by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Pomp and ceremony do not make worship more holy any more than does the physical location. God seeks true worshippers who worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). He does not need the inventions of our hands, does not dwell in buildings made with our hands, and is not impressed by our monuments … “as though He needed anything<\/em>” (Acts 17:24-25).<\/p>\n What impresses us can itself become a form of idolatry, for if we need pageantry and physical splendor to feel like we are worshipping, we must ask whether our worship is directed toward God, toward our own creations, or even ourselves. When we marvel at what we have made for the God who needs nothing, we may well be creating a culture of self-worship. If we do these things to impress people, we are not doing so because it is what God asks for or needs. Rather, we want these things, and then we claim to have God’s stamp of approval when it pleases us. Yet the simplest family with the least amount can worship God wholeheartedly and thereby please Him. If God judges the hearts over appearances, this surely applies to how we worship.<\/p>\n Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that worship needs to be complicated or flashy. We can be dignified and honorable even while we joyfully praise Him, but it is the fruit of the lips that give thanks to His name that serves as a pleasing sacrifice to Him (Hebrews 13:15).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Doy Moyer Pomp and ceremony do not make worship more holy any more than does the physical location. God seeks true worshippers who worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). He does not need the inventions of our hands, does not dwell in buildings made with our hands, and is not impressed by our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[304,84],"class_list":["post-67948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-idolatry","tag-worship"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22029,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-was-worship-conducted-in-israel-when-the-temple-was-destroyed\/","url_meta":{"origin":67948,"position":0},"title":"How was worship conducted in Israel when the temple was destroyed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question regarding the Tabernacle and the first Temple in the Old Testament: Was the Tabernacle the dwelling place of God and was the Temple the place of worship for the people? If so, when the first Temple was destroyed and tabernacle removed, how did the people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20570,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-accept-wrongly-done-worship-if-the-heart-is-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":67948,"position":1},"title":"Does God accept wrongly done worship if the heart is right?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I understand that God does not accept vain worship (Matthew 15:8-9), that we are to worship the way the Bible teaches (John 4:23-24), and that God punishes those who worship in their own way (Leviticus 10:1-2). But does II Chronicles 30, where the Passover was held not in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62696,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-heart-felt-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":67948,"position":2},"title":"A Heart-Felt Religion?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: John 4:19-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It seems many people today are struggling with the concept of worship. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Suppose a visitor comes to worship with us. We sing songs of praise to God. The lights are on, eyes are open, no one is swaying with hands\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38085,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-god-allow-sinful-things-to-worship-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":67948,"position":3},"title":"Why does God allow sinful things to worship Him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If your opinion of using musical instruments in the New Testament is sin, why does God allow sinful things to be used to worship Him, either symbolically or physically or metaphorically or whatever in His presence? In the Old Testament sacrifices and musical instruments are used to worship God;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54389,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-collection-in-i-corinthians-161-2-really-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":67948,"position":4},"title":"Was the collection in I Corinthians 16:1-2 really worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The church I attend teaches that the collection in I Corinthians 16:1-2 is not part of the worship service. They say Paul commanded that to help the church in Jerusalem, not to worship by giving. What is your comment about that? Answer: The same giving is discussed in II\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-problem-with-an-attendance-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":67948,"position":5},"title":"The Problem with an \u201cAttendance Problem\u201d","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joey Sparks Worship attendance can be a sensitive issue for Christians. Some are satisfied with coming only on Sunday mornings. Or Sunday evenings. Or for long enough to take the Lord's Supper. Some are content with worshiping only on holidays. Some are only at the local assembly when facing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}