SERMON: WORSHIP WAYS

PURPOSE AND PASSION SERMON SERIES #2

I.  Introduction

      -- if you have your Bibles with you, please turn over to Hebrews 12:28-29

Hebrews 12:28-29 New International Version (NIV)

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.

      -- today, we are continuing in our “Purpose and Passion” sermon series -- the goal of this series is to help you center your life around God in this new year by keeping the five purposes of the church as your goal and vision for all that you do

            -- as you probably remember, we said our purpose and passion should come from two scriptures in the Book of Matthew

            -- Matthew 22:37-39 -- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind -- this is the first and greatest commandment -- and the second is like it -- love your neighbor as yourself”

            -- Matthew 28:19-20 -- “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”

           

            -- in these two passages, we see the five purposes for us as individuals and as a church that make up our vision and our goal for living a meaningful life with Jesus:

                        -- “Love the Lord Your God” -- worship

                        -- “Love your neighbor as yourself” -- ministry

                        -- “Go and make disciples” -- evangelism

                        -- “Baptize them” -- -- fellowship

                        -- “Teach them to obey everything I have told you” -- discipleship

     

      -- today, we’re going to look at the first of these five purposes -- worship

      -- when I think of worship, I am reminded of the old story about the three blind men who were shown an elephant for the first time in their lives -- they each touched the elephant with their hands to determine what the creature was

      -- the first man felt the trunk, and claimed that an elephant was like a snake -- the second man touched its leg and claimed that an elephant was like a tree -- the third man touched its tail, and claimed that the elephant was like a slender rope

      -- all of them were right -- but, all of them were wrong -- they couldn’t get the whole picture by just touching a single part of the elephant

      -- worship is the same way -- we tend to have a narrow understanding of worship that is usually based on what we learned in church as children -- for most of us, when we hear the word, “worship,” we think of music -- we think of choirs or the congregation singing hymns -- this is what worship is to us

      -- but, while that is certainly a facet of worship, it is not the whole picture

      -- so, to begin, let’s start by talking about what worship really is

II.  What is Worship?

      -- worship is simply showing your love for God by praising and honoring Him for who He is and for what He has done -- worship is bringing glory to God -- it is recognizing God’s worth and value above all else in eternity -- and when we worship God in this way, we bring pleasure to God’s heart and we bless Him

      -- as Rick Warren pointed out in the Purpose Driven Life, worship is one of the primary purposes for which God made us -- He made us to be in a relationship with Him and to worship Him and to bring Him pleasure -- and when we live our lives in such a way that we recognize God’s presence and seek to bring Him glory and honor in all that we do, then we are truly worshiping God with our lives

      -- we do this by living our lives as God intended -- we do this by seeking God with all our hearts and lifting Him up in praise -- we do this by being who God has called us to be

      -- when I think of worship as living life to bring glory to God -- to please Him by fulfilling His calling in our lives -- I always think of Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner best known from the movie, “Chariots of Fire” -- Liddell said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast -- and when I run, I feel His pleasure” -- so Liddell strove to be the best runner he could -- not to bring glory to himself or his team or his country -- but to bring glory to God

      -- that is what true worship looks like -- it is more than just gathering on a Sunday and singing praise songs -- true worship is living life in such a way that all we do brings pleasure to Him -- where every moment of every day we bring glory to God by enjoying Him and expressing our enjoyment of Him -- whether that’s by singing hymns, praying, or even running fast

      -- Martin Luther King, Jr. understood this definition of worship, too, that worship was more than just singing and gathering on Sundays -- he wrote: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

      -- this reminds us that even our work can be worship to God if done in the light of God’s presence -- the Hebrew word, avodah, is the root word for both "work" and worship" -- avodah means both "giving splendor and worship" -- it can also mean "service" or "work"

      -- so even by working -- by serving for God’s glory -- by doing things for God and being what He called us to be, we can worship Him

      -- everything we do can be an act of worship if we simply recognize God’s presence and use that moment to bring Him the honor and glory and praise

      -- when we live our lives for God in such a way, God is pleased -- when we live our lives for God in such a way, we bring glory to Him -- when we live our lives for God in such a way, we are truly worshiping Him with all our heart and soul and mind and strength

      -- now, while we all understand that our entire lives and all that we do should be offered up to God as acts of worship, I do want to spend a few moments talking about what we traditionally recognize as worship acts within the church community

