Why Do We Worship?
Notes
Transcript
Handout
What did we talk about last week?
What did we talk about last week?
What is worship?
And, what is worship?
Lots of love and adoration toward something.
This can be given to anything, but, as we said last week, worship requires you to give yourself over to whatever it is you’re worshipping, so it can only make sense to worship God.
But now that we understand what worship is, we have to ask the question: Why?
Why do we worship?
Why do we worship?
Human beings naturally worship something. We talked about this last week: we worship girls or cars or grades or anything that we love a LOT and put our attention to.
That’s what 99% of music is! It’s someone singing about love, or lust, or drugs, and they’re worshipping the object of their desire!
And so, why should we worship God? And, along with that, why should we worship God alone?
We were created to worship.
We were created to worship.
Let’s start with a story
There was a time when nothing existed. Time was not, matter was not, nothing was there… except God. You see, God is uncreated, meaning before there was time, God was. And God is a community of 3: the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are altogether one God, and yet 3 Persons in God. And they love each other deeply. And so, They created. Not because They had to, but because They love so deeply that They wanted to share Their love. And so, they made all of creation: They brought form to the earth, created the birds, the beasts, the flora, the fauna, things that no longer exist and things that will exist long after you and I are dead. But They specifically made humans. These creatures are made differently from other things in that they have a unique connection with God, and so they are capable of having a relationship with God. We even see that in Genesis, Adam and Eve would walk with God in the Garden.
And so, you and I were created to have a loving relationship with God where we point constantly to our Creator! That’s worship!
We were built to love and worship the God of the universe, because He’s the God who loves us!
And this is especially true when you become a Christian!
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
When you become a Christian, you are adopted as a child of God, which means your purpose is to worship Him!
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Christians must worship God because it’s the only option!
All of humanity was created for the glory of God, but Christians specifically must worship him.
Worship is the Right Response to God.
Worship is the Right Response to God.
What’s the first thing you do when you see someone you love who you haven’t seen in a long time?
What’s the first thing you do when you see someone you love who you haven’t seen in a long time?
You get excited, you talk with them, maybe you jump up and down, but you’re very excited!
And that’s the right response!
You see someone you haven’t seen in a long time, you want to celebrate with them, and so you do the motions of celebrating!
Similarly, when we encounter God, the correct response is to worship Him.
Psalm 9:11 (ESV)
Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!
God is so good and so incredible that we can’t help but worship Him.
Now, sometimes we don’t worship Him in the way that we should, but that’s because of our own brokenness.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
In the face of all of the goodness of God, we can still ignore the worship of God, but that doesn’t mean that He doesn’t deserve worship!
God deserves our worship!
Revelation 4:11 (ESV)
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Not only is worship the correct response to God because of all that He does, He deserves our worship because of who He is!
He’s better than any girl or guy you think you love! He’s more deserving of your attention than any band or show, He’s God, and that means that He deserves our worship.
We Worship Because We Love Him.
We Worship Because We Love Him.
You worship what you love.
And so, if you claim to be a Christian, then that necessitates that you love God.
That’s what that means!
To be a Christian means that you believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and died for your sins, that He was punished for your brokenness, that He beat death and rose to new life, and you believe that He’s your Savior and that you’ve given your life and everything you are to Him!
That’s love!
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
You worship what you love, and we are to love God, so we must worship God.
And if you don’t follow Jesus, can I just invite you into that relationship?
It’s not freaky or weird, it’s where you can find the fulfilment of all that you’ve been looking for.
You can let go of the believe that you have to be good enough to be loved, or that things can finally make you happy. Instead, you can realize that we’re all broken, that we’ve messed up, but that God is good and loves you. You can realize that He sees you, He knows you, and He loves you. And finally, you can finally worship Someone who is actually deserving of your worship.
Questions
Which is better: dogs or cats? Why?
What are the things that you worship?
What are ways that God has moved in your life that causes you to worship?
How can you encourage yourself to worship more this week?