).
True Worship– worshipping the right God in the right way. The right way is the way that we find both in precept and example in the Old and New Testaments to worship God.

Worshipping the right God, in the right way, is the single most important thing that you will do today. Let’s all be true worshippers!