I believe some of you instantly exploded with joy when you read the title of this chapter. I have had many people tell me that they just love the worship at our gatherings. The thought of singing praises to the Lord excites you. Others of you, well, let’s just say, not so much. You may even be one of those who always slips into gatherings just a little late, like it’s kind of an “accident.” If you are being honest, it is not an accident at all. Singing together with the church is not something you strive to do; maybe it is even uncomfortable for you. In this chapter, we will talk about worship. Yes, I know worship is not just about music, but what does true worship look like? Hebrews 12:28-29 says, “Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 13:15 adds, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.”

In Hebrews, what do we see? Worship is about team worship. It is not “Let me,” but “Let us,” worship together. This is something we are called to do as a group. We see over and over again in Scripture that the church is called a body. Ephesians 4:12-16 talks about the whole church being joined together in one body “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” God has gifted us this body, the church. When we come together to serve and worship together, it is a beautiful thing, and we see the body grow.

A few years ago, I coached a local high school baseball team. We would often have doubleheaders (two games back-to-back). I remember this one time our team was not playing the best, and I needed to make some substitutions. I had already subbed a few players in, and then at about the fifth inning of the second game, I turned to one player on the bench and said, “Hey, I need you to go play first base.” He looked up at me and said, “I’m sorry, Coach; I’ve already put on my flip-flops. I can’t play.” Excuse me?! I could not believe he had already given up on the game and had already checked out. He had taken his cleats off, put his flip-flops on, and he was done. He had disengaged from the team and had given up being a part of what the team was doing. In church, are there times we just put on our “flip-flops” instead of recognizing that this is an “us” thing? This is us serving together. This is us worshiping and praising the Lord together to give Him acceptable worship with this beautiful team we are called to.

Whenever we talk about worship, we instantly think about music. Maybe you are a music person wishing we would sing 48 songs, have the pastor speak for five minutes, and then sing another 13 songs. Others might think that three songs are more than enough. Some of you would prefer only to sing hymns from the hymnal, while others want contemporary worship songs. It is so interesting how our worship preferences can quickly turn into selfishness. We start to think, “Why can’t you worship my way, and sing the songs I like?” We are all different and have different preferences, but we are called to worship as a team. We need to look at what God is teaching us. Hebrews 12:28-29 says, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” However, to fully understand what it means, we need to look at the verses before it.

See The Two Mountains

Hebrews 12:18-21 reads, “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.’ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’”

The book of Hebrews was speaking to the Jewish people who had come to know Jesus Christ. They are now in conflict with those who do not know Jesus, because they are calling them betrayers of God. The Jewish people followed the Old Testament laws but did not see Jesus as the Messiah. They were persecuting the Jewish Christians who believed that Jesus was the Messiah and that He fulfilled the Old Testament. Over and over again, we see the book of Hebrews highlight sections of the Old Testament that point to Jesus as the Messiah. That is why it is equally important to study both the Old and New Testaments, the entirety of the Bible.

In Hebrews chapter twelve, we read about two mountains. In this first section, Hebrews 12:18-21, when it speaks of “darkness” and “fire,” it is referring to Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:18-20 states, “Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.”

Here, we see God’s power come down, and it is terrifying! In fact, with just a glimpse of God’s holiness and power displayed on the mountain, the Israelites became so terrified that they did not want God to speak to them, only to Moses. In Exodus 20:18-21, we read, “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.”

The writer of Hebrews uses this illustration of Mount Sinai to have us look back and remember the power of God, remember the “consuming fire.” Deuteronomy 4:24 says, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” This should instill in us a proper fear of God. Remembering this mountain is so important when it comes to our worship of God. To truly worship, there must be an awe, a fear of who He is. Now, that does not mean that we fear the wrath of God, because of Jesus, we do not have to face God’s wrath. However, when we see God, there should be a sense of awe and an awareness that God is big, and I am not. He is holy, and I am not. Moses then comes down from Mount Sinai and presents the people with the Ten Commandments.

