Worship is War

THE SETUP (your words):"That song—'God So Loved'—is an invitation. An invitation to come to God, to be loved, to be known. And if you're here today and you've heard that invitation a thousand times... you might have dismissed it. Not because it's not true, but because somewhere along the way, someone—maybe a parent, maybe a pastor, maybe just life—told you what God is like. And it didn't match the invitation.

The next song is called 'Good Good Father.' And in it, the writer says: 'I've heard a thousand stories of what they think you're like.'

But what if those stories are wrong?

Listen to this from Psalm 27:10—"

VERSE: Psalm 27:10"Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me."

BRIDGE WORDS:"Every false image of God—every lie about who He is—can be replaced. Because here's the truth: God is love. (1 John 4:8 “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” )

Not love-like. Not sometimes. God is love. That's not what He does; that's who He is.

So as we sing 'Good Good Father,' I want you to ask yourself: What false story have I believed about God? What image do I need to let go of? And then listen—really listen—to what the Father actually says about Himself in this song."

THEN: Worship team plays "Good Good Father"

MAIN TEACHING

After "Good Good Father" → Before "How Deep the Father's Love"

LENGTH: 10-15 minutes MOVEMENT: Gravity of Sin → Cost to the Father → Father's Response ANCHORS: 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24

PART A: THE GRAVITY OF SIN (4-5 min)

OPENING:Grab slide or core idea from Ryan about worship being war.Put that content here. Brief history on the song/author and bridge it into the next portion of teaching below

”We're going to go deeper now. Because to understand how great the Father's love is, we have to understand what it cost Him. And to understand that, we need to be honest about sin—not in a condemning way, but in a real way.

See, we're really good at talking about sin as a behavior problem. 'I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have done that.' But the real issue runs deeper.

Let me ask you to reflect on this:

Self-Deception:How many of us have convinced ourselves that we're fine? That we don't really need the Father that badly? That we can manage on our own? We tell ourselves a story about who we are and what we're capable of, and we believe it so completely that we stop asking God the hard questions. We suppress our emotions because that might be an indicator that we really are fine.

Control:How many of us are still running our own show? Making our own plans, setting our own pace, and then asking God to bless what we've already decided? We want Him to rubber-stamp our agenda, not transform our hearts.

Pride:Pride whispers: 'You've got this. You don't need help. You're stronger than you think. You can earn your way. You can fix this yourself.' And we believe it. We build our lives on the scaffolding of our own strength instead of His.

Broken Intimacy:And underneath all of it—the deepest wound—is that we've stopped abiding. We don't spend time with the Father anymore. We're not in relationship with Him. We're functional atheists living Christian lives. We've forgotten what it feels like to just be with Him.

These aren't just behaviors. These are postures. These are ways we've turned away from the Father. And here's the thing: Each one of these breaks the Father's heart.

Because the Father didn't create you to live in self-deception. He didn't create you to be a control freak. He didn't create you to earn your worth. He created you for intimacy with Him.

And when we choose anything else—anything less—we're choosing separation. We're choosing death over life. That's what sin is."

PAUSE. Let that land.

THE COST TO THE FATHER (3-4 min)

TRANSITION:"So the Father looks at this. He sees His beloved creation—you—locked in self-deception, grasping for control, drowning in pride, starving for intimacy with Him. And He doesn't respond with anger or abandonment. He responds with love. But that love comes at a cost.

Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:21—"

VERSE: 2 Corinthians 5:21"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

"Jesus—who had never sinned, who was incapable of sin, who was pure and spotless—God made Him to be sin. On the cross, Jesus didn't just pay the penalty for your sin. He became sin. He absorbed it. He took your self-deception, your control, your pride, your broken relationship with the Father—He took it all into Himself.

That's what happened on the cross. The Father watched His sinless Son become your sin. The Father experienced the separation. The Father felt the weight of it.

And here's 1 Peter 2:24—"

1 Peter 2:24"He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

EXPOSITION:"Jesus bore it. Not just endured it—bore it. Like bearing a load. Like carrying the weight of the world. Because that's what He did.

Now, I want you to sit with this for a moment: What did it cost the Father to do this?

