Worship Defined

God created man to worship.  He created us to reflect His greatness, His glory.  Those who have discovered this truth pursue with passion and purpose the genuine response to who God is and what He has done…this we call worship.

Louie Giglio, the founder of the college aged "Passion" provides the best definition of worship I have found to date: 

"Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is, and what He has done; expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live."
(from the book 'The Air I Breath' by Louie Giglio)

In the same book he goes on to say:

"We were created to worship.  That is why you and I are going to spend our lives declaring the worth of something.  As a result, we've got to make sure the thing we declare to be of greatness value is really worthy after all."

Another great insight comes from Pastor and author John Piper:

"Worship is what we were created for. This is the final end of all existence-the worship of God. God created the universe so that it would display the worth of His glory. And He created us so that we would see this glory and reflect it by knowing and loving it-with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. The church needs to build a common vision of what worship is and what she is gathering to do on Sunday morning and scattering to do on Monday morning."

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  Corporate Worship

"I'll bring You more than a song…" (Matt Redman from the song 'Heart of Worship')

Clearly, as a worship leader, and as a worshiper, I cannot separate the worship expression from the corporate gathering. Coming together in one voice, as one body, enables us to offer up a collective sacrifice of praise, and in doing so to call upon the name of the Lord and of the Holy Spirit, to make ready our hearts to receive the word of instruction.
 
Additionally, as a worship leader, I believe it is my responsibility to educate, encourage, and challenge the body of Christ into a continuously more meaningful expression of worship.

This is the challenge of corporate worship:  Not that we bring God a contemporary response, not that we bring Him a traditional response, not even that we bring him any particular or specific response, but rather that we simply bring Him a sincere response. 

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened.  Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.  Psalm 40:6 (NKJV)

Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offering 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. 
I Samuel 15:22 (NKJV)

To worship is to respond, to who God is and what He has done.  Simply going through the motions of the worship service is to fail to realize the greatness and glory of the God we proclaim.  God does not want, or need our insincere offerings; we must bring a genuine response.