A few years ago, my wife and I were attending an open house. We had to park some distance from the event and wound up parking next to a two-story church. We came, ate the food, and said hello to everyone. As we started to walk back to the car, we saw very dark, threatening storm clouds heading our way. We made it to the car just before the torrential downpour, and soon after the rain came the wind. This was not a gentle breeze but a full-force, powerful wind like I had never seen before. Suddenly, a large piece of sheet metal flew off the roof of the church and slammed into the side of our car. All I wanted to do was make it safely home, but every road was blocked by trees that had fallen across the road. I had to navigate the long way around to find a road to make it home. I might think I am pretty strong and tough, but I am insignificant compared to the power of that storm. Trees were falling everywhere, electrical lines were exploding, and I was humbled. It was at that moment that I realized just how small I am.

This is the visual picture of Mount Sinai and the worship of God when we bow down in awe of Him. We are good at making ourselves appear big, but we must be humbled. Our worship is looking at this mountain while saying, “God, You are big. You are Holy. I stand in awe of Your mighty power.” What brings us to worship together is when we have an awe of who God is, especially His holiness and power. This is what Proverbs 3:7 talks about when it says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” We see in the Bible that every time someone gets a glimpse of heaven, they fall to their knees, terrified because of the holiness and goodness of God.

John MacArthur says, “The purpose of Sinai was to bring the people face-to-face with their own sinfulness with no place to hide. The Law is God’s great mirror. When we look at it and see ourselves, we realize how we are immeasurably short of God’s standard of righteousness. There is not a single commandment that we have kept perfectly or can keep perfectly in either act or attitude.”

This alarming scene in Exodus chapter 20 brings me back to the cross. Picture Jesus hanging on the cross, surrounded by the miraculous darkness that God imposed on the Earth. The Bible tells us that the “sun’s light failed” (Luke 23:45). Jesus cries out, “It is finished,” and dies (John 19:30). The Earth begins to shake violently, and rocks split in half so violently that graves burst open! The massive veil of the temple, 65 feet tall, 30 feet wide, and four inches thick, rips in half from top to bottom. The Bible also tells us the Roman guards “saw the earthquake and what took place” (Matthew 27:54). Think about these guards and how they saw what took place. They saw the way the crowd of Jews came to scream for Jesus to be crucified. They saw the way that Jesus responded to the accusations. These guards saw how Jesus responded when they spit in His face, when they mocked Him, beat Him, and nailed Him to the cross. During those first three hours of the cross, they watched the comedy show of people laughing at Jesus. How do you think they responded as they came out of the darkness and the Earth shaking? Matthew 27:54 goes on to say, “They were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” The word “awe” means sheer terror. We find this word earlier in the same Gospel of Matthew, where the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). It is the same wording here, “They were terrified.” The cross brought these soldiers to a place where they were in awe of God’s power. The Bible specifically tells us that it brought the centurion, the leader of 100 soldiers, to a place of worship. Luke 23:47 says, “Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, ‘Certainly this man was innocent!’”

The author of Hebrews speaks of another mountain, Mount Zion. Hebrews 12:22-24 states, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

This new mountain, “the heavenly Jerusalem,” points to Jesus and His sacrifice. The Christians were being ridiculed for no longer following the Old Testament rituals of sacrifice, but here they are reminded of the “new covenant.” Kent Hughes says, “In Christ we have come to its heavenly counterpart.” This mountain has changed everything. They do not have to keep bringing the animals for sacrifice. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. His “sprinkled blood” covers it all.

Let Us Draw Near

When I was seven years old, I went to visit my brother in the state of Washington, and 85 miles away was Mount Rainier. If you have not been there before, let me tell you, it is unbelievable. Even to this day, I can see the image of that magnificent mountain rising into the sky. I was in awe.

To truly worship the Lord, we have to see both mountains. We see the holiness of God, and we see the grace and goodness of Jesus. It is combined with wonderful worship. If we come to God with flippant worship saying, “Yup, Jesus loves me, I am good,” and do not come in awe, we are missing what worship truly is. If we come to God in terror and fear, not ever knowing the amazing grace and love of Jesus, we do not know true worship that way either. It is seeing both of the mountains. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we read, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Philippians 3:20 adds, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

