Worship is…?

Welcome

Hello, everyone! I’m glad you guys are here! My name is Andrew Augustine, and I’m the associate pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Gas City, Indiana. I want to tell a little bit about me before we get started here. I was born into a pastor’s family, I’m the second oldest of 6 kids. I’m married to my best friend, Clara who is here today! My hobbies are mostly sports related. I love sports, hockey, football, baseball, all of them. I love movies, all kinds, I have a podcast with my buddy all about movies. It’s a lot of fun to do! I love music as well, from Ed Sheeran to The Beatles, all of it. I love worship music too, in fact, I have a worship group called the En Gedi Initiative, so worship is something I am very passionate about. This conference is right down my alley! But I’m so glad you all are here!

While trying to think about what to talk about, I tried to put myself in your shoes. High school aged and just wondering about worship and wanting to go deeper in my relationship with Jesus. What would I have wanted to hear about at a conference about worship… Well… I would want to know what exactly worship is! So today, we’re going to talk about three different things worship is…

In our modern, cultural mindset inside the evangelical church, we often think of worship as the three or four songs we sing before the pastor gets up and preaches. Right? We say things like ‘lets stand up and worship the Lord together’ or ‘lets start our time together through a time of worship’ and while that is true, we should think of our time singing IS a time of worship, that is not the only thing that’s worship.

Worship is More than a Song

And that is our first point here… that worship is more than a song. Worship is actually, a lifestyle… I know that sounds funny. But it’s true. Worship is a lifestyle, it’s a mindset that, like the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 10:31

1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

WhatEVER we do, should glorify God… and that is why we worship, yeah? To glorify God. That’s the point; but worship is more than a song. But that is what we’re going to focus on to we’re going to focus on worship through song. And first off, worship is surrender.

Worship is Surrender

Have you ever made a trade with someone? Maybe it was a trade with your friend for a snack, like, “I’ll give you might fruit snack for a pudding cup” or maybe with your parents where it’s like ‘you clean the bathroom, and you can play video games for an hour” or something like that… how many of you can think of a trade like that? well, back in the day, I used to LOVE Legos, I mean… I still love Legos, but that is besides the point, but I loved Lego’s in middle school, and I used to have this friend and he and I used to trade Legos back and forth, and I used to take advantage of this guy. He would find a Lego figure that I had, that I literally made from scratch and i traded Him for this super dope, all white Mandalorian mini-figure that was worth probably 50-60 bucks… But then he tried to trade it back, but when we started trading we had told each other… all sales were final…

Have you ever found yourself surrendering something and calling no take backs? Let’s talk about what it means to fully surrender to Christ in worship! Romans 12:1-2 says…

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

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. 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.

So what does this mean for us today?

It means a couple things… 1st we need to take stock of, when we’re participating in worship… what comes to your mind most often? What comes to your mind when you think of worship? Unfortunately, for most of us, when we think of worship we think of the music… We think of the guitar parts, the piano and how they just played a wrong note, or how the vocalist sounds a little sick today and they’re not hitting those high notes how they usually do… but see when we enter into this space of worship, it’s so much more than that… far deeper than that. When we enter into this space, we’re entering into this place where we can meet with Jesus.

What is surrender? Surrender is the idea of letting go fully to something. In war time, an army would surrender if they felt like they had no chance against the other army, right? You surrender to a stronger force. You give up. Have you ever gone kayaking? I did a couple months ago and my kayak was TERRIBLEEEEE. I would paddle like you were supposed to right, but the kayak kept wanting to go to the left… even when I paddled like crazy to go to the right, it would still go left… and every now and then I would just give up, surrender to the kayak and let it spin in a full circle till I got to where I needed to be… I surrendered.

That is what worship is… surrendering to God… giving up control of your life… and letting Jesus in and letting Him change their hearts, minds, souls… their life… But… I know lots of people who have trouble worshiping and when they tell me that they do… i ask why do you think that? And more often then not… it’s because they don’t realize they need to give up control, or because they realize they need to and refuse to surrender to God. Some people are just divided… They want the world and they want Jesus. And you can’t live that way… and certainly can’t worship that way… Matthew 6:24

Matthew 6:24 ESV

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

And yes that is talking about money… but it’s also talking about everything else in life… you can’t serve two masters… you either serve God… or you serve something else… whether its people, self, sin… whatever it is… you serve it…

The problem IS… that worship is surrendering your life to Jesus… Isaiah 29:13 says

Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)

And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips,

while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

Do you understand yet…? You can come to church but until you completely surrender your heart toJesus… you can’t worship Him fully. Until you give Him all of you…you can’t worship Him right.

