Real Worship Series

Making the church great. Real Worship.

Psalm 95

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD ;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song.

3 For the LORD is the great God,

the great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

7 for he is our God

and we are the people of his pasture,

the flock under his care.

A. Worship is....Commanded

Over and over we are commanded to give our worship to God.

Worship is man responding to God with praise.

Music

Singing

Drama

Art

Teaching

Preaching

Living (Romans 12:1....offer your bodies as living sacrifices.)

Myths

I don’t like to sing, I’m not any good. This isn’t a recital or a concert. It’s our response to God. It doesn’t matter if we are talented, our desire to respond to God in worship should overwhelm any insecurities we might have about our abilities to sing.

I can worship God anywhere, I don’t need to go to Church.

And while that might be true, does hunting really compare to worship? Does fishing really compare to worship? Does rock climbing really compare to worship? It can be an easy excuse to justify doing whatever we want then slap the worship label on it.

Worship is a command for us. But we shouldn’t worship simply because we are commanded.

Worship can make a church a great place when the people take the command to worship God seriously.

In churches where the command to worship is taken seriously...

There is great participation by everyone.

All of our worship teams, leaders, singers,

speakers

There is a variety of worship styles.

Traditional, contemporary.

There is an enthusiasm in worship.

Loud singing, emotion, Amen during sermon.

There is a freedom and acceptance.

Stand, sit, eyes open or closed,

There is proper attitude.

Humility- let us bow down, let us kneel. Its

not a show or performance.

B. Worship is...for God alone

3 For the LORD is the great God,

the great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

Why is worship for God alone?

He is the great God.

He is all powerful

He is all knowing

He is all present

He is above all other gods-

In our society other gods can be:

religions

government

fame

wealth

athletes

sex

God is so great, the depths of the earth are in his hands. (deep)

God is so great the mountain peaks are his. (high)

God is so great all of the sea is his.

God is so great the land is his.

That pretty much covers everything!

These things cannot be said about anything else in the world.

We get in trouble when we start worshipping anything other than God.

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ’Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[ 4:10 Deut. 6:13] "

Satan would love to have us worship anything other than God.

Worship man, worship the church, worship

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.

The battle between the Spirit and the Flesh.

One will win out.

C. Worship is...A response to God

God made us.

We are the people of his pasture.

He is our shepherd.

He cares us.

He provided us with the rock of our salvation.

Worship is a response to God saving us.

Hebrews 12:28

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

God has saved us.

He has given us his son.

He has given us a kingdom, not a plot of land, not a plaque, not a shed, not even just a mansion, but a kingdom. And not any kingdom, but a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Amazing Grace!! Amazing what God has done to redeem man.

Sent his son, while we were yet enemies.

Watched his son, his only son suffer as a man

carry all sin.

Worship is a response to God caring for us.

God blesses us in our lives in so many ways as he cares for us.

Physical care for us:

Just as a shepherd cares for his sheep in a