As you read this, you will see that it speaks of the Kingdom and the heavenly Jerusalem. We know that Christ is coming back and will set His earthly Kingdom here. One day, Jesus will return, and He will rule. The curse of this world will be lifted. There will be no more sickness. Things will change, and Jesus reigns; how wonderful! Now, we are still a part of that Kingdom. Yes, His earthly rule is not yet here, but because of Jesus, we now have our citizenship in that Kingdom (Matthew 5). For this reason, we are called to Kingdom-living now. We are called to worship God now.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Many of us only see one mountain and are terrified. We are too afraid to come to God, but if we look at the second mountain and see Jesus, we find the mercy and grace that only He offers. That is what leads us to true worship. It is what destroys the fake worship. Whether we are serving Him with our mouths or our actions, it moves to glorify Him and give Him our praise. We read in the first part of Hebrews 12:28, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.” Everything else is going to be shaken. The galaxies and stars that were created will shake. He will make a new heaven and a new earth. He says let us come and receive a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. Because we know Christ, we have this firm foundation for the future. Let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe because our God is a consuming fire. That is what true worship has to be. See the two mountains.

Let Us Offer

When we get to Hebrews chapter 13, we see the practical side of worship. What does this look like in our everyday lives? Hebrews 13:15-16 says, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” What is that sacrifice? What does it look like?

Worship is:

The fruit of our lips.

We are to speak and sing praises to our God. Speaking our praise out loud is important. Jesus said, “Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” We need to use our lips to praise Him. Some of you sing and love it, while others do not. Learn to praise the Lord and acknowledge Him with your lips.

My dad was such an example of this to me. One way was that he would whistle hymns to the Lord all the time. He would acknowledge God with his lips and worship Him. We all need that challenge. My dad has gone home to be with the Lord, but one of my fondest memories is waking up on Sunday morning and hearing my dad sing hymns to the Lord from the other side of the house. Sometimes, we come into worship thinking that we just have to get through it, but we have to stop and consider how we will praise the Lord with our lips. It is not just in singing at a church gathering, but do you praise Him out loud in your home? Does your family hear you praise and give thanks to the Lord?

Ephesians 5:19 encourages us to be “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” Move the focus of your prayers from asking God, to praising Him for all He has done. How can you thank Him today? Colossians 3:16-17 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” This is the team worship we are called to. It is a public confession of how good God is.

Not neglecting to do good.

It is not just the words of our lips but our actions and how we live. Worship is our words and our works together. We also worship Him by what we do, whether it is serving in the church, at home, or at our workplace. James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

I learned a lot about this part of worship from an 83-year-old man named Mike. Mike was my dad’s right-hand man at the church. He served selflessly and always did whatever was needed. I could see his heart for the Lord when he would weep as children came to events. He was so excited for them to hear about Jesus. He never had great health, but he in whatever he could do, he would serve. He was faithful in teaching and stepped into any area that needed him. He worshiped the Lord through serving. He was an example of a true deacon, someone who served no matter what it took. In 1 John 3:17, we read, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” We cannot just say it; we have to live it. Worship is when we come together in team worship and serve together.

Some of my favorite times of the year are when we do large events at The River Church, like the Eggnormous Helicopter Hunt and Trunk or Treat. Thousands of people come, and it takes a huge crew of people to volunteer to serve. It is a heavy lift to pull off the event, clean-up afterward, and get everything ready for the next day (Sunday) at each location. I love it because it is all of the church serving, making memories, sharing the Gospel, and celebrating what the Lord has done. It is a wonderful tiredness. If you do not know that feeling or if you do not have a church where you can have team worship, let me encourage you, you need to find it. Find a place to share the gifts and talents the Lord has given you. Find a place to serve like Mike. If you do not have that, I believe you are missing out because that is team worship. It is all about doing it together. In Ephesians chapter five, we read about how beautiful it is when each person brings their gifts, and the body of Christ works together and grows. That is why the church is so important.

Romans 12:1-2 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” I like how the King James Version says, “which is your reasonable service.” (KJV) This is practical worship, what we are called to. If you know the Lord, if you see the two mountains (God’s holiness and His grace through Jesus), then this is how you should live.

The characteristics of worship:

It is not a halfway commitment. If we know Christ as our Savior, we are crazy to give Him half-worship. If we truly believe He has saved us, then our response should be whole-hearted.

The demands of worship:

We cannot find the Lord’s will in the world’s agenda. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, we read, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”Is the world directing you, or are you allowing God to transform you? We will not have the strength to act like Christians until we are Christians. The strength comes from the Holy Spirit. He gives us the strength we need, and we have to lean into His strength.

Questions for personal study or group discussion: