GOSPEL FLUENCY AND WORSHIP

I'mma start by reading this song it says that so come let us sing to the Lord. Let us Make a Joyful Noise to the rock of our Salvation. Let us come into His presence with Thanksgiving. Let us Make a Joyful Noise to him with songs of praise for the Lord is a great God and a great king above all God. In his hands are the depths of the Earth. The heights of the mountains are his also the sea is his for he made it and His Hands formed the dry land. Oh come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the Sheep of his hand today. If you hear his voice do not Harden your hearts as at meribah as on the day of Masa in the wilderness when your father's put me to the test and put me to the proof though. They had seen my work for 40 years. I load that generation and said they are a people who go astray and their heart and they have not known my ways. Therefore. I have sworn in Myra. They shall not enter my rest.

When I walk through Psalm 95 this morning and talked about gospel fluency and worship. Gospel fluency and worship we've been exploring together. How is it that we grow not just in our knowledge and understanding of the Gospel but in our proficiency at applying and living out the gospel on a daily basis in every area of Our Lives. The gospel is not a ticket that we punch to go to heaven. The gospel is the good news Declaration of all that God is for us in Jesus Christ, and God's not just concerned with what happens to you after you die wants all of you starting from right now until eternity. The gospel is the power of God for salvation. The gospel is the power of God for transformation The Gospel is what makes us new. Used to be a logical language this morning, the gospel justifies us were declared righteous in the gospel. But the same gospel sang defies us it makes us righteous. It makes us into who God has declared us to be Because of that we need the gospel not just once. That we walked in aisle or pray a prayer or raise our hand in an altar call one time everybody start somewhere with the gospel, but we don't start with the gospel and move on to something else. For the follower of Christ The Gospel is the air that we breathe. The gospel needs to become the lens by which we filter everything in our lives and everything in our environment. And so we want to grow in Our Gospel fluency. How does the gospel speak to me? The gospel speak to you here and now today in your struggle in your challenge? We've been exploring together how we how we walk through a process of applying the gospel to our lives and I just due to a process called fruit to route. And if you if you've missed some of those sermons I encourage you to get on our website and look back cuz it is a helpful process of evaluating where we are and how the gospel pandion needs to be applied in real time in our lives on a daily basis. We've been talking about then how gospel fluency in order to become fluent in something. You've got to immerse yourself in it. You don't become fluent in something by thinking about it for 15 minutes a week. You don't become fluent in something by thinking about something for 15 minutes a day in order to be fluent in something. You got to immerse yourself in it. That's what we've been talking the last few weeks. First of all about prayer. Prayer is is a huge part of growing in Our Gospel fluency last week prayer moves our minds off of ourselves and our impossibilities and on to God and His possibility. That's what prayer does prayer moves. We come to God because of Arnie sometimes.

Sometimes I think we get overly Pius in our prayers right there is something so beautiful about Jesus saying just come to me as you are ask seek knock when we have needs. We don't need to feel embarrassed or ashamed bringing them before the Lord cares about every single detail of Our Lives. There's not an aspect or area of your life that God doesn't know about in God doesn't care about The beautiful thing about prayer is that in prayer itself transformation begins to happen. We come we come to God I can't do this. I don't know what to do. I'm struggling. I'm hurting. I need

and the truth of the scripture began to manifest with man. Was man so many things are impossible. But With God all things are possible. As we come to God in our weakness as we come to God in our lap as we come to God in our need. What happened is that our focus is moved off of army dishes provision from our weakness to his strength from our foolishness to his Wiz.

Prayer we have the opportunity to live in the gospel. Hear it from God. and in order to do that, well, we need Scripture scripture fills our mine with God's perspective of Who We Are And who he is? In order to to rightly come to God In Prayer. We need to know the god that we're coming to In order to pray in accordance with how God has asked and invited us to pray we need the scriptures to reveal who this God is that we're praying to what his heart and we the scriptures to reveal who we actually are. There's no fluency in the gospel if you're not in the word or better yet if the words not in you.

Is it the challenge in a culture that is as biblically illiterate Hazard. I'm not just talking about those outside the church.

We need the word of God. Not not to impress God. We don't read and study and memorize and Ponder and meditate on the word of God so that we can say to God. Hey, look look how much I know your worth. really impressed by that We do it because we need it. I need to know who you are. I need to know who I am. I need to know how the gospel meets me here. And now in my time of need.

scripture filled are my

Worship

worship filled our lot with the reality of God And a lines us to his ultimate value. Worship fills our lives with the reality of God. And aligns us to his ultimate value. Let's let's walk through Psalm 95 together here and see how that gets flashed out. It starts out this way. Oh come. Let us sing to the Lord. Let us Make a Joyful Noise to the rock of our Salvation. Let us come into His presence with Thanksgiving. Let us Make a Joyful Noise to him with songs of tricks.

