Osceola Sermon / Passionate Worship August 2 nd, 2009 Pastor Bob Vale

Transcription

1 Osceola Sermon / Passionate Worship August 2 nd, 2009 Pastor Bob Vale Biblical Focus: Psalm 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." ISA 6:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ISA 6:5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." ISA 6:6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." ISA 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Opening Hymn: He Lives #310 Prayer Chorus: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus #50 wildwood book. *Second Service Offertory: DVD Volume #3 Floodgate Gift of Worship. Begin sermon with the video: Volume # 3B Worship: What is it? Do you remember when you first felt the presence of God in your life? I was about 13 when I sincerely felt God s presence in my life. It was a Sunday morning and I decided to answer the call to come forward to the altar to pray. There was a welling up within my soul that I had never felt before. Do you remember the last time you felt the presence of God in worship? I hope it happens often. Do you remember the first time you experienced God in a worship setting? 1. Was it at the reading of the Holy Scriptures? 2. Was it while you were singing a moving hymn that stirred your soul? 3. Was it in the midst of a sermon that God spoke to you with that still small voice? 4. Perhaps it was during Holy Communion or when you were baptized? 5. Was it simply being in God s house with the church family and receiving a hug or handshake from a friend? God meets us where we are at in so many ways. Please turn in your Bibles with me to the Old Testament book of Isaiah, Chapter 6:1-8 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

2 ISA 6:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ISA 6:5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." ISA 6:6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." ISA 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" In our Bible passage today we see that the Prophet Isaiah finds God in the Temple. Being a man of God, Isaiah went into the temple often. Time after time he served, spoke, sang the ancient songs, read from the torah, and God never showed up like He did this time. Suddenly God showed up in a big way to speak to Isaiah. Isaiah put a date in the scriptures when this happened to him. The year King Uzziah died. There s really not much significance to this other than to say this is the year this happened to me. Suddenly when the prophet Isaiah walked into the temple, there was the Lord and even the hem of God s robe filled the temple. There were angels above the Lord flying around with six sets of wings. One set covered their faces, one set covered their feet and one set the angels used to fly above the Lord. When they spoke the temple doors and frames shook and smoke filled the temple. I don t know about you, but I have been in a lot of sanctuaries in my lifetime and I have never witnessed such an event. The closest I ve come it, is when I see the light shine through the stain glass windows. However, I know God is here! Isaiah s response was what most of us would do: Basically we would feel that we are not worthy to be in the presence of God. Isaiah said that he was a man of unclean lips, living with a people of unclean lips. In other words, I am a sinner among sinners. (Like all of us in this room.) Then the Lord did something rather mystical and miraculous. He had the angel place a hot coal on his lips and tell him your guilt is taken away and you are forgiven. Then God spoke. He asked Isaiah a simple question. Whom shall I send? Isaiah s simple remark back was, send me. In that sanctuary nearly 3,000 years ago, God spoke to Isaiah. Is God still speaking to us today? The answer to that question is a resounding yes! The Purpose of Worship is to lift the Name of God The Goal of Worship is for God to speak to you sometime during the worship experience. There are times in my ministry when I will have folks say, I m just not getting much out of worship. One of the first questions I ask them is, are you preparing yourself for worship, or is your mind on 100 other things. 1. Are you worried about your work? 2. Are you worried about your children? 3. Did you get into a fight with your spouse on the way to church? When a congregation loses touch with the purpose and goal of worshipping God, people come and go without experiencing God. Have you asked God to speak to you in this hour of devotion to Him?

