Worship – Made for God’s Pleasure

I had just flown into Christchurch.

I had been invited to speak at a Promise Keepers men’s event.

It’s Friday night the first night of the conference, 1000 men are gathered, there’s a choir on stage.

The first song was ‘Crown Him with many Crowns’.

The song began and the place erupted with a passion and volume of voice I have never heard before.

I was overcome with emotion; the sense of God’s presence was tangible, an incredible worship moment.

I got on my phone to Sarah, “Babe you have to hear this”.

There’s more to worship than singing.

Bible College - Romans

Often, we leave a Sunday Service complaining.

“I didn’t get anything out of it today!”

“Why can’t we sing more of the songs that I like?”

“I don’t think the preacher should talk about this or that!”

“I can’t believe so-and-so didn’t talk to me today!”

“No one ever notices what I do in the church.”

Worship isn’t about getting anything; it’s about giving everything - to God!

The above attitudes make us judges of activity rather than active participants in adoration toward God.

Too often Christian consumerism defines the quality of our worship by the number of ministries for people, the size and quality of our buildings, the popularity of our pastors, the style of our music and an obvious determination to make people happy.

We have in many ways become insensitive to God’s Presence who is to be the focus of our worship.

Personal struggles, selfish ambitions, bickering among God’s people and worship wars are all indications that we desperately need to return to the heart of worship.

When we get to the heart of what worship is all about, we recognise who we are considering who God is and we seek to exalt Him to His rightful place in our lives, our families and church.

Our purpose in life is to worship God and to glorify Him.

You were made for God’s fellowship, to worship Him, to fulfil any other purpose life is to fail to fulfil your purpose in life.

Worship is my response to God’s love.

Worship is giving back to God.

Worship is more than music it engulfs every aspect of my life.

Five musts to commit to memory about worship:

WORSHIP IS FOCUSING MY ATTENTION ON GOD

Hebrews 12:1-2 As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us. We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!

Worship is the act of loving God back.

It is our primary objective, our highest priority; it is our number one purpose in life.

What does worship look like?

Worship is focusing all my life on Jesus.

It’s my response to God’s love.

God made the first move.

He creates us, He saves us, He forgives us, He blesses us, He protects us.

As a result, we respond in worship, it’s my offering to God.

WORSHIP IS GIVING BACK TO GOD.

Whenever you give back to God, whenever you offer anything to God, that’s called worship.

What do you give to God?

You give Him your love.

Mark 12:30 (NKJV), “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.”

God wants me to love Him 3 ways:

1. THOUGHTFULLY.

“love Him with your mind”, “Think about His love, think about His goodness, think about His grace, how it’s brought us through.”

2. PASSIONATELY. (Emotionally)

“With all your heart and soul” — He passionately loves us and wants us to passionately love Him.

3. PRACTICALLY. (Fervently)

“with all your strength” — with your abilities

God wants your Attention

God wants your Affection

God wants your Ability

The greatest expression of our love is often displayed by our ATTENTION.

Remember the first time you fell in love?

You just couldn’t get that person off your mind.

God’s love is always focused on us.

WORSHIP IS FOCUSING OUR ATTENTON ON GOD

ESTABLISH A QUIET TIME.

A daily time with God

Matt. 6:6 (NKJV), “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

DEVELOP A CONSTANT CONVERSATION WITH GOD.

Ps. 105:4 (TEV), “Worship Him continually.”

EXPRESS YOUR AFFECTION TO GOD.

1 John 4:19 (NKJV), “We love Him because He first loved us.”

Tell God you love Him; He said it first.

Hosea 6:6 (LB), “I don’t want your sacrifices — I want your love! I don’t want your offerings — I want you to know Me!”

God wants you to know Him and love Him.

Romans 6:13 So then, refuse to answer its call to surrender your body as a tool for wickedness. Instead, passionately answer God’s call to keep yielding your body to him as one who has now experienced resurrection life! You live now for his pleasure, ready to be used for his noble purpose.

He doesn’t want ritual, religion, rules and regulations; He wants a relationship.

The greatest way to express your love to God is by giving your life to Him, by yielding yourself to Him.

That’s the essence of love; I give you my life, I surrender myself to you.

I am committing myself to you.

Remember, it is always a response to God.

God gave us life; He says I want you to give yourself completely back to me.

WORSHIP IS USING MY ABILITIES FOR GOD.

Colossians 3:23 (NKJV), “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”

If you get this verse, it will absolutely change your life.

It helps you to understand that in order to worship God you don’t have to change jobs; you just change who you’re working for.

When you change who you’re working for, your work becomes worship.

Many Christians compartmentalize their lives.

God says I want you to invite me into every area of your life.

I want to be involved in all of it.

WORSHIP IS GIVING EVERYTHING TO GOD

In life it’s not what you do that matters; it is who you do it for.

You give it all to God.

All your work can be turned to worship.

You can do it for God.

ASK: You may be a carpet cleaner, an attorney, or a nurse.

You may be a mother raising children, an executive, salesperson, a volunteer or a truck driver.

It really doesn’t matter what you do.

It’s who you do it for.

This turns your work into worship.

God doesn’t want worship to just be a church thing.

He wants it to be your whole life, to worship God with your life.

Romans 12:1 (Message), “Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering.”

“Offering” to offer is the essence of worship.

Real purpose-driven living doesn’t happen in a church.

It doesn’t even happen in a small group or your quiet time.

It happens in the ordinary, routine, mundane things of real life where you go.

Whatever I’m doing, I’m going to do it for You.

When you do that, then your life becomes an act of worship, real worship is a lifestyle.

QUESTION: What are you worshipping?

It is whatever you’re giving your primary attention to, whatever you’re giving your primary affection to, and whatever you’re giving your primary abilities to.

You may be worshipping your career, making money, retirement, pleasure, sex, another person.

The greatest temptation of your life and the worst sin you could possibly commit is the temptation to worship something other than God.

I challenge you to make as the number one goal of your life, before everything else, getting to know and love God, because that brings Him pleasure.

When we live like this and when we gather to worship together it changes everything.

Pray