Walk by Faith: Being Transformed by Worship (Part III)

Sermon Title: Walk By Faith – Being Transformed by Worship

Good News Statement: Jesus invites his church to change lives

Summary: The Church has been called by Christ to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously.

Preached: Sunday, May 3^rd, 2026 at Dogwood Prairie UMC & Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSVUE): Psalm 96:1-13 Today’s scripture passage comes from one of King David’s psalms. In this psalm, David calls us into a practice of worship that inspires us and to be restored in the Holiness of God. It’s through worship that we are transformed. Our scripture reading comes from Psalm, Chapter Ninety-six, Verses One thru Thirteen. May the hearing and understanding of this scripture add a blessing to your life.

 

Psalm 96

Praise to God Who Comes in Judgment

¹ O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
² Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
³ Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
⁴ For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
⁶ Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

⁷ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
⁸ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
⁹ Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.”
¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar and all that fills it;
¹²     let the field exult and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³     before the Lord, for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with his truth.

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

On May 1, 2025, The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church announced the unveiling of a new vision statement for the United Methodist Church. According to the article published on the United Methodist Bishops website, “This vision reflects the Church’s deep commitment to embodying God’s dream for the world.”[1] This vision statement complements the Church’s longstanding mission statement, inspired by Matthew 28:1-20: “The mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” “This new vision is not simply a statement or a plan, it is a catalyst for transformation,” said Bishop Tracy Smith Malone, President of the Council of Bishops. “It is a vision that will help the Church embrace the opportunities before us, to follow where God is leading us, and to more fully engage in our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”[2]

The new vision statement is as follows: The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections. The vision encourages United Methodists to embody the following principles: We are called to love boldly[3] which invites us to passionately love God and, like Jesus, embrace and include people of every age, nation, race, gender and walk of life; to serve joyfully[4] by serving with a Christ-like heart, journeying alongside the most vulnerable, and offering care and compassion with joy; and to lead courageously[5] by resisting and dismantling all systems of evil, injustice, and oppression, striving for peace, justice and reconciliation. Simply put, the vision of the United Methodist Church is to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously.

Did you know that the United Methodist denomination has a vision statement? Many of us are probably aware of the denomination’s mission statement—“to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”—but did you know that we now have a vision statement that outlines goals, desired impacts, and lays forth the inspiration to better and more fully live out, by faith, the message—the Good News—of Jesus Christ? If you weren’t aware, you are not alone. Thousands of people weren’t aware; but as of today, millions are beginning to live these words out in their churches, in their communities, and in their lives. So, today, we are challenged to do the same! We are called to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously as we make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. What does this look like in your life?

 

Body:

Several years ago, I had the blessing to play drums at a local church back home for a night of worship. For two-and-a-half hours, about one-hundred people and about ten musicians and singers worshiped God through songs, scripture, and praise as the audience clapped and raised their hands and took time to pray. It was truly a God-centered experience. A few weeks ago, I experienced the same thing while attending a concert in Evansville, Indiana, performed by Christian artist Phil Wickham, but instead of only a hundred people worshipping there were thousands of people worshipping together.

During the night of worship, as the music was playing, the power went out. A thunderstorm passed through the area. It only lasted a few minutes. But those few minutes were enough to temporarily put us in the dark. However, the worshipping didn’t stop. The singers kept singing. The musicians kept playing. And the people kept praising. Under the glow of the emergency lights on stage and in the aisles, the worship didn’t stop, but rather became more personal and more empowering.

I was thinking about that night as I was preparing today’s message; and I found myself wondering, “What is it about worship that keeps us alive, even when the lights go out? What about worship allows us to keep going and praising God when things don’t go to plan? What about worship draws us closer to Jesus Christ? There is something special about worship that transforms us. But how does it transform us?

