“Worshipping the Savior” Christmas 2015 December 13, 2015 Grace Baptist AM

What is worship? Try this mental exercise. Define it! Tell your definition to the person next to you. Now, read the following definitions with me.

William Temple says worship is… …the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His Beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self- centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.

John Frame says about worship… Redemption is the means; worship is the goal. In one sense, worship is the whole point of everything. It is the purpose of history, the goal of the whole Christian story. Worship is not one segment of the Christian life among others. Worship is the entire Christian life, seen as a priestly offering to God. And when we meet together as a church, our time of worship is not merely a preliminary to something else; rather, it is the whole point of our existence as the body of Christ.

Louie Giglio says worship is… … our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is, and what He has done; expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.

A blogger writes that … *thegospelcoalition We are hardwired for worship so it is inevitable and essential (false worship or true worship). True worship is the response of the whole being to beholding God’s glory. It is enabled by the Holy Spirit. It is only possible in regenerated people. It is focused on gospel truth. It is personal and corporate. It comes from the heart that sees and loves Him.

In 1828 Webster gave this definition to “worship.” To honor with extravagant love and extreme submission.

Remember… The Priority of Worship The Person of Worship The Promise of Worship

Examine the worship of these characters of Christmas. Mary – Luke 1:38,46-55 Joseph – Luke 2:33 Elizabeth and Zechariah – Luke 1 The Shepherds- Luke 2:20 The Angels – Luke 2:13,14 Anna and Simeon – Luke 2:28,38 The Wise Men – Matt. 2:2,11

Hear the call to worship. Psalm 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

Revelation 4: The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

This Christmas may you find yourself… “Worshipping the Savior”