Atmoshere Of Praise

Atmosphere of praise

Psalm 100:1-100:5

Introduction-

This morning I want to take a look at worship.

For some that can be hard because of certain things that we have going on in our lives.

For others, hard because it is hard for us to open up to others including God.

I believe worship was designed by God for 2 reasons

(1) We are to acknowledge God for who He is and what He has done for us.

(2) When we enter into true worship, God begins to minister to us.

There is a benefit to worshipping God.

You look at society, we have no problem worshipping, because weather you want to acknowledge it or not, everyone of us worships something or someone.

It gets interesting to keep our focus of worship on God.

Book of Psalms is a collection of worship verses. Our text is Psalm 100, and 10 Psalms before and 10 after directly relate to a call to praise the Lord.

A call to praise the Lord

Declaration of why the Lord is worthy of our praise.

As we read the text, it clearly speaks to the special relationship God has with Israel. It also relates as a call to worship for the whole world, for His praise of future generations.

Psalm 100:1-100:5

Reading this Psalm at face value, we can gather a lot of truth about proper worship.

We are called (each of us) to bring praise to God.

We are told to praise His name with gladness.

We are to acknowledge that He is Lord and God over our lives.

He created us, we as believers are His.

We are to enter His temple with thanksgiving.

We are to enter His presence.

We are to remember that His love endures forever.

That is what we gather at reading this Psalm. Now we need to figure out how to do that.

In churches today, we face worship wars (internal)

Hymns or chorus

Drums and Guitars or organ and piano.

Multi-media or hymnals.

People act as if changes to worship is a new thing. It is not.

There has been a difference in style among churches and denominations forever.

Where in Psalm 100 which is about praise and thanksgiving to God did we read that it was about us?

I know I said that when we worship that we have a benefit of God ministering to us- but isn’t that secondary to bringing praise to our God and savior?

I. Worship is an act of obedience (write it down)

Psalm 150 tells us that “Everything that has breath ought to praise the Lord.” (Check your pulse)

That same Psalm names a lot of instruments used to worship. (So it is not about the instruments)

Let’s s

You can worship God standing or sitting

You can worship God loudly or quietly

You can worship Him swaying back and forth or face down on your knees.

It is all an act of worship

Worship is individual and corporate. Both acceptable, not limited to one or the other.

Individually, our focus is God.

Corporately, our focus is God. It is all about God!

We get into His presence to praise Him and thank Him for what He has done for us.

That is why a song sung out of key is still worship.

Pastor’s message doesn’t seem to be your message. It is still good because God can use it to minister to you if you are obedient to Him.

Worship is an act- not necessarily an act of throwing your arms up or throwing yourself to the ground, but as an act of obedience.

An action- A action that takes us toward God and allows us to be in His presence.

Worship is not about searching for God. If God did not want to be found, there is no chorus we could sing that would force Him to meet with us.

He desires to meet with us- we reach out with the recognition that He will and has reached out to us.

That we would do what we were created to do, and that is to worship and enjoy His presence.

You want to know what is attractive to outsiders and those searching for God?

Being genuine.

They respect us most when we act like the church of God.

We (church) think sometimes we have to be full of programs and be politically correct.

We need to have a heart of worship and draw our attention to God and not ourselves.

Our worship does not force God to do something.

It transforms us to do what God wants of us.

One preacher said if we are not careful we become a showboat instead of a lifeboat.

“Having a form of godliness without the power.”

The second point is found in Psalm 100:4