Session Five: Worship

Unit One – The Journey
Written By John Walford

In this session, we’ll explore:

  • What is worship?

  • What does holiness mean?

  • How can we worship with our whole lives?

‘Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are – mind, emotions, will, body – to what God is and says and does’

Warren Wiersbe

1. Reflect

When you think about worshipping God, what comes into your mind? Does it seem like an important activity?

Worship is a contraction of worth-ship: declaring how much God is worth.

2. Read

  1. Read Romans 12:1–2 (New Living Translation)

    What does this tell us about worship? How does that compare with your answer to the reflection question?

  2. How do these verses help us to understand what holiness is?

  3. Now read Colossians 3:1–17 (New Living Translation).

    What does this passage teach us about worship?

  4. How does this passage tie in with Romans 12:1-2?

  5. What elements might form part of our worship?

Need help? Here are some hints…

1. Maybe we think of singing and praying when we think of worship but the word the Bible often uses for worship means service. Think about how serving offers God worship. Many different elements go into worship but worship is really an attitude of the heart.

2. If worship is about recognising the holiness of God – His “otherness” compared to us - it is important to realise that our call to become holy is not about withdrawing from the world but engaging with it.

3. Verse 16 most obviously speaks about worship but the whole passage speaks about our behaviour giving glory to God, and every part of our lives worshipping Him, because worship means putting God at the centre of our lives.

4. Verses 5–11 speak about the negative things that becoming holy requires us to let go of. Verses 12–14 speak about Christ-like attitudes that we should embrace.

5. Recognising God’s worth can make use of prayer, scripture, music, art, poetry, video or almost any art form. What speaks most powerfully to you?

‘Songs of worship arise from a life of worship.’

Tim Hughes

3. Act

Think about how you offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice – what can you do with your:

  • Eyes

  • Mouth

  • Ears

  • Thoughts and mind

  • Hands

  • Feet

4. Pray

  • Spend some time worshipping God

  • Pray about the things that you have learned in this session

  • Pray for people on your heart today

John Walford

John Walford is the Senior Minister at Bishop’s Stortford Baptist Church.

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Session Six: Communication