What Is Worship
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning! We successfully made it through our focus on evangelism and let me tell you I am so excited about the energy each of you have around being God’s hands and feet. We need to keep this fire going because this is what the World needs is believers who see it as their mission to bless the world. Today we will begin our journey of understanding what is Worship. The conversations are had across the country in every church. What type of worship do we want to have? It has been had here at Highlands. At one time we had a contemporary worship service then we had our traditional worship service. There are churches that are splitting because they cannot agree on the type of worship they will have. Some want a full orchestra, some people want no music, some people want piano and the worship leader. In today’s message I hope to show you the flaws in all of those particular styles of worship. You may be saying well pastor should you really do that? There are people listening on the stream, we have visitors this morning, maybe you should save this for a day when it is just us. I don't believe so. The reason I do not believe so is because it is not a style of worship that we have wrong it is worship itself that we have wrong. Don’t think so? What is worship? Worship according to some is the lifting up of our voices in singing and praising. I would say that it is a type of worship but it is not worship. Some would say that it is our heart towards God. I would say that our heart towards God is caused by true worship. So do you want the answer on what true worship is? If so turn in your Bible to Romans 12. Today we will see three aspects of worship according to the Word. First, Worship is living. Second, Worship Transforms us. Third, Worship leaves a mark on us.
In our scripture this morning you will see that we are often times chasing the wrong things when it comes to worship. We want that emotional moving experience based on the music.
Years ago I took a golf lesson. It was offered for free and I decided it was a good idea since I love golf but am horrible at it. When I took the lesson I was less than excited. The reason I was not so excited is because I believed that the teacher was going to teach me to hit the long straight drive I had been chasing for so long. When we got to the course the instructor placed a tee in the ground and told me to step up and swing. I said there is no ball on the tee and he said he knew that and I just needed to listen to his advice. This frustrated me. I looked like an idiot out there swinging at an invisible ball for 30 minutes. As I would swing he would tell me to make small adjustments and I would then he would tell me to swing again. I grew frustrated and told him I was so happy I had not paid for this lesson. He simply smiled at me and told me to keep swinging. toward the end of the lesson he broke out a single golf ball and told me that I had one chance to hit a ball off the tee in his lesson. I was so frustrated that out of the entire hour that we were there I was only going to hit one golf ball. He set the ball on the tee and i set up, swung, and hit the longest straightest drive I have ever hit in my life.
I was amazed at the fact of how I learned to hit a ball without ever hitting a ball. Do you want to have an amazing worship experience? It is not chasing the right music and having the right band playing. Today I will take you through the scripture much like my golf instructor did. I will teach you how you can have the most meaningful worship experiences regardless of the songs being played, type of music, or who is around. Lets read our scripture. Romans 12:1-2 then Romans 12:9-21.
Worship is Living Sacrifice
Worship is Living Sacrifice
1 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.
In this scripture Paul writes and says that because of God’s mercy towards us we should present our bodies as living sacrifices, this is our spiritual worship. Paul in this scripture is giving us insight into what true worship is. Worship is not live music, it is not a rock band, or even bluegrass or good ole hymns. Worship is not what we sing it is how we live. Just like me when trying to learn how to golf, we look to the wrong goals when trying to experience worship. We have all had the emotional feelings of worship that lead us to places of feeling the presence of God in our lives. These moments though if you reflect often happen after times of tragedy or times of service to others. Paul is writing to the church and is telling them if they want to experience true worship then they should be living sacrifices to God. They should serve others and should see themselves as a vessel through which God will bless all people around them. When we ware looking for worship what are we truly chasing after? Are we looking to be living sacrifices to God? This idea of sacrifice is pretty strong language. Remember most of these people at this time would have seen Jesus sacrificed or at least had parents or grand parents who had see Jesus sacrificed. When Paul writes this he is saying that these people should exhibit the same heart and character as Jesus himself. Willing to lay themselves down for others. Paul then continues to tell them that real worship is this living sacrifice. We are often och with this idea of sacrifice as long as it does not inconvenience us. We will sacrifice as long as we can work it into our schedules, as long as we can justify it financially, or as long as it does not come with a true sacrifice.
I always find it funny to watch my children when they are negotiating with each other when they want something. They will often times make it look like they are making a big sacrifice when they know they are not really making any sacrifice but simply making it look as if they are sacrificing. Rylan for instance took half of his candy and hid it and when he asked Camden for a piece of candy Cam said I will trade you a piece of candy. Rylan said I don't have much candy and he gave Camden a piece of candy. Camden thinking that Rylan was willing to give him a piece of candy even through he did not have much felt pity for Rylan and gave him 2 pieces of his candy. Rylan knew what he was doing he made it look like he was sacrificing something when in fact he simply hid the other candy.
Have you ever done this? We seek this worship service, this worship feeling, this true worship yet we only make superficial sacrifices. We make it appear that we are sacrificing things in our lives yet when you look at the read details we only sacrifice when it is convenient for us to do so. You want to know why so many churches are looking for the next song to move them in worship? Because they are not living lives of sacrifice. We are called to be living sacrifices. Do you want true worship? Start living a life of sacrifice. What does the scripture say to us about this?
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Worship starts with the correct foundations. If you want great worship it must come with great sacrifice. Do you want to worship God regardless of what songs are being sung? Sacrifice in your daily life. Worship begins with a Living Sacrifice. Worship then transforms us.
Worship Transforms us
Worship Transforms us
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Paul after telling the believers that worship begins with sacrifice, continues to tell them that sacrifice comes from a transformed mind. It is not possible to make sacrifices such as the scripture calls for unless you are transformed in your thinking. Paul tells the believers not to be conformed any longer to the ways of the world. What does it mean to be conformed to something?
