Worship is me thanking God for all He's done and all He's
gonna do. Worship can also be defined as worth ship. What is God worth to you?
1.
Worship matters.
1.
Worship is a significant part of
personal growth and life change, and the sign of a healthy church.
2.
Regardless of where you go in the
world; even in places where there are no believers, you will find worshipers.
1.
The impact of our mission will be no
greater than the honesty of our worship.
1.
Worship matters to God it better
matter to us.
3.
Believers are called to engage in
worship, not to argue about it.
1.
It’s a mark of maturity that we do so.
2.
I can worship to any thing that's
lifting up and honoring the name of Jesus Christ and our Great God.
3.
It might not be my preference, or
style but that's not what counts, it's my sincerity.
John 4:7 "Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water,
and Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." 8 He was alone at
the time because His disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. 9
The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with
Samaritans. She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman.
Why are you asking me for a drink? 10 Jesus replied, "If you only knew the
gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask Me, and I would
give you living water." 11 "But sir, you don't have a rope or a
bucket," she said, "and this well is very deep. Where would you get
this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you're greater than our
ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he
and his sons and his animals enjoyed?" 13 Jesus replied, "Anyone
who drinks this water will soon become thirsty
again. 14 But those who drink the
water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh,
bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." 15
"Please, sir," the woman said, "give me this water! Then I'll
never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water." 16
"Go and get your husband," Jesus told her. 17 "I don't have a
husband," the woman replied. Jesus said, "You're right! You don't
have a husband—18 for you have
had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with
now. You certainly spoke the truth!" 19 "Sir," the woman said,
"you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that
Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at
Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?" 21 Jesus replied,
"Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter
whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You
Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all
about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed
it's here now—when true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for
those who will worship Him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship
Him must worship in spirit and in truth." 25 The woman said, "I know
the Messiah is coming—the one
who is called Christ. When He comes, He will explain everything to
us." 26 Then Jesus told her, "I AM the Messiah!" 27 Just then
his disciples came back. They were shocked to find Him talking to a woman, but
none of them had the nerve to ask, "What do you want with her?" or
"Why are you talking to her?" 28 The woman left her water jar
beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29
"Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could
he possibly be the Messiah?" 30 So the people came streaming from
the village to see Him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus,
"Rabbi, eat something." 32 But Jesus replied, "I have a kind of
food you know nothing about." 33 "Did someone bring Him food while we
were gone?" the disciples asked each other. 34 Then Jesus explained:
"My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from
finishing His work."
4.
By always asking, seeking, and
knocking to know God's will Jesus lived His life in worship and He modeled to
us how to live our lives as well.
1.
The reality is that instead of
worshipping God, we've warped it to worshipping ourselves or/and other things.
1.
They worship their creativity, they
worship their designs, they worship their next book, movie, TV series, their
fans, their things, instead of worshipping the only true God, the only way to
heaven, through Jesus Christ.
5.
Trying any other entrance the bible
calls us thieves and robbers.
Illustrate here: There is one
way to heaven, through Jesus Christ! Go in and out of the exit door.
1.
I am the gate, I am the door, I am
the way, the truth, and the life, I am the resurrection and the life, no one
comes unto the Father except through me.
2.
This is worshipping in spirit and in
truth.
John 6:35 NLT [35] "Jesus replied, "I am the
bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes
in me will never be thirsty."
3.
Just as we must eat and drink to
maintain life Christ must continually be invited into our daily lives, our
daily moments to sustain spiritual life.
6.
Vs. 20 & 21 It used to matter
where you worshipped making sure to bring your worship to the Holy Temple.
1.
Making sure to bring those sacrifices
to the house of God but now the covenant that we live in "the crucifixion,
sacrifice, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sin" (the
Gospel) it's no longer the only requirement to bring them to God's House but to
live them out.
2.
Worship matters. What we worship
matters.
1.
We were created for worship and all
people need to worship; the key is in the direction of our worship.
1.
The gospel is an effort to point
people from the worship of self toward the worship of God.
2.
Vs. 28-30 When you have an encounter
with Christ you'll leave what you brought with you sitting at His feet.
Illustrate Here: water jars, talk
about the burdens she carried and then left there.
3.
Worship changes you.
1.
Worship changes you into the likeness
of Christ.
2.
I've witnessed people be seemingly
all out in worship yet they are still mean, evil, rude, and nasty.
3.
Worship draws out the Christ life
from within.
1.
She forgot everything but Christ, and
her heart was overflowing with the testimony she had to tell, she hurries home
and pours it out.
2.
That's exactly why God fills us up,
that we may pour it out on others.
4.
Vs. 31-34 Doing the will of God fills
me with purpose, honoring the mission of God is completing to me.
1.
I have purpose you know nothing
about.
5.
Belief in Christ requires worship of
Him, devotion to Him.
1.
Applying yourself, consecrating
yourself, your time, your money, your talent, your failures and your shame, to
God.
2.
Christ modeled worship of the Father
with His every word, every action, and every deed.