Before we get into today’s scripture, it’s important to highlight a few things about worship and to attempt to answer this question, “What is worship?” First, the word worship is derived from an Old English word meaning, “show worth or honor.” Words associated with this meaning are adoration, veneration, homage, praise, glorification, reverence, and devotion. Sometimes you may hear people say that they are experiencing “worth-ship”—a moment when they feel worthy.[6]

Second, scripture understands worship as the heartfelt adoration and surrender to God, characterized as a lifestyle rather than just singing. It involves bowing, praise, and obedience, with Jesus defining true worship as occurring “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). It is an act of recognizing God’s worth, encompassing all of life. According to the Hebrew vernacular, worship is a “humble submission.”[7] Psalm 95:6 states, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” Psalm 134:2 encourages us to “Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord.” Again the Psalmist invites us to “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy” (Psalm 47:1). During Christmas, we sing this famous chorus, “O come, let us adore Him”—essentially calling us to come and worship Jesus.

Third, from a Christian perspective, worship is a gathering of people from all walks of life and from all corners of the earth to experience grace through Word and Sacrament, focusing on both order and spontaneity. Services typically include singing, praying, scripture readings, and a sermon, with Holy Communion usually offered monthly. For United Methodists, similar to other denominations, worship is diverse, spanning from traditional, liturgical services to modern, interactive celebrations.[8] According to Hoyt Hickman, who served for 21 years as director of worship resources development for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, worship consists of five basic principles: “God’s word is primary, active congregational participation is crucial, spontaneity and order are both important, worship should be relevant and inclusive, and worship is communion.”[9]

If we boil everything down, worship—an active participation of honoring God—is a lifestyle found in all that we do: performing daily tasks, serving others, and giving with a heart that honors God. But I personally believe, in addition to what has already been shared, that worship is an ongoing act of discipleship and faith that transforms us from the inside out so that we can continue being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ on this earth. There is something that takes place within us when we worship that draws us back to Christ. And through the words of the Psalmist, we begin to witness what that may be.

 

Movement One: Proclamation of Praise…

For starters, King David is credited with composing Psalm 96, which he delivered to Asaph and his brothers to celebrate the moving of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. While the Hebrew text does not explicitly name the author, the song is documented in 1 Chronicles 16:23-33[10] as part of David’s praise and is often referred to as a “global call to worship.”

At the beginning of this psalm—and psalm is synonymous with “song of praise”—King David is calling us to worship through a proclamation of praise. He wrote in Psalm 96:1-3, “O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord; bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.” The proclamation here is to “sing to the Lord.” In the year 1742 John Wesley gave these five rules on singing in church: Sing all, Sing lustily and with a good courage, Sing modestly, Sing in time, and above all, Sing spiritually—have an eye to God in every word you sing.[11] You see the Psalmist is giving us a three part imperative.  We are called to sing. Now, I know some of you don’t like to sing in public, which is why the psalmist tells us to simply make a “joyful noise” (Psalm 100) whatever that may be. And when we sing or make a joyful noise, we are to proclaim a new song.

Psalm 144:9 asserts, “I will sing a new song to you…” Why would the Psalmist state a new song? Why do we need to sing a new song? All of us have songs that draw us to a time of praise. I bet all of us here can recite, word for word, at least one song from memory that gives us praise: you don’t have to think about, you just sing it. If you want to see what this is like, then I invite you to attend a service at either a nursing home or assisted living facility: some of those residents can’t tell you what they did yesterday but they can see “Amazing Grace” from memory which they learned over 50 years ago. However, God is not calling us to sing songs we know but to sing a new song. Why? We enjoy familiar songs, being comfortable with routine, but as a disciple we have to be willing to learn new songs even though learning a new song is something we have to listen to, to learn, to understand: it takes work and time to learn something new. But that is how the church grows. If finds ways to offer new songs in new ways.

An interesting perspective to this proclamation is to understand that the word “new” is actually translated as “fresh” in the Hebrew language. As we sing a new song, is our praise new and fresh? Do we approach God with a renewed freshness each time we come to worship Him as a corporate body of believers? Are our praise songs telling others of God’s worthiness to be praised? Today, because of technology, people can gather from all over the world to sing a new song together. It may not actually be a new song, but the voices raised together were a new and powerful praise to God. It is refreshing when people gather to sing to God in worship.