I remember growing up, I told you I was a pastors kid… Right? Well, for me, church was just something I did. I just went, never experiencing a true worship moment or worship God with my own heart. Just going through the motions… but when I was about 18, my family and I went to family camp, and they had this evening worship session every night at 10 o’clock. Well, my parents usually tried to go to that and I decided to tag along there. And when I got there… My world was changed… it was in that moment that I surrendered, not just my life to Him, but my heart. See, I had this sin that I had been struggling with and I refused to let God into that part of my life… I had given probably 99.7 percent of my heart… but that .3 percent… I was too embarrassed to show Christ that… but that night, I gave Him that last three percent. And I experienced Christ’s presence to a whole nother level that night.

• Bottom Line: Worship is more than a song — it’s surrender.

So… it’s good enough to talk about surrender… but how do we apply this in our lives. If we look back at Romans 12:1-2, we can see a clear guide on how to worship.

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

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. 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.

Application: Don’t conform; be transformed.

Don’t join into the things of this world… The word conform means to “comply with rules, standards, or laws.” So when Paul says do not conform to this world, he means don’t surrender to the things of the world. Don’t conform to social media, drugs and alcohol, comparison, lust, lying, whatever the world is into, be the opposite. Don’t worship celebs, don’t listen to explicit music, don’t wear skimpy clothes… as Christians we are called to be different… not conformed, but transformed!

When you conform, you surrender to the world… but when you are transformed… you surrender to the ways of God. Take a look at someone who is truly living for Christ… what they watch, wear, say, do…most of the time that stuff is in stark contrast to how the world lives… I live super close to Taylor University, and sometimes Clara and I will walk around campus and it is SO surprising how many students look like the students you would find at the University of Michigan or Ohio State or Alabama… It’s unreal! This is a Christian campus with so called Christian students, but the guys and the girls act, and speak, and dress just like the world. It is unreal. And if what this verse says is true… we are to be transformed… not conformed. To live a surrendered life to Christ and to be worshiping Him alone…

Worship will and should transforms us to image of God and bends us to know His will for our lives. If you are struggling to find your way in the world, start by trying to live counter to the culture… Try and worship the Lord, surrender your life and will to His. It will change your life…

Worship is also a weapon.

Worship is a Weapon

I play a lot of video games, I’m a big sports video game, but my younger brother and young brother-in-law, recently got me into Fortnite… I’m a big Marvel Nerd so when my brother told me that Fortnite had a Gambit skin, I was in. But the thing about fortnite is that you can land, get some SUPER good loot, really good weapons with good levels and damage and fire rate but sometimes I just lose so quickly. Or, I’m hitting the guy over and over and he hits me twice and I’m gone?? Or if I’m playing MLB the Show, right, baseball. And I get great contact on the ball and I just keep getting out over and over. The same is true for us…

We’re in a battle here on earth, not against people, but against the enemy, the forces of evil… We continue to try and fight it ourselves, but we’re just trying the same thing over and over again, hoping for a different result instead of using the weapon that will work best. Worship is our weapon.

In 2nd Chronicles we read the story of Jehoshaphat going out to war against the Moabites and the Ammonites. But he was afraid, in the first 4 verses of chapter 20 it says…

2 Chronicles 20:1–4 (ESV)

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat,

“A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi).

Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

See, he was afraid to go out against these guys… but, instead of being afraid, what does it say he did? He sought the Lord… the best thing we can do when we’re afraid, is go out and praise God. So Jehoshaphat goes and prays and then the Holy Spirit descends on some of the people there and they begin to speak, let’s jump to verse 15…

2 Chronicles 20:15–17 (NIV)

He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them.

They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem.

