Let's Forget About Ourselves And Worship

HoHum:

In 1990 A woman entered an ice cream shop for an ice cream cone. While she was ordering another customer entered the store. She placed her order, turned around and found herself staring face to face with Paul Newman. He was in town filming a movie. 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 did not have her ice cream cone so 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.” When was the last time the presence of God made us forget what was going on around us? Made us forget the dishes? Made us forget the ball game? Made us forget our bank account? Made us forget… where we put our ice cream cone?

WBTU:

The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Love that- emphasized through Scripture that we are to bring glory to God through who we are and what we do.

Our mission is to love people and lead them to a relationship with Jesus Christ. Love that as well. Would have loved to have that in other churches.

Rich Warren expands upon all of this in his book called the Purpose Driving Life. Dr. Warren writes, “If you want to know the purpose of life, you have to either talk to the Creator who made you, or look in the owner’s manual. You were made by God and you were made for God. And until you understand that, life isn’t going to make sense.” In the Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says God has 5 purposes for your life. Worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism. Another way to say it is with words that begin with “M.” We are made to magnify God’s presence in worship. We are made for a mission to communicate God’s Word through evangelism. We are made for membership through the fellowship of the church. We are molded to become mature through discipleship. We are made for ministry to demonstrate God’s love through service. Today, we are going to look at the first of God’s purposes and see how God’s people discovered them in Nehemiah’s day. Our first purpose in life is to glorify God. We have a fantastic team of musicians and singers here to assist us in our praise and worship. But when we hear the word “worship” what do we think of? Think of music but it is so much more. Nehemiah 12 describes the dedication service for the newly constructed walls. Read Nehemiah 12:27-28, 30-31 (In vs. 36 we notice that Ezra the scribe led this procession), 38 (Nehemiah in second group), 40, 43. Vs. 31- Assigned two large choirs to give thanks while walking around the wall. Vs. 27 gives 3 purposes in worship:

Thesis: Celebration, thanksgiving and dedication

For instances:

1. The Heart of worship is celebration

They celebrated “joyfully” vs. 27. Notice the descriptions in vs. 31, and 43. “I assigned 2 large choirs to give thanks… And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy.” Large choirs, great joy. Worship is not about me, but about who God is- the Lord God Almighty, King of the universe, Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Savior and Lord. Worship is focusing my heart and my mind on who God is. Why does God want my undivided attention? God wants our attention because He is focused on us. Look at what the Bible says in Psalm 139: You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. God has focused his attention on us. Why do this? Because He loves us. Sometimes hear: My wife, my kids, they say I don’t love them. I work long hours every day for them. How can they say I don’t love them?” They want our attention. Attention is an incredible expression of love. God puts his attention constantly on us.

Remember the first time fell in love? Couldn’t get that person out of mind. Thought about them when woke up in the morning. Thought about them all day. Then what happened? Wore off. Infatuation has to give way to real love. The Bible tells us how to rekindle our first love. 1 John 4:19: We love because he first loved us. God’s love for us is eternal. He is always focused on us, and He wants to teach us to focus our heart and our attention on Him. That’s difficult. Love the song sung several weeks ago: I’m comin' back to the heart of worship, And it's all about You, It’s all about You, Jesus, I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it, When it's all about You, It’s all about You, Jesus