The Simplicity of Worship
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Today’s sermon is titled “the simplicity of worship”
I want to say upfront this is going to be a very simple message on worship. (Beneath you)
I want to also say,
that when I refer to worship in most cases this morning it is going to be specifically referring to personal or corporate worship in song. (Worship is a lifestyle)[Importance of worship in song]
Versus not on the Screen… in App under notes...
Singing…
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
1 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
New Testament
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Jesus sang with the disciple’s
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Paul and Silas sang in jail…
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
There are many more references to singing songs of worship in the Bible....
(Family Gathering)
[Thank you Pastor Sam]
(Worship is important)
(worship is not complex)
class on worship so academic…
Worship in it’s purest form,
is simply a natural response. (Kids worship)
[patience and perfectionist]
We have something built into us to exalt, bestow, praise, magnify, and celebrate that which we deem worthy to be worshiped.
Because of this,
we as the people of God must respond to the work of God with worship.
You may of heard it said worship is what we give worth to.
Tim Keally wrote,
The word "worship" is from Old English "worth-ship"--the ascribing of highest worth. Whatever you value or love the most---whatever is your greatest source of significance and security---you are worshipping in your heart. Worship in church is just an expression of that.
Simple and pure biblical worship,
is to God alone who is worthy of our worship.,
1. Worship is to God
Francis Chan story…
Worship is not to you....
Worship is to Jesus…
I found that many have come to believe that worship,
is for the specific purpose of making me feel something. (Worship is I centric)
[Worship is not what you can receive but rather what you can give]
When worship becomes I centric,
our level of engagement during worship based off the song set versus what Jesus has already done.
(don't like the song don't worship)
[Band not sounding good don’t worship]
Consumers of worship…
Looking to be entertained by a performance instead of encountering God…
What I have found interesting in serving in the church is that people are much more opinionated on songs we sing versus the sermons that are preached....
(I am a Pastor who preaches and a Pastor who has led worship) [served in every area besides woman's ministry]
My meaning on Opinionated… Not saying could you do this song…
(can you do more…) [songs are to long…]
I believe that many of the opinions are coming from a place of thinking that worship is about me instead of worship being about Jesus.
Worship is unto Jesus,
and is a response of who he is and what he has done.
Response… Sports… emotional
(Excited, enthusiastic, fired up)
[should we not get excited for what Jesus has done for us?]
What I find interesting is that I have been criticized more in worship...
Because worship is a response to God,
I want to lay out a few biblical responses that are seen in Scripture.
Clapping Hands
1 Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
12 “For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Clapping our hands together is a sign of giving adoration to someone.
When we give a standing ovation to someone it is an act of honor to them.
When we applaud someone for doing something courageous,
it is an act of acknowledging what they did.
When we clap our hands after a song it is an act of worship as we are clapping our hands in response to Jesus’ greatness.
(we are not clapping because we liked the song)
When we clap our hands to the beat of a song,
we lifting up one unified and joyful noise unto the Lord.
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Clapping is one way we can give praise unto the Lord.
Another way we respond to God is by dancing.
Now I am covering dancing solely because it is in the Bible.
As someone from the north there is not much dancing in these bones of mine.
Dancing
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
With all responses to worship there is a time and a place. (Dancing and clapping)
Another way we respond to Jesus is by giving shouts of praise.
Shouting
1 Come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
4 Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
break out in praise and sing for joy!
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
There is something powerful when a group of people lift up one voice together.
(my own experience)
Another response in worship is bowing or falling on our knees in worship.
Bowing
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God,
In Daniel 3 we see the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue.
(They refused)
Bowing is a humble position of submission to the one you are bowing too. (bowing ment for God alone)
John in Revelation bow to angle don't do that… Revelation 22:8-9
The last posture of worship is the most common one that we see practiced in church today,
and that is raising our hands in worship
Hands Raised in Worship...
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
48 I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord!
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
As i said this is the most common expression of worship but what does it mean?...
Example Dog… vulnerable posture of submission
It is a powerful actionable statement when God’s children raise their hands in worship,
as we demonstrate a posture of surrender to the God of heaven and earth.
Clapping, Dancing, Shouting, bowing, and raising our hands are all just expressions of worship that we do.
They are not ment to be mechanical or scripted,
but rather come from a place of a natural response to God.
John Wimber would say that worship is more caught than it is taught.
I believe when we encounter the grace of God,
we cannot help but be passionate worshipers of Jesus.
When we get a revelation of what Jesus has done for us,
we will join together in lifting up our voices and expressing ourselves in worship because we are worshipping…
But i think as time goes past we can muddy up the waters of what worship is.
(become stagnant, lose that first love)
It is important that we get back to the heart of worship,
and know it is all about Jesus, period.
Close with a story… Matt Redman
Lyrics heart of worship…
When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longin' just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the ways things appear
You're looking into my heart
I'm comin' back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
