“Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:18-20 (NIV)
- Magnification Defined: God has created us for the purpose of worshiping and magnifying or exalting Him. We magnify who God is and what He has done for us. We magnify Him through songs and praises and praying in the spirit. King David said, “I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.” [Psalms 30:1]
- Magnification Directed: Worship is directed primarily tot he Lord God Almighty. As we praise and sing and pray, it is God we are focusing on. The psalmist said, “Glorify the LORD with me, let us exalt His name together.”[Psalm 34:3]
- Magnification Designed: we are encouraged to worship and exalt God with all that we have. In Psalm 150 we are told, “Praise Him with the sounding of trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre…let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.”
- Magnification Deployed: We are not employed to worship. We are deployed to worship God. Jesus speaking to the woman at the well said, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” [John 4:23-24]
- Magnification Delighted: Worship is not a ritual. TI is a relationship. It is to be enjoyed and delighted in. Here at PBC we delight in worshiping God through various styles and ways. The psalmist said, “Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp. Let the saints rejoice in His honor and sing for joy on their beds.” [Psalm 149:3,5]