By Ty Sager
Lifestyle Worshipers
Psalm 34:1 - “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”
Everybody at church should be aiming to say along with David that they worship God “always” and “at all times.” Or put another way, that we are lifestyle worshipers, not just weekend worshipers. Consider this familiar verse:
1 Corinthians 10:31 - “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Giving God glory the ultimate priority for our lives. If things like eating and drinking are supposed to be done to the glory of God than surely anything and everything else should be seen as an opportunity to worship. This means we worship God in our jobs, with the money He has given us, in the music we make, with the kids we are loving and raising up, with how we serve our church… the list goes on. Our days are about worshiping God in every area of life.
If you’re like me you may look at your day as seeing things that need to be crossed off the list. This perspective of the day can be so burdensome. Instead of seeing tasks that need to get done we should see these tasks as opportunities to worship God. It is when we have this perspective that we find joy in doing what at times seem to be meaningless activities. It may be a bit silly but right now I’m trying to see keeping my desk clean as an opportunity to worship God! Our ultimate purpose is found and fulfilled when we view every thing as worship.
When every individual in our church is living this out our worship on the weekends will become more significant. This quote by John MacArthur helps illustrate that:
“The Sunday service is to be only a corporate overflow of what has been taking place all week long.”
See today as an opportunity to worship God in all the little things you do and come ready to worship God this weekend at Compass Bible Church.
It is certainly true that we are to worship God at all times and places, but I wonder how much we really do to promote this within the Church. I think out bias towards Sunday morning Christianity is reflected in our language and culture.
I don’t want to minimize the importance of being involved in a local church, but it is more Biblical to talk about being the Church rather than ‘going’ to Church. Many Christians will refer to their church building as ‘the house of God.’ Honestly, I’m not sure where this comes from, unless they think they are the modern day tabernacle of Israel. Stephen and Paul are pretty clear that the Father dwells in heaven and the Spirit within the people of the Church.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.” Acts 17.
I would also contend that dressing up for church is another manifestation of the divide in the Christian mind between ‘Christian things’ and ‘nonchristian things.’ But in reality, all of life is devotional. Why then, do we talk and act and dress a certain way on Sunday, and another way the rest of the week?
Great blog, Ty - thanks for the reminder that worship isn’t something that we start doing when we get to church and stop doing when we leave. Every thing we do - every act of obedience, every struggle - should be done with the intention of bringing glory to God.
That MacArthur quote is great, too - if we’re not worshiping all week to begin with, our weekend service will reflect that… so let’s get to it!
Matt - I’m not sure if you’ve been to our church (I notice your profile indicates you’re from Chicago), but I can safely say that worshiping God at all times & places is certainly promoted here by our pastoral leadership. As for your concern that such an attitude isn’t widespread enough in the church today, you’re absolutely right… and may God have mercy on us and help us to remedy this! (I’m not quite sure what ‘bias’ in our language and culture you’re talking about, though…)
And, Matt, you might want to be careful as you look at the concept of “being the church” versus “going to church”. The Church - the body of Christ - isn’t something you can “be” in isolation from other believers; it requires community (see the book of Acts for countless examples, and Heb. 10:25 for a clear command not to give up “going to church”). Of course, your point has validity if you’re talking about folks who “go to church” and then opt not to live out their faith on a daily basis throughout the week. There’s really no need for the false dichotomy, though - it’s not one or the other. We ought to *go* to church, and then *act like* (or, in your words, be) the church the rest of the time. Thanks for the reminder and the comment.
Solid blog Ty!
It’s nice to have a reminder throughout the day, that everything we do, just like it says in 1Cor., we need to be doing it for His glory, and nothing else!
As for the “sunday service” issue, it is a common thing in America that mostly everyone follows. They get dressed up, they go to church, sing songs, go home and go about their day. The problem with this is that there is no constant reminder about doing everything for God’s glory. I agree Alan, if we worship all week, then it will reflect over the weekend. Thanks for the encouragement!!
Thanks again Ty! Keep on posting blogs, they are very encouraging!
MARANATHA! “Come, O’ Lord!”
Hi Ty , thanks for the blog and the reminder that we are in worship everyday in everything we do we should be glorifying God in it! Sometimes very difficult to do as you pointed out your example of keeping your desk clean( good example by the way) If that is true should our reverance for God not extend also to the weekend worship at Compass in the way we assemble together? In our dress ( dressing up for God instead of down?) or in our countenance and speech or how loud we are when we enter to hear the Word of God and sing? I think its in everything we do, its an attitude of our heart that comes out in our actions and behaviour as if we really care to honor the Lord in our lives above all else, including when we assemble together with the Church at Compass Bible Church. Everything we do and say and behaviour and action should be in our minds attitude that because of my Saviours love for me and His dying for me, I am ever grateful…that is my response…thankfulness, that comes out, in the way I present myself, the way I might dress, my speech, my behaviour, my countenance, my actions, and especially in my worship….a grateful heart to the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.
In the quote you addressed with John MacArthur, our worship on the weekend will indeed reflect what kind of worship goes on in our being the rest of the week. I love it! Worship is not just singing or being at church, but that is truly where we need to be encourged and exhorted in the faith so we can go out and truly worship during the week! Thanks for the blog Ty, great understanding with alot of wisdom, am grateful for your service and dedication to us as a congregation. Thanks for your insight and thoughfulness. May the Lord be glorified in us this week, everyday of the week. To God Be the Glory, great things He has done!
Hey Ty,
Right on - we should be consistent and persistent in not only our worship but in prayer, study and evangelism.
A stark constrast or break in the flow should be a red flag - a stop sign of sorts to re-examine the cause. Sunday should be a day to connect with other believers, a day of rest, set apart especially to honor our God and to share the honor with like minded brothers and sisters.
As Pastor Bobby pointed us to Jeremiah this weekend, I caught the significance of stark contrast as related to something I had previously seen in Acts.
Jer 7:29 says “Cut off your hair and throw it away, take up a lament…” and Acts 18:18b says Paul “had his hair cut off…because of a vow he had taken”.
Not that I advocate Compass Bible Hari Chrishna’s Day but a vow to truly repent is a vow to worship 24/7.
Double It Up!
This is really refreshing to hear Ty. It is so true that every little thing that we do we need to do it for the Glory of God and nothing else. And like you ty i see the day as a list of things to do and I like how you pointed out that we should see everything on that list as an oppprtunity to bring glory to God. And he is truly worthy of all the glory in every aspect in all of our lifes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good job ty..keep it comin
I agree with Zach, this was truely refreshing to hear. Giving God glory is what we were created for and it is how we should be living. Lifestlye worship baby!
Great blog Ty! What an encouragement to look at everything we do as an opportunity to glorify God!
great blog Ty! i totally agree that our Sunday should be an overflow of what happens all week. we need to be constanly worshipping the Lord and living for Him. when Sunday comes and we worship at church, we need to have so much praise on our tongues that we sing at the top of our lungs!!!
Agreeing with Zach and Hunter……so refreshing. And most of the time when people hear the term “worship” they think of singing but that is only one form! We need to express every form of worship in our daily living, Lifestyle Worship!
Thanks Ty for this great blog!
“Or put another way, that we are lifestyle worshipers, not just weekend worshipers.”
I liked that sentence because it is usually true everywhere unfortunately… But the most apparent one is after a retreat or a camp when the worship was so amazing, but then after, it is back to weekend worshiping…
Great blog dude! I’m looking forward to another soon!!!!