Then King David calls the whole earth to proclaim and sing about God. Church, there is coming a time when the whole world will be bringing praise to our Holy God: that there will be one song of many voices. John wrote in Revelation 5:9, “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation…” John and the Psalmist are imperatively reminding us that there is coming a day when everyone will be looking and praising God with their voices; that many will become one. There is coming a day when those who reject God will be dealt with and the remaining faithful will join in one voice to bring Him praise. Church, for a moment, just imagine what that song will sound like: people from all over the earth, singing together the song of our Lord: singing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow….” For a moment, consider an earth where people simply come to worship together. For a moment, ponder how one day these words of Martin Luther King, Jr., could no longer be true: “The most segregated hour in America is 11:00am on Sunday morning.” Dr. King was referring to the racial segregation of the 1960s, but today we are praying that there will be a day when all Christians throughout the earth come together to sing a new song together: “one voice under God.”

Lastly, the singing we do is a blessing: not a blessing that we can give to one another but the singing of the blessing from God. The blessing we sing of is of salvation. The Psalmist is urging us to sing praises to God because He is our helper. Through our salvation, God is keeping us from harm, keeping us safe, and keeping us in the works of redemption and forgiveness. ​And as God continually grants us salvation, we are to declare the glory of the Lord.

Church it is so easy for each one of us to look around and see the misery or trials of this life that can quickly get us down. It is so easy to look at the mistakes and failures of each and every day. It is so easy to get caught up in the struggles we face on a daily basis. But through our singing and worshipping, we are called to declare God’s glory in all circumstances. How often do you declare God’s glory for the great things God has done in your life? He has sent His son to the world to redeem us from our state of sin. He has sent the Holy Spirit to be in us, to dwell in us, to guide us each day as we journey in this world. We are called to sing a new song that declares God’s presence in our life. We are called to worship in song God’s majesty.

 

Movement Two: God’s Majesty…

King David wrote in Psalm 96:4-6, “For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” These specific verses provide a few descriptors of God on which should be included in our song of worship.

King David tells us that God is worthy of praise. In our worship, we see that God is worthy of praise. When we begin to see who God is and what He has done, worthiness is the first. Worthy of all our praise. Not just some, but all. King David tells us that God is higher than other gods. The God we serve is the one who created all that we see. The God that created all that we see needs to be feared and is mighty in compared to the man-made idols: those things that draw us away from God, those things that get our attention before having our eyes turned toward Jesus, and those things that have the great potential to want us to worship them. The song we sing during worship should remind us that we “shall have no other gods” (Exodus 20:3). Worship is our time to focus on who God is and what God has done and is doing in our life.

Aside from God’s worthiness and greatness, we read of the splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty of God which all reside within His sanctuary, which also resides within all of us today. By referencing God’s sanctuary, David was referring to the dwelling place of God and we now see that God meant from the beginning of creation that He would be dwelling in us. Biblically, this is true: Jesus told his disciples, “Abide in me, and I will abide in you” (John 15:4). If Jesus abides in us, and through the Holy Trinity God and Jesus are one but separate, then that means God also abides in us: God’s splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty all reside within you today. The one who holds the whole world is within you today. We were created in the image of God and by receiving God’s splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty we are given the grace of salvation that dwells in our heart, which gets us closer to God.

How do we know this to be true? Well, John 14:6 quotes Jesus saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” We come to the Father through the Son and his redeeming work on the cross.  Secondly, Jesus promises us this, “…even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).  It is these truths that the Psalmist proves that we need to sing in the proclamation of praise. Church we can worship today because God lives within us. We can sing a new song because God lives within us. We can declare God’s glory because God lives within us. We can face tomorrow because God lives within us. We can walk out of the empty tomb because God lives within us. We can do “all things through Christ who strengthens us” (Philippians 4:13) because God lives within us. We can “soar on the wings like eagles; [we] will run and not grow weary, [we] will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31) because God lives within us. Church if you can’t think of a reason to worship God, then simply worship God because He lives within you today and always and through every life circumstance.

