After Jesus died and rose again, he ascended back to heaven where he came from. We his followers were left on this
earth to carry on his work. As our creator God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins so that we might be
restored to a right relationship with him. He did this because he loved us. God's great gift to us in his son
inspires us to love him and worship him for his greatness. Church worship is that activity we do as a church to
praise God and celebrate his goodness to us and to his world. Church worship is one of the five main purposes of the
church. In worship, we the people of God verbally praise God by singing songs of praise to him, praying out loud to
him, and by speaking to each other of God's holiness, kindness, and generousity to us. In church worship we meet
together often at the church, in a systematic way: that is we meet at a regularly scheduled time, usually once a week,
and follow some kind of previously agreed upon order of worship.
Church worship takes many different forms across the many different types of Christian churches in our country. In one
of the fastest growing types of churches, the contemporary church, worship includes contemporary praise music led by a
band that includes keyboards, guitars, drums, and singers. Contemporary church worship is very entertaining, engaging,
and is being embraced by large groups of young people all across our country. The typical church worship in a
contemporary church begins with a welcome by a church leader, followed by an extended time of praise and worship music.
This is followed by message delivered by the pastor to the people. This message is usually 30 to 45 minutes long, and is
a message to the people from God through the Bible that is prepared ahead of time by the pastor. The message is intended
to teach us about God, to encourage us to act how God would have us to act, or to be the kind of people God would have us be.
In a church worship service, many people think that the message is the most important part. Most Christians would at least
agree that it is very important.
Church worship is given God credit for his power, his knowledge, and his love for us. God is worth our praise in this way,
and worship is the way we show this. Church worship also includes a time where we worship God by giving back to him a portion
of the things he has given us. A collection is taken up from the people of our tithes and offerings. These are gifts of money
that we give to the church as a way of giving back to God. Everything we own in life, including our money, has been given to us by God.
In return God asks that we give back to him one tenth of our income. This giving is good for us because it consistently reminds
us that we are only stewards of our possessions, God has given them to us and we are to us them to take care of ourselves and to
further his kingdom on earth. When we give our tithes and offerings to God we are worshipping him. We give to him what he deserves
and what he is due.