Attitude Reflections

Attitude Reflections

Psa 139:7, Mat 18:20, Psa 27:4-5, Isa 6:1, Mark 12:30, Psa 100:1-5

October 21, 2002

I. Introduction.

A. This morning I want to remind you of something that I feel is very important.

B. And it is something that I am afraid that we are losing in our churches.

1. I may be wrong, and I hope that I am, but just in case let’s talk about worship.

C. What is worship?

1. When we say we worship what does that mean? What does it mean to you?

II. Worship is the human response to the presence of God.

A. When Moses met God at the burning bush, he worshiped.

B. When the Israelites were delivered from bondage in Egypt, they worshiped.

C. When King David was walking with God, he worshiped.

D. When the Israelites were brought out of exile in Persia, they worshiped.

E. When Joseph and Mary were told, they would be the parents of Jesus they worshiped.

F. When the Shepherds came to the manger, they worshiped!

G. When Jesus was taken to the temple to be dedicated Simeon, worshiped.

H. WORSHIP IS SUPPOSED TO BE OUR REACTION TO COMING INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD!

III. And, worship helps us in experiencing the reality of the presence of God.

A. One thing that we must understand is that true worship is encounter, encounter with a Holy God.

B. God is everywhere. David realized this and he wrote (Psa 139:7 NIV) Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

C. But, just because God is there, it doesn’t mean that we always experience the reality of His presence, but when we begin to praise and worship the Lord, the Holy Spirit begins to work within our hearts and we become more aware of the presence of the Lord.

D. If we truly want to sense the presence of God in this place, we need to truly worship Him.

E. He is here. He is everywhere. Jesus promised that when two or three believers gather in His name that He would be there with them (Mat 18:20 NIV) "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

F. But, for us to experience the reality of His presence, we need to worship Him, we need to draw close to Him through our worship, because the bible says that God inhabits the praise of his People.

G. When we worship God draws closer to us and we experience him in ways that we can at no other time.

IV. Worship also helps us by raising us above our problems.

A. How many times do we drag into the house of God, drag through the worship service, and drag out the door at the end of the service and then complain that we didn’t get anything out of it?

B. Maybe we didn’t get anything out of it, because we didn’t put anything into it.

C. Or maybe we didn’t get anything out of it because, we were to busy thinking about other things or trying to make sure that we do it right.

D. Sometimes when I stand up here leading worship I mess up and it is usually because I get so into it I forget where I am in a song.

E. I am not up here to perform, I am up here to worship God, and if you are here to see a performance then you came to the wrong place, because worship is not a spectator’s sport.

F. If those of us who are up here to lead worship are worried about how well we perform or how much we are heard then we might be more of a hindrance than we are a help.

G. If we are not willing to worship, then we are not going to get very much out of it.

H. One of the reasons why our problems sometimes look so big is because we stand underneath them. When we worship the Lord, God lifts us up to His level and we can then look down on them and see that they are not as large as first seemed.

(Psa 27:4 NIV) One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

I. David says here that he wants to stay in the house of the Lord. What do you do in the house of the Lord, you worship? David was a worshiper. His life was characterized by worship.

1. David desired to see the beauty of the Lord! That’s an God encounter! David wanted to know God!