I am a food guy, I know no one in here looks at me and thinks that. You look at me and say you should eat more. Just kidding. Seriously though one of my favorite foods as a kid growing up was Jello. I do not eat much of it anymore but one of my favorite things was how Jello can take any form as long as you put it in a mold. Jello will literally take the form of whatever shape mold you use. I always like to shape it like vegetables so I could say I was eating my vegetables.
As a part of being born into the world many of us are conformed to the thinking of this world. The world teaches us to be selfish, to look out for ourselves, to do things that benefit us even if those things harm others. Believers though are called to a different type of life a life of sacrifice and a life of seeing others as more important than ourselves. How do you do this? Through the reading of the scriptures, through being in church, through gathering with believers. To undo all the things from our past we must put new things in our hearts. The fact is that if you are ignoring reading the scripture you will never be able to transform your mind which means no matter how many emotional songs you sing that make you cry you are missing the true heart of what worship is. You will spend all your time thinking you have found it and you will miss true worship. As good as those times that we experience an emotional response to worship songs or music are, how much better would it be if we experienced worship the way God designed it because we are living lives of sacrifice because we have transformed our minds.
In my many years of eating good then eating bad, going to the gym and not going to the gym. I have found this one thing to be true. If you want to transform your body you must change the things that you are putting into it. I have never been able to lose weight while eating big macs. I have never gained weight while eating celery. Dieting in a lot of way mirrors that of the Christian faith. If you want to transform your outer being you must transform your inner being.
What does the scripture say about being transformed?
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
15 An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
2 Desire without knowledge is not good,
and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.
We become new because of the scripture. Are you ensuring that scripture is the most important part of what you do every day? It must be. I know this sounds old fashioned but you cannot become a new creation without riding yourself of the old and you cannot do it, only God can do it through His scripture.
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
The scripture changes us. We are transformed when we no longer conform to the world around us. Conformation is from an outward pressure, transformation is from an inward pressure. Jello is conformed but a butterfly is transformed. Which do you desire to be? Jello or a butterfly? Worship is a living sacrifice, Worship transforms us, Worship also leaves its mark on us.
Worship leaves a mark on us.
Worship leaves a mark on us.
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Worship will change your life. Worship will not simply change the way you feel it will change the way you live. Do you want to know what Ken’s job is as our worship pastor? It is to provide you time to reflect on your life of worship. Ken cannot lead you in worship. Worship is lived daily. Ken’s job as our worship pastor is to seek the Lord and present you an opportunity to reflect on how God’s spirit lived through you in the last week. You know why we spend so much time looking for the right music? Because we are not living the life of worship during the week. You expect Ken to come in here and lay it down so that you can leave feeling better. The fact is that you should be empowered by the spirit before you ever walk in this room. You should leave this place more encouraged to live like Christ in your every day. When I find myself raising my hands in worship and crying out to the Lord it is because I am able to reflect on how His spirit lived through me and allowed me to be a vessel of change in this world. Not because the beat is right the keys are right and the words hit home, it is when I reflect on a life of service to those around me and I understand my own heart that does not seek others. It is when I realize the great work God is doing inside of me to change me into the spiritual being that He has called me to be. I can worship with A-Capella version of old rugged cross when I set my heart on being transformed through His spirit. Paul says that worship leads to a life of change. Worship leads us to love others genuinely and not for our own gain. We seek good, we love others, we have empathy and sympathy. We bless our enemies, we seek good for others even at costing us. Worship is not songs it is a lifestyle of sacrifice. Songs and music lead us to reflections of how God has rescued us from our own selfishness.
I have told you all about a guy I was in high school with who I could not stand. He could not stand me. We did everything we could to mess with each other. In math class we were assigned seats and he was assigned the seat right in front of me. He was the fit type and he was relatively popular. I was as round as I was tall and so he spent his time making jokes about my height and roundness. All the girls though he was funny and I did not. I because of my size was not really afraid of him but because he was so small I took advantage of the fact that he was not likely to hit me because at worse case I could simply throw my weight on the guy and suffocate him. So when we were in class I was behind him I would do things like hit him in the back of the head, spit spit balls at the back of his ears. I was not very kind. Over spring break our freshman year he went to a camp with his church. He came back and the first thing he did was to apologize to me. I did not take it seriously and was just
waiting for him to say or do something rude or mean. Because I did not believe he had changed I was not about to give up this fight. He went to sit down in his chair and I slid it out from under him. He fell on the ground and I acted like I was getting something out of my back pack and that is how my foot hit his desk. I was not very smart though because I did this while sitting in the desk and I immediately realized I had left myself at a disadvantage as he stood there I prepared myself to take a fist to the face. Instead though he said he knew I still didn’t believe that he had changed but that he was not going to allow me to pull him back into his old ways. I found out that at camp he had given his heart to the Lord and had taken it to heart that God called him to be a new creation. I looked like a fool standing there after being mean to someone who would not return that evil to me.
True worship will change you completely. You will be a new creation and the world will see that something is different about you. In Romans 12 Paul states that it causes you to seek the wellbeing of others even your enemies. Worship happens as it changes our lives. I want you to see something in the following verses notice that worship happens as a reflection on what God has done. Not what God can do for us but what God has done for others through us.
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Worship is how we live. Worship is a living sacrifice that calls us to be transformed and it leaves a visible mark on our lives. Church are we really ready for worship? If you are let’s start this journey together over the next couple of weeks as we explore the aspects of worship in a true view of what it is. Let us lay down the desire for worship to do something for us and worship because of what God has done for others through us. Worship comes as we realize that God uses the least of us to perform the greatest of His tasks.