It cost Him His Son. Not symbolically—actually. The one He loved more than anything. The one who was eternally His. The one He sent into the world knowing what would happen. Knowing the rejection. Knowing the agony. Knowing the separation.

That's the cost. That's how much the Father was willing to give to rescue you from self-deception, control, pride, and spiritual death."

PAUSE.

THE FATHER'S RESPONSE (2-3 min)

TRANSITION:"But here's where it gets wild. Because the Father doesn't just stop at the cross. Listen to Romans 5:8—"

VERSE: Romans 5:8"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

EXPOSITION:"While we were still sinners. Not after we cleaned ourselves up. Not after we got our act together. Not after we proved we were worth it. While we were still in our self-deception. Still grasping for control. Still drowning in pride. Still refusing to abide. While we were still in that state, God sent His Son to die for us.

That's not justice. That's not even mercy. That's recklessness. That's a love that doesn't make sense by any human standard.

And here's the thing that should shake you to your core: The Father did this knowing it would cost Him everything. And He did it anyway.

Because that's who the Father is. He doesn't love you because you've earned it. He doesn't love you because you're worthy of it. He loves you while you're in the mess of it. He loves you so much that He was willing to let His Son experience the full weight of your sin so that you wouldn't have to."

FINAL TRANSITION:"So as we move into the next song—'How Deep the Father's Love'—I want you to sit with that. Not with guilt. Not with shame. But with wonder. With awe. With the reality of what that cost. And let that sink into your bones."

THEN: Worship team plays "How Deep the Father's Love"

SECOND BRIDGE

After "How Deep the Father's Love" → Before "Reckless Love"

THE SETUP (your words):"That song—'How deep the Father's love'—it's not just poetic language. It's truth. The Father's love goes deeper than your shame. Deeper than your mistakes. Deeper than the lies you've believed about yourself.

And that brings us to the final movement of this message. Because now that you've felt the weight of what the Father paid, now that you've glimpsed how deep that love is—the question becomes: What are you going to do with it?

Because there are lies you've been believing. Lies about your worth. Lies about what you have to do to earn God's love. Lies about whether you're enough. And those lies are keeping you from the intimacy, from the abiding, from the closeness with the Father that you were created for.

Listen to Romans 5:8 again—"

VERSE: Romans 5:8 (reintroduced for emphasis) "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

CONTINUE:"If God loved you while you were still sinners—if He paid that price for you then—what makes you think you have to earn His love now? What makes you think you have to be perfect? What makes you think your striving and your performing and your self-effort could ever add to what Christ already did?

Isaiah 43:4 says—"

VERSE: Isaiah 43:4"Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and... I love you..."

CONTINUE:"You are precious. Not because of what you do. Not because of how hard you try. Not because you've finally gotten it right. You're precious in God's sight. That's who you are to Him.

And Ephesians 3:17-19—Paul prays this for the church—"

VERSE: Ephesians 3:17-19 (excerpt) "...that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power... to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge..."

EXPOSITION:"Paul is saying: I want you to be so rooted in the love of Christ that you stop questioning it. That you stop earning for it. That you stop trying to deserve it. I want you to know that His love is bigger than your doubt, bigger than your shame, bigger than every lie you've believed.

So here's what we're about to do. The next song is 'Reckless Love.' And in it, there's a line: 'God, tear down every lie.'

I want you to ask the Father right now: What lie have I been listening to? Is it the lie that you have to earn God's love? That you have to keep striving? That you're not worthy? That God can't use you? That your past disqualifies you? That abiding with God is for 'spiritual people' but not for you?

Whatever lie it is—God wants to tear it down. Not because you're bad. But because you deserve the truth.

So as we sing 'Reckless Love,' I'm going to invite you: if you need to respond to that—if you need to come to the altar and let prayer partners help you process what God is saying—come. Kneel. Pray. Let the Holy Spirit do His work. Whatever you need to do to say 'yes' to the Father's love and 'no' to the lies—do it."

THEN: Worship team plays "Reckless Love" with altar open

ALTAR RESPONSE & CLOSING

Related Media

Related Sermons

Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.