THIS IS US: WORSHIP
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We Worship
We started a series a few weeks ago entitled, “THIS IS US.” It’s based off of the hit TV show that details three sybilling who stick together through the thick and thin times. They value principles that their parents taught them which enables them to maintain a loving family culture. Likewise the church has been instructed by the WORD of GOD to embrace certain principles such as UNITY, DIVERSITY, RACIAL ACCEPTANCE, and HOSPITALITY. These principles and the like help the church to maintain a loving family culture.
We are starting a new initiative based on the teaches I’ve recently done.
The new ministry will be called,
“Be The Bridge”
Can those who are associated with the organizing of this ministry come forth at this time. They will give us info about this this new ministry and when it will start.
There is another principle that is extremely important. It is one that we do together unto GOD! Matter of fact, if we are to be in communion with Him, it is a necessary ingredient. It’s called WORSHIP!
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Keep the main thing the main thing.”? Worship is the main thing. When you boil down who we are to the creator, we are worshippers!
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Keep the main thing the main thing.”?
(NIV) — 9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
PP- But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9-NIV)
This picture is one of a diverse group of people with one sole purpose… WORSHIP!
PP- Today’s Topic is, “We Worship”
Let’s get something striaght up front,
PP- Today’s Topic is, “We Worship”… THIS IS US!
We have not been freed just for freedom sake, to do whatever we want to do. We were purchased by blood!
Everything is vying, competing, contending for your worship. Your adoration, devotion, admiration, glorification, attachment, your worship! There are things and interest in people’s lives that have won their peak interest. These things, events, interests, get their adoration, ultimate attention, it gets preeminent glorification from them, it gets their worship!
Illustration: For instance Beyonce has one of the most dedicated, loyal, fan bases that adore her. They all claim to support everything she does and will attack anyone who goes against the Queen. It is reported that she has over 10,000 active members of her “Beehive”. Some of these people say they worship her.
For instance Beyonce has one of the most dedicated, loyal, fan bases that adore her. They all claim to support everything she does and will attack anyone who goes against the Queen. It is reported that she has over 10,000 active members of her “Beehive”
She had a concert where some of her fans couldn’t watch it and this is some of their reaction:
PP- “I am sooo hurt”, I am going to kill myself, “I feel so used.” They worship her so much that they were saying some crazy things!
Touch your neighbor and ask them, “Be honest, did you tweet that?”
Somebody should start a Jesus Hive!
PP- (NIV)
16 Be careful, or you will be enticed (pā·ṯā “deception” lē·ḇāḇ “heart” meaning the heart will be deceived) to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.
God doesn't want anyone or anything sitting on the throne of your life outside of HIM!
Israel being called out of Egypt into Canaan was a type and shadow of us being called out of darkness into His marvelous light! We were called out for a reason.
God didn’t fee us from the clutches of sin for us to go and play the harlot!
Israel being called out of Egypt into Canaan was a type and shadow of us being called out of darkness into His marvelous light!
(NIV)
15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”
The Children of Israel had been in Egyptian bondage for 430 years. God instructed Moses and his brother Aaron to go to Pharaoh and demand that he let the Israelite people free. Pharoah refused several times, each time he refused God unleashed a plague upon Israel. The plague that broke Pharaoh's heart was the killing of his firstborn.
(NIV)
PP- Israel being called out of Egypt into Canaan was a type and shadow of us being called out of darkness into His marvelous light!
29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.
30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.
When we read the story of the exodus, the predominate theme rehearsed is “freedom”. This is true, partly true. The other side to the coin is that God wanted his people to be free was so that they could… WORSHIP!
PP- Today’s Topic is, “We Worship”
The story is about freedom, but not freedom just to be free!
The story is about freedom, but not freedom just to be free!
When God first called Moses to the task of delivering his people, Moses was living with his father-in-law Jethro tending Jethro’s flock. Moses led the flock to the base of Mt. Horeb and suddenly saw a bush on fire that wasn’t burning away. God tells Him to take off his shoes because he was on holy ground and a conversation commences.
I want you to give attention to a common theme connected with freeing the Israelites from Egypt.
The story is about freedom, but not freedom just to be free!
PP- God Gives Moses His Assignment.
When God first called Moses to the task of delivering his people, Moses was living with his father-in-law Jethro tending to his father-in-laws flock. Moses led the flock to the base of Mt. Horeb and suddenly saw a bush on fire that wasn’t burning away. God speaks to him out of that burning bush and gives him an assignment.
PP- (NIV)
10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
PP- Five times God instructed Moses to say something to Pharaoh...
PP- (NIV)
16 Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.
, , , ,
PP- Moses himself said the same thing
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
PP- Moses himself said the same thing
(NIV)
(NIV)
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
PP- Pharaoh’s Officials got tired of all the plagues and pleaded with Pharaoh and said...
