Christocentric Worship

Series: Christocentric = “Christ at the Center”

Last Time We Talked About Being a Christocentric Church

We Looked at Colossians 3:1-15

In that Passage, Paul Talks a Lot About…

How We Ought to Behave and Treat Each Other as a Community

Today We are Going to Talk About Christocentric Worship

As Christians, Our Worship Ought to Be Centered On Jesus

Do You Think this is a Topic Worth Discussing Today?

Do Churches Today Struggle with Jesus (God in General) Being the Focus of Our Worship?

Absolutely!

Far Too Often Our Worship Services Can Be Focused Entirely on the Wrong Things:

Our Focus is Often Misplaced on Our Own Preferences and Desires

If Our Favorite Songs Aren’t Sung, We Aren’t Happy

If the Preacher Doesn’t Preach the Way (or Topics) We Want Him to, We Get Upset

We Would Rather Talk to Our Neighbors When We Should Be Singing

We Would Rather Browse Social Media When We Should Be Thinking About God

If the Service Lasts Longer than an Hour We Get Frustrated

If We Don’t Leave the Worship Service Having Received Exactly What We Want…

Then We Might Consider Shopping for Another Church

So Many Churches Today are Focused on “Pleasing the Audience”

But God is Supposed to Be the Audience

The Church Isn’t Supposed to Operate Like a Restaurant or Theater

Our Purpose for Coming Here Shouldn’t Be to Be Fed, Entertained, or Uplifted

Our Purpose Should Be to Feed Others and Uplift God

If that’s Not Our Motive for Being Here, Then We Here for the Wrong Reason

Our Focus is on Ourselves, Not Jesus

Our Focus is Often Misplaced on the Acts of Worship Themselves…

Instead of Who Those Acts of Worship are Meant to Be Directed Toward

We’re Familiar with the “5 Acts of Worship”

Pray, Sing, Take the Lord’s Supper, Give, and Preach the Gospel

We’ve Also Got Our “5 Steps of Salvation”

Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, and Be Baptized

We Like Our Lists

But, in My Opinion, Lists Like This Do More Harm Than Good

They’re Good in that They Make it Easy to Remember Truths Found in the NT

But They’re Bad for a Number of Reasons:

1st, They’re Overly Simplistic

There’s Much More to Salvation and Worship than 5 Little Steps/Acts

2nd, They Often Become the Primary Focus

Our Worship Shouldn’t Be Centered on “What” We are Doing

Our Worship Should Be Centered on “Who” We’re Doing it for

When We’re Focused on the “What”, We’re Centered on Us

But When We’re Focused on the “Who”, We’re Centered on Jesus

Jesus Wants Us to Abide By the “What’s”…

But Our Focus Should Be on Him

You Can Try to Keep All the Laws, Follow All the Steps, and Perform All the Acts…

But if You’re Not Doing it Out of Love and Adoration for God…

Then You’re Not Pleasing Him in the Slightest

Why Do We Pray, Sing, Take the Lord’s Supper, Give, and Preach the Gospel?

If the Foundational Answer to that Isn’t “Because We Love God”…

Then Our Worship is in Vain

If We Only Pray Because We’re Supposed to…

And Not Because We are Seeking True and Open Communication with Our Father…

Are We Really Praying?

If We Only Sing Because We’re Supposed to…

And Not Because We Can’t Help But Exalt, Honor, and Praise Him for How Amazing His is…

Are We Really Singing?

If We Only Take the Lord’s Supper Because We’re Supposed to…

And Not Because We Cherish What it Took for Jesus to Offer Us Our Seat at His Table…

Are We Really Taking the Lord’s Supper?

If We Only Give Because We’re Supposed to…

And Not Because We Long to Share Our Blessings with Those Less Fortunate Than Ourselves…

Are We Really Giving?

If We Only Preach the Gospel Because We’re Supposed to…

And Not Because We Desire for Jesus’ Reign and Rule to Spread Throughout All the World…

Is the Gospel Really Being Preached the Way Jesus Desires?

Our Focus Shouldn’t Be on What We are Doing, But Who We’re Doing it for

Our Focus is Often on Punching Our Ticket to Heaven

“As Long as I’m in Attendance on Sunday Morning, I’m Good”

I Know Many Christians Believe this Because…

They Don’t Attend Other Bible Studies and Worship Services

I Don’t Believe Attendance is a Salvation Issue

If You Don’t Gather with Your Christian Community Every Opportunity You Have…

I Don’t Believe that Excludes You From Eternal Life

The Focus Shouldn’t Be on the “What” of Worship Attendance

The Focus Should Be on the “Why”

Our Specific Community Here Regularly Gathers 4 Times a Week

If You’re a Person Who Only Participates in 1 or 2 of Those 4 Gatherings…

Why is that?

