Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

John 4:23-24

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.

Romans 12:1

Many of us confuse singing with worship, or going to an event called ‘church' on Sunday, but both of these definitions fall well short of the true meaning of worship.

Worship is a posture of the heart that impacts our whole lives. Singing songs of praise and worship in church, with friends, or on our own, is only worship if our hearts posture is toward God. Otherwise we are simply singing.

As a worship ministry it is our privilege to be in that place of being able to assist, encourage, and teach people to turn their hearts and lives toward Jesus in true worship. Worship is something we learn to do as part of our journey of being transformed to the image of Christ. Thus often times people need to be taught how to worship, they must be effectively led to the place, or posture, where they can truly worship with their entire being, their head, their heart, and their will.

Why we worship the way we do:

The people of ECC are most certainly a culturally and denominationally diverse group. Every Sunday, and during the week in care groups, we have Chinese, American, English, Malaysian, Filippino, Indonesian, etc, from different faith backgrounds; Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Charismatic, Methodist, etc, gathering together to worship. It is truly a blessing of God that in the midst of such diversity we can experience such dynamic worship and Praise.

Our goal at ECC is not to adhere to one tradition or style, but rather to develop and creatively express a contemporary, participatory, and multidimensional worship. This means that styles and content may often change, but one thing that we strive to maintain is our biblical foundation for worship.

We see different forms of worship in the scriptures, based upon the core value of expressing worship, praise and honor to God. During one of our worship gatherings you may experience singing, scripture reading, prayer, poetry reading, drama, or visual presentations. You may also see people engaged in activities such as clapping, raising their hands with eyes closed, or kneeling down. We each express our worship to God and respond to His love in different ways. Here is a brief explanation of why we do some of the things we do:

Singing - 1 Chronicles 6:31-33 & 9:33-34.

When David brought the ark back to the tabernacle he appointed men to the ministry of 24/7 singing and praise in the temple. They were all from the line of the Kohathites and they were all considered chief men.

In fact singing praise and worship to the Lord is seen throughout the scriptures:

• Exodus 15:1 - Moses and all Israel
• Exodus 15:21 - Miriam
• Judges 5 - Deborah & Barak
• 1 Chronicles 16 - Trees, rocks and all creation
• David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah
• Paul - Romans 15:11 & Ephesians 5:19

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm 95:1-3; 6-7

Clapping - Psalm 47:1

In the scriptures both people and creation are seen as clapping in praise of God. It is a sign of giving honor to the King.

Clapping in worship is more a sign of celebration & participation (think a concert), where clapping after a song should express appreciation to God, not the musicians.

Practically, it helps songs sound better, and improves the atmosphere.

Lifting up hands - Psalm 134:1-3

In the scriptures we see two different settings in which hands are lifted up; Prayer (1 Timothy 2:8), and Singing.

When hands are lifted up in Song to the Lord we also see two different reasons for this:

i. To Bless the Lord. Psalm 134 has been called by many theologians over the years "The Circle of Blessing." Because in this Psalm we see demonstrated that in relationship with God, not only is commitment two-way, but also blessing (Ps. 135:19-21).

Blessing is a Dynamic circle in which we Bless the Lord through acknowledging His power and our dependence upon Him through not only singing, or saying it, but through raising our hands in blessing, or surrender, to Him (Laying on of hands).

ii. To ‘Cry out', to express need, or desire. Psalm 143:5-6. The Psalmist stretches out his hands in longing for the Lord. He is ‘reaching out' for God, for His presence, for his provision (A Psalm of supplication).

Conclusion

Psalm 63: 1-5 gives us a beautiful picture of praise as worship to God.

Ultimately what makes praise worship is not whether you do certain actions or things, but whether you are engaging both the head and the heart. To know something is to simply know it, to worship God is to respond to that knowledge.

The primary role of worship and praise is to respond to God, from our hearts and our bodies, for what He's worth. If we leave a time of praise and worship and we've had no emotional connection, or response, then we have not really worshipped.

That response will look different for all of us. We don't all love to sing, we don't all gush with emotion, even with our boy/girlfriends. E.g.

• Through deep strong feelings of love in our heart.
• Through meditative and responsive silent prayer