Sermon--A Vision of and for Worship- 2/10/08

Here is the audio for this message.


A Vision of Worship

The men are going through the book “Wild at Heart” on Tuesday nights, and so far, it’s been a good discussion. One of the points that is made by the author is that because we are made in the image of God, our hearts are a reflection of God’s heart—more particularly—what we see in Jesus, God in human flesh, should be something that we should seek in us. One of those things we men need to get a handle on is that there are things in this world worth fighting for—because Jesus fought for them—even instigating the fight on several occasions by deliberately healing on the Sabbath. Jesus fought on behalf of people, the book argues, people who are trapped in bondage to the kingdom of darkness, bondage to legalism, bondage to hypocrisy—the people need rescuing and Jesus is willing to pick the occasional fight to see that it is done.

As I was chewing on this concept a bit more, I realized that those were not the only moments that Jesus picked a fight. There was something else that so consumed His heart, so aroused His passion, that to see it violated caused Him to react with a show of force. That was the desecration of His Father’s House and the flippancy expressed in coming into the presence of the Holy God.

Read John 2:13-17

Worship for Jesus was more than just a concept, more than just an idea or something He did once a week—it was something that was and is a part of His life.

In Experience God in Worship George Barna observes the contemporary Christian's view of worship: "Most adults will contend that a Christian has a responsibility to worship God. However, when asked to define what worship means, two out of three are unable to offer an appropriate definition or description of worship.

"Even among the people who consistently attend Christian worship services, apparently for the purpose of worshiping God, the majority does not consider worship to be a 'top priority' in their lives."

He goes on to reveal the true motivation behind many American Christian's attendance at worship services. He says it's to "satisfy or please them[selves], not to honor or please God" (p. 15). We must be cautious of turning our worship and religion into a man-centered selfish pursuit. Worship has always been and will always be about God - whether we recognize it or not.

All of our worship needs to be about God—and there are several things that need to be evident in our worship as a congregation. We need a Vision from God for our Worship.

Let’s look again at a vision that can help us with gain a vision of Worship.

A Vision that Our Worship Would Be Empowered
More important than style, sound or selection of music—we need the Holy Spirit to Empower us. My vision for us at UBC is that the Holy Spirit will empower our worship to bring a greater glory to His Name. The Role of the Holy Spirit is to Empower—He is the Spirit of Truth who points all of us to Jesus—He Reminds and Teaches—and testifies about Him.

Acts 1:8—You Will receive Power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

All through Acts, when worship is Empowered by the Holy Spirit, several things happen—Jesus is exalted, the Word is spoken with boldness, people are convicted of sin, their hearts are softened to the Good News of the Love of God and Salvation that has been purchased in Christ.

When the Holy Spirit Empowers our worship, our spirits will be awakened to an even greater desire to worship our God & Savior in Spirit and in Truth—a greater desire to glorify His name a greater understanding of His Love that is at work among us—it is when we come together to worship that we have the greatest sense of His Love..

Ephesians 3:17-- And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

EPH 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Without our worship empowered by the Holy Spirit—it doesn’t matter how good of musicians we have, it doesn’t matter which songs we sing—lives will not be changed—God will not receive the greatest amount of Glory.

More than the quality of the singers, more than the professionalism of the musicians, more than the songs chosen—the Empowering of the Holy Spirit is critical for our worship to be powerful, to be effective, to be pleasing to God—critical for us to understand His love that is at work

From the moment we wake up on Sunday morning, it is my heart, desire and vision that the Holy Spirit will begin His work in us to empower us to Exalt and Glorify the Name of Jesus—to testify to His Greatness and Wonder in Our lives.

Isaiah in ch. 6 was given a vision of God in all His Glory—and the foundation of the Temple shook. In Acts 4:31—even a prayer meeting, empowered by the Holy Spirit can shake the foundation.