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ ”

So the Lord says that they won’t need to fight… because God will fight for them… The Lord will fight for them if they stand firm and surrender their right to fight… That’s crazy! So what they do is they, as soon as they hear this, Jehoshaphat and all of Jerusalem and Judah bow down to the Lord and begin to worship… Then early in the morning they head out to the wilderness… and verses 21-23 says…

2 Chronicles 20:21–23 (NIV)

After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

They go into battle praising the Lord, worshiping Him and the Lord fights for them. Isn’t that such a cool thing? That when you focus your energy on the Lord, on the one who made you and loves you and wants to fight for you, that He will fight for you!

Jehosaphat, sent, instead of the army and the strong fighters and burley guys, send out His worship team. His musicians. That is the equivalent to sending out your marching band to play in the National championship football game. These guys were musicians, probably not the strongest guys. But there they were… ready, willing, and able to worship the Lord in the midst of the scary circumstances.

He understood that when faces against an enemy too great, our earthly weapons can’t win. He knew that this army was too great to face on His own, but he still went out, he sent his musicians out there, and they could have been slaughtered, but they had faith in God to come through, and they knew that He would fight for them… they need only be still…

So… what does this mean for us today?

So what does this mean for us today?

It means a couple of things… one… when we’re faced with sin… our flesh, our own self-control, it can’t win. We need the Lord to go before us and He WILL fight our battles for us. We need to surrender up our want and our will to fight it ourselves and let God do what He does so well and fight for us…

Flip over to John 6:16-21

John 6:16–21 (NIV)

When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.

A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened.

But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

A lot of the time when we’re in the middle of battles, it’s hard to keep our focus on God. We can get distracted by the waves of despair or frustration or anger or pride and we forget that Jesus has it all under control, we just need to keep our eyes on Jesus and praise Him through it.

There is a song by Casting Crowns called “Praise you in This Storm.” The chorus goes “And I'll praise You in this storm; And I will lift my hands; For You are who You are; No matter where I am; And every tear I've cried; You hold in Your hand; You never left my side; And though my heart is torn; I will praise You in this storm”

When we’re in the middle of it. The whole world is crumbling around us, we should continue to praise Jesus because when know when we are weak and we praise Jesus and cry out to Him, He will fight on our behalf.

Collide: How do we apply this in our lives?

Next time you enter into worship and you have a heavy battle going on in your soul and in your life, learn to focus on Jesus during worship. Maybe even now your heart is heavy with a future decision, a sickness a family member is fighting, depression, anxiety, insecurity, some sin in your heart you haven’t repented from yet… whatever your facing, remember this… The Lord is saying to you: “You don’t have to fight this, I can and will fight for you.” Just let me.

This can be as simple as when you you get into the car you throw on some worship music and jam out, surrender to the Lord.

I’m going to give you about a minute or two to think about this question… What is a battle in your life that is too big for you to fight? (Wait two minutes.)

And now… Remember worship is a weapon. Next time we enter a worship space… focus on Christ. Leave that battle at the door and let Him fight it for you. He wants to and will… You just have to give it to Him.

Finally, worship brings freedom.

Worship Brings Freedom

Have you ever felt trapped in a situation that you couldn’t get out of? Something that seems so unbelievably hard and impossible? What happened? When I think of something like this, my mind is drawn to a movie made in the 70s called Star Wars…

If any of you haven’t seen it, I’ll tell you what I mean… Star Wars is a classic good vs evil movie, where the evil is so powerful and heavy that it seems almost impossible that good will over come it… but… it does. Thanks to some lucky things, like R2-D2 just happening to find Luke Skywalker, and Luke just happened to be Force sensitive and Luke just happening to be able to fly a X-Wing… but eventually… Luke teams up with what is called the Rebel Alliance… the resistance to the dark, evil, Empire… The Rebel’s seem to be overmatched, out manned, our gunned, out-everything… but they have heart, they have Luke Skywalker, and they have the Millennium Falcon and Han Solo… and then, when it seems all hope is lost… Han Solo and Luke Skywalker fly in and blow up the Death Star and save the day…

Something that seems so hopeless, something so unmoveable like the Empire… it changed because of one thing… Luke Skywalker…

Likewise if we flip over to Acts 16:25-26, we read this account where worship TOTALLY changed the outcome of a hopeless situation… See Paul and Silas were in jail. See, they were in Macedonia, preaching and teaching, and they met a slave girl who was telling fortunes via witchcraft and Paul pushed the spirit that was inhabiting this girl out.

