quotations about worship
Christian worship is not an act of self-achievement, an act in which we set out to impress a deity. Nor is worship an act of obeisance to placate a deity. Instead, worship is more like a personal covenantal encounter between the church and its Lord, all made possible through the work of the Spirit.
JOHN D. WITVLIET
"The Cumulative Power of Transformation in Public Worship: Cultivating Gratitude and Expectancy for the Holy Spirit's Work", Worship That Changes Lives
Silent worship is an opportunity to seek one's inner spirit and find a powerful sustenance.
STAR STAFF
"Quakers meet for silent worship", The Winchester Star, March 31, 2017
It is the pleasing of God that is at the heart of worship. Therefore, our worship must be informed at every point by the Word of God as we seek God's own instructions for worship that is pleasing to Him.
R. C. SPROUL
A Taste of Heaven: Worship in the Light of Eternity
God is to be praised with the voice, and the heart should go therewith in holy exultation.
CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON
The Treasury of David
Worship is man's highest end, for it is the employment of his highest faculties and affections on the sublimest subject.
WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING
Perfect Life
The purpose of worship is to get the gospel to someone.
DEVIN BACHMAN
"Battle of the Praise Bands", Georgia College Colonnade, February 25, 2016
Art -- even sacred art that depicts Jesus, the saints, or angels -- is not an object of worship; rather it is a way to direct our minds to worship and veneration. Worship is proper only to God, but God gave us the artistic, creative means to remind ourselves of His presence and to lift our minds and hearts to prayer through art.
DAVID ENDRES
"Question of Faith: Are Statues Graven Images?", The Catholic Telegraph, March 30, 2017
Worship is essentially and radically eschatological. By singing new songs, we continue to anticipate the death of death, the coming kingdom, and the ultimate resurrection. By refusing to sing anything new, we symbolically forget about the forward trajectory of Christ's salvation.
JONATHAN AIGNER
"8 Reasons Churches Should Sing New Songs", Patheos, February 17, 2016
With their backs to the sunrise they worship the night.
ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
"Individuality", On the Gods and Other Essays
I've begun worshipping the sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the sun. It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, and a lovely day. There's no mystery, no one asks for money, I don't have to dress up, and there's no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered to 'God' are all answered at about the same 50% rate.
GEORGE CARLIN
Brain Droppings
Supplication, worship, prayer are no superstition; they are acts more real than the acts of eating, drinking, sitting or walking. It is no exaggeration to say that they alone are real, all else is unreal.
MAHATMA GANDHI
The Story of My Experiments With Truth
The purpose of leading worship is not to be a rock star--it is to serve.
MELISSA SCHLEICHER
"Worship woes", The Echo, February 5, 2016
There are two principal points of attention necessary for the preservation of this constant spirit of prayer which unites us with God; we must continually seek to cherish it, and we must avoid every thing that tends to make us lose it.
FRANÇOIS FÉNELON
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers
Worship is the subjection of the personality of the worshipper to the object worshipped; it is therefore the affirmation of the relations the two personalities bear to one another.
SABINE BARING-GOULD
The Origin and Development of Religious Belief: Christianity
That worship which is directed by divine precept is performed without the desire of reward.
BUDDHA
attributed, Day's Collacon
It is very good for us to meet in this place for Public Worship. A peculiar blessing seems to be promised us, when we do so. Christ pledges Himself to be in the midst of us.
ASHTON OXENDEN
Sermons on the Christian Life
Worship therefore manifests itself both in adoration and in action, both in the individual believer and in corporate worship, which is worship offered up in the context of the body of believers, who strive to align all the forms of their devout ascription of all worth to God with the panoply of new covenant mandates and examples that bring to fulfillment the glories of antecedent revelation and anticipate the consummation.
D. A. CARSON
Worship by the Book
In worship, man ascribes worth to God.
DAVID WICK
"What worship involves", Spencer Daily Reporter, March 9, 2017
By lifting our hands we symbolically receive everything God is doing in our lives.
BOB SORGE
Exploring Worship: A Practical Guide to Praise & Worship
Performance worship substitutes entertainment for liturgy. Our new worship language even reflects it. We once had sanctuaries, but not we have "auditoriums." We once had chancels, now we have "stages."
JONATHAN ALGIER
"Performance Music: Worship?", Patheos, March 13, 2017