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I
love the Word of God! For 3 Reasons!
The Bible
is God's
Word.
Today
I am here to talk about Worship.
The word worship means, in the original Hebrew "shaw
khaw"
which is to lay oneself low in submission to God. The Bible says, "let us
be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (29 for our
"God is a consuming fire." Heb 12:28-29; (Deut. 4:24) Is
that what you think of when I say the word "worship"? Probably not.
You might think of: music, church, and people gathered together. Those are ok,
but what God says about Worship is a whole bigger thing! Since
this is God's Word, lets find out what God says about Worship. First
and foremost, Worship Is - 1.
An appointment with God. God, in the fullness of the Holy Trinity, is the One Who is to be
worshipped. God
gives us a command
- Do not worship any other god, for the LORD , whose name is Jealous, is a
jealous God. Ex 34:14 Why
should we worship the Lord God?
Because "Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one
can fathom. Ps 145:3 The
first time we see the word Worship in the Bible is in Genesis 22 1
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" Here
we hear that God says, Abraham, Go to the region of Moriah and worship me there.
It is a definite place with a definite purpose. God wants to meet Abraham at a
specific location to be worshipped by Abraham. Do
you ever have a definite place and time to meet with God? Yes! Every Wednesday
morning and right here at school. You have a divine appointment with the Living
Lord God Almighty! So
from now on, think about this…. You come here not to just sing songs, or
listen to people, or sit with your friends, …. But the real purpose is because
God, Who is Sovereign wants you to worship Him here. Have
you ever invited a friend over your house, and they said they'd be there. And
then they call, say they cannot come. Later you find out that they went over
someone else's house? How did you feel? I have had that happen, and I felt very
badly. I felt like they didn't care about me, and maybe didn't even like me.
Well, God feels the same way when you show up here on Wednesday, but spend time
thinking about someone or something else instead of Him. God loves you
incredibly, and He wants you to spend time with Him. Secondly,
Worship Is - 2. A
sacrifice The
word "Sacrifice" means to give up something, someone, or anything of
value to you. You must do it with all of your heart, your spirit and in truth. When
Jesus was in Samaria, he told a woman "Believe me, … 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. God is spirit, and
his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." Jn 4:21-24 When
you sacrifice something, it has to mean something to you. Let's
go back to the passage - Genesis 22 God
said, "Abraham!" "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you
love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on
one of the mountains I will tell you about." So
early the next morning Abraham got up and took his son Isaac. When he had cut
enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him
about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the
distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey
while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to
you." 6
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and
he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7
Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "The
fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?" 8 Abraham answered, "God himself will
provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And
the two of them went on together. 9 When they reached the place God
had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He
bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10
Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. God
is serious about how much you love Him. God has invested a WHOLE lot into you
already!! God has demonstrated His Overpowering Love for you by giving you a
family, a great school, a healthy body, His Book, the Bible, and His Son Jesus
Christ, as well. God has given you a gorgeous day, and food, clothing and a
home. What have you said to God lately? Have you thanked him for each thing He
has done for you? What have you done for Him lately? When
God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, God didn't do that because he
wanted the boy dead. God didn’t do that because He wanted to make Abraham sad.
God did that to see just how important and highly valued He was, compared to
Isaac. God wanted to by #1 in Abraham's heart. God wants to be #1 in your heart!
God will never be satisfied to be in second place. He wants to be your top
love!! And He deserves it more than anyone!! For He made you and knows you and
loves you with an everlasting love!! No one can compare to that!! Read Psalm 139
when you get a chance, it'll be a real joy to you!! Now
watch what happens with the sacrifice! He
bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10
Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11
But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham!
Abraham!" Wow!
Isn't that a great ending!! God stops Abraham from killing his son. And then God
replaces Isaac with a ram. God will
never ask you to give up something that He will not replace with something Much
better for your heart to be full of joy!! But
that's not the best part … there's more!! 15
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16
and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD , that because you have
done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will
surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the
cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations
on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." If
Abraham had not Obeyed the Lord God, then Jesus Christ may never had been born,
and all the nations on the earth would not be blessed! We do not have time to go
into this right now, but when Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended into
heaven, then through the Holy Spirit, God's children changed all nations. Third,
Worship is - All about God. That
means you are to focus on God, think about Him, sing to Him, talk and listen to
Him, and be taken by Him in your heart. Who
is God? How can you be focused on Him? Well, how can you focus on anyone? By
thinking about their qualities, or what they do. If I ask you to think of your
mom, most likely a picture will come to mind, and how she is with you, or what
she did this morning,… Thinking
about God is the same way. What
are His qualities?
