Today we will be continuing our series on the 5 foundational purposes of our church. You will see that each of these purposes should be foundational in your personal life as well. I’m going to be using two passages from the book of Isaiah today as we examine the purpose of worship.
Isaiah 6:1-8
“…I had a vision of the Lord. He was on His throne high above, and His robe filled the temple. Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over Him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying, as they shouted, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord All-Powerful! The earth is filled with Your glory.’ As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I cried out, ‘I’m doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful. One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, ‘This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.’
After this, I heard the Lord ask, ‘Is there anyone I can send? Will someone go for us?’
‘I’ll go,’ I answered. ‘Send me!’”
Isaiah 56:7
“I will bring them to My holy mountain, where they will celebrate in My house of worship. Their sacrifices and offerings will always be welcome on My altar. Then My house will be known as a house of worship for all nations.”
Let’s start off with some common perceptions of worship. Somebody tell me what you think worship is. How many of you were thinking congregational singing? As you are going to see that is only a small piece of the puzzle. Worship is to honor, to revere, to adore and to give loving devotion.
So the question for you now is this....what do you worship? Money, recreation, relationships, possessions? If your relationship to any of these things is described in the definition of worship, you have a problem on your hands.
Our worship is reserved. God has commanded that we worship Him and Him alone. To worship anything other than God is idolatry. See what God says:
Exodus 20:3
“Do not worship any god except Me.”
Deuteronomy 10:20-21
“Respect the Lord your God, serve only Him, and make promises in His name alone. Offer your praises to Him, because you have seen Him work such terrifying miracles for you.”
So we are commanded to worship nothing aside from God. Now we need to examine, why we need to worship God. First and foremost God commands it.
Deuteronomy 11:13
“The Lord your God commands you to love Him and to serve Him with all your heart and soul.”
1 Samuel 12:24
“You also must obey the Lord – you must worship Him with all your heart and remember the great things He has done for you.”
Not only has God commanded it, but God deserves our worship as well.
Psalm 33:1
“You are the Lord’s people. Obey Him and celebrate! He deserves your praise.”
1 Chronicles 16:25
“The Lord is great and deserves our greatest praise! He is the only God worthy of our worship.”
God has been so good to us. We worship, because we have been given so much.
Psalm 5:7
“Because of Your great mercy, I come to Your house, Lord, and I am filled with wonder as I bow down to worship at Your holy temple.”
Psalm 95:1
“Sing joyful songs to the Lord! Praise the Mighty Rock where we are safe.”
Psalm 66:20
“Let’s praise God! He listened when I prayed, and He is always kind.”
The Bible tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people.
Psalm 22:3
“…O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”
If God inhabits the praises of His people, then we need to realize that our worship, brings us directly into God’s presence. As we enter God’s presence there are some dramatic effects of worship. I’ve given you a brief list here:
- Change of focus from us to Him
- Reminds us of His majesty
- Illuminates our own unworthiness
- Reveals hidden sin
- Purges the heart – brings us to confession
- Humbles us
- Lifts our burdens
- Brings about peace
I can think of very few things in the Christian life that have this much power. Being in God’s presence is both humbling and uplifting.
So how does a person worship. We will examine three facets of personal worship. These are worship in mind, body, and spirit.
Let’s start by looking at the worship of the mind.
The first area of worship is reflection. Thinking about past experiences with God.
Deuteronomy 5:15
Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out with amazing power and mighty deeds. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
1 Corinthians 7:22
And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, the Lord has now set you free from the awful power of sin. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ.
The second part of worship of the mind is preparation. How many of you prepare for worship? If I were going on a trip, I would mentally plan it out and visualize it. The same should be done with our worship.
1 Peter 1:13
So prepare your minds for service and have self-control. All your hope should be for the gift of grace that will be yours when Jesus Christ is shown to you.
Worship of the mind includes our thoughts. Bringing our thoughts to Jesus. Getting our eyes on Him.
2 Corinthians 10:5
“…We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.”
One thing that many of us miss out on is the opportunity to meditate upon the Lord. Meditation allows thoughts to filter down through the schedules, projects and deadlines into our soul.
