Have you ever been on a sailboat, with the wind at our backs blowing through the sails, riding across the waves, sun glistening across the water?
It’s pretty exhilarating, isn’t it? But what happens to that sailboat when it’s tied down and not sailing?
Wind sails through its riggings, but the boat remains unmoved/lifeless.
The purpose of a sailboat is to catch the wind in its sails and ride the waves.
It’s useless and just taking up space if it’s tied down and not used. Unfortunately, that’s like a lot of believers today.
We go through our weeks and our lives simply existing without opening our sails and letting the Spirit of God fill us and direct us and move us. That’s what worship is all about.
It’s about letting God fill us and move us and direct us in the paths we should go. In fact, we were created to worship and glorify God. That’s our ultimate purpose!
When we’re not doing that, we are for all intents and purposes, useless and lifeless.
’God is Spirit,’ said Jesus, ’and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is.’ (John 4:24 GNB)
Worship is crucial to our relationship with Christ.
If we don’t understand what it is and how to do it, we’re just like a lifeless sailboat. How can we grow stronger through worship?
By understanding what worship is not.
By understanding what worship is.
By understanding what worship looks like (applying our understanding).
So first of all let us look at what worship is not.
1. What worship is not.
If you were to define worship, what would you say?
q That’s what we do in church on Sunday mornings
q It’s singing songs to prepare us for the sermon.
If that’s true, which is more important - worship or the Word? Worship Pastor - really wanting a Music Director.
Worship is NOT just what we do on Sunday morning.
Worship is not limited to singing songs before a message.
Worship is not singing songs on Sunday.
2. What worship is.
A. Common Definitions
Ø Recognizing Who God is in relation to who we are.
Ø Giving Him the proper place in everything we do or say.
Ø Most simple definition: recognizing God’s worth-ship in our lives.
B. Biblical Definition.
7 words in Scripture that are translated "worship". They imply to bow down or kneel before, to fear, to serve, to pay homage to, to revere, to show devotion.
Do you understand this? Worship is MUCH more than what we do on Sunday mornings!
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 [reasonable] act of worship.
Romans 12:1
And whatever you do, whether in word and deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father in Him. Colossians 3:17
Now let’s look at our main text for this morning. If you have your Bible with you please turn to Mark 12:28-31. At that time, there were over 600 Laws the people were required to obey.
There were many disputes among leaders about the major and minor laws and if they were all equally binding. Ex. mortal and venial sins (felony vs. misdemeanor).
The Jewish leaders were trying to trap Jesus in order to accuse Him and this question was simply another attempt to discredit Him. With this in mind let’s look at our text.
One of the teachers of the Law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given then a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ’Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31
v. 29-30 is the beginning of the Shema, the Jewish Confession of Faith. 29. Cp. Dt. 6:4-5 (Shema - "hear")
The Shema was considered the umbrella statement to all the other commands.
It’s the Jewish creed (pledge of allegiance).
It’s recited 4x a day by the religious Jews (morning, mid-day, evening, night).
It still begins every synagogue service today.
Hear (a command!) - give heed to, obey, listen carefully, and pay attention.
The Lord - Yahweh, Jehovah, Almighty God, Adonai (Jews don’t say "God")
Our God - relationship, Israel’s God
The Lord is One - unique
Monotheism - direct contrast to polytheism at that time.
Illus. Many people say they believe in God - which "God" do they believe in?
"All paths lead to the same God" - pantheism
Who is God to you?
30. Command - you must love (?!) the LORD Your God…
God has to command us to love Him!
Agape love - unconditional, sacrificial, whole being love.
The same love God has for us
1 Jn. 4:19 - WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.
"To love the LORD means to choose Him for an intimate relationship and to obey His commands" (Jack Deere, BKC 274)
This command is given 11x in Dt.
ALL - lit. "the whole of". YOUR - singular (makes it personal)
HEART - passion; control center- All your Affection
SOUL - self-conscious life - All your Emotion
MIND - reason, thought capacity- All your Intellect
STRENGTH - bodily powers, might, - All your Energy
Dt. 6:4 in Heb. doesn’t mention mind, LXX doesn’t mention heart - Jesus includes all to emphasize the comprehensive nature of this command.
True Worship is being Passionate for Jesus!
31. THE SECOND IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT: ’LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ NO OTHER COMMANDMENT IS GREATER THAN THESE." (Cp. Lev. 19:18)
True Worship is also being compassionate for the world.
Another command - "you must love"
Our love for our neighbors is a natural outgrowth of our love for God.
A Neighbor - lit. "one who is nearby", anyone you come in contact with, anyone in need (cf. ""lawyer" and Good Samaritan, Lk. 10:30-37)
Cf. Paul in Rom. 13:8-10, Gal. 5:14 (repeats this command)
We can only love God as much as we love each other.
How much do we love God?
Are we guilty of prejudice, of looking down on those not like us?
To fulfill these commands is to fulfill the whole Law.
To fulfill these commands is what worship is all about! Worship is loving God with our whole being and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
It’s being passionate for Jesus and compassionate for the world.
It encompasses the other four purposes - fellowship, discipleship, ministry, evangelism.
Worship is much more than singing choruses and songs on Sunday morning.
Worship should encompass every aspect of our lives, every day of our lives.
The ideal worship experience begins with our personal, daily time with God and continues throughout the week, giving God the glory in everything we do.
Sunday worship is simply the grand finale (the culmination, pinnacle) of our personal, daily worship experiences.
Can you imagine how our worship services would like if everybody here did that?!
