Intentional Worship – Sermon Title: Choose to Worship
September 20th, 2009
Main Idea: The only way you and I will ever be able to worship is if we make the decision to do so.
Issues: Difference between an attender and a worshipper.
Intro: Nothing in life just happens by default. Even doing nothing is a decision that a person must make. You and I can decide to be the best _______ (student, employee, Mother, Father, etc) and commit to the hard work involved in achieving our goal, or decide to just coast along and do nothing. Either choice still requires a decision on our part.
Granted, in most cases, choosing to do nothing seems easier at the front end. But there will be consequences for every decision.
Imagine if I chose to tell you I am a football player and you begin to question me and ask if I play and I say, “Yeah, I throw and play catch in the back yard with my son.” And not only that, but I watch football a lot on TV. And I’ve even been to several games in a big stadium with 70,000 fans.
Now if you were kind, you would not point out what a total fool I was and you would simply and kindly point out that I’m confused. I have, for some reason confused being a fan or a spectator with being a player!
Unfortunately, too often today, we confuse being a fan or a spectator with being a worshipper!
How do we move from being a spectator of worship and become a participant?
I believe there are 4 key choices we have to make in choosing to be a worshipper!
Today I want us to understand that worship will not happen unless we make the conscious choice to be worshippers!
I. We Must Choose To Prepare For Worship.
A. We prepare as we acknowledge our condition before God. (Isaiah 6:1-5; Hebrews 7:27)
1. Here’s the dilemma, we are people stained by sin, attempting to come into the closest of encounters with God.
a) God is Holy!
b) We are not!
2. Isaiah said it best when he encountered God in Isaiah 6:
Isaiah 6:1-5 (NIV)
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
3. Isaiah was able to resolve this most frightening realization of his sin before God when a Seraph took a live blazing hot coal and gave it to Isaiah to suck on like a throat lozenge.
4. But what about us? How do we prepare to meet with God in worship?
5. Fortunately, Jesus makes it so we can come into the presence of God and worship Him!
Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. - Hebrews 7:27
B. Practical ways we can prepare for worship. (Luke 10:40-42)
Luke 10:40-42 (NIV)
40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
1. See, this story points out that when Jesus is in our midst, the time for details and preparation is over.
a) We should have everything all prepared beforehand so we can focus when we are with Jesus.
b) When we come into a place of worship, we need to be sure all the details and preparations are out of the way.
c) How do we do that practically?
2. Spend some time in prayer throughout the week in preparation for Sunday.
a) Pray for the preacher, the music, the hearts of the people coming.
b) Pray for your own heart to be open and receptive to God’s leading as you worship.
3. Set out our clothes the night before.
4. Don’t stay out late the night before.
5. The bottom line is that we choose to worship, not when we arrive here Sunday morning, but long before we get here.
a) We need to prepare!
b) We need to make preparations so that when it comes time to worship we don’t have to be busying ourselves with the details when we should be focused solely on worshipping!
Trans: So, the first thing in choosing to worship is a choice to be prepared to worship. Secondly …
II. We Must Choose To Show Up For Worship. (Hebrews 10:25)
A. There is great blessing for everyone when we gather to worship.
1. Obviously our being present is a big deal
a) If we aren’t even here in the building, then being in corporate worship is not going to happen.
b) It goes without saying.
c) Oh, yes, we can worship anywhere, in our home, on the 9th hole, where ever.
2. But when we prepare to come and then actually make the choice to show up, it is a powerful choice toward worshipping God in the midst of His people.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
3. These two verses speak to the issue of encouraging one another and spurring one another on.
a) Our decision to come and meet with other believers is such an encouragement to everyone.
b) And to choose not to come hurts the church body as well as ourselves.
4. What an encouragement to be in a worship service with others.
a) The singing, the fellowship, the energy!
b) When I have been at large Promise Keeper events…
Trans: But let’s be honest, while being here, joining together with others is a wonderful blessing and encouragement. Choosing to show up is not, in and of itself, worship. Walking into this sanctuary doesn’t make us anymore a worshipper than walking into a garage makes us a car. It just means we have made the first and second right choices in bringing ourselves to a place where we can enter into worship.
III. We Must Choose To Participate In Worship.
A. Participation requires our total involvement. (Deut. 6:5)
1. Our faith in God is not allowed to be a half-hearted affair.
a) Never in the Bible will you find God commanding us to love Him sometimes.
b) We won’t find God saying, “When you have nothing else to do or to occupy your thoughts, think of me!”
2. Instead we are continually exhorted, encouraged, and commanded to love God and live in communion with Him.
3. Perhaps this is best stated when God spoke in …
Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV)
5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
4. Love God with everything!
a) This means we must choose to do so!
b) Giving our all requires, on some level of our lives, a conscious choice to do so.
5. Another passage that speak to this truth is found in …
Romans 12:1 (NIV)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
6. We see that it is not just a decision of our will where we say, “Ok, God, I’m here to worship you with all I’ve Got today!”
a) Certainly that is a great start, without this decision all is lost in the arena of worship.
b) But there is a sense that our heart and mind needs to tell the rest of our body that it too is to be involved in worship.
Trans: But what does this mean for us? When you and I choose to prepare and choose to attend, what does it actually mean to participate?
