A PASSIONATE PURSUIT OF GOD
Psalm 100:1-5
S: Worship
C: Pursuing God
Th: A Passionate Pursuit of God
Pr: WE ARE TO PASSIONATELY PURSUE GOD.
?: How?
KW: Ways
TS: In our study of Psalm 100, we will find four ways that demonstrate how to pursue God.
The _____ way is…
I. JOYFULLY (1-2)
II. INTELLIGENTLY (3)
III. MUTUALLY (4)
IV. CONFIDENTLY (5)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
Style:
Expository
Propositional
Version: ESV
RMBC 09 January 05 AM
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever found worship frustrating?
ILL Worship (Long Service)
Jim Dunn was serving as the pastor of the First Baptist Church, and his wife, Gladys, was very friendly and welcoming to people.
One particular Sunday when the sermon seemed to go on forever, many in the congregation fell asleep.
After the service, to be sociable, she walked up to a very sleepy looking gentleman. In an attempt to revive him from his stupor, she extended her hand in greeting, and said, "Hello, I’m Gladys Dunn."
To which the gentleman replied, "You’re not the only one!"
Well, sometimes, the expectations we have regarding worship are not quite what we were looking for.
We want the service to go one way, and it goes another.
Sometimes even that pastor will get rather long-winded, and we wonder if he is ever going to stop talking.
TRANSITION:
Well…
1. This year, our theme is: “Worship: A Passionate Pursuit of God.”
And during the year, we will be talking a lot about worship and our services.
We will speak about a variety of topics including praise, tithes and offerings, the proclamation of the Word, music, communion, baptism, and prayer.
Next week, we will return to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and begin a three week series on chapter 14.
As a church body, the church in Corinth was guilty of faulty worship.
Their services ended up exalting those who were exercising certain spiritual gifts.
This focus was causing division, instead of unity.
Let us be clear on this…
Worship is not exclusively a church or service issue.
Worship is a matter of the heart.
And throughout the year, we will be giving consideration to worship issues as they apply to both our private and public lives.
As a basic definition…
2. Worship is declaring to God His worth.
It might be more rightly called “worthship.”
We must get this correct.
When we discuss this in the context of our faith, we must remember that worship is not about ourselves.
Worship is about God.
We are doing worship correctly when we are declaring God as worthy of our attention and adoration.
In every way…
3. Worship is worth our effort.
When we have our relationship with God right, and we are truly honoring and glorifying Him, our life comes together – it finds fulfillment.
So worship is worth doing.
This is why…
4. WE ARE TO PASSIONATELY PURSUE GOD.
Worship is about being right with God.
It is knowing that our relationship with Him is all-important and must be pursued with everything we have and are.
Our relationship with God is to be the priority that everything else must fall under.
Everything…
Whatever priorities you have, no matter how important they are, they pale in comparison to the absolute necessity of worship.
So, how do we passionately pursue God?
Well…
5. In our study of Psalm 100, we will find four ways that demonstrate how to pursue God.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first way is JOYFULLY (1-2).
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
As we see here…
We should worship with enthusiasm.
The shout that is described here is not some indiscriminate noise.
It is a shout of homage and appreciation.
In other words, our worship is mean to be vocal, public, organized and expressive.
You know, many of us that are sports fans are much more expressive about our favorite teams and players than we are about how great God is.
I have never thought this to be a good thing.
Something is backwards…
But the truth is, what we ought to be expressing to God is heart-felt praise.
Daily, we should be coming to God eagerly and adoringly.
It is to be a whole-hearted participation.
We have great reason to do so.
We have good news for the world.
Worship is everyone’s responsibility.
We all are summoned to worship because the whole world belongs to God!
In the second line, the NIV uses the verb worship which is, in my estimation, a rather curious translation that kind of jumps ahead the meaning of the sentence.
The Hebrew word is to serve.
It is a word that speaks of being humble.
It is a word that speaks of responding to someone greater.
One of the interesting implications here is that the word translated serve here closes the gap between work and worship.
In other words, all that we do is a matter of worship, for all is to be done (what we do every day) with our relationship with God in mind.
The final line is an invitation to come into His presence.
Literally, it means to come before His face.
In other words, it is a gracious invitation to come close…to come face to face with God.
And when we are singing, we do not sing weakly.
We do not sing mildly.
We sing with full voice.
We sing with all that we are and have.
As a whole, our approach to God is to reflect joy and gladness.
And it is practical as well, for somber Christians are not contagious Christians.
No one is interested in a faith that is characterized by sadness and melancholy.
We are to joyfully and passionately pursue God.
II. The second way is INTELLIGENTLY (3).
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
We need to worship with perspective.
Worship is not based on who I am.
Worship is not based on who you are.
It is entirely based on who God is.
It is fitting to praise Him.
ILL Worship: Commander and Chief
Every year, the President of the United States goes over to the Capitol to give the State of the Union Address. And before he goes in, a man comes out and says, “Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States!” And everyone gets on their feet and greets the president with applause. It is not necessarily because they like him or even because they feel like it. They applaud because of who He is. He is the Commander and Chief of our Country! He is the President!
We are called on to have an intelligent understanding of the God we worship.
Worship is not for the uninformed.
You see, the more I understand God, the more I am motivated to worship Him.
It is interesting that this knowledge is ours by gift.
But it also comes by command.
We are to know who God is.
We are not to settle for what we already know.
We are to keep growing in our understanding.
We are to confess the truth of His person.
He is our Covenant Lord.
He is the only true God.
But this is not our only confession.
We are to acknowledge our accountability.
We are creatures.
We are creations.
But that is not all…
We are His creatures.
We are His sheep.
We have received a privileged position.
We have been given a great place, where He provides.
He protects.
He guides.
So…
Intelligently, we are to passionately pursue our God.
III. The third way is MUTUALLY (4).
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
We are called to worship in community.
These lines of the psalm don’t want us to miss the importance of the communal act of worship.
We are called on to worship together.
We gain strength by recognizing that we honor the same God.
We experience unity by being in concert with our praise.
We are called away from our daily practices and routines.
We are called to slow down and pause so that we can get our spirits in tune with His Spirit.
The psalmist wants us to get our eyes off ourselves.
He wants us to see and to participate in the larger household of faith.
And in contrast, be thankful.
We are to see and rejoice in what we have.
We need to recognize, of course, that we are distracted away from worship
ILL Distraction: Robin Hood
In one scene of the movie Robin Hood, The Prince of Thieves, Kevin Costner as Robin came to a young man taking aim at an archery target. Robin asked, "Can you shoot amid distractions?"
Just before the boy released the string, Robin poked his ear with the feathers of an arrow. The boy’s shot went high by several feet.
After the laughter of those watching died down, Maid Marian, standing behind the boy, asked Robin, "Can you?"
Robin Hood then raised his bow and took aim. His eyes focused on the bull’s-eye. Just as he released the ar¬row, Maid Marian leaned beside him and flirta¬tiously blew into his face. The arrow missed the target, glanced off the tree behind it, and scarcely missed a bystander.
Distractions come in all types, and whether they are painful or pleasant, the result is the same: we miss what God has for us.
So…
We do not dare come to worship apathetically.
We do not come to dwell on my problems and my stresses.
We come regardless of our circumstances.
We join together, to remind ourselves of the priority of our God in our lives.
We set aside the distraction of our differences, and mutually, we passionately pursue our God.
IV. The fourth way is CONFIDENTLY (5).
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
We worship because we are secure.
We have a God that has redeemed us.
He has bought us.
He has made us His family.
ILL God: Dennis the Menace
In the comic strip, Dennis the Menace, Dennis and his little friend, Joey, are leaving Mrs. Wilson’s house with their hands full of cookies. As you may remember, Dennis is not always very considerate toward the Wilsons who are his next-door neighbors (especially Mr. Wilson).
But Joey says, "I wonder what we did to deserve this?"
Dennis answered, "Look, Joey, Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we’re nice, but because she’s nice."
And this is true of our Lord as well…
God is always good.
God is always loving.
God is always faithful.
This is the truth that endures.
His mercy is everlasting, and there is always a fresh supply.
Therefore, we can confidently pursue our God.
APPLICATION:
So…
1. Are you passionate about worship?
Is it a command?
Or is it an encouragement?
The answer is “yes.”
We are encouraged to do this.
But not only encouraged to do so.
We must worship God.
As the writer of Hebrews said (13:15)…
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Worship is not a spectator sport.
We are participants.
Therefore, we must not be ashamed of expressing love to the Lord.
So…
2. Are you pursuing after God?
Do not rob yourself of deeper and more meaningful communion with Lord.
Pursue Him passionately.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Pursue God passionately…and do it joyfully, for we have much to celebrate when it comes to our faith.
Pursue God passionately…and do it intelligently, for we have such a great God; He is so worth knowing.
Pursue God passionately…and do it mutually, for we have so much in common and we strengthen and encourage one another when we do it together.
Pursue God passionately…and do it confidently, for God so loved the world He gave His only Son that we might live with Him forever.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
RESOURCES:
Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 5
Tyndale Bible Commentary, Volume 14B, Derek Kidner
SermonCentral:
Worshipping God Even When You Don’t Feel Like It, Marc Axelrod
Will a Man Rob God? Dwight Davis
He is God, and He is Good, Chris Talton
Why Should We Worship God? Dennis Selfridge
Worship that God Wants (part 1), Larry Sarver
Worship that God Wants (part 2), Larry Sarver