3 Do you come into the sanctuary of the Lord, anticipating God s presence through the hymns, prayers, scripture readings, sermon, offering, and passing of the peace of Christ? I want to encourage you to prepare yourself for worship. Don t just come in and sit in the pew like your going to a movie show. As you sit down, quietly pray that God would speak to you as you come to lift up the Name of The Lord. As much as I seep people who come into the church without focusing on worship, I have also seen the opposite to be true. I have witnessed people who are Church Service Critics. They are so focused on details of worship that they miss God speaking to them. They come into the sanctuary with an evaluative posture or appearing as if they are a movie critic. They tend to rate the sermon, the length of the service, children s sermon, and prayer time. Was the music off key or too slow or fast? Were the children too loud, or the sermon too long? The list is endless and the attention goes to mispronunciations, missed cues, discomforts and the flaws of the brave who attempt to help lead the worship service. While these individuals are so ingrained in this type of thought, God is trying desperately to speak to them concerning their own life and relationship with him. But their spiritual ears seem to be focused on other things. People should not be at worship to evaluate, but rather to listen to the still small voice of God in your life. As a pastor who is not perfect, I would like you to say this in your heart; What is God saying to me through the words of scripture, even if they are being read imperfectly; through the sermon even though the illustrations are weak; through the hymns and choir even if I don t particularly like the music or style. What is God saying that I need to hear through the prayer, the sacrament of Holy Communion and through the family of faith surrounding me? Passionate Worship is not connected to any type or style of worship. It can be highly formal with Robes, stained glass windows, liturgies, high church music with Organ and hand bell choirs. Passionate worship can also be experienced in an auditorium, gym or storefront setting. With casually dressed leaders, folding chairs, a praise band, coffee area, and a large screen to sing new songs. Both styles are precious and both allow people to experience God. Authentic, engaging, life changing worship begins with the presence of God inside the room and not from the trappings of our surroundings. Passionate worship leaves people challenged, sustained, and led by the spirit of God in their lives. It changes how we view ourselves and our neighbors. One hour of Passionate Worship has the ability to change all the other hours in your week! Please let me list a few of the things that will kill Passionate worship in a service quickly. 1. Fierce Individualism: From the pastor, special music, worship leader or others. If it is all about us.then how can it every be all about God? a. Keep your eyes on the creator and not on his creation! 2. Intense Nationalism: When we make our worship service about our nation, we have lost focus on why we come to church. I know of a church that recites the pledge of allegiance to the United States of America as the service is beginning. Some churches like to wrap the gospel around the American flag. Now as many of you know, I am as patriotic as they come. I served in the Army in a time of war and I love my country. But the Worship of God and the Worship of our country need to be separated. God can bless both our country and our church separately.

4 3. Politics preached from the pulpit. This is a huge no-no with me. I know there are some pastors in our nation that feel they can use their pulpit to preach political ideal logy. My mission as your pastor is to preach the gospel for the creation of making disciples not in the making of my particular political views. As a result of preaching Christ and him crucified, each person can establish their own conscience in the area of politics. 4. Hopeless Negativism: If the glass is always half empty, then how can we look forward to the miracles of prayer. If the shades are always being turned down, how can we see into the positive future of our church? If the downward spiral of, we never did it that way before is our creed, then were finished. My God is a God of hope, vision, better days ahead, Amen!!! What I would like to see each week; is the language of the Spirit of God lived out in our worship service. (Love, peace, forgiveness, joy, happiness, grace, compassion, justice and Christian community.) It is in these traits that we will find God and the Lord can speak to us each Sunday. In closing let me say this: The church that practices Passionate Worship forms a community of love rather than a crowd of people attending a show. The community of faith begins to feel welcome, there is a sense of belonging for everyone, there is warmth, connection. Trust me people are looking for churches who really practice what they believe in worship. When the worship becomes passionate in the sanctuary, it will spill out into the streets! Visitors who attend begin to ask questions, such as, Do they love one another? Will they love me and my family? Is God active in this community? Is there evidence of God s grace and compassion in the church family? Passionate worshiping congregations appeal to newcomers; Because people delight in one another and feel grateful in being together. Visitors choose a community in which they learn, find hope and help, and are warmly and graciously welcomed from the time they arrive in the parking lot, participate in the worship service and exit the church property. God is love.can we share that same love to others through our worship. YES. Has God spoke to you yet? Holy Communion: Sermon Notes: Passionate Worship: Aug. 2, 2009 Pastor Bob Vale Biblical Focus: Psalm 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 6:1-8 Then God spoke. He asked Isaiah a simple question. Whom shall I send? Isaiah s simple remark back was, send me. When a congregation loses touch with the purpose and goal of

5 Worshipping God, people come and go without experiencing God. Passionate Worship is not connected to any type or style of worship. Authentic, engaging, life changing worship begins with the presence of God inside the room and not from the trappings of our surroundings. One hour of Passionate Worship has the ability to change all the other hours in your week! Please let me list a few of the things that will kill Passionate worship in a service quickly. 1. Fierce Individualism: 2. Intense Nationalism: 3. Politics preached from the pulpit 4. Hopeless Negativism: The church that practices Passionate Worship forms a community of love rather than a crowd of people attending a show. When the worship becomes passionate in the sanctuary, it will spill out into the streets! Passionate worshiping congregations appeal to newcomers