Sermon Tone Analysis

START RECORDING

Introduction

Last week we started through a series called Vision Essentials.

It’s a little different than what we normally do during the preaching time in that instead of walking methodically thorough a book of the Bible from start to finish, I’m rolling out each of the parts of our Vision/Discipleship process moving forward as a church.

As such, we’re going to be jumping between a few different scriptures to see the Biblical basis for our direction as a church.

Last week I gave an overview of the three parts of the vision, Worship, Grow, Go.

This morning we are going to break down the first part of this, Worship.

What is worship?

Is it a service?

Is it an attitude?

Is it a lifestyle?

What is worship?

In our remaining time together we are going to focus in on what worship is, how we are to worship together, and why this is the first step in our vision and discipleship process.

John Piper has suggested that many of us who gather here on Sunday morning possibly grew up in churches with a very shallow view of the significance of what is happening right now in this hour and twenty minutes or so.

When the people of God gather and He is there among them and we sing the wonderful truths of scripture to God and to one another and a man opens the Word of God and exposes the meaning of the text and shows us the truths of the Gospel therein and calls for us to respond with faith and to repent and believe!

I. What is worship?

Worship is understanding who God is and valuing God’s worth rightly.

The word Worship meant WORTH-ship.

We are ascribing worth to the object or person being worshipped.

IT is a treasuring of God above all things.

Piper puts it: “know him truly and treasure him duly.”

We are giving him what he deserves.

What he is worth which is everything and so much more!

We worship through acts of the mouth - songs, confession of sin, praying, repenting

and through acts of love - these show God’s value to us, his supreme value, in that we are willing to sacrifice for others.

Think: Acts church selling their possessions to provide for others.

Our whole life should display the worth of God.

Worship is the purpose of redemption

Many times in the book of Exodus chapters 3-10 corporate worship is pointed to as the purpose of redemption.

A. Corporate Worship

According to Scripture, the main purpose of the Lord’s Day gathering is not evangelism but edification.

Ultimately, what we do here on Sunday mornings is primarily, that means firstly, is for the gathered children of God to glorify and honor His name being edified and built up.

Now, we always do this with what the Bible calls, the outsider, in mind.

You’ll hear this in my preaching.

Sometimes I will speak to those in the seats who may not know Jesus or may not know what I’m talking about because of their background.

Sunday morning is the main feeding time.

Worship is a response to revelation so this is where the meatiest expository meal is served.

As such, the main gathering should not be set up based on the preferences of unbelievers and what they will find attractive but instead should be set up and calibrated to the parameters given to us in scripture for the edification of believers.

The sermon, which we will get to in more detail later on, should be an exposition of scripture.

But since all scripture is about Jesus, the preacher should expose the good news of the gospel and it’s implications in the passage.

This kind of preaching will encourage others to bring their unbelieving friends to the service with them because they know they will hear the Gospel presented clearly in relation to whatever passage is being preached on a given Sunday.

B. Personal Worship

I once heard a pastor say that the reason worship often doesn’t happen on Sunday morning is because it isn’t happening on Monday.

In other words, the reason that some of us don’t worship on Sunday is because we haven’t been practicing personal worship the rest of the week.

If this is your only time with God all through the week, it’s not enough.

We need to be worshipping individually spending time in prayer and the Word as we deepen our own personal discipleship.

II.

The Regulative Principle vs the Normative Principle

The Regulative Principle states that everything we do in a corporate worship gathering must be clearly warranted by Scripture.

Clear warrant can either take the form of an explicit biblical command, or a good and necessary implication of a biblical text.

- The Regulative Principle states that everything we do in a corporate worship gathering must be clearly warranted by Scripture.

Clear warrant can either take the form of an explicit biblical command, or a good and necessary implication of a biblical text.

Dever, Mark.

The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel .

Crossway.

Kindle Edition.

The Normative Principle says that as long as a practice is not biblically forbidden, a church is free to use it to order its corporate life and worship.

In short, the Regulative Principle forbids anything not commanded by Scripture, whereas the Normative Principle allows anything not forbidden by Scripture.2

For our purposes today we are going to stick primarily with those things that are either directly commanded or implied by scripture.

In other words, we’re going to ride on the regulative side.

Dever, Mark.

The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel .

Crossway.

Kindle Edition.

- D. A. Carson notes that “theologically rich and serious services from both camps often have more common content than either side usually acknowledges.”3

Carson goes on to observe that “there is no single passage in the NT that establishes a paradigm for corporate worship.”

- I would agree with this but we also must note that when we lead people in corporate worship or when you come to corporate worship your consciences are in some sense bound to participate in each part of the service.

The argument of those who ascribe to the Regulative Principle is that this binding of the conscience only works if the element of worship is warranted by scripture.

If, as I said earlier, corporate worship is the purpose of redemption then it just makes sense that God would reveal to His redeemed people how He desires that they worship Him when they gather for this purpose.

Dever, Mark.

The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel .

Crossway.

Kindle Edition.

God cared how people worshipped in the OT.

God doesn’t just care that His people worship Him but He cares how they do it.

God forbids certain kinds of worship even if it’s directed at Him.

God cares how people worship in the NT.

John Piper said, “ For Jesus, worship amounts to zero if there is no heart behind it.”

Sincerity is essential but it is not enough.

gives parameters.

A. The Elements of Worship

So, if we want to apply the Regulative Principle we have to look at what the scripture specifically warrants to be done in the worship service.

This gives us a good place to start in our understanding.

1. Read the Bible

The Bible was regularly read aloud in gatherings in Bible times.

It is powerful.

The Bible is powerful.

It is the Word of God.

It is powerful even when the person reading it doesn’t try to explain it.

I Timothy

Jeremiah 23:2

2 Timothy

When we make time in our service for the reading of Scripture without any comments every week, we make a statement about the high value we place on God’s Word.

Are we eager and excited to hear the Word?

Do we desire the Word?

It admits that the power of God’s Word is what our lives and the life of our church and our growth are dependent on.

acknowledges our weakness

says we are ready to listen

willing to sit under it and let it evaluate us

says we are willing to agree with the way it presents reality and submit to it’s verdict and judgement of us without any qualification on our part.