Douglas Jacoby Podcast

Worship (A): Seven Sanctuaries

Episode Summary

Douglas begins a new series on Worship, looking today at Seven Sanctuaries. This Podcast was published on Jan 31, 2014.

Episode Notes

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction to the series: important questions

• Worshippers enjoy healthier, more dynamic lives than non-worshippers. Why is that?
• What (if anything) does the Old Testament have to offer Christians?
• What disqualifies worship?
• How does true worship fortify lame spiritual lives?
• How does New Testament worship differ from the Old Testament variety?
• How has the church approached worship through the ages (and will it every learn from its own history)?
• Have our (mis)conceptions about heavenly worship demotivated us?

The essence of worship

• Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; an act of expressing such reverence
• A form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
• Extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem
• “It is a delusion to think that because we suddenly feel expansive and poetic in the presence of the storm or stars or space that we are spiritual. I need only remind you that drunkards or tyrants or criminals can have those ‘sublime’ feelings, too. Let’s not image that they constitute worship.” – A. W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship? 124

Worship in ancient (pagan) world

• Energetic
• Weather deities
• Noise, instruments
• Immoral: ritual prostitution
• Sacrifice: infants
• Mutual manipulation
• Stark contrast to ethical monotheism (readings from Isaiah 1)

7 Sanctuaries

• Eden as primal Temple (Genesis)
• Tabernacle (Exodus)
• Temple (1 Kings)
• [In exile: Babylon / Egypt / Samaria]
• 2nd Temple / Herod's Temple
• Christ’s body (John 2, 1)
• The Church (1 Cor 3)
• New Jerusalem (Rev 21)

Next podcast in this series: Seven grand passages on worship