Making the church great. Real Worship.
Psalm 95
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD ;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
A. Worship is....Commanded
Over and over we are commanded to give our worship to God.
Worship is man responding to God with praise.
Music
Singing
Drama
Art
Teaching
Preaching
Living (Romans 12:1....offer your bodies as living sacrifices.)
Myths
I don’t like to sing, I’m not any good. This isn’t a recital or a concert. It’s our response to God. It doesn’t matter if we are talented, our desire to respond to God in worship should overwhelm any insecurities we might have about our abilities to sing.
I can worship God anywhere, I don’t need to go to Church.
And while that might be true, does hunting really compare to worship? Does fishing really compare to worship? Does rock climbing really compare to worship? It can be an easy excuse to justify doing whatever we want then slap the worship label on it.
Worship is a command for us. But we shouldn’t worship simply because we are commanded.
Worship can make a church a great place when the people take the command to worship God seriously.
In churches where the command to worship is taken seriously...
There is great participation by everyone.
All of our worship teams, leaders, singers,
speakers
There is a variety of worship styles.
Traditional, contemporary.
There is an enthusiasm in worship.
Loud singing, emotion, Amen during sermon.
There is a freedom and acceptance.
Stand, sit, eyes open or closed,
There is proper attitude.
Humility- let us bow down, let us kneel. Its
not a show or performance.
B. Worship is...for God alone
3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Why is worship for God alone?
He is the great God.
He is all powerful
He is all knowing
He is all present
He is above all other gods-
In our society other gods can be:
religions
government
fame
wealth
athletes
sex
God is so great, the depths of the earth are in his hands. (deep)
God is so great the mountain peaks are his. (high)
God is so great all of the sea is his.
God is so great the land is his.
That pretty much covers everything!
These things cannot be said about anything else in the world.
We get in trouble when we start worshipping anything other than God.
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ’Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[ 4:10 Deut. 6:13] "
Satan would love to have us worship anything other than God.
Worship man, worship the church, worship
Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.
The battle between the Spirit and the Flesh.
One will win out.
C. Worship is...A response to God
God made us.
We are the people of his pasture.
He is our shepherd.
He cares us.
He provided us with the rock of our salvation.
Worship is a response to God saving us.
Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,
God has saved us.
He has given us his son.
He has given us a kingdom, not a plot of land, not a plaque, not a shed, not even just a mansion, but a kingdom. And not any kingdom, but a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
Amazing Grace!! Amazing what God has done to redeem man.
Sent his son, while we were yet enemies.
Watched his son, his only son suffer as a man
carry all sin.
Worship is a response to God caring for us.
God blesses us in our lives in so many ways as he cares for us.
Physical care for us:
Just as a shepherd cares for his sheep in a
physical way.
God cares for us. Safety, health, strength.
Emotional care for us:
God knows our thoughts and feelings even
before we have them.
He has experienced one of them.
Spiritual care for us:
He has provided everything we need to grow
spiritually.
Insight
Discipline
Hunger and Thirst
Support from other Christians.
Christians how will you respond to God in worship?
If Jesus is not your Savior, how will you respond to him in worship? Will you believe, confess him, repent of your sins, and be baptized?
Be baptized into him?