I got a careful here. Because there's an internal reality this and an external reality to this.

It's somebody we're observing if we put a hidden camera up here and and and was watching us during worship this morning.

during our time of singing during our time of prayer during our time of giving

would they see a community of people that were coming before the Lord with joy and delight and excitement? I want to be careful here because our externals don't always reveal our internal. That's just the reality and sometimes our externals are not an accurate display of our internal.

Can I say that when you stand?

And you don't smile.

You don't engage. You look like somebody sucker-punched you and you look like you've been baptized in lemon juice.

It's hard to say. I came into the presence of God with joy and Thanksgiving.

It's something about this text that I think needs to speak to a bunch of us in this room this morning. What worship? Worship has been so misunderstood in the American Evangelical contact worship has been reduced. This is the major problem. It's been reduced to singing. Worship has been reduced their almost equivalent rights. They talk about worship. I was worship this morning. What most people are asking is how was the singing? What was a piano or guitar was at what people often with a with a good song? Did you like it? Did it fill you with an emotional warm fuzzy. We reduce worship to the realm of the emotional to the realm of the artistic. We reduce worship to this this this warm and fuzzy feeling that is generated by an experience of singing on music and for some of us who are wired to enjoy singing and we love it and we connect that. That's awesome. But there's many of us in this room that that's not how we're hard water. It's not our personality. It's always think that worships not really for me. I don't really like it. I don't really want to sing. I'm a terrible singer and want anybody here how she is not really for me.

Here's the thing about worship worship isn't really about us. It's about the one that were worshipping. And when you are truly in Rapture, when you love what it is that you're worshipping you lose the ability to care what anybody else thinks. You noticed that. worship worship is a reflection of what we value what we love and what we assign ultimate worth.

What worship is actually worship comes from the old English word worthy, Miss. Worthiness worship what is worth our heart? What is worth our mine? What is it that excites us? What is it? That gives us life. What is it that we desire? What is it that we Delight in?

I get personally committed by this because I can get so excited about Such trivial thing I can get so excited about such temporary thing and and frankly, I don't care what anybody thinks you tell me right now Jeremy. I'm going to take you to Lolo's.

I want to feed you some chicken and waffles. I am going to get excited.

Imma post a picture on Instagram. I don't care if you like it or not. Written and I'm not going to think for a second. I'm not really good picture Taker and I don't really want people to judge me on how I take this picture. I don't care. I'm so excited about my chicken and waffles. I want everybody to know.

We worship a lot of stuff in our culture. food celebrities Sports Drive over off of the 101 you drive downtown and you're going to see some great houses of worship. We call them Stadium.

And here's what breaks my heart. Here's what I want you to be challenged with not because I said it but hopefully because the spirit might say something to you this morning. Why is it so many of the people that come into the house of God?

Cannot express any emotion cannot engage in joyous praise and reflection to God, but you take them to a football stadium crazy.

You put them on their couch in front of the TV and they go crazy.

Jim I understand sometimes our external demeanor does not reflect what's really going on. And I know it can be fixed. I know there's a lot of church experiences where there's a lot of fake excitement going on. I'm not a fan of either.

worse It's to engage all of us. Which apps not just being present in a building worship is being present in your heart and in your mind.

The rare song says let's let's come. Let's come and let's worship. with all of her songs of joy What's give him our heart?

Make a Joyful Noise to him with songs of prey I flippantly said this many times and I'll say it again. It says Make a Joyful Noise not a pretty noise. It says Make a Joyful Noise. Not an InTune noise. My dad's not here this morning. So they pick on him a little bit. My dad's one of the worst singers I've ever heard in my life. I dare you to sit next to him and worship Sunday. right It's terrible from a musical standpoint. He's one of my favorite people to watch worship cuz he doesn't care. He doesn't care that he's out of to Kelly's flat or sharp or offbeat. He certainly can't clap in rhythm. But it doesn't stop him. Because he loves Jesus because he knows what God is worthy because he wants to come before God's with all that she is giving you a beautiful voice. It's easy to listen to end of the light sing out. And if God's not gifted you that way. sing tao Because worship is not about our ability to sing or our ability to give her our ability to pray eloquently for our ability to study with deep inside. It's not about us. It's about Kim.