Worship his greatness. Worship his majesty. Worship his strength. Worship his forgiveness. Worship his grace. Worship his love. Worship his willingness to never abandon you. When we gather to worship, we gather to worship the one who dwells within us every day: the one who saves us, heals us, redeems us, and who constantly invites us to live in the present and do what we can today to hopefully make an impact on someone’s life today for tomorrow. Church we are called to worship God in all that we do, in all that we say, and in all the places we go. We are called to live our life knowing that God dwells within us. How are you going to live your life knowing that God is within you?

 

Movement Three: Proclamation of Praise…

Now King David moves onto a second proclamation of praise. He wrote, “Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth” (Psalm 96:7-9). For starters, the word ascribes means “to attribute or credit a cause, quality, or source to someone or something.” In the context of our scripture passage, the word ascribe means “recognizing and acknowledging the worth, splendor, and power of God.” In essence, during worship we are called to ascribe to the fullness and presence of God in our lives. In order to do that, we need to ascribe to God’s glory, name, and holiness.

First is God’s glory. Notice how David is calling for the people to ascribe to God’s glory. Who are these people? These people include all the earth, all nations, and all families of the people. The people include us today. David is speaking directly to us in similar fashion to how the Apostle Paul spoke directly to those in Galatia, Rome, Philippi, Ephesus, Colossae, and Thessalonica with hopes of others reading his words. Some biblical scholars have noted that a better way to translate “peoples” is to use the word tribe— a social group, often comprising multiple families, clans, or generations, united by shared ancestry, language, culture, traditions, and often a common leader or territory. Essentially, David is seeking to encounter the interest of a tribe of peoples who are seeking to believe in God, who are seeking to embody a sense of worship in the presence of the Lord.

To draw back to something that I mentioned earlier, worship in Hebrew is often translated as “humble submission.” We are called to be in humble submission to God’s glory in our act of worship. We are called to submit to the glory, to the victory of Jesus, in our worship. We are called to submit to the glory, the strength of God, in our worship. We are called to submit to the glory, the blessed assurance of the Holy Spirit, in our worship. Fanny J. Crosby wrote in her hymn Blessed Assurance, “Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest; watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love.” When we submit to the glory of God, our worship is filled with goodness and love, and becomes something that changes our life.

After telling the people to ascribe to the glory of God, David tells the people to ascribe to God’s name. When we worship, we are acknowledging God’s name in our life. In scripture, names are important. If you take the time to look up the names of those mentioned in the Bible, their name, more than likely, tells you about their life. For example, Jesus means “Yahweh saves” or “God saves.” According to Luke 19:10, Jesus came to “seek and save the lost.” Jesus came to save us. Abraham means “Father of a multitude.” It’s Abraham that God says that he will be the ancestor of many nations, kings, and people groups (Genesis 17). The name Moses means “drawn out of the water.” Moses was literally drawn out of the Nile as a baby by Pharaoh’s daughter, and it’s Moses who draws the Israelites to the Promised Land. And Peter means “rock” which explains why Jesus tells Peter, “…and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Peter is the rock upon which the church is built. I wonder if the meaning of your name tells something about your life.

The name of God also tells us something about God. God is often identified as the Alpha and Omega—the beginning and the end—Creator of all life, and called Yahweh, El, and Elohim in scripture. When Moses encounters God at the burning bush, Moses asked, “What I should call you?” And God said, “I AM who I AM” (Exodus 3:14) suggesting that God is self-sufficient and self-existent. This is the name that we are called to worship: a name that is above all names, a name that is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good, and all-present. God’s name is salvation. God’s name is forgiveness. God’s name is life-healing, life-rescuing, life-restoring, and life-transforming.  God’s name is love. The name of God in itself is an act of worship.

