The Wonder Of Worship 2 Series

Romans 12:1-2 II Corinthians 3:18

Worship should lead to transformation

We read in scripture where worship always had a transforming effect

In Revelation when John saw Jesus, He fell as dead

In Isaiah when he saw the Lord he saw himself more clearly

As David worshiped he was constantly aware of the presence of God

The worshiper is positioned so that God can minister to them through worship

Worship is not only what you do it is also who you are

***You will always become like the God you worship

What we are and what we do is determined by our worship

What does God want from us?

According to Romans 12 He wants three things

He wants a living sacrifice

Our body

Our mind

Our will

Don’t conformed be transformed

Masquerade or Metamorphosis

Religious hypochondriacs

Wrapped up in religious techniques of spiritual living that leads to unspiritual and unbalanced living

Because it leads us to be come primarily self conscious Christians which is not bad in and of itself

A self-conscious holiness alone is a contradiction

We become spiritual examiners and we spend all of our time performing spiritual autopsies

We spend most of our time comparing and evaluating performance

We believe that worship in life ought to look a certain way, we can often tell what it is not but we cannot determine what it is

I remember working with a man who seemed to be unsaved he would say things that weren’t indicative of the character of Christ

He would do things that weren’t indicative of the character of Christ

People automatically assumed that he was on his way to hell

One day we were talking and he said I know what people think about me but I believe in God and I do pray, I know where my blessings come from

No he wasn’t all that he should have been or could have been

He was a work in progress

Who are we to assume that because people don’t look like what we think they ought to look like that they aren’t who we think that they are

Now this is not an excuse to continue living in a way that is not pleasing to God

The mistake we make is to assume that worship works from the outside in

But it works from the inside out

Self conscious holiness is a form of neglect, because it forces God out of the equation

Holiness should reveal the glory of God, so real holiness must come from God

So be transformed

Worship should be a transforming experience

In II cor. 3:18 Paul contrasts the glory see on Moses to the glory seen in Jesus on the mount of transfiguration

***When Moses came down from the mountain His face was bright as light

He picked up some of the glory of God

But the glory was on him and not in him

***But Jesus on the other hand on the mountain of transfiguration had the glory of God radiating from Him

That is what God wants for us to be transformed (the greek word for transformed is the word from which we get our English word metamorphosis) from glory to glory.

This transformation comes from a commitment to a lifestyle of worship

Time in the presence of God which includes;

Time in the word

Time in prayer

Time in practice

As we spend the time we become what we spend time with

This leads to intelligent worship

The word reveals God His character, His will, and what He requires of me

God wants us to be transformers

We are called to be transformers

In the words of Warren Weirsbe transformers are participants and not spectators

Prayer allows God to minister to me, it provides for communion and fellowship

The practice allows the God life to be revealed

This is real worship it keeps out fanaticism

It keeps our worship from being blessing driven

Transformed seek to hear the voice of God rather than the voice of any other

Transformers trust God to do His work and let Him determine the finished product

Transformers have a different set of values than that of their conforming friends

Transformers see Gods approval

True worship will expose us

It reveals the cuts and bruises we have experienced, it reveals our brokenness

It also reveals the ugly stuff that we are harboring and hiding not to embarrass us but so that the healing process can begin