I must first admit that I did barrow the titles of each of my sermons.
My Worship can change the world!
If a man commands his dog to “Fly!” the dog doesn’t stand much of a chance of obeying him. And it won’t help if the man first tells his dog, “Be a parakeet!”
The dog does not have the capacity to obey either command. But if the man says to his parakeet, “Fly!” the parakeet won’t have much trouble taking flight.
When Paul tells us to “Be transformed!” he’s not talking to a dog without wings. He’s talking to people who are hard-wired for transformation. (Romans 12:2)
He’s not telling us to do something we’re not capable of doing. We may need some practice flapping our wings, and we may run into a few walls.
We may even fear leaving our cage. But we do have the ability it takes to live a transformed life.
We are told to worship our God; do we have the ability to do that? With God’s help “All things are possible.”
Do we even know how to worship? Do we really know what real worship is?
Worship - showing respect and love for God. It is the activity of showing respect and love for God, for example by singing or praying.
To study the subject is a form of respect and worship. To tell others about our Lord is to show respect and praise. How we describe or inform others about Him could be worshipping to Him.
I say could be as you could be talking negatively about Him or His servant and His church.
Can we worship something other than God? Yes, we can put many things on a pedestal to hold up and exalt between God and ourselves.
When you see “god” with a small “g” in the bible, you are hearing about OTHER gods. If the bible says their other gods, then we know they are out there. They can be in our lives.
That’s why the very first commandment says:
Exodus 20:3-6 (NLT) 3 “You must not have any other god but me.4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
Our worship comes with many faces, as David writes in the Psalms of his worship to God and he praises Him for all that He has done and the love and mercy bestowed on us. That was worship that changed his world.
Job writes of the never-ending patience that God has given him; that is worship. As Steven is being stoned, he sees the glory of God come upon him; that is worship, martyred for the Lord is worship.
Each one is showing love, respect and obedience to the Lord. That worship changed their world.
Worship is not just singing; it is actions, it is obedience; it is respecting what God has told us to do. Stewardship is worship. Your service to the Lord and His church is worship.
Support what we say, say what we believe and live it . . . ! That worship will change the world.
To support your church, God’s church financially, physically and spiritually, that is worship. That worship will change your world.
We need to make life easier for others by showing them the same mercy Christ has shown us.
“The King’s Highway” Once a king had a great highway built for the members of his kingdom. After it was completed, but before it was opened to the public, the king decided to have a contest. He invited as many as desired to participate.
Their challenge was to see who could travel the highway the best. On the day of the contest the people came. Some of them had fine chariots; some had fine clothing, fine hairdos, or great food. Some young men came in their track clothes and ran along the highway. People traveled the highway all day, but each one, when he arrived at the end, complained to the king that there was a large pile of rocks and debris left on the road at one spot and this got in their way and hindered their travel. At the end of the day, a lone traveler crossed the finish line warily and walked over to the king. He was tired and dirty, but he addressed the king with great respect and handed him a bag of gold, he explained, “I stopped along the way to clear a pile of rocks and debris that was blocking the road. This bag of gold was under it all.
I want you to return it to its rightful owner.” The king replied, “You are the rightful owner.”
The traveler replied, “Oh no, this is not mine. I’ve never known such money.” “Oh yes,” said the king, “you’ve earned this gold, for you won my contest.
He who travels the road best is he who makes the road smoother for those who will follow.”
That was respecting his King and the ones who followed him. As we learned earlier, respecting someone is a way of worship.
Can you remove the pile of rocks from the middle of our road? In doing so, your worship will change the world for someone else.
Heb 12:28-29 (NIV) 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming fire."
.—Matthew Henry Concise says, “We cannot worship God acceptably, unless we worship him with reverence and godly fear. Only the grace of God enables us to worship God. God is the same just and righteous God under the gospel as under the law.
The inheritance of believers is secured to them; and all things pertaining to salvation are freely given in answer to prayer. Let us seek for grace, that we may serve God with reverence (respect, admiration, worship) and godly fear.”
If you don’t believe it, you can’t live it. If you can’t live it, the un-churched won’t believe it.
If you are not worshipping your King, they won’t either.
Let your Worship change your world and someone else’s world today.