When we worship, we aren’t just praising the name of God, we are praising the name that created us, that breathed life into us, that sustains us, that mends our brokenness, that knows exactly what is in our heart, that understands our struggles, and that keeps promises. We worship the name of God because it is the name of God that transforms us.​

The last thing we are called to ascribe to is the holiness of God. According to The Lexham Theological Wordbook, “holiness refers primarily to the quality of God, denoting His transcendent apartness from the rest of creation, His uniqueness, and His total purity.” To call someone holy means that they are set apart, consecrated, or dedicated specifically to God. First Peter 1:16 notes, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Holiness is a thing of beauty.[12] Paul notes in Ephesians 5:27, “…so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that he might be holy and without blemish.”

One commentary on the subject of God’s holiness and our response to it says this, “Our holiness, which is His gift and work, never is a ground for presumption. Thus the whole earth is to ‘tremble [“be pained”] before Him,’ for He is the great and glorious God.”[13] This is one of the greatest aspects of God that draws us to praise Him. And we can praise Him every day of our life.  A children’s song says, “Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him in the morning, Praise Him in the noontime. Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him when the sun goes down!” Church, the holiness of God is what we are called to give praise to and worship with hopes that someday we can be made holy in His sight.

When we come together to worship, we bring everything with us—struggles, doubts, pains, grief, and joy, happiness, and blessings—we hope that God will remove what distracts us so that we can experience a holy moment in our life. Worship is a holy time that allows us to leave the world behind us and focus on the cross before us. Worship is a holy time that allows us to not hinge on the worries of the moment but focus on the current blessings. Worship is a holy time by which motivates us to live into the presence of God, the message of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Worship is holy because it transforms us.

 

Movement Four: God’s Rule…

Finally, King David ends this psalm by reminding us of what God does: “Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.’ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all that fills it; let the field exult and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth” (Psalm 96:10-13).

Simply put, God’s rule is sovereign.  It is above all else.  It is displayed in three ways laid out in the words of the Psalmist: He Reigns, He does and will judge, and the fallen creation will one day be restored. First, we came to praise this morning, we came to worship this morning because we have a reigning King and Lords of Lords. We need to shout this from the mountain top as the world seems to be in utter chaos. We serve, praise and worship a God that from the beginning of time has and continues to reign. Second, God judges. As a ruling and reigning King there is judgment. For people who feel they can do life on their own fail to see this news. God will hold them accountable for their rejection of His truth. Life may look rosy for them now, but there is coming a time where they will not be rejoicing.[14] Lastly, God restores. There is coming a day that God will restore His creation to its fullest delight. The curse of sin will be removed, darkness will be no more, peace will prevail, and the creation will be fully restored.[15]

We must worship knowing that in our worship we are being restored by the God who reigns forever and ever. When we worship, we are seeking a new life. When we worship we are accepting God’s invitation to return to Him (Malachi 3:7). When we worship we are surrendering ourselves to the judgment of God. When we worship we are committing that God is in control. When we worship we are accepting the fact that there is something in our life that needs to be changed. When we worship we desire for a deep, faithful relationship with Christ that transforms our lives.

 

Conclusion:

As you can tell, worship is important to our faith. It reveals what we need in our life and in our church. We need to come together to sing a new song in Christ with all the earth. We declare God’s glory working in our life. We recognize God’s worthiness to be praised, that God is higher than other god’s, and in worship God is unveiled to us. We, the people, ascribe to God’s glory, His name, and His holiness every time we worship. And in worship we are reminded that God reigns in our life and that we can be restored. And although, we worship together one day a week as a church, we are called to worship daily on our own because every time we worship transformation happens.

Let me explain. In front of you is a container of regular water from the faucet. There is nothing special about this container of water. But when I add this powder to the water and do some stirring, the water changes. Before we come to worship, we are like the water from the faucet: from the outside things seem calm and clear and unbothered. But during worship, we are transformed: we experience an inward change that calls us to have an outward response. The Holy Spirit does some stirring within us to activate us, to wake us up, to help us be alert, and to be willing to do some work. We come to worship singing an old song only to leave singing a new song.