About him before I move on the text is one thing we got a note here. This song is written in the plural. That's a challenge for us as Americans because we are individualistic to the core you think everything's about us as an individual as I mentioned last week. We often tend to read scripture that way. So we think this text says let Marvin come with songs of prey. LaTroy come with songs of prey that's not what the text says. The text says let us good text and let all y'all right.

Let's all come together with songs and pray. Of course, we should worship God individually.

Here's what I've come to believe. individual worship Is what prepares us for corporate worship? And corporate worship strengthens our individual worship. The part of that part of the reason that many of us struggle on Sunday morning. We walked in here and nnnn were thrust into this worship environment and it's some of the reason that it's so awkward an unfamiliar and we're so unable to engage and it's because we haven't spent any time in worship before him. If this is the only time that you worship God you're going to be terrible at it. I know that seems mean of me to say right reality. Are individual worship and experience of God is what allows us to come together in community and worship him together. And that's where the strength of it is.

Because I see things and I've discovered and I've learned things about God that in a million years you will never see or experience. And you see things and you've experienced things have got that in a million years. I will never see her experience, but when we come together and this is what God has shown me. And you said this is what God has show me head together. Think we create a bigger picture of who got it. I want guys. But if we have not encountered are experiencing God individually.

You can't worship. I know that's so obvious. It almost seems like it doesn't need to be said but it needs to be set. You can't worship a God. You don't know you can't worship a God. You don't love you can't worship a God who hasn't captured your mind and your heart.

You can go through the motions of worship. You can walk into this building you can stand and sing. You can sit you can give in the offering you can do all of those things this morning and not worship God.

In order to worship. We got to see him.

In order of worship. We got to know him. In order to worship, we've got a perceived and experienced something that is worth worship.

Even got better than chicken and waffle.

Turn the gospel greater than a sporting event.

Isn't Jesus more beautiful and more satisfying than anything else this world has to offer.

The dangerous to give the church answer right the dangerous.

Yes.

What is he to you?

You seem more attractive is he more worthwhile is key more worthy of your time and your affection and your intention and your admiration and your respect and your delight and your desire than anything else.

Don't see. That way we don't worship. But when we see y'all that way you can't help but worship.

This is what lets come. Let's come and then he give us the reason. For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all.

Why why is the encouraging us to worship because God is better than everything else that you might be tempted to worship. This before I'm a keep saying it long as Lord gives me life and breath worship is not an option.

You're all worshippers. We're all worshiper. The nature of being human is that we assign things value in our lives.

Some of us it's our work. Our work gives us our identity our sense of value our sense of meaning we're Workaholics. Everything else Fades away. Everything else takes a secondary play. A workaholic is a worshipper. Of their work and identity for some of us, it's our pleasure our comfort. We will do anything and everything to avoid discomfort and pain and make sure that we have a happy warm experience in life. That's an act of worship for some of us. It's our sports for some of us. It's our politics.

For me frankly, it's food most of the time. And here's the thing.

None of them compared to God.

This is what the writer of the song is sing come to God with the lights and desire come to God to savor savor. Not to check a box. Not not to do the right thing. This is what killed us in the church. We've been preaching Duty. worship. Why you're supposed to well, that's great. Listen, I got hard-wired by God somehow and in the fall, I'm sure if you tell me to go left. I want to go right with everything that is in there. as some of you were like a sunny rule-follower looking at you Wanda

but Duty Judy does not get us. Where we need to go and worship worship is not an obligation.

Which is not a responsibility worship is a privilege worship is it don't come to God cuz you're supposed to don't come to God in worship and praise and give against the words because it's a moral obligation for Spiritual Duty or a ritual of religion we come because the Lord is a great guy and a great king above all gods. The question is not are you going to worship something the question is are you going to worship that which is an ultimate value?

What's Cookies better than anything else you'll ever worship?

All those things they promised such Delight they promised such satisfaction.

They also rarely deliver anything that looks like what they promised but our God our God never fails. His mercies are new every morning. Our God is the unchanging one the same yesterday today and forever Our God, it's the great. The king Above All Gods we worship because we get to get through and if that doesn't make any sense to you this morning. You need to see God.

If Christianity if your faith is simply an intellectual exercise an affirmation of religious principles of truth if you're coming because you think it's the good moral and right thing to do you haven't heard the gospel at all.

Because the gospel not only saves us from our unrighteousness. It saves us from our false righteousness.

worship because we're made the worshippers. We worship God because in spite of our failure. In spite of our rebellion in spite of our rejection of God in spite of our faithlessness. God is faithful.

He has made a way.

