This message is from Sister Angela Ng one of our Grace International School of Ministry students.

I like sports and I’ve been fortunate enough to go to and watch a few sports games live. There is one thing that is common across all these sports, the crowd expressing their adoration. This year we had the soccer world cup in Brazil. If you did get to watch a match or the highlights you might have seen that every once in a while the television camera would pan across and look at the crowd and you can see the people in attendance freely expressing their emotions. If a goal was scored people would jump out of their seats, lift their hands, clap, shout, cheer, dance. If a team lost, the camera always managed to find a fan with a distraught look on their face. Everywhere you look in the stadium people physically expressing themselves. So let’s ask the question why doesn’t that expression follow them to church?

Three points about expression in worship:

1. What’s stopping us?

There are a myriad of answers to this question, but I’d say the most common response sounds something like “I’m just more reserved and quiet in my worship.” The only problem with this statement is it’s less about what God desires and more about what the person prefers.

God is not limited to one culture or one language. God’s reach is infinite. Jesus saved everyone, so everyone has a reason to celebrate and worship Him. Why should someone else stop you from worshipping God? Worship is you having a two-way conversation with God and He wants to commune with us through worship.

Our lives seem to feel like this, if we are not going through a storm, we are coming out of a storm or looking back at a storm. If you are facing problems give it over to God. Trust in Him. He can do a much better job than we can. Don’t let it consume your every waking thought, and don’t let it stop you from worshipping God.

God doesn’t need out worship. It’s much better than that He wants our worship. As sons and daughters of the King, God’s desire should supersede the need for our own comfort. Expression is not always comfortable, but I’ve come to understand that it’s very important to the corporate worship experience of church.

With any sport, the audience is watching in anticipation corporately. In soccer, when your team scores a goal you react, you’re up shouting, doing a fist pump. You see the people around you expressing themselves, their expression is contagious and it is very difficult to suppress your feelings. The same applies in corporate worship. When someone gives a shout of praise, “Hallelujah, Amen, God is good!” or you see someone lifting their hands to Jesus their expression is contagious it causes you to want to express yourself to God in worship, your faith rises and you are part of something much bigger than just one’s self.

2. Biblical evidence

Throughout the Bible you’ll see the motive for expression and that it’s not about drawing attention to yourself, but about pointing to the glory and presence of God. The bible also gives specific instruction some would say mandates about expression in worship. Listed below are just 5 forms of physical expression with their corresponding scripture references.

• Clapping (Psalm 47:1-2)
• Shouting (Psalm 95:1)
• Bowing down (Psalm 95:6)
• Raising hands (Psalm 134:2)
• Dancing (Psalm 150:4)

Worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). This kind of worship has nothing to do with our comfort and has everything to do with God’s desire.

When we talk about the sacrifices we make in order to worship God or come to church on Sunday, the first thing that comes to mind is our time. Instead of spending time with friends, watching TV or playing video games, we are reserving our time for God. But whatever our sacrifices may be it really is nothing compared to what Jesus sacrificed in order to save us. Having His body broken, being tortured and ridiculed. Whatever we may go through it really can’t compare.

Worship always requires a sacrifice. Expression can definitely be a sacrifice of self, of preference and comfort. We are essentially surrendering our self to Jesus and saying God is most important in our lives.

3. There’s freedom in expression

2 Corinthians 3:17 says “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

During Sister Nicky’s sermon “Called to Be Better” she said something about freedom that really stuck with me. As Christians, through Jesus’ sacrifice we are freed. The world’s definition of freedom is the freedom to do the wrong thing. But, we have been given the freedom to do what is right. We are free. Jesus already has won. He has the ultimate victory so we have cause to celebrate.

Expression is one of the biggest catalysts to freedom in corporate worship. When you stretch out your hands, dance, shout or bow down, you are boldly proclaiming your love for God. Expression takes courage. Be led by the Holy Spirit. If you feel a prompting go with it, even if you are incorrect I would rather look silly than miss what opportunity God has planned. Don’t be overcome by fear.

Spiritual growth takes place when we express ourselves in worship. Because we are choosing to stand up, lift our hands, dance, shout, and clap, we are putting our trust in God and are exercising our faith. The more we do these things, the easier it becomes to focus on God rather than ourselves. We must let go of our self and declare aloud that we want to exalt and glorify God more than we care about our own comfort.

If we want to have more of God in our lives, that means having less of us. This means we have to surrender. When we surrender ourselves to God that allows for a larger capacity. Just as a cup of water must be empty in order to be filled up. We have to continually empty ourselves of worldly pleasures and worldly thinking in order to be filled up with the things and presence of God.
Everyone gets excited about something, whether it be sport matches, read-a-thons or new blockbuster movies, but shouldn’t we be excited most about God? I’ve jumped, shouted, danced and fist-pumped about a lot of things, but there’s nothing or no one more deserving than God.

To summarise my three points: Don’t get stopped in worshipping God by traps of fear, self, comfort, and preference. Rather exalt and praise Jesus by stepping out in faith and trusting in Him. Secondly, know that expression in worship is biblically based. Lastly, there is freedom in expression because you are focusing more on God than yourself and surrendering to His ways.

So challenge yourself to step out in faith, embrace expression by focusing on God, and see the spiritual growth that will occur.

 

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If you would like to accept Jesus into your heart please pray the following prayer.
“Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Saviour.”

If you have just prayed this prayer and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, congratulations! We invite you to contact us as we would love to pray a blessing over your life and help guide you on your journey.

The next step. As a way to grow closer to Him, the Bible tells us to follow up on our commitment.

• Get baptised as commanded by Christ.
• Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
• Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible.
• Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing friends to answer your questions and support you.
• Find a local church where you can worship God.

God bless you.