Worship Is... Adoration Series

It’s been great to have Present Reality here in the service this morning, and they’re going to come back up in just a few minutes. So to that end, I’m not going to take very long this morning.

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been talking about Worship and what some of the different elements of Worship are. We’ve talked about how Worship is being obedient to the Word of God and following the direction He gives to our lives. We’ve talked about how Worship is thankfulness and expressing gratitude to God for the variety of ways He blesses us. This morning we’re going to continue this series by talking about how Worship is Adoration. You can use the notes provided in your Sunrise Update this morning to follow along and fill in the blanks.

Worship is Adoration. When you get right to the very core of Worship, this is what you’ll find. Worship is first and foremost an expression of our love and adoration to a God who loved us first.

The author H.H. Rowley says;

“The first element in worship is adoration.”

~ H.H. Rowley

“Worship is pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit toward God in contemplation of His holy perfection.”

~ Jerry Solomon

So over the next few minutes we’re going to talk about Worship as adoration, and we’ll look at why we should express adoration to God in the first place and some ideas on how we can do that.

Why Should I Express Adoration to God?

The reasons are many, but let me just give you a few…

1. Because of the many blessing of God.

What are some things that He has blessed you with?

PARTICIPATION

James 1:17 (NIV)

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

As hard as life can be sometimes, the blessing of God are evident all around us if we’ll take the time to look.

2. Because He brings meaning and purpose to life.

Anyone catch 20/20 on ABC this past week? Barbara Walters had an interview with Angelina Jolie, and in the interview Barbara asked her about some of the self-destructive things Angelina Jolie has done in her life and why she did them. Angelina answered,

“I don’t know except that I didn’t have a sense of purpose. I felt so off-balance all the time. I remember one of the most upsetting times of my life was after I had maintained success, financial stability and I was in love, and I thought, ‘I have everything that they say you should have to be happy,’ and I’m not happy.”

~ Angelina Jolie

So now she’d adopted a child and she’s pouring herself into humanitarian efforts and all that’s good. But the fact is that our true meaning and purpose in life can only be discovered in the arms of our Creator. He brings meaning and purpose to our lives. And He has an incredible life planned out for each of us if we will come to Him, apologize for the many times we have hurt Him, and let Him know that we want to know Him and we’re going to trust the direction He gives to our lives.

Romans 8:28 (NLT)

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

God told the Israelites in the Old Testament:

Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

And I believe He tells us the same thing today.

3. Because of His extreme love for me.

How extreme? Extreme enough to give His life for you. In many ways it’s a great mystery, but basically what it comes down to is this: We as a race had rebelled against God our Creator, and as a result we set ourselves on a course for death. But because of His great love for us, God became the man Jesus and gave His own life so that we could live. Let me tell you, that’s pretty extreme love. And when you realize what Jesus did for you and what He went through, how can you respond with any less than complete love and adoration?

Romans 5:6-9 (NLT)

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment.