The Result of Worship
Notes
Transcript
All this talk the last month about worship, you are probably wondering. OK, say I live this worship. What is the result of it? We all want to know what the result of things will be. I have never gone on a diet saying that it was something I wanted to do for the heck of it. I have gone on diets because of what the end result will be. So what is the end result of us living in true worship? A few messages ago we were in Romans and we spoke about what true worship looks like. Today we are back in Romans because I want you to see how your life and the lives of others around you will be impacted by Worship. At the end of the day all of us want to see the results of our hard work. Worship is not easy and I know it sounds easy when I am up here preaching but the truth of it is true worship is difficult. It takes so much for us to listen to God then to follow through when the world is sending so much at us just to get us to respond negatively. Today we will be in Romans 12:9-21 and this scripture will show you the results of living worship, the result for you, the result for others, and the results for our Father. After all it is about the results right?
After a preacher died and went to heaven, he noticed that a New York cabdriver had been given a higher place than he had. "I don't understand," he complained to St. Peter. "I devoted my entire life to my congregation."
"Our policy is to reward results," explained St. Peter. "Now what happened , Reverend, whenever you gave a sermon?"
The minister admitted that some in the congregation fell asleep. "Exactly, " said St. Peter. "And when people rode in this man's taxi, they not only stayed awake, they prayed."
Lets read together Romans 12:9-21
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.
The result for you
The result for you
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.
Living true worship will result in a life for you that you could not provide for yourself. I am not going to stand up here and preach to you some prosperity gospel telling you that if you honor God that you will have untold riches. That may not be true for you. What I will tell you is that it will result in a new person. A person who finds it harder to live selfish than to live for others. A person who others will want to be around and a person who understands the importance of living like Jesus. Read the scripture again. Romans 12:9-13
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.
In this passage we first see that the result for you us that you will be genuine in loving, hate what is evil and hold fast to what is good. What does it mean to be genuine in love? The word genuine used in the scripture means to love without hypocrisy. What does it mean to love without hypocrisy? The scripture here is lining up yours spiritual being with your physical being. In this scripture we are seeing that the result of True worship is that we not only say we love because we know the truth but we live in love because of the spirit inside of us. When you live in worship you will genuinely seek the good of others, you will genuinely see others as more important than yourself. It will be out of a true belief that you are honoring God that you live. Have you ever met someone who is not genuine? I believe we all have met those people in our lives. They are there for what they can benefit from relationships and not there to be a friend, spouse, family member. They are all about themselves. You can tell because when they do not get their way they are very much upset.
A small child, sitting in church asked his father, “Dad, what is a Christian?”
The father replied, “A Christian is a person who loves and obeys God. He loves his friends and neighbours, and even his enemies. He prays often, is kind, gentle, and holy, and is more interested in going to heaven than in all earthly riches. That, son, is a Christian!”
The boy looked puzzled and thought for a minute, then asked, “Have I ever seen one?”
“If we are going to be authentic and relevant, we must embrace truth and allow it to transform us at our very core.” John Bevere
Worship turns us into genuine believers. The type that walk the walk and talk the talk. Verses 9-13 describe a genuine Christian. Not someone who is a believer on Sunday and forgets to love others every were but the church. We will be genuine. What does the Bible say about us being genuine people?
5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.
We must be genuine in our love. Not doing it for show or because we think others are watching. Worship results in us being genuine. Can we all drop our pride for a few minutes here? Most people in this room have lied about who they are, what they have done, or how they have done something. We are programmed in this world to live dishonest lives for our gain. As believers we are called to the opposite. We are called to be truthful, to be genuine in our love and to seek the good of others around us even at great expense to ourselves. Worship will lead you to be genuine. Others will know that you are God’s and there will be no doubt. Worship though is not only going to affect you, it will have results for those around you.
The result for others
The result for others
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.”
Living in true worship results in a genuine believer who looks for the good of others. The fact is that you will do good for others when you live a life of worship. Look at the scriptures here. You will bless others and not look for negative things to say about them. I have found in management that when I am going to issue someone some coaching I spend time telling them first what they are doing well. Others are willing to listen to you when they see that you see something good in them. Do you see the good in others or are you always picking out what others lack? Is it easier for you to see yourself as better than others? Worship will cause you to look inward and to see how much God loves others regardless of what others may think of them, it will cause you to see them as worth while. You will be a humble person and associate with the lowly. Are you a person who always has to sit with the important people? Believers should find themselves at the outcast table. That is what made Jesus so life changing is that He was popular and yet He reclined at the table with sinners. Living in worship results in others feeling loved and worth while, not overlooked or talked down too. Worship will result in peace for our neighbors, not because they deserve it but because we didn’t deserve peace we deserved destruction but Jesus gave us peace. Worship will result in others not being viewed as our enemies but as those that we love because Jesus loved us. Worship will change the lives of others around us because they will feel valued.
David Neeleman, JetBlue Airways CEO, meets 95% of new employees on their first work day. From day one he demonstrates he values them. He also sets aside one day each week to travel on JetBlue flights, where he serves beverages and cleans planes. In '02, JetBlue wanted to hire 2,000 team members and received 130,000 applications!
People want to be valued and want to know that they matter. Worship will cause others around us to feel valued and understand that they are more important than us in our eyes. They are worth our time, investment, frustrations. The scripture tells us that we should value others.
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
1 Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
We are called to see others as more important than ourselves. To seek their good and to let them know that our love for them is genuine. Are you living for others or yourself? Worship causes you to live a life for others. To serve your wife, husband, children, neighbors, co workers. They will all be more important than you. Are you living in a world where you keep asking why does someone not make you the most important? Someone did, His name was Jesus and He gave His life for you. It is time to stop looking for others to live for us and to make much of us and time to make much of others around us. Worship will result in people wanting you to be around because they know you value them. My wife and I have a goal that in every neighborhood we live in our neighbors are sad when we move. If my neighbors are sad when I move I pray it is because they know that I valued them and wanted the best for them, even at my expense. Worship has results for you, results for others, but also results for our Father.
The result for our Father
The result for our Father
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The result of worship is that we are changed beings. We are genuine people who love others even at our own expense. The result of Worship is that our Father gets to see His sacrifice have meaning. What is the reason for the sacrifices you have made in your life? For many people they made sacrifices so someone else in their life can benefit from it. The sacrifices I make are so my kids can have a great future. It is no different for our God.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God’s Sacrifice was so that we could have eternal life, so that we could love the way we were designed to love. The greatest way to make the sacrifice of Jesus mean something is for us to love the way God has called us to love. The sad thing is that just like our own children most Christians take for granted the sacrifices that are made for them to experience life to the fullest. Are you taking for granted what Jesus’ sacrifice truly did for you? Are you content with accepting it and not passing it on to others? Worship calls us to live it out, to love others and to cast aside our own desires. Are you living a life that seeks to bring joy to the Father?
People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply acknowledging a great debt we owe to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny? It is emphatically no sacrifice. Rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, danger, foregoing the common conveniences of this life--these may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing compared with the glory which shall later be revealed in and through us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk, when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us.
David Livingstone.
The fact is that we do not make sacrifices, Jesus made the only real sacrifice. We are simply called to live in love and to restore the kingdom of God the way we were created to live in the first place. We forget so often that Jesus died to restore us to the purpose of God. We are not worldly being when we accept the love of Christ, we are called to live that love out now on earth and to make the sacrifice of Jesus worth it. We should bring joy to the Father through our love for others and for each other.
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
1 O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Honoring God is living your faith in daily Worship. This is the result of Worship. The result of worship is love that is genuine, the world being rescued, and the Father being honored.