Holy Spirit Empowered Worship is not easy to quantify, it’s not one that can be manufactured. What it does require are men and women called to the role. One of the arrangements King David made in preparing for the temple is finding those who could serve and minister in as singers and musicians

1CH 25:1 David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.
25:6-- All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king. 7 Along with their relatives--all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD--they numbered 288.

EZR 3:10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever."



Parallel passage--1 Chron 25:13--Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.

In order for our worship to be truly empowered, we need you to examine your calling. Are you called, do you feel the leading of God to take part in leading this congregation in worship, with your voice, with your talents, with even your leadership?.

You need to know that I am not called to lead worship—I’m doing it until someone is raised up to do it. But be warned—over the last year, I’ve learned that the Worship Team can be a dangerous place

A Vision that Our Worship Would Be Passionate
Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength—it is my desire and vision that you and I hold nothing back from our worship of God.

God deserves our best—He deserves it all—and for us to hold anything back of our heart, soul, mind and strength is dishonoring to the Savior who passionately wept over our stubbornness, who sweat great drops as blood when approaching His sacrifice. I’m not saying that if you’re not weeping with hands in the air, you’re not passionate in worship—but your joy can be seen and felt—your enthusiasm about—where you are, who you are with and the Mighty God you Serve and praise should be evident, not only to God but to those whom you are worshipping with.

Even in the midst of turmoil and struggle, even in the midst of learning a new song—your passion for God can come through—it can be as simple as keeping your eyes on Jesus—not turning to the right or the left when it’s so easy to be concerned about what someone else is doing or what someone else is thinking—it’s not about where they are or what they are doing—it’s about where you are and what you are doing—are you allowing your heart to be distracted—to take your eyes off of Jesus—

When Peter was walking on the water—what was it that caused him to start sinking?

When your worship is Passionate—it’s because your heart is open to His leadership.
2 Samuel 6--David Danced before the Lord and it was acceptable—he laid it all out—held nothing back—taking off his royal robes for the basics—practically his pajamas. When David was criticized by his wife, he said, “I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

Sometimes I wonder standing up here if Smiling is considered disrobing. If a light in your eyes for the Savior of the Universe is undignified. If joy in the heart, that can be heard in the voice during song or during prayer is humiliating. May it never be.

God should not be approached as we are Vulcans—all of our heart, soul, mind and strength I pray we will give in passionate worship.

That We Would Be Responsive in Our Worship
The old line of, “when EF Hutton speaks, People listen”—needs to be said of God. When He speaks, we need to listen, when He moves, we need to be obedient. When He lays something on our heart—we must not ignore it.

When something is said or sung or whatever that you are in agreement with—let it out—don’t be afraid or embarrassed to say Amen. It actually helps me preach better to have evidence that someone is listening.

When moments of prayer are called for, when invitations are given—when burdens need to be lifted—when testimony can be shared, when God lays something on your heart—Respond to Him!

One of the worst things we can do in our walk with God is to ignore Him. To act like nothing has happened—to refuse to respond to His Leadership, His Prompting, His Guidance and Direction.

Response in Worship—in singing, in hearing—is not only for salvation—is not only for some grievous sin—responding in worship has dramatic effects. There is healing, there is forgiveness, there is reconciliation, there is repentance, there is boldness.

Isaiah responded to the glory of God in repentance. His response garnered the atonement of God. Later he responded to the Call of God.
But what also reveals the heart of God is the pain with which God discusses the success of Isaiah’s mission

Isaiah 6:9-10
How many of you, when you pray do so with the hope and expectation that God will not only hear but respond to what you are doing and saying? We worship and expect God to respond, expect God to be pleased, expect God to hear and take notice. We expect Him to respond to us, but there is little demand or expectation for response on our part to Him. I trust that when you and I pray, when we sing, when the Word is read and heard—that God responds—He hears—He is moved. He doesn’t ignore our worship.

If you want God to respond to you then you must be willing to respond to Him. If you want God to take notice of you and your prayers, your songs, then when God asks the questions—whom shall I send, whom shall go for us”, then we must be ready to respond, on the spot with “Here am I—send me.”

A Vision That We Would Be Invitational in Our Worship
It is my desire that our worship is something that is so powerful, so meaningful, so moving that it becomes something that we cannot keep to ourselves. It is something that we would want to share with those who do not know Christ—who do not have a church home—who are struggling and hurting and lonely. Our worship needs to be invitational and intentional—we are not here for ourselves, we are here for God—we are hear that others may be brought into His presence.

That is the goal of God’s Empowering work—the work of the Spirit that is the battle we are to fight. To Be His Witnesses—and when we are faithful in our worship—when it is empowered, when we are passionate—when we are responsive—then our worship will be Invitational—God is a sending God—He is a God who came to seek and to save that which was lost—you and I are essential to that mission.

Zechariah 8:23 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, `Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.' "

If God is with us—it will be attractive and invitational

A Vision That We Would Accept the Call to Worship
Remember that God is seeking worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth—He is calling us to worship Him. You can see evidence of it all the way back in Exodus. “Let my people go, so that they may worship Me”—is a command made not just to Pharaoh, but to the Prince of Darkness as well—Our Savior has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and given us the opportunity to worship Him and even provided access.

In the Past most worshippers were kept at a distance--- EX 24:1 Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him."

But you and I are invited near—approach the throne of grace with confidence—those who were far away have been brought near—let the little children be brought to me. We need to accept His Invitation and Call

We are called together to worship.

But above being called to worship in the congregation, you may be called to participation

Every Sunday We Need Participation & Leadership
How is God Calling You to Worship? Do you have a vision of Worshipping God in Eternity—Do you have a vision of accepting His call to worship Him this morning, in song, in giving, in the Word? Do you have a call to worship and be a participating or leading? Then Accept the Call
Respond to Him today—right now.

Sermon--Made to Worship w/ Baptism

I'm afraid the follow up to the Antogonizing post is going to have to wait a little longer. Here is the message from this past week.

Also, the picture is a man named Mark who was baptized as an infant but felt God's leadership to follow in believer's Baptism--this followed the message.


Here is the audio of this message:


Made to Worship

A few years ago the Chicago Tribune reported the story of a New Mexico woman who was frying tortillas when she noticed that the skillet burns on one of her tortillas resembled the face of Jesus. Excited, she showed it to her husband and neighbors, and they all agreed that there was a face etched on the tortilla and that it truly bore a resemblance to Jesus.

So the woman went to her priest to have the tortilla blessed. She testified that the tortilla had changed her life, and her husband agreed that she had been a more peaceful, happy, submissive wife since the tortilla had arrived. The priest, not accustomed to blessing tortillas, was somewhat reluctant but agreed to do it.

The woman took the tortilla home, put it in a glass case with piles of cotton to make it look like it was floating on clouds, built a special altar for it, and opened the little shrine to visitors. Within a few months, more than eight thousand people came to the shrine of the Jesus of The Tortilla, and all of them agreed that the face in the burn marks on the tortilla was the face of Jesus

Did the experience and actions of the woman in New Mexico and her tortilla qualify as worship? What makes for real worship? How do you know when it’s happened? How do you know when it hasn’t? How do you know when God is pleased with our worship? When can we say that God is not pleased with the way someone is worshiping? These are good questions.


Worship is something you and I are made for.

UBC’s Vision Statement-- To be a worshiping fellowship, experiencing an awareness of God, recognizing His person, and responding in obedience to His leadership

True Worship is Vital
• Cain’s Worship was Rejected because his heart was false before God
• Thousands died as the result of false worship of the Golden Calf
• The city of Jerusalem was defeated as a direct result of idolatry according to Jeremiah 1:16
• Paul says that the “wrath of God” is revealed and justified because of humanity’s tendency to neither “glorify him as God nor give thanks to Him [and because they] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
• Worship is something given to us—something that must be freely given for it to be meaningful and accepted. God will receive the glory no matter what—for not only the angels proclaim God’s greatness, but if we do not, the very stones will cry out.