(NIV) — 7 Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?”
PP- Once Pharaoh experienced the most devastating of all the plagues God released upon the nation of Egypt, the killing of all the first-born in Egypt, Pharaoh finally responded properly… at least for the moment.
Pharaoh himself said...
(NIV)
29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.
30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.
God’s sole intent, was and still is for him to be the center of His people’s lives.
When Moses went to Pharaoh with the demand from God to let His people go, their was always the same reason for the demand.
Once the Israelite were freed, God gave them their government -the theocracy, civil responsibilities, and their spiritual live.
The encampment of the ancient Israelites was a foreshadow of the life of worship we are to have!
Illustration:
PP- Picture of the encampment.
Numbers chapter 2 gives us a paints the picture of the Israelite’s encampment.
On the east were Judah, the tribe of Issachar, and the tribe of Zebulun
On the south were the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Simeon, and the tribe of Gad.
In the middle was the “tent of meeting” (Where the presence of the Lord resided) and the Levites (the spiritual leaders)
On the west the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe of Manasseh, and the tribe of Benjamin.
Worship=to draw close to God
On the west the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe of Manasseh, and the tribe of Benjamin.
On the north, the tribe of Dan, the tribe of Asher, and the tribe of Naphtali.
PP- This second picture of Israel’s encampment is a more formal one. God’s sole intent, was and still is for him to be the center of His people’s lives.
PP-1. God Has To Be The Center of your Life!
The life of God’s people literally revolved around the presence of God.
Worship=to draw close to God
Experience now the favour of God’s presence
Experience now the favour of God’s presence
Enormous care had to be taken because of the huge responsibility and great blessing of God’s presence being in the midst of his people.
The ‘Tent of Meeting’ (where God’s presence dwelt) was ‘set out in the middle of the camps’ (2:17).
(NIV) — 17 Then the tent of meeting and the camp of the Levites will set out in the middle of the camps. They will set out in the same order as they encamp, each in their own place under their standard.
The life of God’s people literally revolved around the presence of God.
The life of God’s people literally revolved around the presence of God. It was the key to their identity, unity, and prosperity, which was their overall blessedness.
They were to be God centered!
God is like the Sun and we are like the planets.
Jesus said it like this...
PP- “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Not my will but thine will
Jesus expressed that the Father’s desire was more valuable than his desire!
It is important that worship is important!
PP- 2. We Must Value Worship
PP-Worship has to have exceptional value in Your Life! (post this on your social media accounts for me)
PP- Old English-Weorthscipe-worth-ship
What is God’s value to you? How valuable is the blood of Christ!
PP- You become like what you worship.
(NIV)
Numbers chapter 2 gives us a paints the picture of the Israelite’s encampment.
15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”
Illustration: Get picture of Israelite Encampment
On the east were Judah, the tribe of Issachar, and the tribe of Zebulun
The Children of Israel had been in Egyptian bondage for 430 years. God instructed Moses and his brother Aaron to go to Pharaoh and demand that he let the Israelite people free. Pharoah refused several times, each time he refused God unleashed a plague upon Israel. The plague that broke Pharaoh's heart was the killing of his firstborn.
On the south were the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Simeon, and the tribe of Gad.
PP-Worship is Protection! It was the key to their identity, unity, and prosperity, and their overall survival.
(NIV)
24 Do not bow down before their gods (it could be a car, sports, a person, entertainers, a hobby, money, sex, drugs, pride, and the like) or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.
In the middle was the “tent of meeting” and the Levites (the spiritual leaders)
25 Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,
26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
27 “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.
28 I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.
On the west the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe of Manasseh, and the tribe of Benjamin.
29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
On the north, the tribe of Dan, the tribe of Asher, and the tribe of Naphtali.
David had sinned before the Lord, and he recognized that he needed God. So he pleaded with God
(NIV)
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Worship has to be an integral part of who we are! it is our culture. This is why my leadership team has become so adamant that we continue to push the unity in worship.
If we cant worship together, yo can’t war together. When things get tough, I need someone who can fight with me!
God wants your worship, it gives him your permission to have you! God would rather not have to impose himself upon us, because this indicates that one party is resistant to the other.
To God be the glory
To God be the glory
To God be the glory
For the things He has done
[Chorus 2:]
With His blood He has saved me
With His power He has raised me;
To God be the glory
For the things He has done
But here we see that God’s presence with his people was also limited. The people were barred from the sanctuary (v.10), the heart of God’s presence.
Worship is all About His Presence!
The extraordinary message of the New Testament is that this separation has now been removed.
You can now WORSHIP in the heart of God’s presence.
PP- Jesus brings God’s presence to us ().
This theme of the blessing of God’s presence is a recurring one throughout the Scriptures.
Jesus brings God’s presence to us ().
