Welcoming to Worship, Part 2

commitment to be a living sacrifice and to set a time to individually & corporately worship God.

A. Worship is something that is habitual and ongoing in our lives and something that is specific, intentional action (vocation/calling of every follower of Jesus)

B. Worship is something that is habitual and ongoing in our lives and something that is specific, intentional action

B. Examples in scripture:

1 Thessalonians 5:15–24 ESV

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-

1 Thessalonians 5 ESV

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Ephesians 6:18 ESV

praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Ephesians

Having been made for relationship with the Triune, Holy, Loving God, before the foundation of time, we are invited to respond to the revelation of God, through Jesus Christ.

In the Spirit of , we are invited to present our beings as a living sacrifice, a commitment of living a life of Love, for God. With this posture of surrendering our will to the way of God, God desires us to set aside times in our personal and our public life, for worship.

C. For the seeker of God and the follower alike, there exists a possible confusion and challenge:

—Confusion: worship is ONLY the intentional gatherings of the church community.

B. Confusion: worship is ONLY the intentional gatherings of the church community. Expand our terminology toward to be the ongoing life of worshipping individualsc

B. Where there is a radical disconnect, our worship is hypocrisy.

--Challenge: when there is a disconnect b/w our personal acts of worship and our community gatherings of worship. Where there is a radical disconnect, our worship is hypocrisy. While, worship is the vocation/calling of every Christian, there is abundant grace and mercy for the growth & maturing of the relationship.

—the confusion and challenge presents an opportunity. To identify and pay attention to our assumptions and practices of worship, individually and corporately; to allow God and others in our community to help shapes a wholistic, intentional, and congruent life of worship.

Worship is the vocation of every Christian.

D. Worship is the vocation of every Christian.

Leads us to the next principle.

we can also speak of worship both as a habitual part of our lives and as a specific, intentional action Expand our terminology toward to be the ongoing life of worshipping individualsc

Expand our terminology toward to be the ongoing life of worshipping individualsc

A. Passages

Isaiah 1:10–18 ESV

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Isaiah 1:10–18 ESV

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

The tone of this passage is rebuke & rejection. Rejecting when they set aside individual and corporate acts of worship.

ESVHear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

The tone of this passage is rebuke & rejection. Rejecting when they set aside individual and corporate acts of worship.

Isaiah 1:15 ESV

When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

Isaiah 1:15–16 ESV

When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,

Radical disconnection b/w this and their daily lives. Specifically

Isaiah 1:15–17 ESV

When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

God, who set up the gatherings of community, is speaking out against the gatherings.

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Examples of this furthered in Amos & Micah

Amos 5:21–24 ESV

“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

rebuking & rejecting b/c the lifestyle commitment is simply not there (not expected to have it all together, but they are not evidencing a commitment of lifestyle to the ways of God)

Habitual Life of Worship is evidenced by justice (outward expressions) of an inner reality of relationship with Jesus (righteousness)

Often we overemphasize, one over the other, when in actuality, it is both and.

The worshipper of God is not intended to further ONLY a social gospel; neither is the worshipper to further ONLY self-righteous morality. Rather, the interaction of justice and righteousness work like raging waters and everflowing streams of God’s grace and mercy.

If we need further expression of the need for a habitual life of worship, let’s turn to

Micah 6:6–8 ESV

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Justuce & mercy (how we treat others)

Humbly before our God (How we relate to God)

ESV“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Justuce & mercy (how we treat others)

Humbly before our God (How we relate to God)

Love of God, love of neighbor, that is the sum and substance of God’s requirements. Another way to say it: this is the requirement of God in worship, this is the worship God requires. These things turn out to be more important than all the sacrifices we could ever offer.

B. The same is true of the church today.

B. The same is true of the church today.’

When we gather together we do not offer sacrifices of burnt offerings, the old sacrificial system that we find in the Old Testament to be sure. But we offer our own kind of offerings; the offering of our songs, our monies in the offering basket, our gatherings for prayer, our listening to the Word of God.

C. Intentional actions of worship are to be expressions of the inner reality.

C. Intentional actions of worship are to be tokens of the inner reality.

like singing praises and praying and making offerings, are to be expressions of the deeper reality. They are the outward expressions, to use the language of a sacrament, of a deeper inner spiritual reality.

D. Hypocritical and unacceptable worship

When we have merely the form but not the substance, or the show or the symbol or the expression, but not the reality behind the expression, that is hypocrisy. That is unacceptable worship. So, principles two and three are all about the idea that worship can be spoken of both as corporate communal activity and individual intentional activity and the idea that the worship that God requires most is that lifestyle commitment to worship.

this is why I will continue to speak against the unholy marriage b/w the church and political parties (it’s done on both sides of the aisle and it’s wrong) It creates a conflict of interest and attention of worship. Sovereignty and allegiance —maybe

this is why I will continue to speak against the unholy marriage b/w the church and political parties (it’s done on both sides of the aisle and it’s wrong) It creates a conflict of interest and attention of worship. Sovereignty and allegiance

Sovereignty and allegiance

When others begin to witness the integration of personal and social holiness; we become whole-hearted worshippers. This is where we witness a movement into the 4th principle of worship

is it possible that when we gather we expect certain things to happen? It assumes that the relationship has been nurtured in the meantime.

ex: imagine if a couple wants to go out for a regular date night. But what happens if that is the only time the couple has a meaningful time of connecting and nurturing the relationship.

ex: imagine a couple that goes out on regular date nights. That is a special time away, to be, but they have had coffee together, they have gone on walks, they have worked on projects, then cook together, they actively involved in the life of their kids, etc...

