Why Worship? (Part V)

Finally! The next installment of "Why Worship?". In this installment, we will look at the corporate worship setting. If you haven't read the preceding installments, you may wish to do so before or after reading this.

Corporate Worship Time

The significance of corporate worship time is similar to the private, individual worship time, but from a different perspective. As personal worship time is vital to the spirit man of the individual, corporate worship is vital to the spirit of the corporate man. In this context, I am referring to the body of Christ in the local church as the corporate man. Foundationally, those who have gathered together within a particular church should be there because that is the church, family, and vision to which God has called them. God draws individuals to a body for the purpose of them doing their part in bringing about the fulfillment of the vision of that church. As the Father has drawn individuals to a particular church body, it is by design that many have similar needs, spiritual vision, or callings in the Kingdom of God. As we submit to the local church authority, God sets us in order with the vision, which requires that we be dealt with or ministered to according to the work He has purposed to accomplish within that church. Further, when one has submitted to the vision of the house and to the authority of the minister whom God has established there, the individual needs can be met as the Spirit of the Lord attends to the needs of the corporate body. This is because the individual has aligned himself with God’s order through obedience to Him.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment poured on the head, that ran down on the beard, even the beard of Aaron [the first high priest], that came down upon the collar and skirts of his garments [consecrating the whole body].” (Psalm 133:1-2 Amplified)

This scripture gives us a symbolic representation of the body of Christ. The head and beard of Aaron represents the minister of the gospel whom God has established in authority in the local church. The collar and the skirts of the garments represent the body of Christ within the local church, submitted to the head. See, when we come into alignment with the local church, we place a demand on the anointing within the man of God, which then flows down to us.

So, as we each come and meet together, having our own individual needs, these all become the needs of the body of Christ within the church. Think of the many struggles you face right now or in the past. Now multiply that by the number of people that attend the weekly service at your church and you can gain a picture of the need that exists within your local church body. For those who truly have a spiritual connection with their local church, meaning they have joined together in covenant with the people and the ministry staff through the Holy Spirit, they will often find God speaks to their needs during times when the church gathers together, either through the ministry of the word, the worship, corporate prayer, or even in small group settings. God has given us these times to be ministered unto as we minister to Him and each other. So then, it is no coincidence when you find what is being ministered to the entire church through a sermon or a ministry time at the altar is exactly a situation you have been dealing with in your own life. As we honor and glorify Him together in this way corporately, He responds corporately. And just the same as in our individual worship time, this is the time to allow the Spirit of God to speak to the body and minister to the corporate man.

If we will allow God the opportunity, He will go to work. I have seen this in operation many times and manifested in as many different ways during service where we waited on the response of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God may deal with a prideful spirit and many in the congregation will respond by kneeling or lying prostrate before Him during the worship time. Or, there may be a number if individuals who are going through trying times and need victory in their circumstances. In this case, the Spirit of God may usher in a spirit of victory with shouting, clapping, or dancing. There may be several who need to ask forgiveness of their ways that have been contrary to the will of God and the Holy Spirit brings conviction, resulting in repentance. When the Holy Spirit works, we don’t have to. Preachers won’t have to beg people to come to the altar. Worship leaders won’t have to sing the same chorus fifty times to elicit a response. When we enter into worship, truly glorifying God, He hears us and will respond. And His response may only be aimed at a few, or maybe even one person who has a particular need to be met. But regardless of the number, allowing the Holy Spirit to work in this way is powerful to bringing and keeping unity within the body of Christ so that His ultimate purpose can be effectively accomplished in it and through it.

Another benefit of the corporate worship time is the great power that exists when many are gathered together singing and proclaiming the greatness of our God. Psalm 34:3 says “Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” When we come to meet, we each bring our portion of Christ in us. But then we join together, magnifying Christ in each other. When we magnify Him, anything that is not Him becomes smaller. With our corporate voice of worship, we can create a sound that pushes back the spiritual darkness in the atmosphere. The multitude of voices declaring the greatness and power of Almighty God causes the enemy to cringe and run away, thus creating an atmosphere that is an open heaven. I would liken this open heaven to the ladder in Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28. It invites the Holy Spirit to come and move according to His will and as He pleases. The power of our corporate worship cannot be underestimated. If God inhabits the praises of His people, then His presence is with us when we worship corporately. Look at the results of such an environment from the scriptures:

“And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were [self-] slaughtered” (II Chronicles 20:22 Amplified)

“Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, Rise up, Lord; let Your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You.” (Numbers 10:35 Amplified)

The ark of God represents His presence. When His presence goes before us, our enemies will flee. We don’t have to work and sweat to get the Devil off our backs and out of our church. We just need to invite into our church the presence of the unchanging God by worshiping at His feet and adoring Him. We create a climate where the enemy is not welcome and is not able to operate. Thus, the flesh will not be able to operate as a result. Imagine what can be accomplished for the Kingdom of God if the Holy Spirit is in charge rather than our flesh. Most of the greatest moves of God I have witnessed took place during, or as an extension of the worship time as opposed to during an invitation given after the ministry of the Word. I have seen people healed, delivered, prophetic words of knowledge, salvation, and repentance come during these most holy times. And some of the greatest and most powerful messages I’ve heard have come out of these times as well.

Surely it is the desire of every church to see healing, deliverance, restoration, victory, signs, wonders, and salvation take place within their walls. I have spent years in churches where we sought after these things primarily through prayer. However, I do not want you to think that we no longer need prayer. We need prayer indeed. But I believe our prayer is even more powerful and focused when we first get into God’s presence through our worship time. Corporate worship creates the atmosphere for us to be in unity with the Father. This unity with the Father then focuses our prayer more to praying the will of God. And the prayers which are in accordance with the will of God will be done (I John 5:14-15). All of this creates an environment for our church to be changed into His image so that we can continually be moving forward toward fulfilling the vision and purpose God has given to the church. As we are doing this, the signs and wonders will surely follow.

September 11th

After eight years, the sobriety of this anniversary has not really diminished for me. The images I saw on live television that morning are still very clear and very real in my mind. I do not watch replayed footage of the events even this many years afterward. It's too disturbing. (I now sort of understand why my Granddaddy wouldn't watch even mildly violent scenes on television programs 40 years after his service in WWII.) Many thoughts come to mind about the events and aftermath of this day in 2001 – the heroism, the horror, the reprehensibility – but I haven’t the ability to put those thoughts into words. And even if I did, the expression of them would bring little to no comfort or closure for me. However, what I can do, and what I believe is really better is to remember not the events, but the people who died and their families & friends left behind.
Fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins – these were taken away. The love of someone’s life, the closest friend – they too were stolen. A co-worker, acquaintance, neighbor – lost. For them, there was an end. For those left behind, it was a beginning of loss, pain, and remembrance.
So today, I will remember the ones left behind as they remember the ones they lost. And as I remember, I pray. I pray that as this anniversary comes and goes again, they would be comforted; that though the pain and loss is great, the feeling of it would not be; that there is fond remembrance of those lost; that they are surrounded with love and support from those that are near and they would gather strength from it.

Think Rightly About God!

Therefore thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah]: If you return [and give up this mistaken tone of distrust and despair], then I will give you again a settled place of quiet and safety, and you will be My minister; and if you separate the precious from the vile [cleansing your own heart from unworthy and unwarranted suspicions concerning God's faithfulness], you shall be My mouthpiece. (Jeremiah 15:19 - Amplified Bible)

Every relationship is built on trust, or degraded by the lack of it. The more trust you have in a relationship, the more sound the relationship is. Decrease the trust and the relationship becomes shaky. What kind of trust do you have in your relationship with God? Not sure? I'll ask a different way: How solid is your relationship with God? Your answer will depend on your level of trust in God as being your All in All.

No matter how much trust we have, it will be put to the test. Our challenge is how we function day to day when our trust is tested such that we don't allow our trust in God to wane. It is when we experience suffering - and we will experience suffering - that our trust is most important in our relationship to God. If we have little trust, then when trials come we are likely to assume God is unhappy with our "performance" or is punishing us. If we have a moderate amount of trust, we may not necessarily think God is punishing us but we may become suspicious as to whether or not God really has our best interests at heart. If we have full trust, then we are like Paul - to live is Christ but to die is gain. Or, even better, we are like Jesus in the garden - regardless of what I might want, I want what the Father wants. Full trust allows us to take whatever comes and continue to say, "It is all for His glory! He is God and I am not!"

Lord I pray we all would have full trust in you. If we have not, we repent and put our trust in You. If anyone needs help trusting You, I ask that You would help them - guide them in Your word and speak to them by Your Holy Spirit.