PP- Jesus has given you the Holy Spirit, who is God’s empowering presence dwelling within you ().
PP- We experience God’s presence especially when we gather together ().
PP- One day you will know God’s presence face to face (, ).
In His presence is the fullness of joy!
(The Message) — 9 Worship God if you want the best; worship opens doors to all his goodness.
(The Message) — 19 What a stack of blessing you have piled up for those who worship you, Ready and waiting for all who run to you to escape an unkind world.
(The Message) — 4 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,” ignore what the world worships;
(The Message) — 4 Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.
God Likes Diversity in Worship!
(NIV)
5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.
David was an Artisan of musical instruments
(NIV)
5 Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.”
The Prophet Amos Chastise Those who weren’t sincere in their covenant with God. Although they pretended and worshiped like David, their hearts were far from God.
(NIV)
5 You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.
In God it’s not about RACE it’s about PLACE. Are you in covenant or out of covenant?
(NLT)
1This is what the Lord says: “Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to display my righteousness among you.
2Blessed are all those who are careful to do this. Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong.
3“Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’
4For this is what the Lord says: I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me.
5I will give them—within the walls of my house— a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear!
6“I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant.
7I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
8For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”
Other races could be grafted into their spiritual family if they embraced the teachings of the one true God of Israel.
DIfferent races of people show off His creative beauty!
Worship: What Is It & How!
(Paraphrase )
Worship is a term that has over time evolved to describe any type of religious exercise or experience. It, in meaning has become synonymous with singing, praying, communion, fellowshipping and the like. Worship means a lot of things to a lot of people. When people go to church, mass, synagogue and hear singing, and listen to the Word of God and participate in stewardship they’ll often tell you that they have been to a worship service. Many believe that since they attended a worship service it is therefore implied that they went through the spiritual act of worship.
But a thorough study of the word worship and the context in which it is used gives a different color to the word worship.
Worship, in context is always connected to slaying, depressing, or prostrating flesh in order to draw nearer!
Definition
Worship- 1. the slaying of flesh for the purpose of spiritual communion; 2. The submission of our nature and the adjusting of our conscience to recognize God’s worth in order to properly commune with God.
3. Denying self while giving reverent honor to God for who he is
Worship=to draw close to God
In the mind of the ancient when one was to go and worship, it went without saying that a sacrifice had to be made or something valuable had to die! They took domesticated bullocks east animals that had been cared for meticulously, something like the family pet to the temple for slaying. If they didn’t have any beast they took money and purchased beast for slaughtering.
These animals represented their livelihood, their blood sweat and tears. Because it took their money, time, effort and care to raise this animal. They were in essence saying to God, “I’m bringing you my best and slaying it before you as a token of my true love towards you!” No possession, person, nor place would be equal to God.
The worshipper would lay their hand on the beast, which symbolized that the beast now represents them. Of course the beast was then slaughtered. The slaughter, not literally, but spiritually speaking is what bring you closer to God! This is a well-rehearsed theme in the bible. “He must increase, I must decrease” John the Baptist said!
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” Jesus said in
So the original intent for worship in the bible always dealt with killing flesh so that true pure communion could take place.
There were five major sacrifices they brought in order to draw closer to God:
Burnt-a token of total consecration, Grain-a token of thanks for harvest in the life, Peace-a token of thanksgiving and also fellowship since the offerer ate some of the meat, Sin-for the forgiveness of sin, Guilt-for sins committed (reparations).
We no longer have to bring animals sacrifices to God because Jesus became all of these sacrifices for us and offered himself as our sacrifice before God! Now we bring spiritual sacrifices to God.
What type of sacrifices do I bring in order to worship?
1. Words
O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. (KJV)
I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. (NIV)
This then leads you back to the value and significance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Because says, ‘For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit
1. Self
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship”
I sacrifice my carnal nature so that my spirit man can commune freely with God!
This is a picture of what is transpiring in heaven presently.
[God is a Spirit] this is one of the first, the greatest, the most sublime, and necessary truths in the compass of nature! There is a God, the cause of all things-the fountain of all perfection-without parts or dimensions, for he is ETERNAL-filling the heavens and the earth pervading, governing, and upholding all things: for he is an infinite SPIRIT! This God can be pleased only with that which resembles himself: therefore he must hate sin and sinfulness; and can delight in those only who are made partakers of his own divine nature. As all creatures were made by him, so all owe him obedience and reverence; but, to be acceptable to this infinite Spirit, the worship must be of a spiritual nature-must spring from the heart, through the influence of the Holy Spirit: and it must be in TRUTH, not only in sincerity, but performed according to that divine revelation which he has given men of himself. A man worships God in spirit, when, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he brings all his affections, appetites, and desires to the throne of God; and he worships him in truth, when every purpose and passion of his heart, and when every act of his religious worship, is guided and regulated by the word of God.