Heb 11:4 - 5 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts; he died, but through his faith he is still speaking.
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was attested as having pleased God.
New Testament doesn’t teach about a worship as much as the Old Testament. But God is still the same and worship plays an important role even today. Worship in the Old Testament was an image of today’s reality and a lot of components are same. Jesus Christ gains a key role in the New Testament though.
To worship is not a gathering of church people for service. There is “worship and praise” time included, usually in songs, but these are only part of the real worship. Every thanksgiving is the offering of praise. Also Christ ministers to us – He sends His Living Word, heals us, etc. The biggest service Jesus completed was His sacrifice for us. The church service is then rather a means for us to grow in faith, to live life for Him. To succeed in this we have to transform our minds and separate ourselves from this world. (Rom 12:1-2)
So if the service is only a means for us, God will not be that much affected if a church service gets once cancelled. The center of worship is not the service, but our whole life. The goal is to live in worship, to live holy and righteously. If the church is not focused on life itself, the people can replace their holy life for a Sunday service. Then the service becomes more important than a real life. Some understand the importance of life outside the church, but world seems to them too evil and uncomfortable, so they never want to leave their comfort zones – church services. These people have a hard time when they’re unable to attend a church service or at least a church program; they should rather recognize that the real worship is a life of faith. It’s about our heart motives – some may do very many righteous deeds outside the church programs and others may be present at a church service fully carnal and unholy.
The people who have a testimony from Jesus Himself – testimony, that they are righteous – can be the witnesses of His gospel. (Heb 11:4-5)
This testimony is attainable by faith, not attending services. The people who Bible talks about later on in the same chapter are a good example – they all received a testimony about their righteousness and their righteous lives – their whole lives, not only few hours at the church service.
The church service is a mere fragment of the whole worship.If the church looses focus of this most important reason for the congregation, the preachers become mere entertainers, which puts them in a very difficult position, because people already heard it all.
The communion became the center of services, the more everyday life with God disappeared, the more communion became mystical to replace real worship. The Book of Acts tells us that the disciples participated in communion, but it wasn’t the climax of what they did.If someone says that He lives with God but doesn’t have the testimony of his own righteousness, he cannot please God. God helps everyone, but spends His time with those who are pleasing to Him.
This picture of worship may seem to be very ordinary, it doesn’t contain any astonishing moments through the week, but it brings a better way of life. And also we will be judged by this.
