This Sunday we are beginning a four week series called, “Worship is…” Our Scripture reading is Isaiah 6.

When we think about what worship is, sometimes we think about the parts of the worship service (the call to worship, God’s greeting, confession and assurance, offering, sermon, benediction…) or about worship music (hymns, contemporary, mixed, …). But in this series we won’t talk about any of those things, at least not specifically. Rather we are going to try to answer some of the big questions about worship. Questions like: What makes worship, “worship”? What is it that we are doing? What do we bring to worship? What do we take away? Why do we do it in the first place?

At the heart of the word worship is the word worth. When we worship God, we worship the One who created us, the One who went to the cross to redeem us, the One who lives in us; we worship the One who is worthy of all praise and honour and glory. Worship truly is not about us at all. It’s always and only about God. We worship Him because of who He is and what He has done.

These are important questions because the one thing that worship should not be is mundane and automatic. These are important questions because, as Christians, worship is a big deal. And, as Reformed Christians, we readily affirm that Sunday worship is special, necessary, and life-giving, but worship is not just something that we do on Sunday. Worship is a 24/7 activity.

The first thing we will look at in this series is the reality that worship is not about us, it’s about God. We will look at that through Isaiah 6 and Isaiah’s experience of God’s presence.

(Now this isn't to say that we get nothing out of worship, or that we aren't important in worship ... just that God is always the primary focus of our worship).

Whether we think about the fact that worship isn’t about us consciously or not, that is something we affirm each and every Sunday. Why else do we get up in the morning, get our stuff together, and make sure the kids are ready for church? Why else do we put money in the offering plate and give to the church and other causes? Why else do we make the Sunday morning drive to church when some of our neighbours are still in bed? Why do we sit in the wooden pews, sometimes next to people we don’t know, and sing songs and listen to someone preach for 20 minutes or so?

As Kenneth Carter Jr. writes, “It all makes no sense, unless there is a God who is real, who is above us and beyond us but also beside us and within us, who created and sustains all things, who is worthy of our worship.” 

When we gather together this Sunday we will again affirm that God is worthy of our worship, that He is worthy of all praise and honour and glory, now and forever, and that He calls us into worship.

In preparation for Sunday, I invite you to pray for our service. Pray for those leading, playing, and singing. Pray for each of us as we gather together. Pray that God would prepare our hearts to worship Him, to experience His presence, to hear Him speak. And pray that God would grab our attention and fill us with the desire to reflect His glory outside the church sanctuary in the world.