The Importance Of Community Series

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE COMMUNITY

Psalm 96:7-9

S: Worship

C: Worshipping in community

Th: God – Most Worthy of Praise

Pr: GOD DESIRES OUR SHARED WORSHIP.

?: How? How do we get it accomplished?

KW: Directives

TS: We will find in our study of Psalm 96:7-9 three directives we should follow in order to more effectively worship in community.

Type: Propositional

The ____ directive is…

I. RECOGNIZE GOD FOR WHO HE IS

II. BRING AN OFFERING TO GOD

III. RESPECT GOD’S PURITY

PA: How is the change to be observed?

Version: ESV

RMBC 11 September 05 AM

INTRODUCTION:

1. Have you ever noticed that perfection eludes the church?

I pulled out some actual bulletin or church newsletter bloopers to show that some of the most innocent mistakes can communicate the opposite of what is intended:

ILL Church: Bulletin bloopers

(Note: read it the right way first, and then with the mistake)

~ Women’s Luncheon: Each member bring a sandwich. Polly Phillips will give the medication. (meditation)

~ Palm Sunday: Our regular service will be gin (begin) at 11:00 a.m.

~ When parking on the north side of the church, please remember to park on an angel. (angle)

~ Jean will be leading a weight-management series Wednesday nights. She’s used the program herself and has been growing like crazy!

~ This evening at 7 P.M. there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin. (sing)

ILL Community: Orchestra (idea borrowed from Steven Fry and revised)

The excitement hung in the air. People were dressed in their best, and a low buzz of expectant whispers echoed throughout the concert hall. One by one, the finest classical musicians took their seats, instruments at the ready.

Then they began to play.

But you might have grimaced. It sounded more like rush hour than Mozart.

The sound emanating from that stage was a cacophony [ku – cough – u – knee] of a hundred separate instruments tuning up. Each musician played without paying any attention to the others. And it sounded bad.

Then the conductor took the stand. The instruments fell silent. A hush came over the audience as he raised his baton. At the downbeat, an ocean of harmony cascaded into the concert hall.

The musicians now played in concert with each other. Together, they were an orchestra. Together they expressed sounds that simply couldn’t be created individually.

You see…

2. There is a beauty in harmony.

In the same way, I would like us to understand today that our worship is like this.

There is a beauty to worship that is done together.

TRANSITION:

September is discipleship month

Our theme for discipleship month is…

1. God – Most Worthy to Be Praised!

It corresponds to our theme for 2005: “A Passionate Pursuit of God.”

God is worthy of our praise.

And it is absolutely proper and necessary as His children to worship Him.

For…

2. Followers of our Lord are worshippers.

We described last week that there are many reasons to come to worship.

And in varying degrees, they have their place.

Some come from habit.

It is what they do every Sunday.

Some come from duty.

They possess a feeling of “oughtness” they can’t escape.

Some come for the emotional uplift.

They know that the music and the fellowship will pump them up for another week.

Some come because their friends come.

They wouldn’t go anywhere else because where they go is where their friends go.

Some come because they love the music.

They enjoy the organ or they enjoy the worship band.

Some come because this is their family’s church.

Their parents came to the church, as did their parents, etc.

Some come to support its ministries.

They know a lot of good is happening, people are coming to know the Lord and they are growing in Christ.

Again, these are all good reasons to varying degrees, but there is one reason is better than the rest.

It is to have a significant encounter with the living God.

This is what the author of Psalm 96 exhorts us to do:

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;

bring an offering, and come into his courts!

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;

tremble before him, all the earth!

There is a presumption in this psalm that we are not to miss.

The psalmist presumes worship in the plural.

There is an absolute need for worship to take place among the many.

This is not to say that personal worship is not important.

It very much is.

It too is an absolute need in our lives, but it is not exclusive.