Created To Worship - Part 1 Series

The Body Beautiful

Part 1

Created To Worship

Last week

I would consider a background

As to why this sermon series is essential

Today we will start this series

By talking about

How the Body was created to Worship

After last week’s service

I had the opportunity to speak with many of you

And I appreciate all your concern and outpourings of love

However,

unfortunately,

I believe that the Lord was grieved even more

After, Because many of us still were looking on

What I said from a fleshly, earthly perspective

Worrying that I felt like leaving

Or giving up

But God was speaking to you

About YOU

About your Worship

About your approaching His throne

In the bible we have many examples

Of how God allowed his messengers

To go through different painful experiences

So that they would have the heart of God

The best example of this is the prophet

Hosea

Hosea’s prophetic ministry begins with his marriage.

In fact, the first thing that he is commanded to do

as a prophet of God is to marry.

Somehow Hosea’s marriage

is to be an important part of his prophetic ministry.

This would not be so striking,

were it not for the character of the woman

whom the LORD commands him to marry.

She is to be a harlot!

The prophet is to marry a prostitute!

Hosea’s marriage is to symbolize Yahweh’s relationship

with adulterous Israel.

Hosea’s painful marriage will be a visible symbol

to the nation of Israel

of their adultery against their rightful husband, Yahweh.

Amazingly, verse three shows Hosea

obeying the Word of the LORD.

He marries Gomer.

a prostitute when Hosea married her.

But the book of Hosea is not primarily about Hosea and his marriage,

it is ultimately about God and His relationship

to His covenant people, Israel.

Hosea was commanded to marry a prostitute

because that is the kind of wife

which Israel had become to Yahweh.

By combining elements of Baal worship

with the elements of Yahweh worship

commanded in the Law,

Israel was engaging in spiritual adultery

Last week

I attempted to describe to you

The spiritual battle we are fighting

And as Pastor

I see this battle clearly

Because the Lord showed it to me

Many times over these past 3 years

Yes we need your prayers

And Yes we need your support and care

But the Word last week

Was for you to see beyond

the horizon you have established in your life

to see beyond your own ideas of worship and praise

Some of you understand and believe

That God wants more for us

And for this church

And for this area.

But knowing it is not enough

I cannot take you to the place God wants you

I can only lead by example

And teach - exhort and encourage

What God is trying to show us

Is that He desires to manifest in our presence

If you feel this too

Then guess what -

God is telling you to step out of your comfort zone

Stop waiting for someone else to break out in worship

You just enter in -

And worship as God shows you

We cannot think we know it all

That will stop revival in its tracks

We cannot think we are instrumental in God’s moving

That too will stop revival

The only thing we can do

Is enter in

Pursue God with all that in us.

You see – Hunger is not manufactured

Hunger takes time to develop

It requires expending all your energy

All your reserves

And realizing that the only food you require is

God Himself

Jesus said it best

John4:32-

But Jesus told them, "I have food that you don't know anything about."

His disciples started asking each other, "Has someone brought him something to eat?" Jesus said: My food is to do what God wants!

Some misunderstood what was said

I was not saying that God wanted us to worship

A certain way

What the Lord was saying and obviously I was not clear

Is that God desires us to be passionate about worship

Passion is expressed differently depending on

Who we are

However,

Passion is passion

So if you get passionate about something

And you are not as passionate in worshiping God

You may have a disconnect about who God is

And what He requires

This disconnect comes from our traditional upbringing

First of all

Yes God is Holy

And should be reverenced

But you cannot find too many places in the bible

Where you see pious reverence as we view it today

In most traditional churches

The Apostles for instance never once prayed the

So called “Lord’s Prayer”

You never even find a reference to them praying at all

While Jesus was with them

Why?

In John 16