“WHY WORSHIP?” Ps. 115
INTRO – As I conclude this series of “Why” sermons, there were so many different directions that I could have gone w/ these topics – “Why give…minister…witness…share…give the pastor and staff a raise…” But over the last 4 weeks, felt led to preach on “Why pray…serve…be a dad…and today, worship.” Obvious why I preached on being a dad last Sunday. But why preach on the other 3 subjects – praying, serving, and worshipping? B/c if we will be a people of prayer who are faithfully serving and worshipping G, we will experience so much of what G has for us as His children and as His church. How we need to be praying fervently! How we need to be serving faithfully! How we need to be worshipping passionately! In fact, I believe that all 3 of them are inseparable and lead to the accomplishment and fulfillment of the others – prayer is an act of worship, and when we are praying fervently, we will be led by G to serve Him; serving G is an act of worship, and when we are serving Him, we realize our need to pray; as we pray and serve, we come to understand that ALL of life is ALL about worship.
Before we answer the question, “Why worship?” let’s answer the question, “What is worship?” Great definition can be found right in v. 1 of Ps. 115 – Worship is getting the glory off of us and putting it on G. Worship is making sure that G is being glorified in every area of our lives, both when we are at church and when we are in the world.
Charles Ryrie – “The worship of the church…consists of individual, corporate, public, and private service for the Lord which is generated by a reverence for and submission to Him who is totally worthy.”
Louie Giglio – “Worship is our response to what we value most.”
Cindy Doty, teaching 1st and 2nd graders at FBC, B’haven – “Worship is thinking hard about G.” That goes right along w/ what the Puritans used to say, “Think greatly about the greatness of G.”
Worship IS the activity of the human life. It is what we do when we are at church, when we are at home, when we are at school, when we are at work, when we are w/ friends, when we are alone. The issue, though, is “not IF we will worship or HOW we will worship, but WHOM we will worship” (Ron Owens, Return to Worship, p. 4). As Louie Giglio says, “Should you for some reason choose not to give G what He desires, you’ll worship anyway – simply exchanging the Creator for something He has created” (The Air I Breathe, p. 9).
So why worship? 3 reasons:
I. B/C WE ARE CREATED TO WORSHIP – v. 17-18
A. People frequently ask the question, “What am I supposed to do w/ my life?” Usually related to career and job decisions. And when the question is in reference to career and job decisions, the answer to that is unique to each person – some decide to be a doctor, teacher, business person, mechanic, fulltime mom, etc.
B. But the answer to the question is the same for every person when related to life as a whole – “What am I supposed to do w/ my life?” You are supposed to worship. That’s what you and I were created to do. Worship is that thing we do every moment of every day.
a. Worship is about us saying, “This person, this thing, this experience, this WHATEVER, is what matters most to me…it’s the thing of highest value in my life.”
b. Every person in every town and city in every nation in the world is a worshipper – lost and saved – churchgoer and non-churchgoer – religious and non-religious – all proclaiming w/ every step of their lives what is most important to them.
C. How do you know where and what you worship? Simply follow the trail of your time, your affection, your energy, your money, and your allegiance. At the end of the trail, you will find a throne; and whatever, or whomever, is on that throne is what’s of highest value to you. On that throne is what you worship. (Louie Giglio, The Air I Breathe, p. 11)
a. The trail never lies.
b. We were created to worship. We will worship. We do worship. We will always worship.
II. B/C WE HAVE A GOD WHO IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP – v. 2-8
A. If it’s true that we are all worshippers – and we are – then we need to make sure that whoever or whatever is on that throne at the end of the trail is worthy of our worship – our allegiance and our affection.
a. Is our job worthy of our worship? Our family? Our recreation? Our church?
B. None of these things, as good as they are, is worthy of our worship. Only G – the one, true, living G of all creation – is worthy of our worship.
C. And when we worship Him and Him alone, we are reminded of:
a. His power –
i. “I have seen you in your sanctuary and beheld your power & your glory” (Ps. 63:2)
ii. “Tell everyone about G’s power…His strength is mighty in the heavens. G is awesome in His sanctuary…” (Ps. 68:34-35)
iii. “How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!” (Ps.147:5a)
iv. Testimonies – Heather, Bonnie, Harvey, Cindy, Lois
b. His presence –
i. “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness” (Ps. 89:15-16).
ii. Testimonies – Jimmy, Carolyn, Cindy, Kay
c. His promises –
i. Ps. 115:12-13
ii. Testimony – Melissa
III. B/C THE CHURCH IS SUPPOSED TO WORSHIP – v. 9-11
A. Vernon Whaley – The Dynamics of Corporate Worship – tells of different corporate worship experiences –
a. Large church w/ a contemporary service w/ band, drama, state-of-the-art lighting, sound, and video systems; people stand and clap as the worship leader begins by saying “Let the body of X worship the living Lord!” Jesus is glorified – and they worship!
b. A small group of Alaskan Indians on the Alaskan tundra in a building w/ no electricity and only a guitar where the believers spontaneously share testimonies, a former alcoholic reads Scripture, a former prostitute lifts her hands to the Lord, and a young pastor preaches. Jesus is glorified – and they worship!
c. A family gathering around the bed of their dying dad, husband, and brother – he’ll be going home in just a matter of minutes – and they sing a final hymn together before he slips into eternity. Jesus is glorified – and they worship!
d. The sun shines through 100 yr-old stained glass windows as a pipe organ plays “A Mighty Fortress – the congregation sings “How Firm a Foundation” – the banner ministry presents the names of Jehovah while the choir sings “No Other Name but the Name of Jesus” – sermon is presented w/ impeccable theology and practical application. Jesus is glorified – and they worship!
e. The service that begins w/ energetic a cappella singing by an African-American gospel choir; congregation joins and the singing goes on for 45 minutes; soloist sings of the glory of G as people shout to the Lord; the preacher preaches w/ power and conviction as a Hammond B-3 organ plays. Jesus is glorified – and they worship!
f. “You see, there is nothing magical about the time for worship, the building, style of music, number of worship leaders, drama, pipe organ, use of sophisticated graphics software, stained glass, or chosen method of singing or preaching. What makes biblical worship dynamic is that it emerges out of a genuine hunger to know and express love for G together – in one mind, in one accord. Such worship begins in the hearts of many individuals and is expressed to G collectively. The optimal word is together…Our corporate worship must grow out of an intense desire to know and love G in all His fullness.”
B. The individual members of the Body of X are supposed to gather together to worship together out of what G is doing in their private times of worship.
a. “If you do not know the presence of G in your office, your factory, your home, then G is not in the church where you attend.” – A.W. Tozer