      -- if you would, turn over to 1 Corinthians 14:26-33 and let's see what the Apostle Paul had to say about worship in a church setting

1 Corinthians 14:26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

      -- we see in this passage that there were several different acts of worship recognized in the early church

      -- first, Paul tells us that when the church gathered, they would sing together -- in verse 26, we read that everyone has a hymn -- in that day, people would write songs of praise and joy from their heart and share those with their faith community

            -- this reminds me of the heart songs that we learned of in the video, “The Insanity of God” -- a Christian man named Dmitri was imprisoned in Russia because of his faith -- but despite his horrible situation, every day, he would get up and face the rising sun and sing a song of praise and worship from his heart to God -- the other prisoners would mock him and yell at him -- but Dmitri wasn’t deterred -- he did this every day for years

            -- one day, the guards dragged Dmitri from his cell to execute him -- but as they led him out into the courtyard, fifteen hundred hardened criminals stood at attention by their beds and faced the rising sun and joined together to sing the words of Dmitri’s heart song to Jesus -- they had learned to praise God because of a faithful and true worshiper -- as God gives us new songs in our own hearts, we should share them with others so God is glorified

      -- Ephesians 5:19-20 says, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

      -- one of our first and most consistent acts of worship should be singing praises to God from our heart -- both in church and when we are alone with God

      -- next, we see that the church worshiped through a word of instruction -- this refers to the reading and sharing of Scripture -- as it says in 1 Tim 4:13, "devote yourself to public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching"

      -- all the way back to the early days of the first church, there has always been a time for the proclamation of God's word and the interpretation of God's word -- in the earliest days, the pastor was not the only person who did this -- the Bible tells us that others would stand and speak of their interpretations of Scripture or their experiences with God -- sort of like we do when we have praises or testimonies shared in the church

      -- studying God’s word is an important act of worship because it helps us experience and understand God better -- through God’s word we come to know Him -- through God’s word we come to understand what He wants us to do and how He wants us to live -- through God’s word we learn what is important to Him and what brings Him pleasure

      -- similar to that, Paul writes of the people in the church having a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation -- this refers to God speaking directly to His people in one way or the other -- we need to remember that God is always speaking -- that God’s word is always coming to us -- as we pray, as we read the Scriptures, as we gather together, as we simply go about our daily ways

      -- when God speaks to us, we should share that with the rest of our faith community -- and, in sharing what God tells us, we are worshiping Him -- we are proclaiming we serve a living God -- we are recognizing that God loves us and cares enough about us to speak to us and direct our paths -- and, as we respond to His word -- as we share it with others -- they, too, are blessed and bring honor and glory to God -- so, even prophecy and revelation are acts of worship

      -- one other major form of worship in the church is prayer -- prayer is our attempt to draw close to God by speaking directly to Him -- by giving Him praise and honor and thanksgiving with our words and with our heart -- and by asking for His presence in our lives and in the lives of those around us through sharing our needs and our intercessions

      -- traditionally, prayer in a worship service is both corporate and private -- there should be times where we come together as one and where we listen to and actively affirm the prayers of a leader -- whether that is me as the pastor or someone else who may lead a prayer

      -- but, there should also be times for private prayer as well -- some churches have a moment of silent prayer before corporate prayer -- while others, like us, allow a time for private prayer and response to the word at the end of the service

      -- these are all acts of worship that we can share in our worship times together -- whether at church or in a coffee shop or even in your place of employment

III.  The Attitude of Worship

      -- one thing that makes the difference between true worship and just going through the motions is our attitude when we worship

      -- in the passage I opened with from Hebrews 12, the author tells us that we need to worship God with reverence and awe -- true worship will always have these components, no matter what it is that you are offering up to God in worship

      -- to reverence God means that you lift Him up -- that you regard Him with respect -- that you find Him worthy of praise and honor -- that’s actually the root of the word, “worship” -- worship literally means to give "worth" to something, to ascribe value to something

-- when we worship God we are telling Him He is worthy of our praise and our adoration -- we are telling Him that He is our all in all -- we are telling Him He is valuable in our sight

      -- to show God awe means that you recognize that He is God and you are not -- that you recognize the mighty works that He has done and you know that you must approach Him with affection mingled with fear of His mighty power

