TEXT: Various
TITLE: The Praising Church: Bringing Your Best. . .
TOPIC: Worship
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, February 10th, 2008
PROP.: Bringing your Best to God includes: Being prepared to worship, Participating in Worship, Give it all!
INTRODUCTION: Good morning! And welcome! At this time, we would like to dismiss our Jr. Church age kids for worship across the street! If you would also pass the black attendance pads down the pew you are sitting in…that would be grand. J
We are on a journey together to become the church that Jesus desires us to be. February’s focus is on being the PRAISING CHURCH! Last Sunday we talked about worship and we learned that worship happens when God is revealed, When I choose to remember and when I choose to respond!
To start things off this morning, I want to share a video clip from a movie. The movie is Men in Black. Let me give you a brief synopsis of the movie while they are getting it set up in the back.
Men in Black is an agency designed to protect planet earth from aliens. It’s a secret agency and it’s workers are hand selected to join. Will Smith’s character is one who have been selected to try out for this agency…let’s watch…
SERMON ILLUSTRATION: Men In Black.
Begin video with Will Smith’s character at the training center for Men In Black. He arrives late. He says, “Excuse me, but why are we here?” A marine promptly stands up and says, “We are here because you’re looking for the best of the best sir!” Will laughs and says, “This guy is just really excited to be here and he doesn’t have a clue why he’s here!” STOP VIDEO WITH: “But ya’ll ain’t laughing”
Why are you here? Are you like the officer who is really excited to be here on Sunday morning but have no idea why? To offer the best of the best, sir! (with honor!)
T.S.: We have gathered here together, to specifically WORSHIP our God. Today, I want to remind you that worshipping your God, means you BRING YOUR BEST!
Bringing your best, means leaving our worst! I realize that I’m imperfect. I also realize that God is perfect! And so trying to worship a perfect God will always be somewhat inadequate. But we can still shoot for excellence in our worship!!!
T.S.: BRINGING YOUR BEST MEANS:
1. YOU ARE PREPARED TO WORSHIP
The Boy Scouts’ motto is: Always Prepared! This needs to become your motto when you walk through those double doors on Sunday morning! It only makes sense that when we meet our creator, we would want to prepare for that encounter!
A. PHYSICALLY PREPARED
--Old Testament Exodus 12:1-11
Chapter 12 reveals the details of the first organized worship service. It was the Israelites RESPONSE to who God is (REVELATION) and what God had done for them (REMEMBERANCE)! That’s worship!
--The Israelites:
Talk about preparation! The Israelites had to be physically prepared!
The Israelites would have to take a year old MALE lambs without defect (vs. 5)
The Israelites would have to slaughter them at twilight (vs. 6)
The Israelites would paint the outside of their doorframes with some of the lamb’s blood (vs. 7)
The Israelites would have to eat it with collected herbs and bread made without yeast (vs. 8)
The Israelites had to make a fire to cook the lamb (vs. 9)
The Israelites had to burn the leftovers (vs. 10)
They had to eat it with their cloak tucked into their belt, sandals on their feet and staffs in hand. (vs. 11)
These were all the things the Israelites did PHYSICALLY to prepare for the worship feast! Without doing these things, worship of God wouldn’t happen!
--You:
I know several of you have prepared physically to worship this morning! Without some of the physical preparations that have been made your worship wouldn’t happen here on Sunday morning!
--The Praise team got together at some point during this week and practiced the
songs! Instruments were tuned. Albert set up the stage with mics, monitors,
and music stands.
--The Communion preparers at some point before meeting today prepared the
Lord’s supper
--Church cleaners cleaned our building so we could worship! And this week
wasn’t easy with the dreaded dry wall dust that accumulated everywhere!!!!
--The Bulletins were folded by Sharon and Gene Wheatley!
--I prepared this morning’s message!
--Sunday school teachers prepared their lessons!
MUCH PHYSICAL PREPARATION GOES INTO MAKING OUR WORSHIP SERVICE HAPPEN THE WAY YOU’RE USED TO!
But even more important than the physical preparation that takes place, is the SPIRITUAL PREPARATION!
(B. SPIRITUALLY PREPARED!)
--You:
--How about you?
Did you come prepared to worship this morning?
ILLUSTRATION: At the beginning of our worship together, a simple slide with a profound message is displayed. This morning’s read:
“If there is any hardness in our hearts today, Lord, please remove it from us. Our desire is to have hearts ready to worship.”
It is our desire for you to be SPIRITUALLY prepared to worship. Let me boldly say that your spiritual preparation to worship on Sunday needs to happen before you walk through the doors on Sunday morning!! And it has to do with your heart!
How to be prepared:
--Get a good night’s rest on Saturday night!
If you’re up till 2 am on Saturday, are you going to be in the right frame of mind to worship on Sunday morning? No! You are going to have a hard time concentrating and paying attention to what’s going on. The only thing on your mind is going to be taking a Sunday afternoon nap!
ILLUSTRATION: One thing my mom used to tell us kids that I just hated was: “The Devil works overtime on Saturday night.” But you know something? I think she’s right! This is something I have carried over to my adult life as well. Ask Lindsay: I do not like being gone on Saturday night when I’ve got to preach on Sunday! I want to stay at home and rest to be fully prepared to preach on Sunday mornings!
--Check your attitude (Ephesians 4:20-24)
20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
ILLUSTRATION: I am not sure if your household is the same as mine was growing up…but it seemed like every Sunday morning you could be sure that the Nichols’ household would erupt in a fight at some point as each of us were getting ready for Church. There were 5 of us and only two bathrooms…so a fight was bound to happen! And then we would all get to church and be ‘all smiles!’
