Ethos #6 Worship Series

I’d like to ask you a very personal question, why do you come to worship every Sunday morning? Have you ever really thought about why you get up, get dressed, rush around and come to this retro building? If we polled the room, the responses are as numerous as the people here. The churchie answer is, “I come to worship to connect with God” to which you’re kids, the neighbor down the block or even your friends will say, “Well, I believe God is everywhere and I don’t think you need to go to a church to worship. I feel closer to God in nature or on my boat or golfing or watching a football game. God is everywhere, right?” To which we all stumble and answer the question with a yes but… But if you are in walking in nature, boating, golfing or watching TV, you are not actually worshiping God. You are admiring God while you are doing an activity because you like it. How does that connect you to anything more than your own power, not God’s. That’s the real rub. We have a choice between worshiping ourselves, our desires, our feelings or recognizing God’s role in all of those areas.

Webster’s defines worship as: extravagant respect or admiration for, or devotion to, an object of esteem. I would simplify it by saying worship is, our response to what rules our lives.

We value Christian worship as a cornerstone of our connection together here because it keeps us focused on what is supposed to rule our lives. The sheer act of worship is where the spiritual meets the physical and we connect with God through Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is a time when we lose ourselves in Him, for Him so we can better serve Him.

That thought reminds me of an urban legend has it [no this is not a true story but it is a good one] that in 1990 a woman entered a Haagen-Dazs in the Kansas City Plaza for an ice-cream cone. While she was ordering another customer entered the store. She placed her order, turned and found herself staring face to face with Paul Newman. He was in town filming Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. His blue eyes made her knees buckle. She finished paying and quickly walked out of the store with her heart still pounding. Gaining her composure she suddenly realized she didn't have her cone; she turned to go back in. At the door she met Paul Newman who was coming out. He said to her, "Are you looking for your ice-cream cone?" Unable to utter a word she nodded yes. "You put it in your purse with your change."

If it’s been awhile since you really felt the presence of God in a way that made you forget what was going on around you? Made you forget the dishes? Made you forget the ball game? Made you forget the bank account? Made you forget where...you put your ice cream cone?

ChristianGlobe Illustrations, Brett Blair, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc.

Then today’s scripture just might be for you… It’s one of the best descriptions of worship in all of scripture. Let’s turn to Psalm 95 to answer the question, what does authentic Christian worship look like? Today, we are going a little old school so if you brought a bible, have an app on your phone or want to grab the old technology in the seat back in front of you, just open or click to the psalm 95 and follow along:

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

Okay, let me point out a three points. First, the word “comes”. It doesn’t say go to your special place. It meant come to the temple where it was though God resided. But today it means come to the place in which you will find those who know me and whose spirit I have connected with. The second point comes from the words “Let Us”- worship and praise is an activity that brings the community together. As Christians, we come together not because we have to, but because we get to and in doing so, we are stronger. The second point the text makes is the groups sang. Since the beginning of time, people sang to the Lord and not in some wimpy voice but in a strong one – SING and SHOUT. Why? Because singing has a visceral reaction within us that confirms what the mind knows but the heart maybe has not accepted. We gain strength for the road ahead when we can share our beliefs – He is the Rock of our Salvation and we are grateful - Thanksgiving and we will share our story or Witness - knowing others are walking this same path.