FC - TUESDAY MORNING

THE GREAT RESPONSE

Main Idea: The greatest response, the only appropriate response to Gods Presence, is worship, worship is giving God what he deserves, and thats your whole self.

GAME:

INTRO TO THEME

Question: What do you guys think about when you hear the term worship? What comes to mind?

Typical response is singing.

You might here giving money.

However worship is not just singing or giving fancy paper to the church.

It is not just going to church and praying.

Though these are forms of worship.

However, the idea of worship is so much more than just checking boxes of doing works.

Worship is giving God what he deserves.

Giving God his due.

So.… what is God due, what do you owe him.

Well.… Everything you are and everything you have.

This requires you to have a RELATIONSHIP with him.

Your worship is going to be incomplete unless you have that relationship with God.

Unless you respond to the Gospel and give Jesus control of your life by faith.

You can do all the religious acts of worship:

singing

attending church

praying

and yet still not have that relationship that God desires to have with you.

Without Jesus you will not be able to give yourself truly to God, and worship God the way he desires.

But, once you give Jesus control of your life by faith, the Holy Spirit will come to live in you and make this possible.

This does not mean your worship will be perfect, because none are good and we will all fall short....

But you’ll get better and better as you live with the Holy Spirit and God transforms you into the image of his son Jesus.

Fortunately, you are going to hear the Gospel of Jesus several times this week

from men that are much better at articulating it than me.

You are also going to have a chance to respond to the Gospel by giving Jesus control of your life by faith.

We hope you guys respond to the Good news of Jesus and submit to him.

Lesson:

So, the Main Idea or Theme of this study is:

The Greatest Response = Worship

the only appropriate response to Gods Presence, is worship, worship is giving God what he deserves, and that's your whole self.

In this lesson we are going to take a look at some stories of people who responded to God, THE GOAT, with worship.

Some lived before Jesus and some after.

BUT they all responded to God appropriately with his presence in their lives.

The first one is about Moses.

Moses (humility)

Turn to Exodus 3:1-6

So we are going to be telling a story about Moses.

Moses is an Old Testament figure, and was an Israelite from the tribe of Levi.

Born during the enslavement of the sons of Israel in Egypt.

As most of you know his mother hid him in a basket so he wouldnt be killed by the pharoah.

The pharaohs daughter finds Moses as raises him as her own.

When Moses grows up he later kills one of the Egyptian slavedriver for abusing an Israelite.

After doing so he flees into the wilderness and starts a new life.

THIS STORY takes place after Moses had been away from Egypt for a long time.

So now starting in Exodus 3:1–6 “Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”

As soon as Moses understood that he was in the presence of God, he hid his face.

He knew he didn’t deserve to be in God’s presence, but he didn’t run, and he didn’t hide.

God had spoken to him, and Moses had too much respect for God to pretend he hadn’t heard Him speak.

Moses was afraid—rightly so because God is all-powerful and judges correctly—but he stayed and listened to what God had to say because he knew God

deserved his attention.

Moses simply made it clear that he did not consider himself to be God’s equal.

Moses was humble before God.

Moses gave God his full attention, and was hid his face from him showing his humility.

God is so much greater, so much bigger than any of us.

When God tries to speak with us, we should listen with the same kind of humility Moses showed.

Isaiah (honesty)

Now turn to Isaiah 6:1-7

So Isaiah was a major Old Testament figure.

He was a prophet, with his prophet calling happening around 740BC, before Christ.

Isaiah as a prophet was known for confronting the political elite at the time, and would confront the wealthy powerful leaders for ignoring their responsibility.

Wish someone today would do that in our society but oh well..…

Lets read Isaiah 6:1–7

This is a vision Isaiah the prophet had:

“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.””

So in this vision Isaiah experiences God’s presence.

When he does, he has a similar reaction to Moses

He thinks: Oh no, I am in the presence of the GOAT, the holiest God and I am a filthy sinner.

In this moment Isaiah shows his honesty.

He is open about his sin without trying any excuses.

He confessed his sin and admitted that he deserved punishment.

God responded by forgiving Isaiah of his sin.

Our culture today makes excuses for our sin, it tells us we can deside what is right and wrong based on our own feelings and circumstances, but we can’t.