ILLUSTRATION: Lindsay’s dad is an elder in the church they worship at. He told me this story: There was a lady who came to Cecil on a Sunday morning while he was at the front doors welcoming everyone into church. This lady was obviously upset about something…so he took this lady into a side room and she proceeded to complain about something insignificant that she found disturbing. She continued to criticize the leadership and their decision making. I loved what my father-in-law told her: He said, “Sharon, I appreciate your opinion, but I want to tell you not to do this ever again: You have just ruined my worship experience for the entire day…because now I won’t be able to think about anything else except your complaints. Come to me AFTER worship if you have a complaint.”
Lesson? Your attitude may affect not only YOUR worship, but the worship of others!
--Arrive on time
If we are bringing our best to God on Sunday mornings, it’s vital that we show up on time!
We arrive to work, school, practice, & games on time! Why can’t we arrive and start church on time? We wouldn’t think of showing up to a funeral or wedding late! Because it’s disrespectful. I realize that there are sometimes circumstances beyond our control that may make us tardy from time to time…but if we are consistently showing up to church late it’s because we are NOT prepared! And bringing your best to God on Sunday morning means that we show up prepared!
ILLUSTRATION: Have you noticed that on Sunday mornings, I very RARELY will leave the stage? It’s not because I don’t want to talk with you! Just the opposite. I love to talk so much that I will lose track of time and we won’t start on time. It’s my desire to start on time…to honor God with excellence in all areas!
ILLUSTRATION: Think about the preparation that is involved with…
--Christmas: Have to buy the presents, decorate the tree, send the
cards…etc…etc..
--Birthday: Make the cake, wrap the gifts, plan the party…
--Weddings: Ask Brig & Jamie or Mark Jacob & Allison Schmudlach
Part of the reason I’ll never get divorced is because I don’t want to
go through the wedding planning and day EVER again!
It only makes sense that when we meet our creator here on Sunday mornings, we would want to prepare for that special encounter!
Not only does GIVING GOD OUR BEST means that I am prepared…but it also means that:
2. YOU PARTICIPATE IN WORSHIP
Participating in Worship (Mark 12:30)
Worship has never been a passive experience! God desires each person to worship Him!
Get involved in your worship! Don’t be a spectator. Be a participant! Sitting on the bench is never as exciting as being in the game!
I believe this is what Jesus is talking about when he says in Mark 12:30
Mark 12:30
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
What’s our definition of worship? “My response to who God is and what God has done for me.” What better response than love? Love is a perfectly acceptable form of worship! And here, Jesus reminds us how to love.
WORSHIP IS A 4 PART INVOLVEMENT: Worship God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
A. worship with your heart -sincerity of worship. Your worship needs to be
sincere! When we are singing the songs, do you mean what you sing?
Hebrews 10:22
“let us draw near to God with a sincere heart..” If you don’t mean what you say, your worship is empty and meaningless!
B. worship with your soul - The soul denotes emotion! Participate with your emotions!! I think we in the independent Christian Church are uncomfortable with worshipping with our emotions! We don’t want to be categorized as charismatic or touchy-feely. We understand that worship must not only be a frenzy of emotions. We understand that emotions can be shallow. Emotions come and go. But it’s perfectly acceptable to worship with a smile, tears, clapping, laughter and happiness! Worship isn’t ONLY about worshipping with your emotions but must also include…
C. worship with your mind - a Balance of emotions and intellect is what is required. The mind appeals to the intellect of understanding who God is and what
God has done!
D. worship with your strength - The word for strength is also translated as power! It literally means ENERGY. Worship God with all that makes you ‘go’! Half of the time, it seems that we people worship while half a sleep!
ILLUSTRATION: I like what one preacher said about the importance of every member participating in worship. He said, “The participation of every member in the worship experience is not only biblical, it’s essential. Having said that, never hand out tambourines to the entire congregation!”
Not only does BRINGING YOUR BEST include: being prepared, and my participation, it also means that I:
3. Give Everything I have! (Matthew 26:6-13)
Worship of God has always been a GIVING experience! Not a receiving experience! It’s about God…not YOU!
I’m not talking ONLY about money either!
Let’s read about one example of a worshipper who gave everything!
Matthew 26:6-13
6While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. 9"This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor."
10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
A. BRINGING YOUR BEST in Worship involves giving; not receiving!
--Worship will cost you something!
I think we’ve got it backwards in today’s modern church: We come expecting to receive something. “We say I just didn’t get anything out of today’s service.” If you’ve ever said something to that effect, then may I suggest that you didn’t worship God? WORSHIP IS NOT ABOUT YOU! IT’S ABOUT GOD!! The real question should be: Did God get anything out of the worship service? Was God worshipped today? Did we respond to who God is and What God has done for me?
--The woman brought to Jesus her best! She gave it to Him! What did it cost her?
--sure, it cost her the money of that expensive perfume
--but it also cost her pride.
B. Giving Everything when you worship means you hold nothing back!
What are you holding back? Money? Time? Involvement? Service? Emotions?
Imagine what our worship service could look like if each person here worshipped with everything they had!!!
CONCLUSION: I want to conclude this morning’s message by reminding you about two brothers who went to worship God together: Cain and Abel. In Genesis 4:2-7
“Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
What was the difference? One worshipped with his best! One worshipped by merely going through the motions.
When we gather together in this place, may God receive the very best we have to offer! He’s certainly worthy of our best efforts of praise and worship!
We come now to our time of decision. If you have a decision that needs to be made here today, I encourage you to come forward and do not delay!
