INTRODUCTION
Why are we here today? Why are we all here giving up a morning to sleep in, a time to watch all the NFL pre-game shows? Why did we go to the trouble this morning of getting out of bed and putting on some nice clothing to be here?
Did we come here to see some of our friends?
Did we come to see the preacher perform or to listen to the music? Did we come for the cookies after the service?
Each and every Sunday, we all get up and come to this building to gather together. We sing, take communion, pray, give money, and we spend time in fellowship together.
What is the real reason we are called to be here today? What is the real purpose we are called to? All the things I mention above are things that are a part of what we do, but they are not the reasons we come together.
We gather together today to WORSHIP our God!
After attending church one Sunday morning, a little boy knelt at his bedside that night and prayed, "Dear God, we had a good time at church today--but I wish you had been there!"
What does it mean to worship? Is worship the music we listen to? Is worship just the act of us pulling ourselves out of bed to be here? Is worship singing, praying, giving money, taking communion, and listening to a sermon?
Is worship the style we choose? Some feel the atmosphere in church should be quiet with an atmosphere of “holiness.” They will quote Psalm 46:10 which says, “Be still and know I am God.” They will also appeal to Hebrews 12:28-29 which tells us we are to worship God acceptably with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire.
Some will emphasis the joy aspect of worship. Psalm 47:1, “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”
Is real worship traditional or contemporary? Is worship all about style or is there more?
Holman Bible Dictionary defines worship as: Human response to the perceived presence of the divine, a presence which transcends normal human activity and is holy.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines worship as : The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object
I believe many people feel a worship service is empty for them because they do not understand what worship is really all about and therefore do not come prepared to properly worship. If we understand what worship is all about, we will be able to experience worship even if the music is not quite what we like, if the preacher is boring or the cookies are not our favorite brand.
Today we continue with our series “When God Builds A Church”. We are going to look at a two-part sermon on the subject of worship.
I hope today we see that worship is something much deeper than any of the things mentioned above.
Today we are going to try to get a deeper understanding of worship as we look at God-Centered Worship!
SERMON
I. GOD-CENTERED WORSHIP STARTS AND ENDS WITH GOD!
1. We come to worship God.
Worship has various meaning in the scripture. In the Old Testament the word meant to “bow down” or “prostrate”. In the New Testament the predominate word (used 59 times) means to “kiss toward” (the hand or ground). Another frequently used word means to “venerate” (to adore, honor, idolize, admire or revere).
We come together to “worship” God!
When we get ready to come to church for worship service we must understand God-Centered worship start and ends with God!
God is the reason we come to worship. Worship is not about style, it is about God.
In a more formal, liturgical church a visitor showed up one Sunday and got excited about something the minister said, and declared, “Amen, praise the Lord!” Someone tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, “We don’t praise the Lord in here.” Another member nearby said, “Yes we do, on page 15 of the Lectionary.
Too many times we forget why we are here. We are not here because of a sense of tradition; we are here to worship God. We are not here for music; we are here to worship God.
We need to understand that worship is not about us, it is about God! We come to express our joy to God for what He has done for us, for who He is.
Too many times we come to be entertained. We are not the audience when it comes to worship, God is!
When we understand we come to worship God, it will help us to understand that we are called to bring something to God to show Him we hold Him in reverence, that we adore Him, that we honor Him!
It is true that we get something out of worship. Next week we will look at 4 things we can expect from worship. The reason we come to worship is because He lives! If we come to worship just to receive something, we will leave empty. If we come to bring our sacrifice of praise, we will leave satisfied.
2. God-centered worship connects sinful man with our holy God!
The other part of God-Centered worship is that God-Centered Worship connects sinful man with our holy God!
Is worship traditional or contemporary? Neither! Style is not worship: however, style can help connect sinful man to our holy God.
True worship requires a connection. When we serve communion, we hope that people are not just drinking and eating, we hope you are preparing yourself to be one with God. Music is a tool that can be used to help people connect with God.
When the song services are planned, there is a lot of thought and prayer that goes into the preparation.
When I preach, I am trying to connect you with God though His word!
For music to connect it has to hit us in the emotions, the music needs to be music we can relate to and can sing with conviction.
For the sermons to connect, you need to understand what I am saying. What I know does not mean much if you do not understand what I am saying.
II. GOD-CENTERED WORSHIP FLOWS FROM THE HEART.
1. Worship happens when the worshipper has given themselves over to God. (Romans 12:1-2)
What can we bring to church in order for us to experience God-Centered worship?
ROM 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
If we are going to worship it MUST flow from the heart of the worshipper to God!
Romans 12 tells us that we are to give ourselves TOTALLY over to God. Our lives are to be a reflection of the God we serve.
We cannot live a WILLFULLY disobedient life Monday through Saturday and come to church and experience God-Centered worship. A person can struggle with their faith and worship, but habitual willful disobedience will keep us from being able to worship.
Part of our worship is the life we live. Is God important enough to us that we will try our best to live for Him?
Worship is not just a Sunday only activity.
Tony Evans says, “If you limit worship to where you are, the minute you leave that place of worship you will leave your attitude of worship behind like a crumpled-up church bulletin.” (www.sermoncentral.com)
Many people leave worship empty because they have not brought anything to it.
I believe for many people church is boring because God is not the real center of their life.
I LOVE baseball. I could watch it for hours on end. Nothing about baseball bores me. I love 15-14 slugfests and I love a good pitching duel that is 1-0 with 2 hits.
Baseball is not interesting to people who do not love the game. For people who love it, nothing is boring. It is all exciting.
For a person who does not love God, worship will be boring also. For a person who does not like baseball, not much will make it interesting. For a person who is not making an effort to live for Jesus, not much about worship will interest them either.
2. Putting on a “show” is not acceptable to God. (Amos 5:21-24)
God does not want a show, He wants us to live for Him and then come and worship Him. Living for Him shows I Him I love Him and worship Him.
READ AMOS 5:21-24)
God knows if we are putting on a show or if we are really committed to Him.
The religious leaders of Jesus day we very religious, but Jesus told them their religion meant nothing because they were like whitewashed tombs, clean on the outside but dirty on the inside.
A person who is struggling is not a hypocrite. A person who is willfully disobedient to God or give no mind to God during the week will find worship empty. They can “look” like they are worshipping, but if we are not trying to serve God, what we are doing is not acceptable to Him!
III. THREE SIGNS OF GOD-CENTERED WORSHIP.
1. Does our worship honor God?
Is what we are doing honoring to God? Are we showing God honor with what we are doing? Are we singing to Him? Are we playing for Him, are we teaching for Him, are we preaching for Him?
Is our worship about God or is it about me? Is the music a reflection of God, His will and His teaching? Is the preaching Biblical? Is what we do in line with Gods word? Are we winning people to Jesus or just adding members to the church?
Are our lives a testimony that brings honor to God?
2. Does our worship inspire, uplift, and transform lives?
Does our worship inspire people?
A parable is told of a community of ducks waddling off to duck church one Sunday to hear their duck preacher. After they waddled into the duck sanctuary, the service began and the duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly. He pounded the pulpit with his beak and said,
With these wings, there is nowhere we ducks can not go! There is no God-given task we ducks cannot accomplish! With these wings we no longer need walk through life. We can soar high in the sky! Shouts of Amen!¨ were quacked throughout the duck congregation. The duck preacher concluded his message by exclaiming, With our wings we can fly through life! WE......CAN.....FLY!!!!¨ More ducks quacked out loud AMENS! in response. Every duck loved the service.
In fact all the ducks that were present commented on what a wonderfully convicting message they had heard from their duck preacher....
and then they left the church and waddled all the way home.
APPLICATION: Too often We waddle away from worship the same way we waddled in.... Unchanged. (www.sermoncentral.com)
Worship is not a time to beat people up. Worship is a time where we should come away uplifted knowing we serve the creator of Heaven and Earth, the creator who loves and cares for us! Our total service should be uplifting and encouraging.
We should leave a changed person, we should feel challenged to live for Jesus, we should be a different person EVERY time we encounter God.
3. Is our worship powerful enough to draw visitors closer to an encounter with Jesus?
Is our worship powerful enough to draw a person who has little to no relationship with Jesus to have an encounter with Jesus?
Worship evangelism is something that should happen in our worship. My hope is that if a person comes empty-handed to worship that they will leave wanting to bring something with them next week. I know if our service can put people in a position to have an encounter with God, they will not be the same!
IV. TWO INGREDIENTS PRESENT IN GOD-CENTERED WORSHIP.
1. A sense of awe! (Psalm 8:3-9)
Have you ever looked at creation and just looked at it with awe!
When we experience God-Centered Worship, we will feel a sense of awe. We realize who we are worshipping. We will understand the creator of heaven and earth loves us and cares for us and knows us.
Do you know who you are singing to? I remember meeting Lou Brock when I was a boy. I just stood in front of him, I could not speak, I just handed him a baseball card of him which he signed. I was speechless.
2. A sense of joy. (Psalm 100)
Does it give you a sense of joy to know who you are serving? When I am focused on God, NOTHING can take my joy.
Do you all see what God is doing with this church? It brings me a lot of joy to see God working here!
If we dread coming to church, we need to look at ourselves long and hard in the mirror. Worshipping Jesus should bring us a sense of joy. I know if God is for me, who can be against me!
CONCLUSION
As you live your life this week, make sure you are doing your best to live for Jesus. Your life is a wonderful gift you can bring to worship next week.
Let us not focus on ourselves. Let our focus be on Jesus.
Is worship boring to you? What are you bringing with you? Where is your heart and what do you love?
Next week we will look at 4 legitimate expectations we can have concerning worship.
