Beautiful Worship

BEAUTIFUL WORSHIP

1 Chronicles 16:29 – “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”

I’ve learned that one of my priority responsibility as a pastor is to teach the church = “how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15).

Failure on my part as pastor to teach this to the church will make me a failure before God despite of my other accomplishments..

Notice: The church is the “‘house’ or ‘household’ of God”, meaning, He must be the Head of this household or the Head of this family He alone has the authority to set the rules on “how thou oughtest to behave thyself in it.”

We pastors are simply instructors and implementers or executioners of His rules and regulations.

(Ex. Moses = when the Lord instructed him to build the TABERNACLE. The Lord gave Him all the details, from the materials and their measurement and how to build them. God did not even gave Moses any right to give Him his suggestion).

In connection with this, I’ve learned also that God does not accept every service and worship offered to Him.

(Ex. Cain – God did not accept His offering which is actually His manner of worshipping God.)

So the MOST IMPROTANT QUESTION to ask right now is, = “What kind of God does God accepts?”

Our TEXT reveals to us the things that God seeks from those who worship Him, or for Him to accept our worship.

Are you familiar to the popular saying =

“BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER”?

• Beautiful in their own eyes

• Beautiful in the eyes of their parents

• African tribe = beautiful are those who have wide mouth – wide enough to put a plate inside.

• Philippine Tribe = beautiful are those women who put tattoo on their face and body.

Because of these, another saying was de veloped –

“LOVE IS BLIND”

Others object to this and correct it, saying –

“LOVE SEES SOMETHING & SEES MORE THAT OTHERS CAN’T SEE”

How do you view your CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICE?

How do you view your WORSHIP as an INDIVIDUAL?

When it comes to WORSHIP – “GOD MUST BE THE BEHOLDER!!!”

Is our worship TRULY BEAUTIFUL in the eyes of God?

Many wrongly thought so – because of . . .

• Beautiful Face

• Beautiful Clothes

• Beautiful Building

• Beautiful PROGRAM

• Beautiful SINGING (Choir, Special Number)

• Beautiful PREACHING

Don’t be mistaken, I am not against these, and I’m not saying that all of these things are wrong, but if these are the things we offer Him – we fall short of God’s requirement and expectation.

Borrowing the Lord’s message to Belshazzar =

“Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting!!!”

In God’s weighing scale – these things will surely be found wanting or lacking.

This brings us to another saying =

“REAL BEAUTY IS FROM WITHIN AND NOT FROM WITHOUT!!”

Please read I Samuel 16:5-7 (discuss the background)

Here, Samuel wrongly thought ELIAB to be God’s appointed replacement for Saul – because of his OUTWARD APPEARANCE.

“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (verse 7).

Matthew 23:27 – “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.”

2 Timothy 3:5 =“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

“Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real. Don't have anything to do with such people.” (CEV)

According to Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in John 4:23-24 = Not everyone who worships are true worshippers of Him. God seeks true worshippers – those who worship Him in the true and spiritual manner, which is suitable to God’s nature and agreeably to God’s will.

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

The Laodecian Church = the church that claims to be . . .

“. . . rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;”

But in God’s sight it is . . .