Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I use the word worship a lot when I’m writing this article each week, but today it suddenly occurred to me that some might not really understand the definition of the word itself. Too often the word worship is used to describe the music in the average church on a given Sunday. But worship is so much more!

The first mention of worship in the Bible is in Genesis 22 (Abraham worshiped), and the last one is in Revelation (John was told by the angel to worship God), so the act of worship spans the entire Bible. As early as the 1300s the word was used in the church as a contraction of the words worth and ship. It declared the worth of an object, or the placing of value in it. To worship God then, is to lift up the Lord, to declare His value, and to place life under His Lordship. (etymonline.com)

Corporate worship by this definition definitely takes place here at Salem on a Sunday morning, but not just in the music! It also happens as we pray, read the Word (or listen attentively while it is read to us), give our tithes and offerings, and listen to the sermon. But Sundays are meant to be the culmination of a whole week of individual worship. It’s the icing on the cake, if you will. God isn’t just worthy of our worship when we get together on Sundays. He is always worthy of praise, adoration, thanksgiving, etc, and we should be giving it

to Him every day. We are called to live in such a way that it is obvious Whom we serve, Whom we value above all others, Whom we love. (Matthew 5:16)

I hope you will think on these things this week, and I look forward to worshiping with you

on Sunday morning!

Careen