A. Explanation

Here is how Dr. Parrett expoounds this principle:

“We could explain our meaning this way – when we gather together for intentional actions of worship it is not that suddenly we become worshipers at the point of gathering. We have been worshipers throughout the week. We have worshiped on our job; we have worshiped at school. We have worshiped in homes; we have worshiped in our community. We have worshiped as citizens by doing justice and loving mercy and walking humbly with God.”

“Then, we gather together on the Lord’s Day for a celebration and intentional actions of worship. But there is nothing about that celebration that transforms us magically into worshipers. There are no magic doors hung at the back of the sanctuary that suddenly transform us as we walk through them, from a non-worshiper into a worshiper for an hour or an hour and a half, and as we walk back through those doors we are zapped again and become non-worshipers as we go on in our way and do our own thing.

No, no magic doors at the back of the church. We are worshipers out in the world and as worshipers we gather together. I have been worshiping God in my community, on my job, in my home, in my neighborhood, in my particular context. Then I join you and my other neighbor and my other sister and that neighbor and that brother and we come together and we have a wonderful opportunity to worship God now as a body.

In some ways we have already been worshiping God as a body by the church in its dispersed form. The church is scattered to work in the world, being salt in the earth throughout the week, and now we have gathered and we are doing this intentionally and corporately with our specific actions of worship.”

B. Because we have worshiped God as individuals, the gathering of worshipers is richer.

something beautiful and powerful happens. As the Lord says in the Scriptures, He inhabits the praises of His people, and where two or three gather in His name, He is there in a special way. Because I bring my worship experience and you bring yours, worship in the big picture – justice, mercy, humility before God – the celebration is rich and powerful.

C. Because we have worshiped with the body of Christ, we become better worshipers as individuals.

When we leave that worship gathering and go back into our worlds, we are strengthened to be better worshipers in the world that we return to or the settings that we return to. So, worshipers as we come in, worshipers while we are there, worshipers while we go out, better worshipers because we have been together.

D. Emphasis of corporate worship is on the clarity of the revelation.

ex: imagine if a couple wants to go out for a regular date night. But what happens if that is the only time the couple has a meaningful time of connecting and nurturing the relationship.

ex: imagine a couple that goes out on regular date nights. That is a special time away, to be, but they have had coffee together, they have gone on walks, they have worked on projects, then cook together, they actively involved in the life of their kids, etc...

D. Emphasis of corporate worship is on the clarity of the revelation.

So we gather together and the revelation of God is clarified by our gathering. That is the focus of our gathering. Then, when we go out from there, we can do that most God-pleasing response, offer our bodies as living sacrifices to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly in our daily experience. But again, both should feed off of and, inform, feed into the other. This is the 4th principle.

In light of this sermon on worship, how is God inviting you to interact, dialogue, converse, and respond?

Principle 2 inspired response

Principle 3 inspired response

Principle 4 inspired response

Why I continue to invite you to gather with the community of faith. Why I have been talking about prayer and spiritual formation for the past 6 months

Gatherings

This is why I want us to listen and ask and doubt and question; to seek and discover the mystery of God at work in our life. What kind of conversations can you have this week around the topic of Worship, as I have shared around this morning?

Projects

Social Action

On Mission: Family, Work, Community/Justice, World

Last week we engaged scriptures around the topic of worship. Pastor Bryan invited those present to open themselves up, to welcome with their heart and mind, to an expanded experience of worship in their life; to consider the possibility that their whole life can be an act of worship.

In light of the myriad of stories that exist in scripture expressing the revelation of the Holy, Loving Triune God to His image bearers, how has God been inviting you to respond?

This week Pastor Bryan will further the topic of worship around the following principle: How we worship in community is best understood as a whole-hearted expression of an inner reality of a relationship with God.

Hope you can join us for worship at 10:00 AM.

Welcoming to Worship, Part 2

Principle 2

Worship is Something that we do both individually and in community

Principle 3

Habitual Life of Worship is more important than our Acts of worship in religious settings

Habitual LifeStyle Worship is more important than our intentional actions of worship in religious settings

This is the fundamental worship that God wants first and foremost; justice and mercy as a lifestyle commitment toward our neighbors and humility in our walk before God.—Dr. Gary Parrett

Principle #4

Habitual life of worship and intentional congregational worship inform and strengthen one another.

Habitual life of Worship and intentional congregational worship inform and strengthen one another.

Moving from Revelation into Response: