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Today, we begin a four-part message series entitled Come to Worship.
We are going to take time in this advent season to focus on who Jesus is, what he did for us, and the power of the Virgin Birth.
The title for the series is from , when the wise men came before King Herod.
Notice, they didn’t come to get something from God, but rather they came to offer worship to Jesus.
I think, many times, Christianity has reversed this concept.
Some times I think we act and think as if God exists for us, rather than we exist to glorify and worship God.
We act as if we just pray the right prayer or act the right way, then God will give us whatever we want.
We treat God more like a genie than the sovereign ruler of the universe.
If we just rub God the right way, he will appear and grant us our wishes.
We treat God like a vending machine.
If we put our money in, then we get what we want.
If we do our devotions, if we pray, if we post something religious on social media, or if we do nice things for people, then God is going to answers all your prayers and make your life better.
The reality is that is not why God exists.
God does not exist for us, rather, we exist for him.
We are created to glorify God, to worship him, to make him known, and to bring him honor.
I want us to consider something important as a church.
One of the things I think we can improve on is becoming true worshippers of God.
We do many things very well here at FBC Laredo, but we can improve on being a 7-day a week worshippers, instead of just weekend worshippers.
We need to realize worship isn’t something we do.
A worshipper is who we are.
We were made to worship.
In this series, we are going to look at the ways that we worship because the goal is for us to become passionate 7-day a week worshippers of God.
Next week, we are going to talk about bringing our gifts.
Then, we are going to talk about pouring out our hearts.
Finally, we are going to talk about bowing our knees.
Today, we are going to start with a subject that is a little uncomfortable for Baptists.
We are going to talk about lifting up our hands before God in a heart of worship.
Open your Bibles to .
David is writing when he was at a very low point in his life.
Does this describe where you are right now in your life?
Right now, your life feels dry and desolate.
Maybe you feel rejected and alone.
Maybe your are afraid of what the future holds.
You didn’t plan for your life to turn out like this, but here you are.
The holiday season is supposed to be a happy time, but for you, it isn’t.
I have said this before, but it is worth saying again.
The holidays are like magnifiers.
The holidays make the good times better and it makes the hard times worse.
Look at what David wrote again,
Your faithful love is better than life.
Why? God’s love is better than life because it is eternal.
This life will fade away, but the love of God never fades away.
It is forever.
Psalm 6
Look at that last line.
“I will lift up my hands.”
When you truly understand who God is and what he’s done for you, you want to express your heart in worship to him.
We lift our hands in worship.
This is not just an Old Testament concept.
Look at what Paul wrote to Timothy.
This is interesting because many times when the Bible says “men”, it really is talking about humanity or people in general.
However, in this case, it really means “men”.
Paul said, “I want the men to lift up their hands.”
I don’t know exactly why, but I have an idea.
I think it is a pride thing.
Based on my experience, men are the last ones who want to raise their hands in worship.
Maybe it feels awkward or we think it is an emotional woman thing, but we need to realize that men set the standard of worship for their families.
Paul expected the men to be the spiritual leaders of their family.
Your children need to see you diligently seeking after God.
If your wife and children see you seeking after God, then are more apt to seek after God themselves.
God tells us to lift our hands to him in worship.
Apparently, God loves it when his children lift their hands to him in worship.
I was thinking about this idea of children lifting their hands.
When does a young child lift their hands?
Do you remember when your child first lifted their hands to you?
What did they want?
They wanted to be picked up and held.
They wanted you.
Now, take this into our relationship with our Father God.
When we lift our hands to God, we are saying, “God, I want you.
I need you.
I need to be held by you.”
No loving father would reject the outstretched hands of their child.
God will not reject your outstretched hands to him.
As we draw near to God, he draws near to us.
Lifting our hands is an act of worship.
It is an offering.
We lift our hands in worship and we lift our hands to receive help.
We lift our hands to receive help.
Maybe you are in a spiritual battle right now and you need God’s help.
You need God’s strength.
Some of you are at a point where you just don’t know what you are going to do.
You lift you hands because you need help!
Do you remember the story where the Amalekites were attacking Israel in the wilderness.
If you want to read the whole account; it is in .
They were about to go into battle and Moses said that he would go to the top of the nearby mountain to lift his hands to God.
He would appeal to God to help them.
When his arms were up, God’s people were winning.
When his arms weren’t up, God’s people started losing.
Now, I don’t know if you have ever tried this, but you can only leave your hands up for so long.
Eventually, everyone will get tired of keeping their hands up.
So, look at what happened.
Everyone of us need others to help support us in prayer, just like Aaron and Hur supported Moses.
We need each other.
This is why we worship together.
This is why coming to church matters.
We don’t just worship God by ourselves.
We worship together.
We lift up one another.
We seek God together.
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