You and I were made to worship—to freely recognize and proclaim the glory of God—to be so aware of Him, to recognize His person and presence in our lives, and Responding to Him.

Something about us should create a yearning to come to the house of the Lord. Our worship should be meaningful, empowered, passionate

a recent song captures the heart of our situation.

Song--You and I were Made to Worship—You and I

Verse 1
Before the day before the light
Before the world revolved around the sun
God on high stepped down into time
And wrote the story
Of His love for everyone

You and I are made to worship
You and I are called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
When you and I embrace surrender
When you and I choose to believe
Then you and I will see
(You and I will see)
Who we were meant to be

An older song does pretty well too.

The Reason I Live
Verse 1
When I look into Your holiness
When I gaze into Your loveliness
When all things that surround
Become shadows in the light of You

I worship You I worship You
The reason I live is to worship You
I worship You I worship You
The reason I live is to worship You

According to John 4:23—God is searching, He desires and wants above all else those people who will worship Him—who will worship Him in Spirit—with their whole being—and in Truth—in a way that recognizes who He really is, and who we really are in light of Him.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."


God seeking worshippers is a powerful concept. His Favorite Song of All—

He loves to hear the angels as they sing
"Holy, holy is the Lamb"
(Holy, holy, holy is the Lamb)
Heaven's choirs sing in harmony
Lift up praises to the great "I Am"
(Hallelujah, Hallelujah)
But He lifts His hands for silence
When the wicked, saved by grace, begins to sing
And a million angels listen as a newborn soul sings
"I have been redeemed"

But His favorite song of all
Is the song of the redeemed
When lost sinners now made clean
Lift their voices loud and strong
When those purchased by His blood
Lift to Him a song of love
Nothing more He'd rather hear
Nor so pleasing to His ear
As His favorite song of all



The Bible uses several different words and concepts that are appropriate in terms of Worship.

Humility. The most frequent word in both the Old and New Testaments is one which means to bow down, to prostrate. As the word relates to worship, it denotes a high view of God and a condescending opinion of self. Thus, true worship views God in His perfection and man in his imperfection.

Isaiah 6 is such a picture—Isaiah sees the LORD High and exalted, the train of His robe filling the Temple—and Isaiah is immediately reminded of his sinfulness—he is, I believe, knocked to the ground—

Reverence. Another pair of terms underscores the attitude of reverence. The idea is that of fearing God--the fear of wonder and awe at the majesty and greatness of the infinite, holy God—but don’t sugar coat it and remove all the implications of that word “fear”—I have a healthy fear—awe and respect for a lion from the safe confines of a viewing area at the zoo—but I have a totally different fear—which still includes awe and respect—when I am placed inside the cage with the lion.

Think about it like this--A true story - a woman entered a Haagen-Dazs store on the Kansas City Plaza for an ice-cream cone. After making her selection, she turned and found herself face to face with Paul Newman. He was in town filming a movie. Newman’s blue eyes caused her knees to buckle. She managed to pay for her cone, then left the shop, heart pounding. When she gained her composure, she realized she didn’t have her cone. She started back to the store to get it and met Newman at the door. "Are you looking for your ice-cream cone?" he asked. She nodded, unable to speak. "You put it in your purse with your change."

That would qualify as Misplaced Reverence. When was the last time the presence of God made you weak in the knees? So overwhelmed you that you were unable to speak? Made your heart miss a beat? Made tears stream down your face?

Service. the idea of ‘working, laboring, or serving as worship. In the Old Testament this service was most often priestly service. In the New Testament we are told that we are all priests of God (1 Peter 2:5,9), so that this term does not apply only to the service of the few, but of the entire congregation of believers in Christ.
Matt. 4:10—“Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”-- Satan was not asking Jesus simply to fall to the ground before him. He was asking the Lord to acknowledge him as sovereign and to surrender to him in service so that everything Jesus would do in life would bring glory and honor to Satan, not the Creator of the Universe.

