Most people go to church for what they can get out of it - whether it be to get something out of the music, or out of the sermon, or just to get blessed. However, the music and the sermon aren’t ends in themselves, they are but stimuli causing us to worship God.
We go to church to worship God, and that’s done by giving, not getting. We go to offer something to Him, not to receive from Him. There is blessing in giving, for it says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). So, worship is giving to God, not getting.
The common New Testament word for worship is [proskuneo], which means “to kiss toward, to bow down, to prostrate oneself.” The idea of worship is that one prostrates himself before a superior being with a sense of respect, awe, reverence, honor, and homage. In a Christian context, we simply apply this to God and prostrate ourselves before Him in respect and honor, paying Him the glory due His superior being.
Essentially, then, worship is giving - giving honor and respect to God. That is why we as Christians gather together on Sunday. We don’t gather to give respect to the preacher or those in the choir, we gather to give honour to God. The sermon and the music are just to be the stimuli that create the desire in our hearts to honor Him.
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So today I led worship for the first time. I was extremely nervous - and even that is an understatement. When I'm singing, I feel free. I close my eyes, and its just Him and Me. When I sing, I don't feel eyes watching me, I don't feel as if I'm under a microscope. This is because the whole entire congregation sings as one voice, same words, same notes, same thoughts; we all blend in unison. However, when I pray or when I talk, I feel like all eyes are on me, or rather all ears are on me, and because of that nervousness creeps in, words become a jumble in my head, thoughts become cloudy, and I don't know what to say. You'd think that with 10+ years of music festival, stage fright would be wiped out of my dictionary, but nope. despite all those years, I felt the same stage fright I felt when I was 9 years old out on some big stage in some big university playing my tiny violin. It felt the same. Well not completely. But I was nervous today. I just pray with time, I'll get accustomed to leading. That I'll become more confidant in the words I say, and not let the congregation's hearing ears hinder me.
