Surviving Through Worship Series

SURVIVOR SERIES

#5 – SURVIVING THROUGH WORSHIP

This morning, we are continuing with our theme of SURVIVOR

And what we’ve been doing over the last few weeks is we’ve been talking about how, in these times of…

--lay offs

--budget cuts

--bail outs

--intense spiritual warfare (church, home, family)

We’ve been talking about how to SURVIVE

Now, let me tell you right up front this morning again – God doesn’t just want you to SURVIVE, he wants you to THRIVE

But in order to THRIVE, you must SURVIVE

And I’ve given you some key principles that will ensure that you are a SURVIVOR

So far, we’ve talked about…

--the Assurance of Salvation

--Surviving Motherhood

--Surviving through Prayer

--(last week) Surviving Through The Holy Spirit

Well, today, we will be talking about SURVIVING THOROUGH WORSHIP

And a “sub-title” would be WORSHIP MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

With that in mind, let’s read…

•Psalms 103:1 ( KJV ) 1Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

•Matthew 4:8-11 ( KJV ) 8Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

INTRODUCTION

As I begin this message this morning, I want to ask you a

And that questions is: DOES WORSHIP MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

And I say to you it does

For you see, A worshipping…

--person is a different person

--home is a different home

--church is a different church

And when you read the Word of God, over and over again, one of the things that will absolutely stand out, is how much the Bible deals with the subject of WORSHIP

In fact, the Bible says more about WORSHIP than PRAYER

It tells us…

--WHO to worship

--worship the Lord only

--HOW to worship

--with all that is in us

--WHEN to worship

--in God’s house, in public, in private, good times, bad times, when you feel like it, when you don’t

--WHERE to worship

--in God’s house, in public, in private

--TO worship

--what happens WHEN worship is rendered

And without a question, you WILL NOT SURVIVE or THRIVE, unless you learn to release the power of WORSHIP in your life

And in thinking about SURVIVING THROUGH WORSHIP, in order for us to understand what worship is all about, let me give you 4 things…

1. THE FOCUS OF WORSHIP

Because, to be honest with you, everyone is a WORSHIPPER

We are all worshipping…

--something

--someone

And I want to ask a question: WHO ARE YOU WORSHIPPING?

Who is the FOCUS of your Worship

Jesus said that we are

Matthew 4:10 ( KJV ) 10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

We ought to worship ONLY…

--the Lord God Almighty

--the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

--the Lord THY God

The Bible says…

Psalms 34:3 (KJV) 3O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

The Lord is the One we ought to be MAGNIFYING

And, you know, I thought about that word MAGNIFY

You see, that’s what worship does – IT MAGNIFIES

And if we’re not careful, we can magnify…

--Obama

--the Economy

--the Doctor’s report

But the Bible didn’t say to MAGNIFY these things – it says – TO MAGNIFY THE LORD!

You know how a MAGNIFYING GLASS WORKS? If you focus a ray of sun light, you can set a fire

And that’s the reason why so many…

--people

--churches

--seniors

--teens

Aren’t on fire is because they are MAGNIFYING the wrong thing!

John Maxwell asked Bill Bright how he did the things he did and he said that Bill Bright said that when things got tough, he just concentrated on the attributes of God…

--His omnipresence

--His omniscience

--His omnipotence

--His justice

--His unchangeableness

--His glory

--His greatness

--His ability

Oh, that will help you out in the times we’re living in!

Let’s...

--praise

--worship

--magnify

The Lord for WORSHIP MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

Secondly, let me talk to you about…

2. THE FORMS OF WORSHIP

There are many forms of worship!

There is…

--laughing

--crying

--running

--laying prostrate before God

--shouting

--hand clapping

--every day living (working, eating, driving)

--singing

--serving

We read of these physical expressions of worship in a number of places:

a. Proclaim! – 1 Chron. 16:23; Psa. 40:9; 92:1-3