But don’t make the mistake that is so easily made that anything you do at or for the church qualifies as worship. There are a great many of us that work hard for the Lord, but do not worship Him in their service. It is possible to get so wrapped up in doing that you lose sight of Who you’re doing it for.—Colossians 3:17—“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

In a time when we are encouraged to work for God, let us be reminded that our highest calling is to be worshipers of God and then to be workers. Never let your work for Him come before your worship of Him.
Response. Worship is also a Response . God created us and revealed Himself to us desires us to worship Him. And it is only meaningful when we respond in praise and adoration—when we respond to Who He Is and What He Has Revealed to Us.
If we are not moved by God, if we are unwilling to respond to Him, then we have to question whether we really are worshipping Him, whether we even have a heart of worship.
“We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Our love is only a response, only a reflection of God’s love toward us. And so it is with worship. We worship God because He has made Himself known to us and has instructed us to worship Him.
Sacrifice. Giving of yourself—giving of your first and best fruit. In the Old Testament, if you did not bring a sacrifice, an offering—you could not participate in true worship.
But that idea is not lost in the New Testament.
In the New Testament the idea of sacrifice is still prominent in worship, but rather than the sacrifice of offerings it is the sacrifice of self which is essential.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1).

HEB 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Doing good, sharing with others minus the sacrifice of praise is not truly good worship that is in spirit and in truth.

Proclamation. Who needs to hear the praises of God? God wants to hear us acknowledge Him, desires to hear us worship—but He doesn’t need it—he is no less Holy, no less glorious if we do not worship.
It’s not as if the angels are confused—they know the glory of God—they know He is Worthy

You and I worship—not just to state the obvious but to proclaim it to the uncertain. We come together with a Testimony--Worship is not something that is meant to keep to yourself or even for your benefit—worship is enabled and empowered by God and it is supposed to Attract.

Whenever the people of God celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we do what until He comes? ‘proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes’ (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Our Worship is supposed to Proclaim to those who do not yet know. Our Worship is to be Compelling and Passionate and Invitational--

Psalm 34:3—O Magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together

ZEC 8:20 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, `Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almighty. I myself am going.' 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to entreat him."

ZEC 8:23 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, `Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.' "
Worship is the humble response of regenerate men to the self-disclosure of the Most High God. It is based upon the work of God. It is achieved through the activity of God. It is directed to God. It is expressed by the lips in praise and by the life in service.
That’s why Baptism is also an Act of Worship—your baptism is a Proclamation and a Pledge—by being baptized you have Recognized God revealing Himself and your sin, by being baptized you have Responded to Him and Accepted His Gift of Forgiveness and Eternal Life—by being baptized you have Pledged your life to be a disciple and devote yourself to pleasing Him in all you say and do. Baptism is a proclamation and pledge—first to God, to the body of Christ, and even to those who have never received Christ—that you have been bought with a price, that you have turned away from your old life and are living as a new creation—

That’s why being baptized as a believer is so important—baptized with full knowledge and consent—someone else cannot speak for you—someone else cannot worship in your place—someone else cannot make the decision for you—
Baptism is a symbol of a decision—a decision to follow Christ and to trust in His salvation.
Worship is our highest calling. “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully enjoy Him forever.” Worship is the occupation of eternity.

1. Exalting - God is glorified, adored.
2. Exemplifying - we as believers, are purified (Ps. 24:4,5)
3. Edifying - The church body is built up- only makes sense, that as individuals are drawing near to God, we are drawing near to each other and becoming a stronger church.
4. Evangelizing - When people see our genuine worship of God, in our daily lives as well as corporately, they will want to know the God and the Savior we so affectionately and carefully follow and has changed our lives.



Do you believe that Jesus died on the Cross to purchase your freedom, that He was buried and yet risen from the dead in Victory and Glory?

Have you received the gift of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus which covers over your sin?

Do you pledge to live the remainder of your life as a growing disciple of Jesus Christ who seeks to please, honor and glorify Him all you say and do?