Church, we need worship in our life. We need to be transformed. We need to be willing to listen for this new song that is going to guide us to be able to live into the fullness of Christ as we live into the fullness of who we want to be as a disciple and as a church. We can’t fully be who God needs us to be unless we choose to worship: to pray, to serve, to act, to fellowship, to read scripture, to gather where two or more are present in the name of Jesus Christ, to be restored. Church, if we don’t worship we will be clear water. But if we do worship, then we can be transformed and we can begin doing what we need to do to keep our faith alive and our doors open.

I love the chance to worship with you on Sunday mornings. But, I want to invite you to worship not just on Sunday’s but on every day that ends in ‘y.’

When the lights were off during that night of worship several years ago, the band played a song by Matt Redman that sings, “When the music fades/ All is stripped away/ And I simply come/ You search much deeper within/ Through the ways things appear/ You’re looking into my heart/ I’m comin’ back to the heart of worship/ And it’s all about You/ It’s all about You, Jesus.”[16] It’s time to return to the heart of worship: to sing a new song, to be transformed, and to live into the fullness of Jesus Christ. Will you worship this week? Will you allow God to transform you? Let It Be So…

 

Holy Communion:

 

Closing Prayer:

Let us Pray… Dear Jesus, give us time to worship you this week. Grant us space to focus on you. Transform us from the inside out. And draw us back to the heart of worship which is you. In your restoring name we pray. Amen.

 

Benediction:

Church, there is a new song out there that is needs to be sung. Are you ready to sing it? Are you willing to have your life changed through worship? May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; and May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26). In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit go forth seeking ways to worship in your daily life. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

 

 

[1] Ministries, The United Methodist Church Unveils New Guiding Vision Statement, Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church, May 1, 2025: https://www.unitedmethodistbishops.org/newsdetail/umc-unveils-new-vision-statement-19057587  Accessed April 12, 2026.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Inspired by Matthew 22:37-39 and John 13:34-35.

[4] Inspired by Psalm 100:1, Nehemiah 8:10, John 13:14-15 and 1 Peter 4:10

[5] Inspired by Joshua 1:9 and Ephesians 6:10

[6] Adoration: Deep love and admiration. Veneration: Great respect or reverence. Homage: Special honor or respect shown publicly. Praise: Expression of approval or admiration. Glorification: The act of giving glory or honor. Reverence: Deep respect. Devotion: Love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person or activity.

[7] The Hebrew word shachah means to bow down, prostrate, or kneel, indicating humble submission.

[8] https://www.umc.org/en/who-we-are/ask-the-umc-faqs/worship

[9] John Meunier, United Methodist Insight: Discerning God’s Will for the Future, “Five Principles of Christian Worship,” Published October 30, 2012: https://um-insight.net/blogs/john-meunier/five-principles-of-christian-worship/  Accessed April 29, 2026.

[10] 1 Chronicles 16:23-33: ²³ Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Tell of his salvation from day to day. ²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. ²⁵ For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. ²⁶ For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. ²⁷ Honor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. ²⁸ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. ²⁹ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in holy splendor; ³⁰ tremble before him, all the earth. The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. ³¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is king!” ³² Let the sea roar and all that fills it; let the field exult and everything in it. ³³ Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.

[11] The United Methodist Hymnal, The United Methodist Publishing House: Nashville, Tennessee, 1989, pg. vi. 1. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing. 2. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. 3. Sing modestly. Do not bawl so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation; but strive to unite your voices together so as to make one clear, melodious sound. 4. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it. 5. Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound but offered to God continually.

[12] God’s creation in the beginning was beautiful; sin brought a crushing blow to God’s creation.  The stain of this sin requires a ritual purity and act of forgiveness that comes from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

[13] The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 14: Psalms 73–150 (Worship God as King).

[14] This alone should drive us to proclaim this truth to those who are lost. It’s not a focus on the coming judgment, rather a call to proclaim His goodness so that those who have not chosen to follow Him will bow to the king we serve.

[15] You see there is a progression of God’s plan that we must always keep in our minds: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and finally Restoration.

[16] Matt Redman, “The Heart of Worship,” Capital CMG Publishing, 1998.