Your Answer to that Question Says a Lot about Your Relationship with Jesus

And When You Really Break it Down, There’s Only 2 Answers:

1.) I’m Not Able to

2.) I Don’t Want to

Attendance or the Lack Thereof is Not the Issue

The Heart that Leads to Attendance or the Lack Thereof is the Issue

When a Christocentric Person Knows that Their Community is Gathering Together…

To Worship and Study About God and to Love, Serve, and Encourage Each Other…

They Want to Be There Too

My Point in Saying All of This is:

Our Focus in Worship Can Often Be Centered on All the Wrong Things

We Ended Last Time in Colossians 3:15

Colossians 3:15 (NASB95)

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Everything We Think, Say, and Do as a Christian Community Must Be Toward the Goal of Peace

The Next Thing Paul Says has the Same Basic Sentence Structure

“Let the Peace of Christ Rule in Your Hearts”

Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

As a Church, Peace is to Be the Ruler of Our Hearts as We Seek Unity

And as a Church, the Word of Christ is to Find a Home Within Us

Many Times When We See the Word “Word” in the NT…

I Think We Typically Believe that it’s Referring to the Scriptures

But Very Rarely Does “Word” Ever Refer to the Scriptures

Many Times it is Referring to a Message

The Message of Christ is the Gospel

As a Church, the Gospel is to Continually and Abundantly Live Within Us

Jesus and His Gospel Ought to Be the Center of Our Lives

And When that is the Case:

We Will Teach Each Other the Gospel and its Principles

What God has Done, is Doing, and Will Do Through Jesus…

And How We are to Live According to His Kingdom Standard

We Will Admonish Each Other

We Will Warn Each Other of the Dangers of Not Living According to His Standard

We Will Sing Praises to God Out of Hearts of Gratitude for Who He is and What He’s Done

A Large Part of How God’s People Have Always Worshiped Him…

Has Been Through Singing Praises to Him

I Wanted Several Praise Psalms Read This Morning in Preparation for this Lesson

I Also Asked Joel to Lead Upbeat Praise and Worship Songs

This is What We are Here for

We are Here to Praise and Exalt God with Thankful Hearts

This is What Those Who Have the Gospel of Christ Living in Them Do

Paul Likely Wrote His Letter to the Colossians at the Same Time that He Wrote Ephesians

There are Many Similarities Between the 2 Letters

There is a Parallel Passage to this One in Ephesians 5:18-20

Ephesians 5:18–20 (NASB95)

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

Don’t Be Filled Up with Wine - Don’t Be Under the Influence of Wine

This Only Leads to Reckless Living

Instead, Be Filled Up with the Spirit - Be Under the Influence of the Spirit

This Will Lead to Singing Praises to God with Thankful Hearts

In this Comparison, We See Something Very Interesting

Letting the Gospel Live Within Us is Synonymous with Being Filled with the Holy Spirit

When a Community of Christians Set Their Minds on the Gospel of Jesus…

That is to Say, We Submit to Him as King and Dedicate Our Lives to Serving His Cause…

Then that Community of Christians is Being Filled with the Holy Spirit

As We Come Together to Worship Today…

Are We Filled with the Holy Spirit?

Do We Give the Gospel of Christ a Home in Our Hearts?

Are Our Minds Focused on the Gospel of Jesus?

Do We Consider Ourselves Dedicated Servants of King Jesus?

Are We Here to Teach Each Other the Laws and Principles of Jesus?

Are We Here to Warn Each Other of the Dangers of Sin?

We are Commanded to Let the Gospel Live Within Us Abundantly

We are Commanded to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

When We Set Our Minds on What God has Done, is Doing, and Will Do Through Jesus…

It Affects the Way We Think, Speak, Live, and Worship

Colossians 3:17 (NASB95)

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

I Love the Way the NLT Puts it:

Colossians 3:17 (NLT)

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

As Christians, We are Representatives of King Jesus

And as Representatives of King Jesus, Everything We Say or Do…

Must Be Done for His Cause and for His Glory

This May Be the Best Verse to Explain What this Series is All About

A Christocentric Life is a Life Lived Focused on, Centered Around, and to the Glory of Jesus

When When We Truly Live Christocentric Lives…

Worship Becomes More Than a Sunday Only Thing

Worship Becomes More Than Just a Group Thing

Worship Becomes a Lifestyle

Romans 12:1 (NET)

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.

That Word “Service” was Often Used to Refer to Temple Worship

As We Seek to Live as Sacrifices to God that are Holy and Pleasing to Him…

Our Very Lifestyle Becomes a Service or Worship of Him

Worship Isn’t Limited to a Time or Place

Worship Throughout the Bible can Refer to Many Things…

But the Basic Idea is Bowing Before God in Gratitude in Order to Praise and Exalt Him

This is Not Something that can Only Be Done Within the Assembled Church

Worship in the Assembled Church is a Special and Sacred Event

But this Shouldn’t Be the Only Time We Worship God this Week

With Every Word We Speak and Every Thing We Do, We are to Seek to Glorify God

Living a Holy Life for Him is Our Sacrifice

Don’t Take Me for Saying that We can Worship Alone Just a Good as We can Together

That’s Not at All What I’m Saying

Since the Beginning of God Having a Special People…

He Commanded and Expected Them…

To Gather Together to Worship Him as a Community/Family

I’m Not Saying All of Life is Worship or Anything Like that

Worship is Not Something You can Stumble into or Do By Accident

Worship is Intentional and Must Be Done in Reverence

All I’m Saying is:

We Should Worship Him Everyday

We Should Praise Him Everyday

We Should Thank Him Everyday

We Should Sacrifice Ourselves to Him Everyday

We Serve an Awesome God Who is Worthy of All Praise, Honor, and Glory

In Order to Offer Him the Worship He Desires and Deserves, We Must:

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit, Or…

Let the Gospel of Christ Live Abundantly Within Our Hearts and Minds

In Other Words, We Need to Be Christocentric - Centered on Jesus

This Will Lead Us to Teaching and Warning One Another to Live Holy, Worshipful Lives

And This Will Lead Us to Singing Praises to God From the Depths of Gratitude in Our Hearts

Our Worship Must Be Christocentric

And When it is, God is Exalted and God is Pleased