A Lifestyle of Worship – Psalms 100:1-5
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.
I Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
· If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the six million who will not survive this week.
· If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
· If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
· If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world.
· If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace...you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
· What if you had to put a price tag on your other blessings?
· For example, if you bought a new Ford Escort, it would cost you between $13,000-$18,000. If you took that same car to the junkyard and sold it off, one piece at a time, at junkyard prices, it would be worth over $100,000.
· I’ve read that the human body, with market prices on all our minerals and compounds, is worth about $0.47. If you took this same body and sold it off for parts, how much would you be worth?
· Look with me at what you are willing to pay, in the time of a tragedy to restore something you are currently blessed with:
o Coronary artery bypass surgery $15,000 - $20,000
o Heart transplant $210,000
o Gastrointestinal Surgery $15,000
o Fertility Treatment $40,000
o Kidney Transplant $42,000
o Liver Transplant $115,000
o Bone Marrow Transplant $106,000
o Lung Transplant $105,000
Several decades ago there was a shipwreck off the coast of Evanston, Ill. many years ago. The students of Northwestern University came to the rescue. One student, Edward Spenser, personally saved the lives of 17 persons that day. Years later a reporter was writing a follow up story on the event, and went to interview the now elderly Spenser. Then asked what was the one thing that stood out about the incident in his mind; Spenser replied: “I remember that of the seventeen people I saved that day, not one of them ever thanked me.”
Over the past few weeks, we’ve had surveys that have been distributed through the church, to help us know what you want to do for God, where you can plug into the vision. I’ve received surveys from other organizations that ask what do I want from them. I wonder if we surveyed God, what is He looking for from us. The Bible tells us, He seeks those who worship Him in Spirit and truth.
There is a progression within the presence of God. David describes it in the tabernacle as the gates and courts, then the priests could move into the holiest place. For us, there is a progression of thanksgiving, praise, and worship:
· What God has done for you - Thanksgiving
· What God has done - Praise
· Who God is - Worship
You become like what you worship.
· If you worship superficial things, your life becomes superficial.
· If you worship perverted things your life becomes perverted.
· If you worship evil things your life becomes evil.
· If your worship the true God you become godly.
Dr. Dale Robbins writes, “I used to think people complained because they had a lot of problems. But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make situations better. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for the devil to cause havoc with our lives.”
· Complaining makes us miserable.
· Psalm 77:3 says, “I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.”
· Philippians 2:13 “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”
WE HAVE IT SO GOOD
· I Tim. 6:17 “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
· ILL.- Someone said, Your mama is so poor, she goes to Kentucky Fried Chicken to lick other people’s fingers.
o Your mama is so poor, I walked into her house, asked to use the bathroom, and she said "3rd tree to your right."
o Where did you come from? How poor were you when you were a child? What do you now have that didn’t you have? Many of you grew up with a whole less than you have now.
· Someone said, “We worship our work, work at our play and play at our worship.” This is very true for many people in America.
PRAISE LIST
· It is not uncommon to compile wish lists at Christmas, & draw up a list of resolutions for New Years. But there is another list we often overlook - a Thanksgiving Day list of all for which we are thankful.
· ILL. Let me read a part of the list that several housewives compiled. They wrote that they were especially thankful:
o "For automatic dishwashers because they make it possible for us to get out of the kitchen before the family comes back in for their after-dinner snacks.
o "For husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house because they usually make them big enough to call in the professionals.
o "For children who put away their things & clean up after themselves. They’re such a joy you hate to see them go home to their own parents
o "For teenagers because they give parents an opportunity to learn a second language.
o "For Smoke alarms because they let you know when the turkey’s done.
ILLUSTRATION: We are much like the little boy who was given an orange by a man. The boy’s mother asked, “What do you say to the nice man?” The little boy thought and handed the orange back and said, “Peel it.”
ILLUSTRATION: In regions of Mexico hot springs and cold springs are found side by side, and because of the convenience of this natural phenomenon the women often bring their laundry, boil their clothes in the hot springs, and then rinse them in the cold springs. A tourist watching this procedure commented to his Mexican guide: "They must think Mother nature is generous to freely supply such ample, clean hot and cold water." The guide replied, "No senor, there is much grumbling because she supplies no soap."
When Jesus healed 10 lepers, of those healed, only one returned to say thanks. There were nine who did not take the time to say thank you. If you were to infer the truth of this story on general humanity, we could say that nine out of ten people never really pause to give thanks for what they have. One man named Charles Brown, gave several suggestions as to why the other nine never returned to give thanks. Keep in mind that these are only suggestions, but they reveal a whole lot about human nature.
