The Worship Arc: Sacrifice

We’ve welcomed God’s Spirit in, opened our hearts to Him, and praised Him for His goodness, and so… we come to sacrifice! This is perhaps the stage of the worship arc which is most reminiscent of the worship at the tabernacle or temple we see in the Old Testament. We are coming before God, with all that we are and all that we have, and laying it down before Him. Indeed, worship in itself is a sacrifice – of our time, our self-consciousness, our pride. It’s bringing the very best we can do at that time (like the Israelites bringing the very best of their livestock as sacrifices), and giving it all back to God as worship. We sing this so often: ‘every blessing You pour out, I’ll turn back to praise’, ‘it’s Your breath in our lungs, so we pour out our praise to You only’.

Sacrifice isn’t just about laying ourselves, our hopes and our concerns down before God, it’s also about re-submitting to the Lordship of Jesus, and recognising His authority over all things. It leads us into offering a pleasing and fragrant offering of worship, fit for a King.

So, what might this look like? Often our song choice can guide the congregation into sacrificial worship – songs like ‘We fall down’, ‘Heart of worship’ or ‘Here I am to worship’, to name just a few! Sometimes this can be after the talk, as a response to what’s been shared, or in a longer time of worship beforehand – it’s about reading the congregation and joining with God’s Spirit in what He’s already doing. Sometimes sacrificial worship might look like inviting people to step out of their comfort zones by speaking or singing out, bowing or kneeling down, or raising their hands, and we can mirror this as worship band!

My challenge to you this week: what are you needing to lay down in order to worship sacrificially? How might you do this, and how might you move out of your comfort zone to serve and honour God in worship?