The Kind Of Church Jesus Had In Mind Part 7 Series

We are almost done with this mega series that has been dealing with the Kind of Church Jesus Had in Mind.

We have learned that the church is people who have given their hearts to God through Jesus Christ.

We have learned that we need to be an Evangelizing church, a Learning church and a Loving church.

Today we are going to discuss another part of the WELL, today we will learn that we need to be a worshipping church.

Have you ever met anyone famous?

A lady entered an ice cream store one time in a town that Paul Newman was filming a movie. Paul was also in that ice cream store. She was a huge Paul Newman fan. His blue eyes cause her knees to buckle and she was face to face with him in the ice cream store.

She ordered her ice cream, paid for the ice cream and then left the ice cream shop as her heart was pounding with excitement.

When she got outside she realized that she did not have her ice cream cone with her, so she started back into the store. As she was going back in, Paul was coming out.

He looked at her with his blue eyes and asked, “Are you looking for your ice cream cone?

Unable to speak, she nodded yes.

With that he replied, “You put it in your purse with your change.”

Why is it that when people meet someone famous it makes our pulse race and act kind of strange?

I want you to think about this next question.

When was the last time the presence of God quickened your pulse?

When we are in the presence of God the Father it really does need to take our breath away.

PRAY

Father,

Open my eyes so I can see Your truth.

Open my ears so I can hear Your voice.

Open my minds so I can understand your Word.

And, open my heart so I may receive all that You would have me receive.

AMEN

As we get going here I need you to understand that worship is something that you were created to do.

We have an innate desire within us to worship, be it God or an object or a person or a team or whatever; people worship.

God made us like this so we would worship Him and only Him. All the other items that people worship will fail us, die, or rot. Not God, God is a constant – he was here before the universe, and will be here long after the world as we know it is gone.

Worship has been defined as “the expression of love and devotion to God through participation in Divine rites and/or services and through personal prayer.”

Another definition is “the reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object.”

And still another definition is. “the ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed.”

Worshipping God is not a difficult thing to do. Many today like to make worship complicated but it is not.

Let me give you a simple illustration of how easy it is to worship God.

Have you ever eaten at an expensive restaurant? The kind of restaurant you need to dress up to eat at. At that kind of restaurant you are all dressed up you have fine china plates, crystal glasses, three forks, and cloth napkins. You have to be very careful at this restaurant not to spill anything or do anything that might embarrass yourself.

Eating at an expensive restaurant can be uncomfortable.

Compare eating at an expensive restaurant with eating at home.

There you can dress in your comfortable clothes, you only need to use one fork, you don’t have to worry about dropping anything on the floor or doing something that would embarrass yourself.

Eating at home is comfortable.

God’s design for worship is like eating a meal at home. Not something that is uncomfortable with a bunch of things you have to do. He designed worship to be a time to come together in a comfortable setting with your Father.

God desires that we get to those comfortable places of worship because that is where He wants to show up. It is a comfortable time, basking in His glory, sharing in His peace and in His blessings.

So how do we get to those times and to that place? I am glad you asked.

There are many ways for us to worship God the Father.

One way is through music.

There are so many Scriptures in His Word that encourage us to worship Him in song.

1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. 2 Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. 4 For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. Psalm 23:1-4