1 One waited to see if the cure was real.
2 One waited to see if it would last.
3 One said he would see Jesus later.
4 One decided that he had never had leprosy.
5 One said he would have gotten well anyway.
6 One gave the glory to the priests.
7 One said, "O, well, Jesus didn’t really do anything."
8 One said, "Any rabbi could have done it."
9 One said, "I was already much improved."
10 And then there was one who returned to give God thanks. I want to share with you this morning several truths from this
I. Worship is about being “GLAD”
a. The Hebrew word for worship, which I cannot pronounce, can be translated, “SERVE.”
b. Thanksgiving is not just about lip service, it is about whole service!
c. Thank giving is not just about service, it is about being GLAD in service!!
d. Are you MAD or are you GLAD. If you are not Glad, you are not worshiping as our Lord wants!!
II. Worship is about “SINGING”
a. It is about getting into the presence of God.
b. Have you ever noticed how music can draw you closer to God
III. Worship is about “KNOWING”
a. The Psalmist knows that we cannot rightly give thanks unless we know who God is.
b. Therefore he calls us to “Know that the Lord is God!
c. It is an acknowledgement of God for who HE is!!
[Launch slideshow at the beginning of next point]
IV. Worship sees God as “Creator”
a. “It is He who hade us, And we are His.”
b. “We are His people the sheep of His pasture.”
c. You can experience the transcendence of God all around you
i. Everywhere you look you can see He is Creator
d. You can feel His presence all around you
e. When you look up at the starry night, you can see how the psalmist declared “the heavens declare the Glory of God and the earth shows His handiwork”
f. It can be overwhelming, like David penned “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of Him”
g. All of creation glorifies the majestic, powerful, artist who designed all things well.
h. He carved the canyons with His finger, scooped up mountains and rolled out the skies as a vesture.
i. You can see His miracles around you.
j. You can feel His presence near you, for it is in Him that we live and move and have our being.
k. His beauty wraps around you like a garment, sense His nearness.
l. All your works shall praise you, O Lord, they shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and of your power.
m. Experience with childlike awe and wonder the God whose glory fills the universe
V. Worship must be a lifestyle
a. Worship is a lifestyle of glorifying God
b. Presence of God inhabits our praise
c. When our worship fills our day, everything flourishes from God’s presence
i. Aaron’s Rod budded
ii. Manna never spoiled
iii. Life reverberates from His presence
d. I decided several months ago, as I was longing to be “full-time” in ministry to become a full-time worshiper
e. Let me describe to you what I mean
i. Follow with me as we observe a young man Zechariah.
ii. Zechariah always looked with wonder as his father took him to the temple
iii. Zech was amazed at the ornate beauty of the silver and gold, the breath-taking cherubim as he went to the temple to worship
iv. He looked on with terror as the high priest went into the holy place to offer the sacrifices
v. His father explained to him, that were the priest not upright before God, he could die while worshipping
vi. But that same priest was able to see what no other man could see
vii. He looked on at the ark of God’s covenant
viii. He saw the cherubim and the mercy seat the Moses had built exactly as God instructed
ix. He stood as close as any earthly man could stand to God’s tangible presence on earth
x. Zechariah looked with lustful envy, longing to be that close to His Maker
xi. Zechariah, though would never be able to engage in that worship
xii. Not because of his birthright, for he was born of the tribe of Levi – the family of Israel that God had given the great inheritance of worship to
xiii. Zech would never worship as a priest because he had a lame foot
xiv. Oh, the curse of his imperfection – to be so near the call, but so far removed from ever experiencing
xv. Passover after Passover, he had observed from afar off as brother and cousin, and father and uncle were able to approach the Almighty, but He would never
xvi. There he stands, yet another painful “almost” experience and watches the Passover sacrifice
xvii. He looks at the beautiful veil and suddenly feels the earth to move beneath his feet
xviii. Oh out of nowhere the temple shakes as if the very foundation of creation are shaking
xix. And then while he looks upon the veil, He sees it torn asunder, from top to bottom
xx. While he is feeling the shaking planet, he hears the cry echo from a distant hill “it is finished”
xxi. And now, beyond his minds eye, he is able to peer with his own eyes where he thought he would never see
xxii. He can see the Holy Place, He can see the mercy seat, He can see the blood stains and the GLORY of the God of Israel
f. That’s how I can be full-time in ministry – and that’s how you can too – I just want to be a priest, I just want to be a worshipper.