What
has God done this morning? He made kept the universe on its course, God caused
the sun to come up, watched you get ready, made sure you didn’t have an
accident on the way, and God was eager for this appointment with you!! Last
but not least- 4.
Worship is Only through the Lord Jesus
Christ. God
sees what really counts, your heart. "From heaven the LORD looks down and
sees all mankind;" Ps 33:13 The LORD does not look at the things man looks
at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
1Sam 16:7 There
is no fooling God. This
is what God says worship is NOT. The
Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with
their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up
only of rules taught by men. Isa 29:13 To
whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are
closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they
find no pleasure in it. Jer 6:10 But
your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His Face
from you, so that he will not hear. Isa 59:2 If
you worship by doing things without having your heart involved with God, if you
find my teaching offensive, or you cannot hear God's voice in your heart, then
God says, "their hearts are far from me" and "your sins have
hidden His Face from you." So
how can you get into God's presence? To sense His Glory, to feel His passionate love for you?
To be able to worship God as He commands you to, "In spirit and in
truth"? By
being born of the Spirit of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus answered,
"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is
born of water and the Spirit. Jn 3:5 You
see, God is Holy. God cannot be in the presence of sin. Is there anyone here who
has ever sinned? Raise you hand. Who has lied? Cheated? Said bad words?
Disobeyed their parents? And didn’t do things they should have? That
means that God cannot honor your worship of Him. But don't worry! God knew that
you would be sinful and couldn't be good enough by yourself. So God did
something about it. Since God hates sin, it makes Him really angry!! Wrathful!!
But since God knew you couldn't take all of His wrath and still live, he sent
His Son to take the wrath that you deserved! God had Jesus Christ take every sin
that ever was, and died by crucifixion. God
says - we were by nature objects of wrath. Eph 2:3 God's
wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Eph 5:6 God
presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement, Or as the one who would turn aside
his wrath, taking away sin, through faith in His Blood. He did this to
demonstrate his justice, – Romans 3:25 be
saved from God's wrath through him! Romans 5:9 Have
you experienced God intimately in your life? Have you felt His heart in yours?
If not, will you ask God to take all of your sins and put them on Jesus Christ,
who took the punishment that you deserved. Then you must ask God to fill you
with His Holy Spirit that you would live for Him forever and always!! When you
do that, then your everyday life will be as worship to Him!! If
not, please pray with me, Lord
Jesus Christ, I know that you are God and that you love me. Lord God Almighty, I
know that you alone are holy and pure. Lord God, I am a sinner. I have done many
wrong things in my life. I have lied, cheated, stealed, disobeyed my parents,
thought bad things, said bad things, done bad things and not done things I
should have done. I ask you to place all of my sins on the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ because Jesus took the punishment that I deserved. Pleases forgive
me. Thank you for forgiving me, for Your Word says that "As far
as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."
Psalm 103:12
and " "Come
now, let us reason together," says the LORD . "Though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool." Isa 1:18 Thank you for forgiving me! Thank you for making me your child! Fill
me with Your Holy Spirit that I would live with You forever and always! Teach me, protect me, guide me and grow me that I would be
your delight and that I would delight in you. I dedicate my life for Your
purpose and glory forever!! I praise you Lord Jesus Christ!! Amen. Now
God gives you His Promises
-
Never
will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5 For I know the plans I
have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans
to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 But
don't limit your worship of God to just Wednesday mornings! When God's Spirit is
in you, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Don't
you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in
you? 1Cor 3:16 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 1Cor 6:19 God
wants and enables you to worship Him all day long. And it's easy! Just
keep Him in you mind and talk to Him in your thoughts as you learn and play.
Worship is obeying the Lord out of Love and Gratitude for Who He is. Used with permission from the author. The Bible is God's Word. |
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