WORSHIP BEYOND RITUALS

We were studying from the Book of Psalm fifty and

we read from verses one to six, and we took

a post in that place. And so this morning we

will continue from verses seven to fifteen, verses seven to

fifteen the Book of Psalm, chapter fifty seven to fifteen.

I'm going to read the Bible in three different versions

this morning, and i want each one of us to

just pay attention to what God has to say to us.

And I'll be speaking this morning on the topic worship

beyond rituals.

Worship beyond rituals.

Look at what the Bible says in the Book of Psalm,

chapter fifty seven to fifteen. I'll be taking it from Nivy. First, listen,

my people, and I will speak. I would testify against

you Israel. I am God, your God. I bring no

charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your bond offerings,

which are ever before me. I have no need of

a bull from your stall, or of gods from your pens.

For every animal of the forest is mine, and the

cattle on a thousand heels.

I know every bird in the.

Mountains and the insects in the fields are mine.

If I were hungry.

I will not tell you, for the world is mine

and all that is in it. Do I eat the

flesh of bulls or drink the blood of gods? Sacrifice, thanks,

thank offerings to God. Fulfill your vows to the most eye,

and call on me in the day of trouble. I

will deliver you and you will honor me. If this

Bible passage were to be readen to us in Nigeria,

it is going to take this kind of dimension. Listen,

my people, listen where you where they call me your god,

I am talking to you. Now, pay attention. I don't

get problems with your offerings.

You.

They bring them regularly and I see them. But make

we clear something. I don't need your round cow or

chicken from your compound. I know they collect gods from

your village family. Every animal wait there for bush or

they row for full and they passed your land.

Now me get them.

All the cows were full cano ranch and eels of joss,

not my own. I savvy every bird where they fly

for sky, from the small sparrow.

To the big ego.

Even all the bush meets who had the chase inside forest.

I know them all. Even if I hungry, which I

know they ever hungry. I know go burguna for food.

Because the world the old world, from legos to my degree, from.

Worry to sokoto, No me get everything. That's the thing.

You think, say I they chuged you here and pemasu,

or say I didn't drink God's blood like pame wine.

Not be so my people waiting I really want or

night waiting, I really want.

Now you're sincere.

Thanks.

I want to make you show me gratitude and make

you fulfill your promise where you don't vow to me

when while I show whether the job loss, sickness, family

issue or bad better, people call me. I go answer you,

I go deliver you. Then you go give me. Do

you read priest where I desire?

Amen? Okay?

What last version? One last version? If this text of

the Bible were to be written to the gen z

like your gen z, I will need to be written

listen or more make no calm down and hear me.

Now me be your g your R G O G.

I did drop bars. Now nobody saying I did beef?

Now for bringing sacrifice.

You did?

Do you relive your spots steady? I seem, but no cab.

I don't need your cows or goats. I know they

collect bats from my backyard. All the animals for Bush,

I own them, all the cows chilling on one thousand years,

my guys, I said, all the beds where the crews sky,

even the ones where they are hired for Bush. No

me get the daytime. If I ever chop on that

which can never happen, I still know. Go ask now

why us everything for the world? Now my own reason?

Say how they chops? You are from bull or the

same God's blood like Zobo. I beg you waiting. I

they'll find be real thanksgiving. Just they're grateful and.

Fulfill your vows. No longer talk when they get who

c you? What do you go do?

Call me Esa, I go show run out for you,

and you go give me my flowers. May the Lord

bless us what our hearts in Jesus' name.

Bet the Lord bless us what our hearts in Jesus name.

There's a lot talking to somebody this morning.

If you think God does not understand any language, I

can tell you he understands every language, and he can

talk to every generation. That's what my God can do.

Worship beyond rituals. Worship beyond rituals. Many people to theare

equate worship withoutward activities like singing songs, giving off phrase,

attending church services, or even fasting and praying. Why these

are important expressions of diversion. They can easily become empty routines,

something that you just do for fun if the heart

is not truly engaged. God is not impressed by noise

without meaning or sacrifices without sincerity. In some fifty Versus

seven to fifty, where we have read, God speaks directly

to his own people, not unbelievers.

He's speaking to believers in this passage. He's speaking to.

