SERMON TITLE: Developing a Lifestyle of Worship Part 5 PREACHER: Roelof Kwant DATE: 01.07.2018 Developing a Lifestyle of Worship Part 5 It is our intention to develop a lifestyle of worship. This does not going to happen by listening to a few lectures, sermons or reading a few books on the topic. It is going to happen when we put into practice what we know and what we have been taught. It is going to happen when we forget those around us and focus on the receiver of our praise and worship. Our key verse in all of these sermons is: Ps. 100:4-5 I will enter His gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! I will give thanks to him; praise His name his name! Praise and worship is a lifestyle. We are transformed in His presence We become more like him in His presence The word thanksgiving is Yadah which means to raise your hands in thanksgiving. Yahad means we declare the name of the One who has been good to us, in the presence of others. The more we grow in our relationship with God, the more we are transformed, the more we should grow in thankfulness Thanksgiving is matter of choice Thanksgiving is a sacrifice that sometimes needs to be brought regardless of emotions Thanksgiving is the basis for praise You cannot remain the same whilst praising You cannot remain in prison when you praise Praise and worship brings the supernatural into our midst. Nick touched on some Hebrew words for praise last week. I want to continue to speak about some of them. We desperately need to move from an intellectual knowledge of the Bible into a practical life transforming, God honouring, liberating experience. Black South Africans have a tradition that we are seeing more in more at different meetings and sports events in our country. The first time you saw it you thought it was from the Devil and has its origins in witchcraft. 1
It s the presence of IMBONGI at the State of the Nations address and now at rugby matches as well. An IMBONGI is a praise singer. A praise singer is a person who has an immense amount of knowledge about the king or a president and the African culture. The person dresses in typical African traditional wear. The person walk in front of the dignitary or the team the want to bring attention to. They use their knowledge to praise the dignitary or team and in doing so they bring sense of pride and Africanness. IMBONGI is the curtain-raiser of a significant moment of the nation, thus setting the mood by capturing its collective strengths with poetic fervour. IMBONGI often fills the President with delight and pride He also stirs the people who are hearing the praise emotionally to get involved in the celebration. Why am I saying that? That is partly what we do this morning. There are praise singers bringing delight and pride to our heavenly King. Singing his praise and motivating us to get involved in the mood. Just as the IMBONGI is a pace setter a mood setter and a curtain raiser so are we encouraged this morning to get involved in speaking in song, well of our Heavenly Father and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let's go back to the Hebrew word HALAL Halal translated praise in English is the word most commonly used for praise in the Bible and it means: to To make a show, to shine, to boast, to act foolishly, to rave, to celebrate, to commend, to bring glory, to be laud, to be joyfully excited about God. We were created to Halal. Halal not only glorifies our Father but it does something for those of us who are in the chains of depression, negativity, doubt and fear. Halal breaks the chains. Psalm 102:18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD: Let me rephrase that verse for you in English we will understand: Let us record the goodness of God for future generations, people not yet born so that when they hear and understand the goodness of God they may walk in the streets and Halal God, Let's celebrate the goodness of God, write it down so the people not only now but in the future may make a show of God, so that they may make Him shine, write it down so that they may boast about and commend Him to one another in their homes and in public gatherings, that they may shout loudly about His goodness and strengths, write it down so that they may rave and joyfully and with excitement and even at the expense of their dignity, praise His name among one another. 2
Halal demonstrates thankfulness. It is impossible to Halal and not show some physical response. Halal Him everyday Psalm 113:3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised. Not a day should go past that we do not praise God for His surpassing goodness to us. Halal should be a habit Psalm 119:164 164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. The number seven in the bible is a perfect number. Footnotes in my bibles Says: The number seven sometimes represents a continuing action or a sufficiently high number of actions (Matt 18:21). We are commanded to Halal Psalm 150 Praise the LORD. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. 2 Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise Him with timbral and dancing, praise Him with the strings and pipe, 5 praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. The Amplified bible puts a particular emphasis on the human responsibility to praise God. Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! (Hallelujah!) We often use the word hallelujah as believers. Hallelujah = Hallel Jahweh Hallelujah = let's make a show of God, Let s make Him shine, let's boast about Him, let's declare His praise loudly and foolishly. Let's rave excitedly about God. Let's move to the word Yadah To hold out your hand. To be thankful with extended hands. The praise Him with a thankful heart with extended hands. To throw as stone with force toward or away. David was so thankful to God for the way God created Him that he used this word Psalm 139:14 I praise (YADAH) you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 3
He was saying God I am extending my hands to you and forcefully thank you with hands in the air because you made me and you did a good job. No he us not vain he is thankful, we are wonderfully made in the image of God, some of just add a bit to God s creation. When you raise your hands you demonstrate thankfulness. When we get to heaven we will do a lot of praise. God s presence will cause us to praise. Something that really touches the heart of an unbeliever is when the people of God praise Him. The world needs to see our outstretched hands to Him in Praise. To bless someone is to meet a need in that person. When God blesses us he meets a specific need in us. God has no need, so when we bless him we do not meet a need in Him yet our praise is a blessing to Him. It demonstrates our thankfulness, it demonstrates the value we place on Him. Praise makes His Father heart happy and opens His heart to us. Praise is a blessing to God. Other Hebrew words in the Bible involves, kneeling, (barak to bend the knee) singing and musical instruments in the word of God. The Old and New Testament s praise celebrations were never like ours today where there are performers and spectators. It was definitely loud celebratory, accompanied from time to time with dancing. Praise delivers us from ourselves. It removes the focus from me to the goodness and the power, to the greatness and the wonder of God Praise is off course more than a song we sing. Praise as a lifestyle involves living right. Heb 13:15-16 15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. John 7:38-39 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. 39 By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. What is the river that flows out of us??? What are some of the excuses we make? Its personal I am a private person I am an introvert I was raised a Baptist People will think.. To emotional for me 4
2 Samuel 6:14-23 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might,15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. QUESTIONS FOR LIFE GROUPS 1. Review all the points listed of the last few sermons on Praise and Worship. 2. One of the words for praise is Halal. Look up the different meanings of the word and discuss how we can live the meaning of these words out on a daily basis and on do that daily and on Sundays. 3. How would you have to adapt your lifestyle in order to do what David says in Psalm 113:3 and Psalm 119:164? 4. How are you obeying the instructions given in Psalm 150? 5. Yadah means to be thankful to God with an outstretched hand. Thankfulness should be a daily habit what are you thankful to God for (something recent)? 6. Do you think un unbeliever who walks into our church and sees you praise and worship, will be attracted to God by your Halal and Yadah? 7. Praise as a lifestyle involves living right Sit quietly and for a moment ask yourself where in your life are you not glorifying God by living right living. Repent from in, and plan to change it. 8. Discuss the phrase in John 7:38-39 rivers of living water will flow from within them. What do you think it means? What kind of river is flowing out of you? 9. What excuses ae you making to not be more expressive in praise and worship? 5