A First Sunday of Advent Reflection
Meyu Changkiri
As the world steps into the First Sunday of Advent, a familiar truth emerges with renewed urgency: worship is not entertainment. It was R. C. Sproul, the respected Reformed theologian known for his uncompromising teaching on the holiness of God, who often reminded the church that because God is holy, worship must be approached with reverence, honesty, and humility. “God is serious about how we worship Him,” Sproul once said, “and we must be serious about it too.”
These words may seem counter-cultural in a time when entertainment shapes so much of modern life. We live in an age of screens, performances, sound production, and instant gratification. People flock to events for the experience, the excitement, the atmosphere. And sometimes, without even noticing it, the church begins to absorb the same expectations - seeking experiences over submission, atmosphere over awe, performance over reverence.
But on this First Sunday of Advent - a season of waiting, watching, and preparing - the church is invited to pause. Advent slows our hurried spirits and calls us back to what genuinely matters. As the first candle is lit, symbolising hope in the darkness, we are reminded that worship is not a passive event we watch. It is a living response we bring. Advent teaches us to pay attention, to examine our hearts, and to rediscover our posture before the Presence of God.
“In Spirit and in Truth”
The Gospel of John tells the story of a Samaritan woman who comes to draw water at noon, carrying questions far heavier than her jar. One of those questions is about worship. “Where should we worship?” she asks Jesus. Her question is centuries old, rooted in deep cultural, religious, and historical tensions.
Jesus answers her with a revolutionary shift. A new kind of worship is coming, He says - not tied to a mountain, not tied to a temple, not limited by tradition, not defined by geography.
Instead, “the Father seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
This is one of the most powerful statements Jesus ever made concerning worship, because it relocates the centre of worship from a physical space to a spiritual posture - from a place to the heart.
As the Advent season calls us into deeper reflection, three truths emerge from Jesus’ teaching that can renew and reshape our worship today.
1. Worship Is More Than a Program
For many people, worship begins when the musicians take their place and the service formally begins. But the Bible paints a very different picture.
Psalm 95 invites us: “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” Notice the emphasis - bow down, kneel, come before Him. Not a program. Not a schedule. Not a performance. But a posture.
Worship begins long before the first chord is played. It begins with the inward bow of the heart - a recognition of God’s majesty and our dependence on Him. A person may clap, raise hands, sing loudly, or move with energy, but remain untouched inwardly. External movement is not the same as internal surrender.
Advent is a season that reminds us of this truth. When the shepherds received the angelic announcement, their first response was not to organise a program, but to go and see what the Lord had done. When the Magi saw the star, they didn’t plan a performance; they came bearing gifts and knelt before the Child. Worship in Scripture consistently begins in the heart - expressed in awe, trust, and reverent surrender.
In many churches today, it can be tempting to evaluate worship based on the music, the mood, the harmony, or even the technological excellence. These can be blessings, but they are not the essence. Worship is not the stage. It is not the microphone. It is not the arrangement.
The true beginning point of worship is the heart that bows before God in humility.
When we gather as a church, what God sees is not the outward polish but the inward posture. Advent invites us to recover that posture - quiet, humble, expectant.
2. Worship Is Not About Us - It Is About God
Jesus’ instruction that the Father seeks worship “in spirit and truth” is a strong reminder that worship cannot be shaped solely around our personal preferences. And yet, this is a common challenge in the modern church.
We often hear:
“I like this song.”
“I don’t like that style.”
“The worship felt good today.”
“I wish it was more energetic.”
“I wish it was calmer.”
These are natural human desires, but when worship becomes about what we prefer, we lose sight of whom we worship. Worship is not entertainment. It is not a show designed to move our emotions. The worship team is not performing to impress. The congregation is not an audience. God is the audience.
Worship belongs to the whole church, not just a select group of leaders. And its centre must always be God - His character, His majesty, His holiness, His grace, His truth. We worship because God is worthy. Not because everything aligns with our taste. Not because the atmosphere is pleasant. Not because the music is excellent.
The heart of worship is surrender, not satisfaction of personal preferences.
Advent reminds us that the One we worship is the God who humbled Himself and came near in a manger. How can worship be about us when the story of God becoming flesh is a story of Him coming for us, not us consuming something from Him?
Worship in Advent is a call to recenter our hearts. To shift the focus from ourselves to Christ. To allow God - not music, not style, not mood - to be the reason we gather. If the church were to recapture this understanding, worship would become more than a weekly routine. It would become a declaration of God’s worthiness, offered in unity, humility, and truth.
3. True Worship Requires Reverence and Obedience
Emotion has a meaningful role in worship. The Psalms are rich with emotional expression - joy, sorrow, longing, celebration. But emotion alone is not worship. Worship that honours God emerges from a heart shaped by reverence and obedience.
Reverence means taking God seriously. It means entering His house with awareness, care, and intentionality. It means bringing God our best, not our leftovers.
Yet sometimes, without intending to, we treat sacred moments lightly: cracking jokes inside the sanctuary, turning practices into casual social gatherings, creating noise that distracts others, equating loudness with sincerity, focusing more on atmosphere than holiness.
But God does not measure worship by volume. He hears the quietest whisper. He receives the silent prayer of a repentant heart. He honours the person who sits quietly in the back, wrestling with their faith but seeking Him honestly.
Reverence is not outdated. It is deeply biblical.
When Moses approached the burning bush, he removed his sandals. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he cried, “Woe is me!” When the disciples witnessed Jesus calm the storm, they were filled with awe.
When the early church gathered, they devoted themselves to prayer, teaching, breaking of bread - with reverence and unity. Reverence does not kill joy. It deepens it. It does not suppress praise. It purifies it.
Both joyful praise and quiet reverence belong in God’s house. What matters is that both direct our attention to God, not ourselves. Advent calls the church to recapture this reverence - to slow down, to reflect, to prepare our hearts, to approach God with awe and humility.
Worship as a Lifestyle This Advent
When the service ends, worship does not. True worship continues in our homes, workplaces, relationships, decisions, and daily patterns. Worship is a life lived coram Deo - before the face of God.
Advent is a season that invites us to live attentively before God. As we prepare for Christmas, we are preparing not just for a day of celebration but for a renewed walk with Christ.
Worship as lifestyle means: loving God in our private moments, practising integrity even when no one sees, extending forgiveness, living simply and gratefully, serving others with compassion, honouring God in decisions, habits, and priorities, seeking peace where there is conflict, living with hope in a weary world.
When worship becomes a lifestyle, church gatherings become celebrations of what God is already doing in us throughout the week. Advent becomes more than ritual - it becomes renewal.
This season challenges us to reorder our priorities. To let go of distractions. To place Christ at the centre of everything. When we worship this way, the church becomes not a venue for entertainment but a community transformed by the presence of God.
Conclusion
As we journey through Advent 2025, we are reminded that God is serious about how we worship Him. Not because He demands perfection, but because He desires our hearts. Advent invites us to respond with sincerity, reverence, and obedience.
May our worship this season be shaped not by performance but by purity, not by preference but by surrender, not by entertainment but by awe.
Not the music, not the style, not the mood, not the experience - but Jesus Christ alone, at the centre of our worship and at the centre of our lives. Amen.
