Last Sunday we began a 7-week series of messages called "Becoming a Contagious Community." We looked at Acts 17 and talked about how the believers in those early days of Christianity were so passionate about what God had done in their lives that everywhere they went, they shared the love of Jesus. They became a contagious community of believers who turned their world upside down for Jesus.

During these winter studies I'm going to do my best to recast the vision God has given us. The vision of helping people connect with God and becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. The process of accomplishing this vision is actually simple. It involves encountering the living Christ in worship, engaging in a small group experience, and expressing our faith by telling others about Jesus and serving others in the name of Jesus.

Today and next week I want us to focus on the "encounter" part of the vision. Basically, today and next Sunday I want us to talk about worship. Today, we will focus on the big picture of worship—what it is, why we worship, who we worship. Next Sunday we will zoom in on the weekly corporate worship experience and talk about how we can genuinely encounter the living Christ when we come to this place Sunday by Sunday.

All across America today people will gather in places of worship. The various styles of worship are too many to count. In some places you come and sit and never move or talk, like a live corpse on a pew. In other places there is high energy movement, like a freshly caught bass flipping on the dock. There's traditional, blended, and contemporary. In the traditional you've got subcategories—hymns, southern gospel, formal anthems, traditional with band, traditional without band, traditional with band but without drums, traditional with hand clapping, traditional without handclapping.

On the blended end you have blended that leans toward traditional and blended that leans toward contemporary. Some prefer a blend of hymns and choruses with only piano and organ. Others prefer a blend of hymns and choruses with a full band.

On the contemporary end you might have a service that is choir and praise-team driven and another that is guitar and drums driven. Some will be characterized with edgy music like Switchfoot or Reliant K; others with music like Hillsong and Chris Tomlin; and others with music like Travis Cottrell and Michael W. Smith.

Of the hundreds of variations of worship styles, which one is right? In church history has there ever been a season where the church practiced the right or the best style of worship? You know the answers to these questions. There is no best or right style. Those are personal preferences. In the midst of all these discussions of worship styles, we have lost focus on what worship really is. Or maybe we never really grasped it in the first place.

Today, I'm going to do my best to help you change the way you think. Most people think of worship in terms of what happens in this building on a Sunday morning. It represents an important segment of our weekly schedule. After a busy week, we come to church so that we can worship. At the end of the service we say, "Now I have worshipped. It's time to go home and do the other things in my life." My prayer is that you will see worship in a broader light after today's message.

Why am I making such a big deal about worship? Because God made us to worship. He created us in such a way that we experience life's greatest joy and fulfillment when we make worship our number one priority. The Ten Commandments—the very first one says, "You shall have no other gods before me." That's a commandment about worship. The second one says, "Don't make for yourself any idol." That's about worship. God develops a righteous jealousy when we put anything ahead of Him.

You weren't made just to attend a worship service. You were made to worship period. "From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised" (Psalm 113:3). Every moment of every day, every day of the week and not just Sunday, we need to worship. It's why God placed us on this earth.

Jesus let us know that the most important command of all is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). That's worship.

We talk about the five purposes of the church as worship, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, and ministry. There is no doubt in my mind at all that worship is the most important of the five. Get the worship purpose right and it will be the driving force that brings success with the other four.

So, yes, worship is a big deal. And guess what? We all worship. The issue is not whether or not we worship. The question is who or what do we worship. To unpack this thought, let me try to explain from the Bible what worship really is. If worship is so important, it would certainly help if we knew what it actually means.

I believe Paul captures the essence of worship in Romans 11:33-12:1. [Read.] With these statements Paul teaches the three components that makeup the definition for worship. In verse 36, after describing some of the magnificent attributes of God, he exclaims, "To him be the glory forever." So the first component of worship is that to which I give glory. That to which I give glory represents the organized center of my life. It is the someone or something that is cherished in my life above all else. Preeminent. What I cannot live without.

The other two components are in 12:1. Because God deserves all the glory, I, therefore, offer my life to Him. The second component is dedication. Whatever is at the organized center of my life, I will dedicate myself to that person/thing. I will devote myself to whatever I give glory to. I will make sure that my life aligns with what I cherish the most.

The third component is sacrifice. Paul talks about presenting our lives as a living sacrifice. Whatever I cherish the most I will take my time, talents, and treasures and will make sacrifices. We don't give ourselves to certain people or things because we are devoted to other people and things.

