1. INTRODUCTION
a. Good morning. This morning we begin a new series focused on Spiritual Disciplines. Revelation chapter 5 gives us a picture of the Spiritual discipline of worship.
b. Illustration –
The magi carried gifts from afar and came to worship the newborn baby. King Herod said he wanted to worship the baby. Though Herod and the magi uttered the same word, worship, their intentions were different. King Herod did not plan to worship the child. He wanted to be all powerful and he only feigned interest in worshiping the Christ.
2. Central Focus of Our Worship – The Triune God
a. God the Father
i. Seated on the throne. In His right hand he holds the scroll that contains the total and complete plan of all creation. It is His perfect plan of our past, present, and future. It is a perfect plan that is perfectly made and perfectly sealed and is irreversible.
b. The Lamb
i. Looking as if it had been slain - He bears the scars of a brutal death.
1. The wounds cross the forehead gouged by the thorns of the mock crown.
2. The bruises on his face from the fists pounding him while He is blind folded and mocked by guards saying, “Prophecy who struck you!”
3. The deep gashes across His back for the lashing of the cat of nine tails that tore flesh and muscle.
ii. But alive and victorious over death
iii. Standing in the center
iv. At the right hand of God
v. Seven horns and seven eyes
3. Character of Our Worship
a. Humility – fell face down
i. He knows us better than we do
ii. He ALLOWS us to worship
b. Love inspired awe
i. Mercy – not getting what we deserve
ii. Grace – getting what we don’t deserve
c. No division based on:
i. Preference – hymns vs. praise songs, clapping or not
ii. Denomination
4. Community of Our Worship
a. Individual
b. Earthly
c. Heavenly
d. All creation
e. Worship is an activity in which the physical participates with the cosmic to worship our Creator and Sustainer.
5. Continual Worship
a. Third and Fourth graders in a Christian school were asked to complete this sentence: “By faith I know that God is…”
1. By faith I know that God is forgiving because he forgave in the Bible and he forgave me when I went in the road on my bike without one of my parents.
2. By faith I know that God is providingful because he dropped manna for Moses and the people and He gave my Dad a job.
3. By faith I know that God is faithful because the school bill came and my Mom did not know how we were going to pay it. Minutes later my Dad called and said he just got a bonus. My mom cried.
4. By faith I know that God is merciful because my brother has been nice to me for a year.
b. Sing a new song – Worship is ongoing and continual
c. Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. This is your spiritual act of worship
6. CONCLUSION
Worship has a Central Focus, Character of Humility, Community of all creation, and is Continual.
Oswald Chambers said: “Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded. God will never let you hold a spiritual thing for yourself, it has to be given back to Him that He may make it a blessing to others.”
Has the Lord given you a spouse. Give your spouse to God and ask him to love your spouse through you. Has the Lord given you children? Give your children back to God and ask Him to raise them and them through you. Has the Lord given you New Life? Give your life back to God as a living sacrifice. This is your spiritual act of worship.
7. BENEDICTION
May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you as you continue to worship and praise the Lamb of God by offering yourselves to him throughout the week as a Holy and Living Sacrifice. This is your spiritual act of worship.
Amen and Amen.
