WHAT S IMPORTANT. What s important about Worship! John 4: Message #2 of 4 S761. Sermon given on October 15, Sunday Morning Service

Transcription

1 WHAT S IMPORTANT What s important about Worship! John 4:19-24 Message #2 of 4 S761 Sermon given on October 15, 2017 Sunday Morning Service Pastor Rick Lancaster

2 What s important about Worship! John 4:19-24 Opening Comments We are continuing our series What s Important? One of my goals with this series is explain why we do some of the things we do in the church I didn t grow up in church Maybe you are like I was when Kelly first drug me into a church Things were going on that were not a part of my normal reality And some of them seemed a little weird, including what we are going to discuss today something we call worship Not having a lot of church experience, I didn t understand why there was a band, and I really didn t understand why people were singing And then there was the standing and the sitting some people were raising their hands, others weren t some would stand when everyone else was sitting some were singing, but not everyone Was this a Christian concert, but the words were up on the screen, maybe it was Christian karaoke what was going on? It took me a while to finally get what was happening, and even longer to realize just how important worship was to my soul and to my relationship with God and with others Let s pray and then we ll look at worship is all about Pray Teaching The title of this series is WHAT S IMPORTANT? The topics are: What s important about the Bible! What s important about worship! What s important about prayer! What s important about community! In each session, we will look at what we believe each of these four things is, and how they should be treated in the church, and then we will close with how it applies to you individually 1

3 Last week we discussed the Bible if you missed it, watch it online Our topic for today is What s important about Worship! Before I was saved, Kelly would take me to church Usually, I was only doing it to make her happy I usually found the worship experience to be annoying I have come to understand that there is a lot more to worship than just playing some songs The vision statement of our Worship Ministry states: The vision of the Calvary Chapel French Valley Worship and Multimedia team is to create an environment in which the worship of God is visible and meaningful. Our mission is to lead people to engage their mind, body, and soul in the exaltation and glorification of God, in Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, in love and humility, not necessarily through music. (Psalm 9:1-2, John 4:24, Hebrews 13:15) Our typical church service follows a consistent pattern Opening prayer announcements 4 or 5 worship songs the taking of the offering a sermon or message and the service is closed with a prayer, and sometimes a song or communion I would like to focus on those 4 or 5 songs Turn to 1 Chronicles 15 This activity has been important to the people of God for a long time King David reigned in Israel about 3,000 years ago The Ark of the Covenant was the most holy object in all the world After David established himself in the city of Jerusalem, he decided to bring the Ark to Jerusalem 1 Chronicles 15:14-16 Turn to 2 Chronicles 29 About 300 years later, one of King David s descendants, Hezekiah is king of Judah Much of the nation of Israel has abandoned God Hezekiah was a godly king and worked hard to restore Judah back to faithful worship of God 2 Chronicles 29:25-30 Notice in verse 30, the words of David and of Asaph The longest book of the Bible is a songbook 150 songs or psalms Turn to Psalm 4 2

4 The word psalm = sacred song or hymn Many of the psalms include instructions and often identify the author Psalm 4:1 choir director = meant to be sung by more than just one person In this church, you are the choir to be accompanied by stringed instruments = why we have a group of musicians If we move into the New Testament Both Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn on the night he was betrayed Paul and Silas were in jail in Philippi in Acts 16 says they were praying and singing hymns loud enough for the whole jail to hear them Later Paul gave instruction to the church in Colossae Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. That s why we do it, but what is it The word that best describes what we are doing is, praise = the offering of grateful homage (respect or reverence) in words or song, as an act of worship Turn to Matthew 22 When we gather together and sing, we are collectively worshipping God Psalm 111:1 Praise the LORD! I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. Worship is a matter of the heart Matthew 22:34-40 There are people who say that faith is a very personal thing I disagree as I understand Scriptures like this one real faith is a very public thing One of the ways I prove that I love God with all my heart soul mind is to join in the public praise of God when we gather Worship, when done right, is a public expression about how I feel about God Worship is an offering I give to God out of the abundance of my heart Which is why we take the offering right after the worship is done We believe both are to be acts of worship 3

5 I join in the praises of God because of who He is and what he has done in my life And I give financially to the work of the church in response to how God has blessed me materially, and in every other way Both are acts of worship And God always responds when we worship Him Turn to John 4 Here is an account of a conversation that Jesus has with a Samaritan woman by a well Samaritans and Jews didn t get along, because most Jews considered Samaritans as inferior half-breeds half Jew and half something else their religion was a mixture of Judaism and other pagan religions During the conversation, the topic of worship came up John 4:19-20 She is probably referring to Mount Gerizim John 4:21-24 Everything we do with worship here is to try to help people become true worshippers If there are true worshippers, what must there also be? False worshippers Sadly, there are many churches out there that have lost that focus, the focus of leading people toward be true worshippers The worship set has become a concert, some churches even hiring professional musicians, who are not Christians Worship leaders are achieving superstar status When it comes to the church, there is only one superstar, and that is Jesus He should get all the attention and praise As a church, we believe the worship should focus your heart, mind, and soul on God it should remind you of what Jesus has done for you and it should open you up to what the Holy Spirit wants to do in you We believe that the worship songs should prepare you to hear God speak to you through the Word 4

6 We re going to end this service with a couple of songs But before we do, I want to say a few quick things about what it means to be a true worshipper Jesus said God was seeking those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth True worship is a spiritual experience requires the Holy Spirit to be free in the heart of the worshipper Sin hinders the work of the Holy Spirit in us repent True worship is also based in truth Be real when you worship God He knows when you are faking it I want to close with the Scripture in Matthew 22:37 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Matthew 22 tells us to love God with our whole being True worshippers worship God from a heart of love I would challenge you if you can t join in the public worship of God, can you honestly say that you love God with your whole being? I would also challenge you if you truly love God with your whole being then your whole life becomes an opportunity to worship God Worship is not something we do for five songs on a Sunday morning If I am to love God with my whole being, then every word that comes out of my mouth is an act of worship, everything I do either good or bad becomes an act of worship The more I learn to love God, the more this verse is true to me 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God s. I have also come to discover that God doesn t need our worship I am the one who needs to worship Him He created me to be the object of His love, He poured His love into my heart when He saved me, and I am most satisfied when my heart is focused on Him As David and the team leads us in a couple of songs, focus all of yourself on God be a true worshipper Let s pray 5