I have a few questions about why you guys Worship. I get the basic reason for it so I'm more interested in the ancillary details. Like what does the act of worship do for you emotionally? How does it make you feel? How different are those feelings when worshipping by yourself or with others? And lastly for now, do you feel a desire to worship?
I have never been able to fully understand it myself. To me it's like dancing. I can see people enjoy it and feel something while doing it but I could never grasp it.
Like when people would raise their arms up during the songs at church. I can clearly see that they're feeling compelled to do that, but I can not figure out what that feeling is like or why it happens. So if you guys could just give me your thoughts on the the subject I'd appreciate it.
The core concept of worship can be found in the meaning of the word itself, the English word "worship" is ultimately derived from the word "worth" and the suffix "-ship", that is "the state of being of worth" or "being worthy". Antiquated uses of the word include things like talking about a person of high dignity being "Your Worship". However, in a modern context it almost exclusively has a religious meaning to describe practices by which to honor a god/God.
Christian worship, that is, the practices which we observe and do to honor God are rooted in a long history and tradition both within the Christian Church itself and predating the Church in the Jewish practices as found in the Synagogue and Temple.
The chief point of Christian gathering is to receive God's gifts of Word and Sacrament, as such we are the ones who benefit from coming together: to hear and receive God's Word (i.e. to hear the Gospel proclaimed, to receive forgiveness of our sin, etc) and to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, where we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ broken and shed for us. This Sacramental dimension of worship means we are coming together to encounter Jesus Christ and here, together, encounter Him in such a way as to receive all the good gifts from God which hold us together as the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, in the faith God has given us, to be God's people in the world.
Worship also involves the sacrificial dimension, our response to God to declare His praises, to give thanks to Him for what He has done, to declare in our assembling together the good things God has done for us and for the world. We do this out of genuine and sincere thankfulness--we are grateful, thankful, and blessed because of what God has done for us in Jesus, and so we convey our thanks, gratitude, and praise of Him through prayer and song. And commit ourselves to a life of thankfulness and grace, not just in our assembling together, but as we live our lives in the midst of the world through our various vocations as human persons in society and in relationship with others. To go out into the world, bearing the Gospel we ourselves have heard and received to others, in word, deed, and love--to commit ourselves to doing good to all, to serve others even as Christ served the world, to love, to give, to feed, to give drink, to pursue justice for the poor, the disenfranchised, and the helpless.
Worship, fundamentally, isn't the feelings we have with songs at church; it is the dynamic expressed through God giving Himself to us through His gifts of Word and Sacrament, our thankfulness and gratitude, and our continued commitment to be the people of Jesus Christ in and for the world.
-CryptoLutheran