      -- awe is what the Old Testament writers meant when they wrote about the fear of the Lord -- to fear God is to regard Him as awesome -- to regard Him in all His glory -- to recognize who He is and how wonderful and powerful and majestic is His name

      -- we need to remember to come before God with both reverence and awe, especially during times of worship -- I think this is something the church has forgotten -- when I was a child, it seemed like there was more of a sense of reverence and awe in church settings

      -- when we entered the sanctuary, it felt like I was entering into the presence of the sacred -- there was a sense of place -- a sense of power -- a sense of mystery and sacredness -- very few people spoke in the sanctuary prior to the service -- and those that did speak did so with a whisper -- there was a sense of being in the presence of God, and everyone entered the sanctuary with reverence and awe

      -- a lot of people have forgotten that our worship should be wrapped in reverence and awe -- we are not the Creator -- only God is the Creator -- all that we are and all that we do -- all that we have -- our gifts -- our skills -- our very life and breath -- all of this comes from God -- we exist for His pleasure -- we exist because of His love -- and so we should approach Him in reverence and awe, always remembering how great He is and how awesome is His love for us

IV.  Closing

            -- the main thing we need to remember about worship is the focus of our worship -- worship is not about the acts that we do -- it’s not about the singing or the praying or the preaching of the word -- it’s not about ministry or our work or acts of service

            -- worship is solely about God -- it’s about remembering Him -- magnifying Him -- drawing closer to Him -- becoming enveloped in His love and His presence

            -- that is why we worship -- that is worship that changes lives

            -- I heard a song this week by Natalie Grant called, “More than Anything,” that really spoke to me about what we should be seeking in our worship

            -- let me share with you the chorus of this song:

“Help me want the Healer more than the healing

Help me want the Savior more than the saving

Help me want the Giver more than the giving

Help me want you Jesus more than anything

Help me want you Jesus more than anything”

            -- that is what worship should be about -- it should be about Jesus and about praising and glorifying Him alone -- our prayer in worship should be the same as in this song -- “Help me want you Jesus more than anything”

            -- let me close by sharing with you a story from Max Lucado’s book, "The Applause of Heaven"

-- he tells the story of the building of the Taj Mahal -- the reason the Taj Mahal was built was because the favorite wife of the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan died -- in grief, the emperor began to build a temple around his wife's coffin -- he got obsessed by project -- it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger -- one day while he was looking around and making plans to expand yet again, he saw an old box in the corner that seemed out of place and ordered it removed -- it was his wife's coffin

-- The one the temple was intended to honor was forgotten and cast away, but the temple was erected anyway

-- Lucado writes, and I'm quoting here:

-- "Difficult to believe? Perhaps -- But eerie nonetheless -- Could someone build a temple and forget why? -- Could someone construct a palace, yet forget the king? -- Could someone sculpt a tribute and forget the hero?

-- "You answer those questions -- Answer them in a church -- The next time you enter an assembly of worship, position yourself where you can see the people -- Then decide.

            -- "You can tell the ones who remember the slain one -- They're wide-eyed and expectant -- They're children watching the unwrapping of a gift -- They're servants standing still as a king passes -- You don't doze in the presence of royalty -- And you don't yawn while receiving a gift, especially when the giver is the king himself!

            -- "You can also tell the ones who see only the temple -- Their eyes wander -- Their feet shuffle -- Their hands doodle, and their mouths open -- not to sing, but to yawn  -- For no matter how hard they try to stay amazed, their eyes start to glaze over -- All temples, even the Taj Mahal, lose their luster after a while.

-- "The temple gazers don't mean to be bored -- They love the church -- They can cite its programs and praise its pastors -- They don't mean to grow stale -- They put on hats and hose and coats and ties and come every week -- But still, something is missing --The one they once planned to honor hasn't been seen in a while.

-- "But those who have seen him can't seem to forget him -- They find him, often in spite of the temple rather than because of it -- They brush the dust away and stand ever impressed before his tomb -- his empty tomb.

-- "The temple builders and the Savior seekers -- You'll find them both in the same church, on the same pew -- at times, even in the same suit.

            -- "One sees the structure and says, "What a great church." -- The other sees the Savior and says, "What a great Christ!"

-- "Which do you see?"

           

            -- true worship should always lead you to see Christ

            -- let’s pray