B. Participation is a choice to become engaged in worship on every level.
1. The Bible has a lot of examples of the different ways people worshipped God in times past.
a) These are instructive but not necessarily “how to” commands from God on how we are to mentally and physically engage in worship.
2. We see in the Bible that people engaged vocally in worship!
a) There were occasions where there were shouts of worship. Like when the ark of the covenant was brought into the Israel camp. (1Sam. 4:5)
1 Samuel 4:5 (NIV)
5 When the ark of the LORD’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.
b) Or when the foundation of the Temple was laid in Ezra 3:11.
Ezra 3:11 (NIV)
11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever." And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
3. Also the hands are used in worship - Clapping & Shouting: (Ps. 47:1)
Ps. 47:1 Clap your hands all you nations; shout to God with a voice of Triumph.
4. Lifting hands up to God in surrender. (Ps. 28:2;
Psalm 28:2 Hear my cry for mercy as I call to You for help; as I lift my hands…
Psalm 134:2 Lift your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord.
5. Participation also can include our posture:
a) Kneeling - Ps. 95:6 Come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
b) Falling Prostrate - I Kings 18:38, 39 Then the fire of the Lord fell… When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord, He is God!” -20 times in the Bible.
c) Standing: - Ex. 3:5 The place where You are standing is holy Ground. Psalm 119:120 I stand in awe of your Law.
d) Dancing: Psalm 150: 4 Praise Him with tambourine and dancing. Psalm 30:11 You turned my wailing into dancing… You clothed me with joy…
6. So we see that the Bible indicates that our worship can involve our total person, heart, mind, emotions, soul, and body!
a) But we must be careful because it is possible to worship in a manner that is not acceptable.
b) In Hebrews 12:28 it says…
Heb. 12:28 Let us show gratitude, by which we may worship acceptably, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.
7. Acceptable worship implies there is unacceptable worship.
a) How are we to know what is acceptable worship?
b) Only by heeding the Bible’s teachings and examples.
c) And remembering that God wants our hearts, not or formulas or traditions of worship.
8. I love tradition! It helps give me sanity and connectedness to the past when everything in the future seems to be spinning off in so many directions.
a) But participation in worship that is all about tradition can become stagnant and so routine it doesn’t engage us any more.
b) We just go through the motions with no participation on any deeper level.
9. But we like to turn tradition into Law.
a) Our tradition and our preference supersedes the Scripture.
b) For example: There’s not one verse in the bible that tells us to Bow our heads or close our eyes when we pray.
c) But we all do it, every time we hear, “Let’s pray.”
Trans: So we have seen that we are to make choices if we are going to worship. We choose to prepare, to attend, to participate with our whole being. That is worship! But there is one more choice we have to make if we are going to choose to worship.
IV. We Must Choose To Worship By Responding To Our Encounter With God.
I find myself deeply moved in reverence and humility whenever I realize that in worship I am responding to the almighty and ever-living God who is transcendent, the God who pervades the limitless universe. – Robert E. Webber
A. We choose to respond to Christ’s promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit.(John 14:26; Acts 2:36)
1. I John 14:26, just prior to Jesus’ crucifixion He said,
John 14:26 (NIV)
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
2. In the second chapter of Acts we read of the HS coming down and indwelling that, unknown to them at the time, first church.
a) The presence of God the Holy Spirit came upon them and gave them understanding and power.
b) They in turn responded by proclaiming Jesus the Messiah. (Acts 2:36
c) So powerful was that little churches response that later, when Peter had finished an electrifying sermon – 3000 people were converted.
3. I am convinced that God intends for our worship today to be accompanied by a powerful presence and working of the Holy Spirit.
a) Perhaps not a rushing wind or 3000 people coming forward.
b) But certainly an energy and vibrancy and heart-felt excitement and awe from the HS presence.
B. We choose to respond to God’s work in our midst. (Acts 2:42 &43)
1. This passage tells us they devoted themselves to the Apostle’s teaching and fellowship…
a) As a result of choosing to devote themselves to God at work through their body of believers gathered and led by their church leaders was awe!
b) In their worship the presence of the Triune God was felt in a tangible and material way.
c) God was present in the Apostles – the leaders. He was present while they fellowshipped, and broke bread.
2. These people were experiencing God at work in their lives and it left them in awe!
a) Their response was one of awe and adoration!
3. What this all means is that we have gathered together in worship to be met by God Almighty .
a) The God who is the creator of the universe and holds it all together.
b) The one who sustains our lives, our redeemer and King.
c) He is present here through the proclamation and remembrance of who He is.
4. But response is not just singing a hymn or reciting a creed, or saying a prayer.
Quote:Response, from the very beginning of worship to the end, must be a powerful inner experience of actually being in the presence of God. – Webber
C. We too can choose to Respond.
1. We have opportunity to respond each Sunday.
a) When we are invited to come forward and pray at the platform.
b) We also can respond in our seats.
c) We have opportunity to check off boxes for our next step.
d)
I respond in worship to God because He makes a difference in my life.
Conclusion:
So many choices to make!
We can choose to make preparations for worship. We can choose to show up for worship. We can choose to participate as we sing with our voices, as we fill in the blanks for the sermon, as we pray for those up front, as we