What or who do you worship? Your answer to that question depends on who or what you give your time, talents, and treasures to. For some, the most cherished thing might be food, a football team, a sexual lifestyle, a pet, a cause of some kind, a home improvement project, or even a spouse or child. We're all worshippers.

Let me unpack this a little further. God says we need to worship Him and Him alone. If we worship anything or anyone else, we are guilty of idolatry. So, the opposite of worship is idolatry. Think of the definition of worship again—glory, dedication, sacrifice. God is the Creator; He has the position of glory. We tend to take good, created things and elevate them to god stature.

Hear me out because I don't want to be misunderstood. Take sports, for example. Is sports creator or created? Of course, it is created. But many tend to put sports in a position of glory, a glory that only god deserves. And when we put it in a position of glory, we dedicate ourselves to it and we sacrifice our time, talent and treasures to it. Idolatry.

Here is a more sensitive one. Family—created or creator? Yes, family is extremely important. But it is easy to put family in the position of glory. If family is the reason you live, work, go to church, tithe, then you have moved into the arena of idolatry. Too many homes are child-centered or spouse-centered when they should be God-centered.

The root of all sin is idolatry. Behind every sin is a false god—sports, family, comfort, travel, self, pleasure. So it all boils down to worship. Remember, we all worship. The question is who or what will be put in the position of glory. Because whoever/whatever we put there, that's what we will dedicate our lives to and make sacrifices for. Worship is what we do when something is in a position of glory.

So, you see that worship is not something that just happens on Sunday mornings at church. It is not a matter of time and space. It's a matter of lifestyle. It is a 24-7 thing. And God says, "I want to be in the position of glory. I am the Creator. I made you to worship me. Don't let anything come between you and Me. Dedicate your life to Me. Let me have your time, talents, and treasures." When you worship anything but God, you will never reach the level of joy and fulfillment that God designed for your life.

Let's look at another New Testament passage that clarifies that worship is not just a gathering time and place but a lifestyle. Think in terms of worship as being worship gathered (a church service with God's people) and worship scattered (a lifestyle 24-7). "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16). These words describe what goes on when God's people come to a specified place at a specified time to worship. There is teaching from the Word, singing, and encouraging each other. My message today in no way minimizes the importance of the church gathered for worship.

But look at the next verse. "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). This is a picture of the church scattered. You leave the worship service and live a lifestyle of worship by making sure that everything you say and everything you do is said and done in the name of Jesus. How often? 24-7. The gathering is just one aspect of the broader picture of worship. The church scattered describes worship in the realm of seven days a week.

There's another verse that captures the 24-7 aspect of worship. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). There is that key word glory. Paraphrased, the verse is saying no matter what you do, no matter what day it is or where you are, do it all as an act of worship to the living God. If you're spending time with family, do it as an act of worship to God. But be cautious of putting the family in the position of glory. If you go to a Clemson or Carolina game, yes, even that can be an act of worship to God. But make sure that the event doesn't get moved to a position of glory.

For whatever reason we have compartmentalized our lives into that which is secular and that which is spiritual. Go to church—spiritual. Go to work—secular. Read my Bible—spiritual. Go to the beach—secular. Visit a sick person—spiritual. Rake leaves at the house—secular. God never designed that our lives be compartmentalized that way. He designed life, all of it, in such a way that every moment could be lived and enjoyed as an act of worship that brings honor, glory, and pleasure to Him.

I intentionally didn't spend time this morning talking about private worship, the importance of spending time alone in prayer and personal Bible study. I could have. But doing so may have added to the notion that life is made up of spiritual and secular.

We exist to help people connect with God and become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. My heart cries out to God that every time these doors are open for public worship, we would experience the presence of God. I desperately want every person who shows up Sunday by Sunday to encounter the living Christ. But I'm convinced that this can never happen until we see all of life as an act of worship. When we worship 24-7, then we have positioned ourselves spiritually to be overwhelmed and awed at the presence of God when His people gather for worship.

This week, I encourage you to have many more conversations with God throughout the day. As you eat dinner, as you work, as you play, as you study, as you meet, as you drive, as you bathe, as you wash clothes, as you lie down to sleep…let Him know that He's number one in your life. Let Him know that you love Him with all your heart. And then when you come through these doors next Sunday, I think you will encounter Jesus in some fresh ways. It won't be that the music is any more uplifting or the sermon any better. It's just that God will have you more spiritually prepared to meet Him. You'll understand better that when it's all said and done, life is all about Jesus. And He made you to worship.