3. What worship looks like.
Well let’s look at how this how worship will be acted out in our lives. Let’s examine what worship looks like. The first aspect of this is…
A. Fellowship
What does worship look like with regard to fellowship? Cf. v. 31 (LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR)
Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
Cf. Mt. 28:19 (BAPTIZING THEM - implies fellowship)
We worship God by loving others as much as we love Him. We worship God by actively promoting fellowship among our brethren.
That’s why whenever we can we should always be kind to everyone, and especially to our Christian brothers.
Galatians 6:10
ACTION STEPS
Small Groups, Greetings, Hospitality (luncheons, fellowships, Acts 2:42-47)
B. Discipleship (Spiritual Maturity)
What does worship look like with regard to discipleship? Cf. v. 30 (LOVE GOD WITH OUR WHOLE BEING)
…then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this-that I am with you always even to the end of the world.
Matthew 28:20
Loving God with our whole being means that we constantly pursue Him and obey His commands.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God. Phil. 1:9-11
ACTION STEPS
Prayer (Acts 4:24), Bible study (Acts 2:42), hearing and applying the sermons (Neh. 8:7,8), etc.
C. Ministry-Service
What does worship look like in regard to ministry? Cf. V. 31 (Love your neighbor)
We demonstrate love by caring for them and meeting their needs.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. Hebrews 12:28
KJV says "serve God acceptably" cf. Mt. 25:31-46 (doing it to the least of these…)
ACTION STEPS
Be a Body Builder (Eph. 4:11-13), meet needs
Why is it that he gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God’s people will be equipped to do better work for him, building up the church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity…
Eph. 4:12
D. Evangelism
What does worship look like with regard to evangelism? Cf. V. 30, 31 (Love God-Love your neighbor)
Cf. Mt. 28:19-20 (GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS)
If we truly love God, we’ll want to tell others about Him.
We need to have a heart for the lost.
We need to love them as Christ loves them (unconditional).
He said to them, ’Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.’ Mark 16:15
Action Steps…
Lifestyle Evangelism
Share the Gospel…
For I am not ashamed of the Good News about Christ. It is God’s powerful method of bringing all who believe in heaven… Romans 1:16
Invite friends to church.
Worship Evangelism
I Corinthians 14
When our worship is Spirit-filled and real, unbelievers and seekers who come will see the power and presence of God and be convicted to commit their lives to Christ.
The more members we bring to into Jesus’ family, the more we glorify His Name.
E. Worship Psalm 100
What does worship look like with regard to our Sunday service?
Cf. v. 30 (Love God with your whole being)
Ps. 100 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. 3Know that the LORD is God. It is He, who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 4Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. 5For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Ps. 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
ACTION STEPS
Music (Col. 3:16), Lord’s Supper/Baptism (Mt. 28:19, 1 Cor. 11:23-26), Tithes & Offerings (2 Cor. 8:5), etc.
In our worship services, we need to worship God freely, with our whole being. Cp. Football/baseball game vs. church worship services.
King David danced before the Lord and defending his action to his scornful wife said, "I will celebrate before the Lord." (Cf. 2 Sam. 6).
Paul commanded that we "lift holy hands in prayer." (Cf. 1 Tim. 2:8). The nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22-23 abound in emotions.
True worship is emotional ("not real worship unless you break a sweat")
Let me say a word about emotions. We need to worship freely as God prompts us, but we can’t force our emotions.
If you feel led to raise or clap your hands or bow before Him, do it! If you worship best by being still before Him and not raising your hands, do it!
We don’t want to get carried away with our emotions, but we DO want to worship God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That means more than standing at attention and mouthing some words.
Our emotions need to flow from our understanding of God’s Word. Ex. "I don’t care what the Bible says; this is how I feel".
However whole being worship looks to you, as long as it doesn’t create chaos in the service, do it!
Let me give 3 other keys ways that we can improve our Sunday worship:
q Be prepared for worship before you arrive (prayer!).
q Arrive on time (or early!!), ready to worship.
q Limit distractions (coming in/out)
God has created us to worship Him. The ultimate purpose of the church is to glorify God by worshipping Him.
Gerald Vann - Worship is not a part of the Christian life; it is the Christian life.
Richard Foster - If worship does not change us, it has not been worship. To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change.
A.W. Tozer, in his book called Whatever Happened to Worship (p. 46) says that worship is a necessity, not a luxury.
"Worship must be by the Holy Spirit and truth. We cannot worship in the spirit alone, for the spirit without truth is helpless. We cannot worship in truth alone, for that would be theology without fire. It must be the truth of God and the Spirit of God. When a person, yielding to God and believing the truth of God, is filled with the Spirit of God, even his faintest whisper will be worship.
The stark, tragic fact is that the efforts of many people to worship are unacceptable to God. Without an infusion of the Holy Spirit there can be no true worship. This is serious. It is hard for me to rest peacefully at night knowing that millions of cultured, religious people are merely carrying on church traditions and religious customs and they are not actually reaching God at all.
We must humbly worship God in spirit and in truth. Each one of us stands before the truth to be judged. Is it not now plain that the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit of God, far from being an optional luxury in our Christian lives, is a necessity?!"
CONCLUSION
q When sailboats are tied down, they’re lifeless and useless.
q It’s only when the sails are hoisted and catch the wind that they become useful.
q Only then can they ride the waves and liberate the sailor.
q Without the Holy Spirit filling our sails, we are simply lifeless, motionless beings, ineffective and practically useless to God.
q We need to let the Holy Spirit fill our sails and sing through our riggings.
q We need to let Him chart our course and move us as He wills.
q Only when we do that can we fulfill His command to worship Him with our whole being.
The most important question I can ask is this: Do I love Him?
The answer lies in how I worship Him.
So let’s take the opportunity right now to put into practice what we’ve learned today. Let’s begin again to worship Him in Spirit and truth.
