I shared the following point in my sermon on Sunday concerning how disciple-making worship should impact our demeanor and attitude. The first church in Acts 2 gathered and worshiped. Acts 2:46 reads, “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” In other words, their worship affected their attitudes.

Why were the first believers glad? They realized they had a great and glorious God who sent his only Son to be their Savior and Lord. Knowing Jesus as our Savior should make us glad! Knowing what Jesus gave to redeem us should make us generous. Worshiping God should have an influence on our demeanor. We might walk into a worship service frustrated, sad, disappointed, defeated or dejected. But when we contemplate the kindness of our King, the worth of the Wonderful Savior, the majesty of our Maker, the favor and friendship of our Heavenly Father, we must rejoice. We must take our corporate worship as an opportunity to revel in our redemption, to praise our perfect Savior, to express gratitude at the gracious salvation we have been freely given. Christ-honoring, disciple-making worship should be joyful.

This truth is one reason I don’t and won’t adopt a defeatist perspective on our culture and the world. We don’t worship a dead and buried Savior; we worship the risen King. We don’t worship a far-away Father, rather we worship a near-to-us friend. We don’t worship a false God, but rather the victorious God who one day will return and privilege us to join him in his reign over the nations. In other words, we win because our King is the King of kings and our Lord is the Lord of lords. None is his equal. None will stand in his majesty. His glory demands our attention and worship. And the joy we experience in worshiping him should affect our attitudes. Of all people, Christians should be most happy.