The health of the church is dependent upon balance. Balance between evangelism and instruction. Between caring for one another and reaching out to those we’ve never met. Between command and comfort, encouragement and exhortation, quietness and activity, taking in and giving out. How often a church fails to maintain this essential balance!

For reasons right and wrong, ministries can slip into extremes and miss the other side of a good thing. It is with this in mind that we come to appreciate worship. Desiring to get the job done or meet other expectations, a congregation can lose its primary objective: to ascribe supreme worth to our supreme Lord.

Once again, the concept of balance must be kept in mind. Worship is more than meditative contemplation, the passive enjoyment of great music, or listening to a well-delivered sermon. Worship requires participation...a response...praise and service, celebration and action.

Rediscovery of the Missing Jewel (Psalm 95:1–7)

Worship involves connecting with God and responding out of joy and delight. We find significance in worship because it magnifies God, enlarges horizons, eclipses fears, changes perspectives, and refreshes spirits.

Some Often Overlooked Facets of That Jewel

Three key facets of worship are often overlooked:

• God seeks out the worship of His people
• Worship has been practiced by believers in the past
• Worship is certainly needed in the present.

We must each ask ourselves if both our public and our private worship lives up to its true significance, or if something has taken the sparkle out of worship for us.

“Worship: Let It Shine! Let It Shine!” is from Chuck Swindoll’s series Growing Deep in the Christian Life: Returning to Our Roots. You can stream this message online anytime at insightforliving.ca/audiolibrary