Untitled Sermon

LET US BE KNOWN AS A WORSHIPPING CHURCH

- My prayer is that God would speak to each of us, he would open our hearts and draw us closer to Himself by His Holy Spirit.

- This morning we’re going to be look at worship… Before I jump in and share about that in more detail…

o Address the non-Christians.. Important you don’t switch off as the Lord wants to speak to you.

o You may be an agnostic, or searching for truth…

o So close… Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life, and I believe you can search out Christianity and you would find it to be true because Christianity is credible and Jesus died upon a cross and rise again s o we could be forgiven of our sin, experience a relationship with God our creator and have our eternity secured in heaven with Him.

- Third sermon in a series where we’ve deep-dived into Acts 2:42-47, looking at what the early church prioritised about all other things, which led to God adding to their number day-by-day.

- And I believe that if we look to prioritise what the early church prioritised, we will begin to see the results that the early church saw.

- In our first message, we focused on how the early church devoted themselves to the apostle’s doctrine, that they were hungry to sit under the teaching of those who had walked with and learnt directly from Jesus. Because they honoured the teachings of Jesus, God grew them, both numerically and spiritually (and that is our desire as a church…)

- In the second message we looked at the priority of fellowship, and how the early church was not just a classroom to learn within, but a family to be a part of. In detail we looked at what biblical fellowship is according to the Bible, why we need it and how we can continue to make it a reality in the life of our church.

- Today, we’re back in Acts 2:42-47,

o and we’re going to see how the early church was a WORSHIPPING CHURCH

o and how we should be the same, and how we can be the same.

- Listen, worship itself is a such huge topic and there’s so much that I could say this morning.

o With that said, I want to focus fundamentally on worship as it pertains to the Sunday service

o and more specifically the part we are all called to play through our songs and our prayers.

- Let’s start by reading Acts 2:42-47 again together:

- 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Before I begin to teach on worship as it pertains to our Sunday service, I want to highlight something very important…

- Worship is so much more than just the songs that we sing on a Sunday.

- You see, the early church modelled and demonstrated what a worshiping church should truly look like.

o And it wasn’t just praising the Lord through song

o but it was also a life of devotion to the call of Christ.

- We read in Acts 2:42-47 that the early church:

§ were dedicated to the apostle’s doctrine,

§ they prioritised fellowship

§ they were sacrificial in their giving to others

§ and that they had a strong witness to the world

- I don’t know about you but songs on a Sunday aren’t enough for me.

- And I want to live a life of devotion towards God that impacts my whole life and the lives of those around me.

- And so, before we get to the importance of our praise, we need to first understand that if we are coming into church on a Sunday and raising our voice to heaven,

o yet outside of Church people can’t see any sense of Christ in our life, our worship is not acceptable to God.

Romans 12:1 says: 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 other words, more than a song, we are to present our whole lives as a living sacrifice unto the Lord.

- For many of us, Jesus is our add-on.

- We incorporate Him into our life and give Him a slice of the pie, instead of allowing Him to become our whole lives.

- Paul says in Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me

- we must recognise our lives are no longer are own.

- And just as Christ gave His life for us upon the cross, we should give our lives back to Him as an act of worship.

- More than just a song, worship is a giving of our whole lives to proclaim the excellencies of the One who saved us (1 Peter 2:9-10).

SWITCH TO WORSHIP AND SONG

- But, saying all that, the praises of our lips flowing from a genuine heart are still important to the Lord.

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o He cares about our heart posture and He cares about our praise.

In Hebrews 13:15 we read, ‘Through Jesus, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Psalm 150:6 commands that everything that breathes should praise the Lord!

In Luke 19:37-40 we read of how many of Jesus’ followers began shouting praise to God because of the great miracles Jesus worked. The Pharisee’s told Jesus to rebuke His followers, and Jesus replied: if they were to be silent, even the rocks would cry out.”

