Walk the Talk in Worship
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Good morning, church. It is so good to be back here. We have truly missed our time here at Wesley. I am so excited about the next few weeks as we begin this sermon series called Walk the Talk. I would. Be truly remiss if I did not thank the people who helped out over the last few weeks. I especially want to thank the people who preach for me, Wilbur. Mike. And Lorrie? You all did an outstanding job.
This morning we're going to be looking at Psalm 95. Psalm 95 is a called worship. It is an invitation to the community of Israel to come before God with joyful praise and Thanksgiving because of his greatness, because of his supremacy, because he is greater than all other gods.
This particular psalm is the classic text in the Bible about worship. It’s the Venite, because in Latin the first word is venite, “O come.” Through the centuries, the Christian church has looked to this maybe more than any other single place in the Bible to inform our worship. This text tells us almost everything we need to know. It answers the questions, what is worship, why should we worship, and how can we worship?
This Psalm is still used today. At the beginning of Sab-bat. Or, as we often call it, Sabbath. The Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday. On Friday evening, Psalm 95 is read. And it teaches Israel every week. That God alone is great.
Imagine these words as you prepare your heart for the Sabbath.
O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you would hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
“When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
“For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
“Therefore I swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”
Can you see how that would center your heart on the worship of God?
I read this recently:
True worship is not just an external ritual but a heartfelt response of gratitude and reverence to God for His greatness and sovereignty, leading believers, like you and me, into a deeper relationship with Him.
This morning I want to suggest three steps for us to take to go even deeper.
1. Approach God With Joyful Praises
1. Approach God With Joyful Praises
Psalm 95:1–2 (NASB95)
O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
Worship is the primary activity for us as a church. Every Sunday morning, we gather this place to worship. As the psalmist said, we sing for joy.
Do not get me wrong, worship is not the only thing we do. We teach, we preach, we reach out into the community, and we help those in need. But our primary activity. What sets us apart from other wonderful organizations is every week we gather for worship.
As the psalmist said we sing for joy to the Lord, we shout to the rock of our salvation.
Notice what it says,
Let us sing.
Let us shout.
Let us come with thanksgiving.
Did you notice the emotions. Worship involves our entire being, every aspect, it is our mind, our will, and our emotions.
Where have we heard that before?
and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
We are Jesus followers. As followers of Jesus, we are told to worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
Look with me at John 4
We find here Jesus conversation with the Woman of Samaria. You remember, Jesus comes to the well. He is thirsty. He requested a drink of water from her. After a conversation about her and living with a man, she turns the conversation to worship.
Jesus responded with this answer.
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
When we worship with our whole being, we worship in Spirit and in turth.
If you're facing tension with a coworker or feeling unappreciated at your job, start each day with a prayer of thanksgiving for your workplace and the people around you. Before diving into your tasks, take a few moments to praise God for the skills and opportunities He has given you. This will not only refocus your attitude towards gratitude but can also open doors to more positive interactions with your colleagues, leading to improved relationships and a more uplifting work environment.
2. Acknowledge His Sovereignty
2. Acknowledge His Sovereignty
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
3. Adopt a Posture of Humility
3. Adopt a Posture of Humility
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
Keep You Attitude Pliable
Keep You Attitude Pliable
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”