So her owner was mad, because now they couldn’t earn money! So they had Paul and Silas thrown in jail, and while they were in their we read…

Acts 16:25–26 (ESV)

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

See, Paul and Silas saw their situation, and instead of freaking out about it, which would have been easy to do, they worshiped the Lord. They saw the mountain, and praised the mountain mover, and the Lord freed them.

Isn’t that awesome?? You’re like… that’s awesome… but what does that have to do with me? I will never been thrown in prison. i won’t ever be pushed like that… and while that may be true… there are a couple things we can see from this… first. When faced with obstacles in ministry or just in life… We can turn to joy and worship.

Paul and Silas were worshiping in their spirit. Just believing in their circumstances God should be glorified. Even in jail, they knew that their situation could be changed just by their attitude. Knowing that God should be glorified in everything, even in jail, and yet… God saw this and decided to free they physically as well as spiritually. They were willing to push past the awkwardness, push past the hardness of their situation, push past what other thought of them and worship.

Sometimes we need to be willing to be awkward as well! We have to be willing to, no matter what, in our situations and worship to be true to our worship and not care what people think of us…

Do you think the other prisoners though Paul and Silas as odd or weird? PROBABLY! They were in stinking jail and they sang! I think if we saw someone in the middle of a HUGE issue… and they were just like… “Well, praise the Lord!” We’d be like… bro that is the largest hunk of crap ever… Right?? That just doesn’t seem realistic… but… what if we all were that way?

Forgetting the outside noise, pressure, anger, irritation, all of it and just began to worship the Lord. We would make the world question what was wrong with us… and maybe show them a little bit of God through it… and even if it doesn’t… we will still glorify God… And that’s what matters… Because he deserves it. There is a song called “Worthy of my Song…” And it’s a song all about how Jesus is worthy of our worship. And that it doesn’t matter our outside circumstances, he is and will continue to be worthy of our worship.

The Bridge goes like this “And in the blessing, in the pain, You are worthy; Whether You say yes or no or wait, You are worthy; Through it all, I choose to say, "You are worthy"; I'll never stop singing Your praise; No, I'll never stop singing Your praise”

We have to be willing to do the same thing Paul and Silas did while in prison.. Why? Because God deserves our worship no matter what. No matter the circumstances, no matter what is going on… Jesus deserves our worship. He created us to worship Him and that is what we should do. Through it all, worship Him. And when we do, our outlook will change on life…

Have you ever met someone who is just kinda a sour puss? They’re always complaining about the weather, their parents, homework, what have you… and you’re just like “Bro, what in the world is wrong with you? Why can’t you just be happy?” I’ve experienced that for sure… In fact, back in Illinois where I was from, in my dad’s church, there was a couple that would only ever complain… like they came to church so that they could complain… and it was TERRIBLE! Instead what they should have done was WORSHIP GOD! Come to church, leave your complaints at the door, and WORSHIP!

Yes that’s a tough mindset to keep, yes it’s a tough mindset that is SO counter to the culture we live in, but it is a mindset we are CALLED to have, because when we find ourselves stuck at rockbottom the best thing we can do is worship our Lord because he has the power and is willing to help us change our circumstances, and when we’re focused on him, everything else seems to fade away, and we’re freed from anxiety, stress, worry, depression, the chronic complaining we like to do… all of it; it’s just gone. Because freedom comes when we focus on worshipping Jesus.

Collide: How do we apply this in our lives?

Simple… focus on Jesus. In everything. Instead of being anxious about the future, worship him because Jesus knows what the future holds. Instead of complaining, worship Jesus for what is going good in your life! Change your mindset to focus on Him in everything and every way.

What does this mean for us?

Call: How do we respond to the message?

God has called us beyond conformity. We can worship in song, but God also wants for us to worship in surrender. To surrender our wants, wills, loves and to simply worship the Lord. I want us, as we continue with this conference on worship, I want you guys to focus on worship through surrender, that no matter what you’re facing, worship is a weapon against that situation and that when you lay down your wants, lay down EVERYTHING. And Worship. Make a decision to focus on Jesus in worship; not the music, not your struggles or pain, or whatever… Just focus on Jesus.

Now, I’m going to split you all up in groups of two or three and I have some questions for you guys to talk through for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Let’s pray.