1.
How about me?
1.
That's my vision, that's my stance on
it but is it the truth of me?
Mark 15:16-20 NLT [16] "The soldiers took Jesus into
the courtyard of the governor's headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called
out the entire regiment. [17] They dressed Him in a purple robe, and they wove
thorn branches into a crown and put it on His head. [18] Then they saluted Him
and taunted, "Hail! King of the Jews!" [19] And they struck Him on
the head with a reed stick, spit on Him, and dropped to their knees in mock
worship. [20] When they were finally tired of mocking Him, they took off the
purple robe and put His own clothes on Him again. Then they led Him away to be
crucified."
6.
Vs.19 Soldiers mock Jesus in worship.
1.
They said it but they didn't mean it.
1.
Do we say things out of ritual to our
Savior that don't come from the heart?
2.
They did it but it meant nothing to
them.
1.
Do we make promises, stake claims to
Jesus that we never follow through on?
3.
They even fake it publicly, what a
disgrace, what a dishonor.
1.
To worship with nothing behind it.
2.
What is the line of mock worship?
3.
Where is that line exactly?
1.
This is why I work diligently to live
my life in front of others the way I live it in front of Christ.
1.
For there is no separation.
4.
I reject living my life in mock
worship, I refuse to mimic something without authenticity.
1.
Do we truly lift up Christ in
celebration of what He has accomplished for all of mankind?
5.
When I worship God with my actions,
my words, and my deeds, it shows the world that I love God; more importantly it
shows God that I love Him!
1.
He's my target, my aim, my goal.
2.
Worship is high esteem, to honor,
revere, adore, idolize, glorify, or respect.
6.
Worship of the heart is not out of
duty, out of habit, nor is it just from my mouth or in song but Christ declares
in:
Matthew 22:37,39-40 NLT [37] Jesus replied, "'You must
love the LORD your God with all your heart, (the core of everything) all your soul(my mind, my
will, and my emotions), and all your mind(every thought, every strategy,
forgiveness, grudges).' [39] A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor
as yourself.' [40] The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based
on these two commandments."
7.
Joseph of Arimathea worshipped Christ
when he gave Jesus his tomb.
1.
Scripture is silent on it but I
believe it was in Joseph's heart to worship God more than to make himself
famous by having his body buried in that borrowed tomb.
8.
Saul's name changed, his mission
changed, His life changed, his purpose changed as He encountered the Christ.
9.
Peter was a worshipper of Jesus
Christ.
1.
His weaknesses turned into strength,
his insecurities turned into faith as he encounters the Holy Spirit with 120
other desperately hungry, desperately passionate people of God.
7.
As I worship the Spirit continues the
change and continues the work that Christ started in me.
"Worship is a stairway on which there is movement in
two directions; God comes to man, and man goes to God."
8.
When was the last time you made your
way to Him?
1.
There are times when God calls you to
a burning bush then there are
times we must call down fire from heaven.
9.
Worship is an expression that comes
from the inside out.
1.
Sometimes you laugh, you cry, you get
inspired, you get excited, you get overwhelmed, you believe, you ventilate and
you just Hear His voice.
2.
When you truly begin to worship, the
only thing that matters to you is His presence and it becomes everything.
3.
Worship is about offering everything.
1.
Altar-In Satanism the most awesome
sacrifice, the most excellent style of worship and obedience is in the giving
of blood, a human sacrifice.
1.
Offering a life by murder or some of
them will chose to offer themselves through suicide.
Romans 12:1 "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I
plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you.
Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the
kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him."
2.
We are a living sacrifice.
1.
So much more vital, so much more
beneficial, so much more powerful than anything dead.
2.
I can worship God every where I go
and in everything I do.
1.
I can worship Him no matter who I'm
with or why I'm there.
3.
Worship is a lifestyle and lifestyles
are inspiring.
1.
See I give my life to Christ, I have
given Him my most excellent gift, my very best.
3.
The mission comes in as we live lives
and have conversations that point people back to their Creator.
1.
The impact of worship and the
influence it has on our culture, and our ability to live as a follower of
Christ is completely untapped.
1.
The disciples followed Him
wholeheartedly, into ridicule, into uncharted territory even unto death.
1.
They turned the world upside down!
2.
When Paul and Silas worshipped in
spirit and in truth a jail was shaken, all the chains got loosed and all the
prison doors were opened.
1.
Worship is about offering everything.
3.
Putting aside ourselves, focusing on
Jesus and making it all about Him.
4.
This woman was a Samaritan, a member
of a hated mixed race of religious people, was known to be living in sin, and
was in a public place.
5.
No respectable Jewish man would talk
to a woman under such circumstances.
1.
But Jesus did, because the Gospel is
for everyone.
2.
The Good news is for every person, no
mater what his or her race, social position or past sins.
3.
We must be prepared to share this
good news at any time and in any place that's the lifestyle of worship, worth
ship of Christ.
1.
Jesus crossed all barriers to share
the Good News, and we who follow Him must do no less.
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