You have made a way. for men and women like you and I come into His presence with joy not because of how great we are. But because of how great he is. We get to worship. Porsche

Continuous it says in his hands are the depths of the Earth. The heights of the mountains are his also this sea is his for he made it in his hands formed the dry land. This is this author's way of expressing the power and The Sovereign see the height and the bread and the depth of God's ability and his worthiness of worship. We're so prone to worship. the created whether it's a another person or an idea or a political party or an experienced or or any were so prone to exchange the glory of the creator for the created.

the author of the song says worship God because every dude as the creation is and it's good. It's amazing. It's beautiful. It's wonderful as good as it is. It pales in comparison to the one who spoke it into existence and upholds it in his hand.

battle or something laugh

Something so great is offered to us as our God.

continue song Oh come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

I know I know. It's easy maybe to read this in the context of how we understand worship. So we think of worship is singing in prayer. And so it might be easy to say all God wants us to kneel down when we worship. And there's many Church experiences. And I mean Brett does it for all of us every week almost by there's a church experience that there's something beautiful and wonderful about that, but that's not what this text is saying at all. It's just talk about God as a great king. The Sovereign ruler over all creation When he currently says let us come and kneel down what's Bow before our maker he saying let's acknowledge Him as the king. Let's submit and surrender before Him worship is not simply an emotional or intellectual engagement worship is something that is supposed to affect all of our lives.

the great disconnect Abbott Hospital in our culture is that we gather together on Sunday morning for an hour and a half and we sing God is great. And then we walked out and we live the rest of the week saying everything else is great.

Wake knowledge Jesus with our lives, but we deny him with our lifestyle.

The right of something you want. You want to worship God. It's not a Sunday Morning Experience is not just in the temple suggest Plumbing said we worship God how we worship God by bending the knee.

I surrender in submission. You are a great thing. Above all God I submit. you

Miss what Romans 12:1 is really saying. appeal to their for brother by the mercies of God to present your body resent your flag represent yourself as a Living Sacrifice.

Holy and acceptable to God this is your act of spiritual war.

worship worship happens in this room the worship only happens in this room. When it's an extension an expression of the worship that is happening on a daily basis in our lives.

Say that we don't want to be like Israel these people come to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Let's let us Bow Wow. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker shoes to offer all of our life to him.

If you want to be fluent in the gospel, you need to become a person. the praise without ceasing you need to be a Workman who correctly handles the word of Truth. You need to be a worshipper not just on Sunday morning, but in all of like you have to offer everything that you are as a Living Sacrifice.

I must worship. I bow down and kneeling before our Lord our maker for he is our God and we

Are the people of his pasture and the Sheep of his hand?

We worship him because he's worthy.

There is a warning and this this text. Sex doesn't end on may be the happiest of notes.

And with this morning it says today. If you hear his voice.

today if you hear his voice that that that calling Wooing that drawing of the spirit that conviction that encouragement. Today if you hear God today, if you see God today, if you encounter God you got a choice don't make this choice to not Harden. your heart

not Harden your heart.

This is such an important reminder for us to worship is a choice.

Worship actually can only be a choice because it's only worship if it's freely given.

God has no desire for forced worship an oxymoron of the worst kind. There is no forced worship. Worship is freely given. It's freely given from a heart is it when we see God we are forced with a choice when we acknowledge his worthiness or will we run off after other guy when we acknowledge his beauty or we delight and seek other Beauty. What we allow rightful place in our hearts.

will our hearts Wonder after other lover

Ryder

psalmist is a Jewish man. Ready to Jewish people. Just remember what it's not our first rodeo. Don't Harden your hearts. Remember our fathers remember our ancestors at meribah at Masa in the wilderness when your father put me to the test and put me to the proof. They thought they had seen my work for 40 years. I load that generation and said there are people who go astray in their heart and they have not known my ways there for us war in Iraq. They shall not enter my rest.

Because worship can only be freely given.

If you harden your heart. You allowed to run after things other than God.

Be careful, what you ask for. Because that might be exactly what he gives.

You want to run after the creative things you want to worship things that aren't worthy of worship pain. How's that working out for you?

They shall not enter my rat course, they won't answer is Rhett. Cuz I don't want him. Of course, they won't enter his rest cuz they're looking for rest somewhere else. Of course, they won't experience his Beauty and his goodness and his kindness because they're trying to find it everywhere else but in him

worship what a privilege what a gif. We get to experience. We get to see him we get the saver him and we get to share. in him

enter into his Wrath

when we come to him. our great God and the King above all God.

heart will worship that's a given. The only question this morning. Is will we worship? the only one who is Worthy? I'm off work.

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