Questions On Worshipping God

Answer First, let me address the meriting of worship and then how God would have us express our worship, individually and collectively. Also, I will try to emphasize the attitude we should have toward worshipping God.

First of all, the idea of "worship" has to do with bowing oneself before another, paying reverence toward them, praising and adoring of another. It is to come from the heart and recognizes the worthiness of the one being worshipped.

As top the object of worship, only God is worthy of man's worship. He is the One who we should praise and serve, not men, angels or anything else.

MAT 4:8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory;
MAT 4:9 and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me."
MAT 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'"

REV 22:8 ś And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
REV 22:9 And he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God."

HEB 1:5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, "Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee"? And again, "I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me"?
HEB 1:6 And when He again brings the first-born into the world, He says, "And let all the angels of God worship Him."

As to our attitude about worshipping God, we should d so from the heart, humbling ourselves before Him and also we should express our worship only in ways that He has commanded us. Jesus called this worshipping in spirit and in truth. It is not up to us to tell God how we are going to worship Him, but it is up to us to listen to Him and follow His word.

JOH 4:23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
JOH 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

How does God want us to worship Him? In the New Testament, we have passages where we are told how Christians expressed their worship in various ways. We see them acting as individuals and also together as local churches. They prayed to God, studied His word together, participated in the Lord's supper together, collect funds for the needs of others and the preaching of the gospel and sang praises to God (no mention of the use of any accompanying instruments).

ACT 2:42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

1CO 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.
1CO 16:2 On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.
1CO 16:3 And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I shall send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem;
1CO 16:4 and if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me.

EPH 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
EPH 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
EPH 5:20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
EPH 5:21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

ACT 20:7 ś And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

1CO 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
1CO 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
1CO 11:25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
1CO 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Contact Gary

Question 2. What day is the Sabbath? How important is it, in keeping God's Sabbath Day? How do we keep the Sabbath Holy?

Answer The Sabbath Day was on the seventh day of the week and was observed by the Jewish people as a day of rest. It was given only to the Jews as a day of observance, but Christians are not commanded to keep it in any way.

EXO 20:8 ś "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
EXO 20:9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
EXO 20:10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.

EXO 20:11 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

COL 2:13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
COL 2:14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
COL 2:15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

COL 2:16 ś Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--
COL 2:17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

The Sabbath was given to the Jewish nation in remembrance of their enslavement in Egypt. It was never intended to be observed by Christians. the examples that are given in the New Testament show us that Christians met on the first day of the week.

DEU 5:13 'Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
DEU 5:14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant
and your female servant may rest as well as you.

DEU 5:15 'And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

ACT 20:7 ś And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered togetherto break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

1CO 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.
1CO 16:2 On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come. Contact Gary

Question 3. I need help on where in the bible ; does (tithes) appear about giving 1/10 of ones earnings to the church.

Answer The New testament does not legislate "how much" we should give to a local congregation, although some denominations have made their own laws on this and many other matters.

Rather than specifying the exact amount to be given, the principles that we should follow are revealed to us. Some of them are the following:

1. Give as we have been prospered by the Lord, out of a willing heart and not by compulsion.

2CO 9:6 ś Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.
2CO 9:7 Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.

2. Giving is to be a sacrifice on our part, something that is beyond a surplus that causes some suffering, but not to the point of poverty and putting us in physical need.

2CO 8:1 Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,
2CO 8:2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
2CO 8:3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability they gave of their own accord,
2CO 8:4 begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,
2CO 8:5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

3. Giving should be done weekly, on the first day of the week for the purposes of helping needy Christians and supporting faithful teachers of His word.

1CO 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatians, so do you also.
1CO 16:2 On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.
1CO 16:3 And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I shall send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem;
1CO 16:4 and if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me.

4. We should provide for our own and also give to the Lord as we are able. Depending on circumstances, our amount of giving will change from time to time.

1TI 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.

5. We give money as a local church to support preachers and help Christians who are in need.

ACT 11:27 ś Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
ACT 11:28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.
ACT 11:29 And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.
ACT 11:30 And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.

PHI 4:14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.
PHI 4:15 And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone;
PHI 4:16 for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.
PHI 4:17 Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.
PHI 4:18 But I have received everything in full, and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. Contact Gary

Question 4. In John 2:15, Jesus threw everyone, buyers AND sellers alike, out of the temple for making His house a marketplace. When a church has fund raisers, even though the money is used to further the ministry, is this considered "merchandizing? What about having a Christian day care, which also makes a profit? Does John 2:15, Matt. 21:12 & Mark 11:15 tell us that using our church as a marketplace is wrong and that we should trust God to supply our needs or not?

Answer Yes, these passages indicate clearly to us that we should not think of local churches as money-making institutions that are design for the making of profit, even if these profits are used for "good" purposes. The Scripture is quite clear on how churches collected monies and in what way they used them. It is these principles and examples that we should follow and not the traditions of men.

Method of collection - In 1 Cor. 16:1-4, Paul communicates to the local church at Corinth, as he had done to others, when and how money should be collected. It should be done every first day of the week (Sunday) according to the level of individual prosperity and willingness to give. 2 Cor. 9:6-7. No amount is specified.

In these simple passages we do not see any glimpses of profit-making enterprises involving Christians. Free will collections on the first day of the week is how the apostles of Jesus commanded the early Christians to give. If we respect their word, we will follow this pattern only.

Purpose for collections - At least two purposes are clearly spelled out. first, as we have noted, they collected money for Christians (not the world in general) who were in need of food, clothing and shelter. 1 Cor. 16:-1-4. In this case, brethren in Judea were stricken by a famine and were in need.

Further, we are told they collect money to support those preaching the gospel, both in their local area and if possible, beyond it. 2 Cor. 11:8-9, Phil. 4:14-19. Again, no mention of spending money on social programs or great building projects and the imaginative schemes of men. Simple direct giving for spiritual purposes was the practice of those in the first century.

Beyond these, we are given general authority to provide a building for the purpose of assembling and worshipping together. Heb. 10:24-25. However, there is no indication that this building should be used for all types of purposes such as entertainment, running of business and recreation. Contact Gary

Question 5. Is music an expression for worship in today's church?