CHRISTIAN LIVING - WORSHIP - WHY WE WORSHIP

WHY WE WORSHIP

So, the last two weeks we have talked about what is worship and how it is aligning your heart with God and is your response to God. We talked about it coming in many different forms and that what we worship is enthroned, we enthrone it on our heart. This week we are going to discuss why we worship.

Why are you here this morning?

Obligation?

Tradition?

Worship?

If it is worship – is it because you feel like worshiping this morning or you had to come?

If you feel called to worship – is it the same calling every Sunday or just today?

Is God a priority or not?

Is God your number one priority or just in the top 3 or 5?

Why is it that you worship?

That is what we are going to talk about today.

If you have been a Christian for more than a month – most of what we will talk about today is old news, already know it.

But if we already know it, why do we not worship everyday? Why are pews half empty and Sunday School and Bible Studies sprinkled with only a few?

Why We Worship can only be answered if you answer what you worship first.

What or who do you, in reality worship?

As we begin today – let us pray and prepare our hearts for why we worship!

We worship God the Father – God the Son in Jesus – God the Spirit in the Holy Spirit – and here is why –

God is -

1. Worthy and Wise – Worthship – where we get our word worship is giving value, worth and adoration to something we revere or see the worth in or worthy.

Over 60 times from Old Testament to Revelation – Scripture talks about worthy is God, worthy is the Lord

Psalm 24:1-2 – The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

Psalm 145:1-3 – I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

Revelation 4:11 – “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Colossians 1:17 – "And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

2. Omni – Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient

Omnipotent – all powerful, unlimited power and authority

Matthew 19:26 – But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Luke 1:37 – For nothing will be impossible with God

Psalm 147:5 – Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Psalm 33:6 – “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

Job 42:2 – “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Romans 1:20 – For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Isaiah 44:24 – Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

Job 11:7-11 – “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. If he comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose him? Surely he recognizes deceivers; and when he sees evil, does he not take note?”

Jeremiah 32:17 – ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

Omnipresent – everywhere at the same time, constantly encountered, all enveloping

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Revelation 1:8 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Psalm 139:7-10 – Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Proverbs 15:3 – The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Jeremiah 23:23-24 – “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.

Omniscient – infinite awareness, complete and unlimited knowledge wisdom and understanding; to know everything.

Psalm 139:1-6 – O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Matthew 6:8 – Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Isaiah 40:13-14 – Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

v28 – Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

Romans 11:33-34 – Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

3. Resolute and Reliable (faithful) – admirable purposeful, determined, unwavering, able to be trusted

Malachi 3:6 – “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.”

1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 – But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

Deuteronomy 7:9 – Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.

Lamentations 3:22-23 – The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 31:8 – It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Numbers 23:19 – God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Psalm 138:8 – The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 – He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

2 Timothy 2:13 – if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

4. Self-Sufficient – needs nothing from others, needs no outside help, emotionally and intellectually independent

Psalm 50:10-13 – For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Acts 17:24-225 – The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

Hebrews 1:3 – He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Ephesians 3:20 – Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

5. Holy – perfect in goodness and righteousness, exalted and worthy or complete devotion, sacred and consecrated and set apart

Psalm 24:3 – Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?

1 Samuel 2:2 – “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.

Isaiah 57:15 – For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Isaiah 6:2-4 – Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

Psalm 77:13 – Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?

Psalm 96:9 – Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!

Exodus 34:29 – When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

Psalm 22:3 – Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

6. Infinite and Immutable (Never Changing) – impossible to measure, inconceivably great and extensive and unchanging, unable to be changed

a. Infinite

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Psalm 145:3 – Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

Psalm 147:5 – Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Psalm 113:4-6 – The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

Revelation 1:8 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Isaiah 40:28 – Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

Jeremiah 23:24 – Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.

2 Chronicles 6:18 – “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!

b. Immutable

Malachi 3:6 – “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Psalm 102:26-27 – They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.

7. Pardoning Power and Presence – to forgive for an error or offense; sin; to absolve from the consequences or fault; to pass without penalty.

Isaiah 55:7 – Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Psalm 130:1-4 – Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Psalm 103:10-12 – He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Isaiah 43:25 – “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Micah 7:18-19 – Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

His Presence –

Exodus 33:14 – And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest

Deuteronomy 31:6, 8 – Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

v8 – It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Hebrews 13:5 – Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Joshua 1:5, 9 – No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

v9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Matthew 28:20 – teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As we close – tie the three weeks together – what is worship and why we worship and answer them for yourself – why do you worship? How important is worship in your life?

We are going to close today with one more song – while we sing – be thinking about why we worship

God is - Worthy Omni Resolute Self-Sufficient Holy Infinite and Pardoning – does your worship signify – does the posture of your heart match the posture of your body – is your heart in it or is your min don other things?

Let us Pray