Real Emotion #1:
Worship – The Invitation
Psalm 95
Lesson Introduction
• Invite the church to participate in reading through the Psalms together as a church. Over the next five months, we will read all 150 Psalms daily.
• Talk about the series – Getting Real With God: Real Emotion, Real History & Real Relationship
• Comment on the recent landscape of worship in churches of Christ. There is much growth and still much to learn about worship.
• We have been invited to worship
The Lesson
Read Psalm 95
Being invited to Benji’s Party at McDonalds (As a young child, I remember being invited to the most popular kid’s birthday party. This was a huge honor)
You feel good when you’re invited and you feel bad when you are left out. There is a high sense of inadequacy when we are left out. Let’s be honest, when we find out there is some hot event, a wedding or special celebration and we hear that everyone we know have been invited except for us, it upsets us. It makes us think, “What’s wrong with me?”
But what a feeling when you are on the guest list of that hot event. Oh the feeling to know that you will be able to participate in something so special. So as we enter a discussion about worship, start with this understanding, we have been invited to something special. We are on the guest list. We have not been excluded. In fact you don’t need any special credentials… you don’t need any special status… You don’t need money… You don’t have to be part of an elite group… The unnamed author of Psalm 95 is emphatic about this invitation to worship being an all inclusive event…
• In Verse 1 he or she declares Come let US sing for joy, let US shout
• In Verse 2 he or she declares let US come before him with thanksgiving
• In verse 6 he or she declares Come Let US bow down in worship, LET US Kneel before the Lord OUR maker
• In verse 7, He is OUR God and WE are His people
Worship, at least in the context of this Psalm and many others is a community effort. The invitation is to assemble and worship God and to have in mind that as you worship you are not alone in worship to God… that God is so big and so great that worship of Him commands a huge assembly of worshippers. No reason to feel slighted we have all been invited; the question is will you accept this invitation?
And we are invited to participate in at least these 4 activities
1. An Invitation to Express Joy – Verse 1 – Come let us sing for Joy
a. In worship to God,
i. we express our joy of knowing God
ii. we express our joy of our faith in God – He’s our Rock
iii. we express our joy in our salvation
b. Our joy is expressed in singing and shouting (Sister Brown)
2. An Invitation To Express Thanksgiving
a. We sing for all that you’ve done I will thank you
b. Simply we are invited to come together and show gratitude to God
i. Thanks for our salvation
ii. Thanks for the healing
iii. Thanks for the assembly of saints
iv. Thanks for your unconditional love
v. Thanks for ___________You fill in the blank
c. Our thanksgiving pours out again with our music and singing but certainly we are limited to that as our thanksgiving is often communicated in prayer and hopefully in lifestyle
3. An Invitation to recognize and proclaim God as the true God
a. Because he is the true God he is
b. Great – How great is our God
c. King – He’s my king and O I dearly Love Him
d. Creator – His power is greater for He has created everything
e. Our invitation to worship is an invitation to (In The HIp Hop World – You better Recognize!)
4. An invitation to Kneel & Bow – Give Up
a. Come let us bow down… Let us kneel – this physical act was one that signified reverence, obedience, submission and brokenness
b. The physical act of kneeling has been one that has been reserved to our private times with God. Seldom do we in this body kneel together in worship together (trendy, don’t like to do it… it’s uncomfortable!)
c. Give up… Surrender… submission… Recognize… Reverence…Worship!
(The church is now invited to get on their knees and spend time in worship to God!)
