What Do I Get Out Of Worship? Series

INTRODUCTION

„X I get up each Sunday morning, I miss out on a mornings sleep, I miss the NFL pre-game stuff, I miss out on going to the golf course, I miss out on being able to go fishing. I get up and go to church. Am I being cheated, am I missing out on something by coming to church each week?

„X Last week we started the first of two messages on the subject of worship. Last week we learned that we come together each Sunday to worship God. Worship begins and ends with God.

„X I stated that many people are not excited about worship or they leave feeling empty. Why? Because in order to be able to properly worship, we need to bring something to worship, we need to bring an offering to God, that offering is our lives.

„X If we bring our lives to God as a living and holy sacrifice each week, we will be able to have a true worship experience.

„X Now, I stated that God- Centered worship begins and ends with God. I stated that if we are going to really worship God, our worship should be an extension of the life we are living for Jesus Monday through Saturday.

„X With all that being said, when we come to WORSHIP GOD, we also can expect to receive something in return.

„X Today we are going to look at four legitimate expectations we can receive from God-Centered Worship.

„X When we truly experience God during our worship time together, we can expect to receive something from God that will be a real blessing to each one who receives it.

„X Today we will be in the book of Isaiah 6:1-8.

„X READ ISAIAH 6:1-8

„X In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, we have the call of Isaiah to his prophetic ministry by God.

„X During the call from God, Isaiah was privileged to have a true encounter with God, an encounter that would change him forever. Isaiah had the opportunity to have a true worship experience!

When we come to worship God, one of the things we can expect in return is¡K

SERMON

I. A SENSE OF GOD¡¦S PRESENCE. (ISAIAH 6:1-4)

¡§When we gather for worship, we should expect to sense the awesome presence of God.¡¨ Bob Russell, ¡§When God Builds A Church¡¨ p.48

„X One of the goals of worship is to connect people with God. When we pray, sing, give, take communion, and hear His word proclaimed, we want to have people experience the presence of God.

„X Whenever a person had encounters with God, they were never the same. Moses had his mountaintop experience. Abraham had en encounter with God.

„X In Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah relays to us his experience with the presence of God.

„X Isaiah had an encounter with God and he knew he was in the presence of the Almighty!

„X If you are going to sing a song and you knew the President was going to be in the audience, you would most likely put a lot of practice into what you are doing.

„X If you are an athlete and you know the scouts are coming to watch you, you will put a little bit more into your effort to make a good showing for them.

„X Bob Russell states: Worship should be neither sheer boredom nor surface entertainment. It should convey a deep respect for the holiness, the majesty, the joy, the power of the Almighty God in our midst.

„X MATTHEW 18:20 states: "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

„X When we come to worship, when we come bringing our lives as a living, holy sacrifice before God, we should leave knowing we were in the presence of God.

„X We do not sing to each other, we sing to God who is here with us today. We do not pray to each other, we pray to the Almighty God who is here with us today.

„X Isaiah had a keen sense of God¡¦s presence when he received his calling in the prophetic ministry.

When we come to worship God, one of the things we can expect in return is¡K

II. A CONVICTION OF OUR OWN SINFULNESS. (ISAIAH 6:5)

If worship brings us close to God, this closeness to God should cause us to see ourselves as we really are.

„X When Isaiah was in the presence of God, look at what he says about himself in verse 5. READ

„X When we are in the presence of God during our worship, it should invoke within ourselves as awareness of how we really are.

„X We have a tendency to compare ourselves to other people. We tend to think we are better than we are.