God ALONE is wise and good and can make the rules.

No excuse can change the fact that we deserve the ultimate punishment for our sins.

BUT, if we respond to Gods presence like Isaiah did, and admit our sinful nature, and our need for a Savior.

God forgives us through Jesus and puts us on a new path.

Now lets look at Paul (point to Paul lol)

Turn to ACTS 9:1-9

Paul (obedience)

Paul is a New Testament figure:

Before Paul was a Jesus loving Christian he was called Saul.

As Saul he was considered to be a rising star among the wicked Jewish leaders of the day.

He was a Pharisee, a Jew who persecuted followers of Jesus for insisting that only Jesus was the true Way to God.

This story is about the day Paul (Saul in this story) set out to persecute Christians, and met Jesus instead.

Acts 9:1–9

“Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

Paul (Saul here) responded to God’s presence with obedience.

Paul had an encounter with Jesus, and believed Jesus was telling the truth and should be obeyed.

Paul would go on to serve Jesus and become one of the most impactful new testament figures.

Paul goes from killing Christians to being saved by faith and going on to write 13 of our new testament books.

Obeying Jesus leads to incredible transformations in our lives.

Woman with the Jar of Perfume (Passion)

Turn to Mark 14:3-9

During his ministry, Jesus had 12 apostles, but many many disciples that loved and followed him.

This story is about one of those many disciples.

Mark 14:3–9

“While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. “She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.””

So in this story Jesus is about to be arrested and crucified.

He is eating a meal with the disciples, and this woman comes up and pours this expensive perfume on his head.

If a girl did that to me I would think she was trying to pour acid on me....

but Jesus knew is was perfume, and an extravagant act of worship.

This jar of perfume was hard to get in those days, expensive, and would have supported her financially for a long time if she sold it.

But she didn’t care, this woman wanted to show Jesus that he meant everything to her, so she gave him everything she hd.

In response, Jesus promised she would be remembered for it, and obviously we are talking about it, so she was.

Our culture in America teaches us to put ourselves first.

To focus on college, on our careers, or our bank accounts more than we focus on God and his desires.

But, like this woman and her expensive perfume, we need to allow God to lead us to love him with whatever we have.

We owe it to him to follow through, and worship him in whatever way we can.

Now moving on to Zaccheus, turn to Luke 19:1-10

Zaccheus (repentance)

Zaccheus is a new testament figure.

A Jewish man who worked for the Roman government oppressing his own people.

He was a tax collector, a grimy little jewish IRS agent who hated his own people.

This story is about the time Jesus came to his town for a visit.

Luke 19:1–10 “He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.””

So, Zaccheus was only curious about Jesus, but Jesus already knew all about him.

Jesus reaches out to him, which the religious jews were offended by because he was a sinner.

Zaccheus responds to Jesus’ mercy and grace immediately.

Zaccheus turns his whole life around and repents on the spot.

Many many people who claim to be Christians today do not have this response.

Our culture tells us its okay to add Jesus to your belief system without having a transformation, a change in your life.

You can just put a cross in your bio, or on a necklace around your neck but still live the same as before you accepted Jesus.

But that is a lie from HELL.

Faith in Jesus isn’t saving faith until it brings about change in you.

James 2:26 “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

You will have a change in your behaviors when you truly place your faith in Christ.

You are no longer the old you, you have a new way to live.

We worship God by letting God call the shots in our lives, no matter the cost.

And we know it is worth it because we know Jesus.

Conclusion

So, there is a lot of overlap in these stories, many of these people show similar worshipful responses to God in their lives.

This week, we are hoping you have a similar worshipful response to God in your lives.

We hope you are transformed more into an image of Christ.

Our leaders are all here to answer any questions you guys have so dont hesitate to ask us.

We love you guys and discussing our faith is our favorite thing to do so dont be shy, we look forward to those conversations.

NOW we are going to move into small group time........

Small Group Discussion

1. Which of the stories we just discussed stood out to you most? Why?

2. Which of the worshipful responses to God’s presence that we just discussed do you need to work on most:

humility, honesty, obedience, passion, or repentance? Explain.

3. What do you think God is saying to you so far today? How do you plan to respond?

4. Spend time praying for the members of your group in whatever way works best for you. :