(Adapted from the paper "Why We Worship" by Carl Tuttle)
The primary emphasis of our worship is to magnify, bless, and lift up Jesus as an end in itself. But as a natural result of worship, God comes through the presence of the Holy Spirit and ministers to us. As we worship, we come into the presence of God. Through His presence, we are touched by His compassion and love, we are cleansed through repentance by His blood, we are changed as He does a work of brokenness in us, we are blessed and empowered, we are released from bondage and pressures; we are made whole. Through the tangible presence of God, these supernatural things occur. As a result of His presence, the Word of God may be internalized and effective ministry one to another may also occur. Worship is a real experience where we touch Him and are touched.
"To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God."
- William Temple
"When we kiss the heart of God in worship, we are healed, inspired, motivated, directed, and integrated into reality from God's perspective."
- Steve Robbins