This shows us that God doesn’t only desire our worship in the form of obedience and service, but He desires worship that comes out of our mouths from a heart of gratitude for all He has done.

- It’s so clear through the book of Acts and the epistles that the early church was a worshipping Church, and not just because of their clear devotion to serving the Lord each and every day, but also because of the praises of their lips.

LIVING HOPE TO BE KNOWN AS A WORSHIPPING CHURCH!

I don’t know about you, but like the early church, I want Living Hope Church to be known as a worshipping church!

- As a Church that can’t stay silent as it pertains to the goodness of God!

- My prayer is that when people mention our church across Merseyside; they don’t just recognise us as a church that stand by the teachings of the Bible…

- They don’t just recognise us as a church where there is a love and devotion towards one another…

- But they also recognise us as a worshipping church.

WORSHIP IS CENTRAL TO HEAVEN (IMPORTANCE OF WORSHIP)

- Here at Living Hope, we will never stop elevating the importance of teaching God’s Word.

- However it’s also just as important for us to realise that our time spent in ‘worship’ is not the supporting act to the main event.

- I used to think that the purpose of worship was to prepare us for the teaching of the Word.

o This is true to an extent, but I also believe the purpose of the Word is just as much to help us understand His worthiness and majesty and stir in us a desire to worship and praise Him all the more!

God desires our worship. In fact..

- The Bible from beginning to end is all about God’s restoration of worship.

- It’s a story of our communion with God being restored.

- In Genesis, at the very beginning we see how Adam and Eve had full fellowship with God…

o It says they walked with God side-by-side in the cool of the day

o This continued until the fellowship they had was broken because of their rebellion and sin.

o If you don’t know Jesus Christ here this morning, I want to tell you that your sin separates you from fellowship with God but there is a way back into communion with your creator… Through repentance and faith.

- But despite this tragedy in the garden, we continue to see God by his grace revealing time and time again a desire to be with His people.

o We see it in the story of Jacob’s ladder

o In the life of Moses

o Through the tabernacle and the ark

o Through David’s tent and Solomon’s temple

o and ULTIMATELY, we see it through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

- The Bible tells us that worship will be central in heaven, and it’ll be more glorious than we could ever imagine, and I don’t know about you, but I want our worship services to be a taste of heaven, a foretaste of what’s to come. A place to experience God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven.

· It’s therefore important to remember, that when we gather together to worship, we should not see this time as holy karaoke.

· You see, worship is heartfelt communication with God.

· It is communion with God.

· Worship is the expression of our praise and thanksgiving to God for who He is and what He has done for us.

· Is anyone thankful for what the Lord has done in their life?

· Listen, God would deserve our worship even if he hadn’t sent his son to die for us, simply because He is our creator.

· Therefore, how much more should we worship Him together because of the great grace and mercy he has shown us in sending His Son, forgiving our sin, washing us clean and including us in the family of God?

- IF YOU DON’T KNOW JESUS, YOU CAN EXPERIENCE ALL OF THIS TODAY BY GIVING YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST!

- So often we’ll sing at the football stadium or shout out praise in front of the TV, but we’ll be silent in church

o normally because we’re British, and God forbid us showing emotion or exuberance in Church for what He’s done for us…

SO WHAT WILL HELP US BE A WORSHIPPING CHURCH?

4 THINGS TO REMEMBER AS WE WORSHIP THE LORD.

1) WORSHIP IS NOT PRIMARILY ABOUT US!

Worship isn’t supposed to be man-centred entertainment – it’s supposed to be God-focused adoration.

Worship is all about Him and it’s all for Him.

In other words, worship is not primarily about our musical taste, our comfort or our needs.

- It’s about laying our preferences down and coming to God to praise and exalt Him exuberantly for who He is and what He’s done for us.

There are times as well when maybe we don’t ‘feel’ like worshipping because we’ve had a difficult week, but regardless of that, and I’m not belittling that, we need to remember that He is the Almighty, eternal God who is worthy of our praise.

Worship is primarily not about us!

2) WE SHOULD WORSHIP FROM THE OVERFLOW

- I want to ask you a question.

- How often do you come to Church spiritually empty, in need of a refill?

- I recognise sometimes we come needing to receive from God, but if you are coming empty every week needing God to fix you or give you a boost, there’s a problem that needs to be addressed.

- Ephesians 5:18talks about how we are to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit… and when we are we can worship from the overflow of our spiritual life!

- I want to set us all a challenge.

- Let’s begin to set a culture where we prepare our hearts before we arrive at Church. Where we come ready to worship!

o Perhaps when we’re getting ready:

1. Choose to play worship music as you get ready.

2. Spend a short time in prayer, praying for the service. (PRAY HERE)

3. Let’s come ready with a heart to worship the Lord

- As we come together each Sunday, let’s not be a people that always arrive spiritually empty, needing to be filled, but instead, let’s come to church filled with the Spirit, close to Jesus and ready to minister to the Lord out of the overflow of our hearts

o because God desires us not to be spectators in worship but fully active participants.

3) WORSHIP IS MORE SPIRITUAL THAN WE REALISE AND GENUINE WORSHIP CAUSES GOD TO MOVE IN POWER.

Did you know that when we worship, God meets us in our praises and begins to work in our midst?

Remember I said it’s not just holy karaoke? When we worship, God is in the room!

Psalm 22:3 says – Yet you are holy, you are enthroned on the praises of your people.

… Another translations says ‘you inhabit the praises of your people.’

- In other words, what we are reading here is that when we worship, God’s presence begins to dwell in our midst. And when we praise, God comes right into the centre of His people!

- Listen, we should all know that God is everywhere, He is omnipresent.

- Despite this, the world we live in shows that many people aren’t aware of Him.

- This can even sometimes be the case for us!

- However, there’s something so special about worship.

- You see, when we worship, when we fix our eyes on Him. When we enthrone Him, we begin to experience the presence of God.

- Listen we don’t live by feelings, we live by faith

- But, when we lift up our praises to Him from a genuine heart, the Bible says He inhabits the praises of His people, and we begin to sense him in a much deeper way.

- It’s not just emotive goosebumps, it’s the presence of God, and when He is in our midst, things begin to happen.

We see this in scripture:

In Acts 4, we read of the early church gathering together in prayer. As they pray, the place begins to shake, and the Holy Spirit emboldens them in the midst of the persecution that they are facing.

In Acts 16 Paul and Silas, who were in prison, began to sing.

- Instead of allowing their circumstances to affect their disposition (which we often do) they made the decision to worship.

- Then, at midnight, due to their prayers and praise, something incredible happened. A great earthquake shook the prison, the prison door swung open, and every chain fell off every prisoner inside.

- Listen, I’m not saying when we sing, God becomes our genie.

- But what I am saying is that when we worship with a pure heart, the God who is the Lord of all, the One seated far above all powers and principalities in the heavens, responds to our praises by sending His presence and power into our midst.

- If you are hurting… Worship

- If you are bound and need freedom… Worship.

- If you don’t see a way out of your current situation… Worship

- And if you’ve lost sight of who God is in the middle of your pain… Worship…

- You see, when we worship, the Bible tells us that God’s power is released, our prayers are answered and His kingdom is established on earth.

- Let us be known as a worshipping Church.

4) PRAISE AND WORSHIP PRODUCES COLLATERAL DAMAGE

- The beauty of worship is that it doesn’t just impact ourselves!

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- Acts 16 - Paul and Silas weren’t the only ones who benefitted from their worship to the Lord that night.

- Their praise produced collateral damage!

- As Paul and Silas sang, it wasn’t only their chains that fell to the floor but the chains of every prisoner.

- It didn’t matter that the prisoners were not engaged in praise to God; the fact that they were caught in the atmosphere of worship allowed them to partake in the miracle to come.

