Purpose Of Worship (Hix)

Purpose of Evangelism-To tell someone about Christ, like someone told you.

Purpose of Servant Hood-To give a hand up instead of just a hand out!

Matthew 4:10-Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Have you ever noticed our worship service is sometimes so selfish?

What do I mean? Well let me give you an example!

Have you ever went away from here and said:

“I didn’t get anything out of today’s message!”

“I wish the preacher would preach on such and such subject!”

“I can’t believe so and so didn’t speak to me!”

“Nobody ever notices all the things I do in this Church!”

“I wish we would have sung the songs I like!”

There's a story about a man who, leaving church one Sunday, complained about the music. "I didn't like the hymns you chose today," he said. The pastor simply replied, "That's OK; we weren't singing them for you."

The truth is worship is not about us, it’s not about our likes or our dislikes, it’s not about who’s doing what or who’s not doing what.

Worship is about God!

There is difference between praising God and worshipping God!

Praising God….I want thank You for my family, my job, my car, my house, my health….

Psalm 150:6-Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Worshipping God…I’m going to worship You, if I don’t family, I’m going to worship You, if I don’t have a job, I’m going to worship You, if I don’t car, I’m going to worship You, if I don’t have a house, I going to worship You, if my health is bad!

I am going to worship You because of who You are, Not because of what You can or can not do for me!

Even if You never did anything else for me, I’m going to worship You because of everything You have already done for me!!

God, I’m gonna worship You, because You are God!

God, You don’t have to jump thru hoops for me, You don’t have to prove nothing to me, I am going to worship You because of the things I already know about You!!!

Be Warned…Worshipping God Always Cost Something!

For the Jewish nation to worship God, they had to sacrifice a animal.

For Abraham to worship God, he had to be willing to sacrifice his son.

Even when we read thru scripture and it says, “They bowed their head and worshipped God” it cost them something to worship God.

They had to humble themselves!! You say, “Well, that’s not much!” But it is, to admit we are not in control, to admit we can’t handle things, to admit that we need help, to admit we have to depend on someone else!

That’s worship, when we are willing to admit that God is more important than we are!!!

When we sing, it should not be about do we like that song, it should be about, I am singing because I love my God!!

(I don’t want God and the angels having to strain to hear me praising Him….I sing loud and proud!!)

Worship is my time, your time to give back to God!

A pastor offers a helpful analogy about the heart of worship: “The University of Kentucky basketball team won the national championship a couple of years ago. A few days later there was a celebration in the Rupp Arena to honor the team. The audience cheered wildly for each player when he was introduced. The fans carried banners. They painted their faces and proudly wore blue-and-white outfits. They tried to get autographs.

Not one fan walked away saying, ‘That event was a dud. It did nothing for me.’ The event was a success, not because the performance was great (they didn’t play basketball at all) or the players’ speeches were inspiring (most of them weren’t very good speakers), but because everyone understood why they were there. The purpose was not to please the fans but to honor the team.

Our purpose to gather and worship is not about us but about us honoring God!!!

John 4:23-24-But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

God is seeking people who will worship Him more than anyone or anything else.

Are you willing to be that kind of Christian?

Is God’s glory more important to you than anything else?