MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2016)
TEXT: Psalm 95:6-8; Isaiah 6:1-5
As we begin this morning, I would like for you to take a quick look at your Sunday Bulletin. The headline on the inside, just above the January 24th date, says, “Morning Worship,” doesn’t it?
Now I have a couple of questions to ask. The first is, “What is worship? What do we mean by a “Worship Service?” But even before we deal with that, let me ask this question, “Why are you here in this worship service? Why are you here this morning?”
Well, perhaps you’re here out of habit. Your family has always gone to church. And it’s Sunday morning, so you’re here.
Perhaps you’re here because you’ve been pressured. Someone has made you feel guilty about not going to church. So you came because you felt it was better to do that than to have problems over it.
Or maybe you’re here because of a desire for fellowship. Your friends are here, & you don’t get to see them as often as you would like. So it is an opportunity to greet each other, get a hug, & catch up on each other’s life.
Maybe you’re here because you’re hurting. It has been a rough week, & things aren’t what they should be at home or at work. So you’ve come, hoping for healing & for solutions to your problems.
Or maybe you’re hoping to hear a song that will make your heart glad again. You’re here, hoping to feel better because you came.
ILL. I imagine you've heard the old story about the guy who came to church with his family. As they were driving home afterwards he was complaining about everything. He said, “The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The building was hot. The people were unfriendly.”
He went on & on, complaining about virtually everything. Finally, his very observant son said, “Dad, you’ve got to admit it wasn’t a bad show for just a dollar.”
I. WHAT IS MEANT BY "WORSHIP"?
A. This is a worship service, but just what is worship? What do we mean when we say, “We have come to worship the Lord”?
Well, the English word “worship” means “to ascribe the highest worth to.” So when we worship, we’re saying, “God, you’re #1 in my life. You come before anything or anyone else.”
The Hebrew word that we translate “worship” means “to bow down, to humble ourselves, to recognize His sovereignty, & to express reverence in His presence.”
The Greek word for “worship” is the same word used in the sentence, “A dog licked the hands of its master,” expressing the idea of love, loyalty, & undying gratitude.
Now when you put all that together, you come up with, “Worship is when we come to God & recognize who He is. We say, ‘God, you are #1 in my life.’ We humble ourselves before Him. And we express our love, loyalty, & undying gratitude to Him.”
Psalm 95:6-8 says, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God & we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”
B. As you study the Bible, you’ll find two ingredients of worship that are always present.
1. #1 is a sense of awe. Listen as I read from Isaiah 6:1-5. Isaiah said, “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high & exalted, & the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs... And they were calling to one another, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory.'
“At the sound of their voices the doorposts & thresholds shook & the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe to me,’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, & I live among a people of unclean lips, & my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Do you get a sense of awe there? Isaiah said, “I went into the temple & I saw the Lord! He was on His throne, & the glory of God was everywhere. I felt the ground shake & smoke filled the temple. Seraphs were saying, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’ & I felt totally unworthy of being in His presence.”
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever looked up at the stars & marveled at the universe, realizing that the One who created it all loves you & me so much that He came to earth & died for us?
David felt it. He said, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon & the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him…?” Then he closes that Psalm with these words, “Oh Lord, our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” (Psalm 8:3-4,9)
SUM. So an essential part of worship is awe, for our God is an awesome God!
2. The 2nd essential ingredient of worship is joy. Psalm 100:1 says, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.” Read the Psalms & you’ll marvel at the number of times the idea of joy is expressed. The Bible is constantly saying that we ought to be joyful, for our God loves & cares for us.
Acts 2:46 tells us that the early church “… broke bread in their homes & ate together with glad & sincere hearts, praising God & enjoying the favor of all the people.” God is not some awesome being waiting for us to make a mistake so that He can punish us. And that news ought to bring joy into our hearts.
C. Now if you come from a formal church background where they emphasized the importance of being quiet in the sanctuary because you're in God's house, & then visit a church service where people are laughing, clapping, raising hands, expressing joy, you would probably fill uneasy.
But if you come from a background where you’re used to all that, & visit a church service where people are sitting quietly, you’d think, “They need a little bit more joy & enthusiasm here.”
D. You see, some people seem to think that awe & joy are in conflict with each other. But it takes both. I think we really aren’t having meaningful worship until we experience both awe & joy.
In the past some people felt that it was rather Pharisaical to raise your hands in the church service - that you were trying to call attention to your own superior spirituality by such a public display.
But during my lifetime I have come to know & love people who feel that an important part of their worship is to raise their hands. I don’t think they’re Pharisaical. I think they’re saying, “God, I submit to you, & offer myself to you.”
ILL. When my grandchildren used to come to me with raised hands, what were they doing? They were saying, “Grampa, pick me up. Hold me.” And when we come to God with our hands raised, could it not be that same idea? “God, I’m tired. This world is a tough place. Please take me & hold me close to you.”
SUM. So if you want to raise your hands, I’ll not consider you Pharisaical. But if I don’t raise mine, please don’t consider me unspiritual. Let’s just understand & love each other as we worship God together.
SUM. So you see, a meaningful worship experience includes both awe & joy. We play into the Devil's hands when we try to place them in conflict with each other.
I believe with all my heart that we need to understand & be tolerant of each other, & worship together in spirit & in truth.
II. WHY DO WE WORSHIP?
Now here is another question: “Why do we worship? What is the purpose for our worship?” I believe that there are at least 3 that we ought to consider.
A. The first purpose is for us to glorify God. Psalm 29:2 says, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.”
The church service is not a performance put on for the benefit of the congregation as an audience. We’re not the audience. God is the audience, & God is watching us as we worship Him. So ask yourself, "Am I glorifying God as I worship here today?”
B. The 2nd purpose of worship is to build ourselves up in the faith - to strengthen us for the challenges that we face every day.
Have you ever gone to church & thought, “Boy, I’d rather be in bed, or at a ballgame, or doing something else instead of being here”?
And yet, while you’re in church something is said or done or sung, or something happens, & soon you feel closer to God & to each other. And when you leave you say, “I’m really glad I went to church today,” because what happened was that God ministered to you in a special way.
That’s why the writer of Hebrews says, "Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer." (Hebrews 10:25 CEV) And that Day is getting closer!
B. Thirdly, we worship as a testimony to the unsaved. It says in Acts 2:47 that “The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
As the church worshiped, God used their worship to attract those who were outside of Christ & to bring them into the fold. Every day He was adding to the church those who were being saved.
When we really worship the Lord in spirit & in truth, that’s one of the strongest testimonies we can give. When people who don’t know Jesus, who don’t know God, come to God’s house & see God’s people worshiping Him, that’s a stronger testimony than any they’ll probably ever hear.
SUM. So we need to do the things that glorify God & builds us up, because that becomes a testimony to those around us.
III. MAKING OUR WORSHIP MORE EFFECTIVE
Finally, how can you & I, personally, make our worship more effective?
A. #1 is preparation. It’s like anything else, we need to prepare for worship. If you come in here on Sunday morning all wrung out from Saturday night, or if you’re all wrapped up in anticipation over what you’re going to do as soon as you leave, then you’re probably not worshiping, for worship takes preparation.
Ecclesiastes 5:1 says, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.”
So Sunday morning, get your heart ready. Spend time in prayer. Maybe read some passages of Scripture & turn on Christian music so that when you come to church your heart will be ready for worship.
B. Secondly, there’s participation. Worship is not a spectator sport. Worship requires participation. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, & His worshipers must worship Him in spirit & in truth.” Now how do we do that? We do it in a variety of ways.
1. First of all, we participate by singing. Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speak to one
another with psalms, hymns & spiritual songs. Sing & make music in your heart to the Lord.” Psalm 33:1 says, “Sing joyfully to the Lord…”
God is saying, “I like to hear you sing because when you sing you encourage each other.” But you may say, “My singing doesn’t encourage anybody.” That’s why the Bible says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” (Psalm 66:1 KJV) You don’t have to sing beautifully - just "make a joyful noise unto the Lord" as you sing.
2. We also worship as we partake of Communion. The apostle Paul wrote, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16)
So Communion is a time of worship, a reverent time, a holy time, a special time as we remember the broken body & the shed blood of Jesus.
3. We’re also worshiping as we bring our offerings to God. 1 Chronicles 16:29 says, “Bring an offering & come before Him; worship the Lord in the splendor or His holiness.”
So as you put in your offering that ought to be an expression of worship just as holy as partaking of Communion.
4. We also worship by listening to preaching. That may surprise you. You may have thought that preaching is just something you have to endure. But God has always used preaching to communicate His word.
Do you remember? Psalm 95:7-8 says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts...” Are you listening to God? How does God speak? He speaks through His Word, to be sure. But every once in a while He uses people like me & like you.
In 1 Corinthians 1:21 Paul says, “God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” Sometimes God uses foolish things to communicate His great truths.
5. We worship also as we participate in the invitation. Revelation 19:9 says, “Then an angel said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’”
ILL. Someone once called a preacher to say he wanted to become a church member. But, he went on to explain that he did not want to: worship every week, study the Bible, visit the sick, or serve as a leader or a teacher.
The minister commended him for his desire to be a church member, but told him the church he was looking for was located in another part of town. The man wrote down the address & hung up.
When he arrived at that address, the man came face to face with the result of his own attitude of not wanting to be involved.... There stood an abandoned church building boarded up & ready to be torn down. (Author unknown - SC)
Do you realize that we have all been invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb? Some of you have already RSVP’d. You’ve sent in your response. You’ve said, “Lord, I’m going to be there.”
But some have not responded to His invitation. You’ve been putting it off. As a result, the invitation time this morning could be a sacred, holy time for you.
Will you come as we stand & as we sing?
INVITATION
