Church growth Quote by Bob Kauflin
““Worship is God's gift of grace to us before it's our offering to God. We simply benefit from the perfect offering of the Son to the Father through the power of the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). Worship is our humble, constant, appropriate, glad response to God's self-revelation and his enabling invitation. Apart from this perspective, leading worship can become self-motivated and self-exalting. We can become burdened by the responsibility to lead others and can think that we might not be able to deliver the goods. We subtly take pride in our worship, our singing, our playing, our planning, our performance, our leadership. Ultimately we separate ourselves from the God who drew us to worship him in the first place. That's why biblical worship is God-focused (God is clearly seen), God-centered (God is clearly the priority), and God-exalting (God is clearly honored). Gathering to praise God can't be a means to some "greater" end, such as church growth, evangelism, or personal ministry. God isn't a genie we summon by rubbing the bottle called "worship." He doesn't exist to help us get where we really want to go. God is where we want to go. So God's glory is the end of our worship, and not simply a means to something else. In the midst of a culture that glorifies our pitiful accomplishments in countless ways, we gather each week to proclaim God's wondrous deeds and to glory in his supreme value. He is holy, holy, holy. There is no one, and nothing, like the Lord.””
About This Quote
Source Sermon: Worship and the Gospel, Bob Kauflin, 2015
Worship should focus on glorifying God, not on personal achievement or institutional goals.
In simple terms: Worship is about honoring God, not self‑praise.
Keep worship God‑centered and humble.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- church services
- personal devotion
- leadership training
- worship planning
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you ensure worship remains God‑focused?
- What habits keep worship humble?
Self‑promotion can corrupt worship and shift focus from God to ego.