Psalm 1:2
But they delight in doing everything the LORD wants; day and night they think about His law.
Psalm 4:4
Tremble with fear and stop sinning; think deeply about this, when you lie in silence on your beds
Psalm 63:6
I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.
Have you ever gone to sleep deep in thought about something. You find you wake up with that same thought don’t you. Happens sometimes with annoying songs as well. You parents with young kids know what I mean.
Now let’s transition from the mental acts of worship, to the physical acts of worship. We might call this worship of the body.
The first action I want to examine is kneeling. Kneeling or bowing to me is the ultimate bestowing of honor or reverence. A person with their head bowed is completely vulnerable.
Psalms 95:6
Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker
The next thing for us to consider is dancing. Wait a minute, did that preacher boy just say "dancing" here in a Baptist church? Before you grab a rope, grab the Word.
2 Samuel 6:14
Then David danced with all his might before the Lord. He had on a holy linen vest
Psalm 149:3
Let them praise His name in the dance; let them sing praises unto Him with the timbrel and harp
The Bible also shows us that we can worship by playing instruments. As you will see there is quite a listing, the only thing missing is the reference to electric guitars.
1 Chronicles 13:8
David and all the Israelites were celebrating in the presence of God. With all their strength they were singing and playing lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets
Psalm 150:3-5
Praise him with a blast of the trumpet; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
Anyone here bring their "clap" offering today? The Bible gives us clapping as another physical act of worship.
Psalm 98:8
Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
Psalm 47:1
Clap your hands, all you people. Shout to God with joy.
Ok for those of you who thought about singing earlier when I asked for a definition of worship, this one’s for you.
Exodus 15:1
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD: "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has thrown both horse and rider into the sea.
Colossians 3:16
Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use His words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts
Time to get radical again. The Bible shows us that even shouting is part of worship. Now don’t look at me surprised. If your at a football game and you want to pay honor to those on the field, you shout, you whoop, you hollar...don’t you?
Ezra 3:11
With praise and thanksgiving, they sang to the Lord: "He is good; his love for Israel continues forever." And then all the people shouted loudly, "Praise the Lord! The foundation of his Temple has been laid."
Psalm 66:1
Everything on earth, shout with joy to God!
Uplifted hands is another act of physical worship. Thank about children, they lift their hands when they wanted to be picked up. Doesn’t the uplifted hand really say,"I need you." On the battlefield the uplifted hands are a sign of complete surrender. Both of these gestures fit into our relationship with God.
1 Timothy 2:8
So, I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up their hands in a holy manner, without anger and arguments.
Now this last one may surprise you. Has anyone here ever thought of silence as an act of worship? Sometimes God just wants us to sit and soak His presence in.
Psalm 62:1
…I wait quietly before God, for my salvation comes from Him.
Psalm 46:10
"Be silent, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world."
The next thing I want to look at is what I call the spiritual acts of worship. The things that are reflective of God’s presence in our lives. Let’s call this worship of the spirit.
Obedience would be one of the first acts of spiritual worship that come to mind.
1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams.
Humility would be the second act of spiritual worship that I would key in on.
1 Peter 5:6
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you.
Have you ever considered your prayers to be an act of worship. They are, listen to the psalmist:
Psalm 5:2
Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I will never pray to anyone but You
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Keep on praying
Confession of sin is huge in worship. How can I bestow honor upon God, when I am trying to hide sin from Him.
Psalm 32:5
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the LORD." And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
Seeking God’s will, putting God’s desire for your life first.
Matthew 6:33
But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what He wants. Then the other things will be yours as well
Tithes and offerings. Tithe is not a duty, it is a joyful act of worship. It is a way of giving thanks for all that God has provided.
Exodus 35:29
Moses had told the people what the Lord wanted them to do, and many of them decided to bring their gifts.
Let’s get to the heart of worship. Worship is never about us…it’s always about God. If you are letting people determine how you worship...then God is not the focus of your worship. So how do you know what manner of worship you need to be giving? Let God determine how you worship...He will tell you what is pleasing to Him. The Holy Spirit will guide you.
