Seize the Moment – Day 815
The Heart of Worship!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, June 10.
Why do we gather as the church? What is the heart of worship? Is it about a building, or a service with songs and a sermon, or is worship something more than all of these?
The detailed description of Solomon’s temple has two distinct parts in 1 Kings 6. Verses 2-10 describe the exterior and verses 14-38 describe the interior. While most of this chapter is focused on the details of the construction of the temple, the heart of the temple project is found in 1 Kings 6:11-13:
Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”
Obviously, the temple was an important place, but it should not be surprising that God would remind His people that at the heart of its construction, and its future usage, was the life of obedience to His commandments. God taught the heart of worship previously in 1 Samuel 15:22-23a, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.”
While building projects, event planning, song selections, and sermon writing are important parts of how we practice our faith in contemporary Christianity, let us never forget that the heart of worship has always been, and will always be, obedience to God and His ways. We are the temple of His presence on the Earth (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).