- When we gather together to worship, we must recognise that our worship can bring hope, freedom and breakthrough to the lives of those around us.

- So in the middle of our worship time, I want to hear more people pray out and give their thanks to God (you’re not just praying for yourself.) And when you sing out, you’re not just singing for yourself!

- Each of us have a responsibility to recognise that worship isn’t just the responsibility of the band, but also for each and every one of us, because we are all ministers unto the Lord (Royal Priesthood)

THREE BARRIERS TO CORPORATE AND PERSONAL WORSHIP…

1) A MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE GOSPEL..

If we are to worship God like the early church through both the songs we sing and through the obedience of our lives, we must have a firm grasp on the Gospel and God’s love for us:

And at the core of understanding the Gospel, is understanding that we are right before God not based on what we’ve done, but because of what Christ has done for us.

You’ll always struggle to worship freely if you deem yourself unworthy.

Christ died to make us right with God.

Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need"

It’s so important for us to have a firm grasp of the Gospel and keep the work of Jesus ever before us.

BREAKING BREAD

- And this is what the early church did!

- If we look back at Acts 2:42-47 we see that the family of God broke bread together daily.

- They determined that despite their circumstances, despite their feelings and despite what distractions came their way, they would keep their focus sharply on the Lord, thanking God and reminding themselves often of all He had done for them.

This is one of the special things about us taking communion weekly here at church – we aren’t doing it out of habit or ritual - we are doing it to follow the commandment of Jesus and keep the Gospel ever before us

– to remind ourselves of all Jesus has done for us and thank Him appropriately.

And as we do that, and we recognise we are saved by grace alone, and we can approach His throne of grace boldly, it will allow us to worship with our whole heart.

2) A LACK OF EXPECTANCY CAN OFTEN BE A BARRIER TO WORSHIP

- We should come into God’s presence with an expectancy to meet with Him and be changed.

- I’ve said this before, but I wonder if we can get to a place where every Sunday we are so expectant to meet with the living God, that we determine in our hearts that we won’t leave the same as how we came in.

- Let’s have that expectancy in our heart each and every Sunday!

- An expectancy to meet with God and be transformed, from glory to glory!

- 2 Chronicles 16:9.. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

- God is searching the earth for worshippers who He can strengthen. As we worship, let us be expectant that He will strengthen us by His Holy Spirit.

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3) A LACK OF AWE IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES CAN OFTEN BE A BARRIER TO WORSHIP

- I want to read a quote to you from Robert Farrar Capon, from his book ‘The Astonished Heart’:

“The most critical issue facing Christians is not abortion, pornography, the disintegration of the family, moral absolutes, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or school prayer. The critical issue today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer good news; it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life changing, it is life enhancing. Jesus doesn’t change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore; He changes them into ‘nice people’.

What happened to radical Christianity, the un-nice brand of Christianity that turned the world upside-down? What happened to the category-smashing, life-threatening, anti-institutional gospel that spread through the first century like wildfire and was considered (by those in power) dangerous? What happened to the kind of Christians whose hearts were on fire, who had no fear, who spoke the truth no matter what the consequence, who made the world uncomfortable, who were willing to follow Jesus wherever He went?…

I’m ready for a Christianity that “ruins” my life, that captures my heart and makes me uncomfortable… I want a faith that is considered ‘dangerous’ by our predictable and monotonous culture.”

He said: The critical issue for Christian’s today is dullness. The critical issue for Christian’s is that we’ve lost our astonishment in the Gospel.

I wonder if there’s anyone here that desires to be awestruck by God and the Gospel again.

In Matthew 15:8 …. Jesus tells the Pharisee’s, YOU WORSHIP ME WITH YOUR LIPS BUT YOUR HEARTS ARE FAR FROM ME…

Are you singing the songs and worshipping with your lips, but your heart is far from God? Does it need to be set on fire again?

If we desire to be a worshipping Church… If we desire to be a worshipping people, we need our hearts set on fire and astonished by the goodness of God once again.