Those who regularly perform acts of worship. And it opens

your eyes and ours do to this truth. It is

possible to do all the right religious things and still

miss the heart of true worship. It is possible for

you to do everything that has to do with religion,

and yet you meet it. You miss the real heart

of worship. This passage is not every book. It's not

just every book. It is a loving color to return

to authentic worship, the kind that flaws from gratitude, the

kind that flaws from obedience, the kind that flaws from

trust in God and God. God is not hungry for

our gifts because sometimes some people think that if I

don't do this, if I don't do this, maybe God

will not be God. God is God. It is normal,

and that's why it declares in that passage very cleany,

very cleany, very very cleany. Today, as we look at

these verses of the scripture, very briefly, let us examine

our lives, and we're worshiping beyond the rituals, beyond the thing,

beyond just common thing that we do or are. We're

simply offering sacrifices with that many Let's see a what

the Bible says. Three main things that want to bring

out in this passage. Three main things that want to

bring out in this passage. From versus seven to eight,

I'll bring something there. From nine to thirteen, I'll bring

something from there, and then from fourteen and fifteen we'll

have the last part of it. Number one part of

this is this in versus seven and eight, God confronts

his people. That's what you see there. There's a confrontation.

God confronts his people. Inverse seven, he says, here, oh

my people, I am God, your God. So God speaks

directly to his people, not unbelievers. This rebuild is for

those who claim to know him. It reminds them of

who he is. And he told them He says, I

am God your God, meaning he has the right to

judge their worship. Look at this'st EIDs investids. He says,

I will not rebulke you for your sacrifices. You're saying

what you're doing, so it is not because you're giving

offering because of what you're doing. You know, he said,

you will not rebuke them. He knows you're giving your

sacrifices regularly. But he says to them, I am not impressed.

Why because your worship had become a rutuer without reference.

Just do it should be the same. Make will come church, nichol,

Just go church.

The thought that by fulfilling the law or sacrifice, they

are doing God a favole. Excuse me, you're not being

God any favol. You aren't doing God no favor. God

addresses his own people, not outsider us.

What is the lesson for us today?

This passage deflects how many Christians today go through religious motions.

You go through tides, give offerings, do songs, church attendance,

yet without deep reference and trust for God. The lesson

here is this belonging to a church or holding a

Christian title pastor reverend, doctor, bishop, most reverend.

Whatever it is, dicky or deepness.

It doesn't matter and it doesn't exact you from God's correction.

God we correct his people external religious acts and not enough.

They lack the obedience and genuine devotion that God is

looking out for. Number two, listen. Number two parts that

want to see is in verses nine to thirteen. And

what do we see there? God declares is sufficiency. In

that Versus nine to thirteen, God declares sufficiency.

Look at what it says in this nine say.

I will not take a ball from your house, for

every bastess of the forest is mine.

Every beast is mine.

So God reminds his own people, I don't need your

bulls and God I.

Own our creation. I am not uncring like man.

God is not saved by human hands, as if he

needed anything. Worship is not about meeting gods, because when

people think that when they come to church and maybe

so that we meet in need of God, No, he

has no need. Worship is about recognizing who God is.

It is only when you have that right understanding of

the person of God. That's why you can come to

worship like this. Invested in the Bible says do I

eat the flesh of gooze? He's asking them questions, and

he's asking all of us, do I need money?

Does God need the money? It's like a mockery. He's

just joking with them. There.

God doesn't need physical food. It desires spiritual sincerity. This

shows that God values relationship over religion. Can we say it,

say a relationship over religion? Say it loud, that relationship

over religion. This is all that God is looking for.

And that is why Christianity is different from every other religion.

Yes, when you want to feel.

From they say religion, you put Christianity and you can

feel it today. But let me tell you, if you're

truly a Christian, you will understand that Christianity is not

a religion. It is a way of life. It is

about relationship with God. That's what other religion does not have.

And that is the difference. That's the difference God cherishes.

God looks for relationship over religion. God looks at the

heart over their habits. It is not about your habits.

You may be able to speak in tongues. It doesn't matter.

What is the lesson here for us this money. Worship

should never be transactional.

And I know that.

We all know this in our society today, where worship

has become transactional, it is the idea of I g.

So God will bless me.

No, Oh, God is looking for ten people that were

just giving one hundred thousand this morning. Are you there

somebody that's transactional so that God can bless them? No,

my God does not work that way. It must be

a relation, an act of love. Oh, and gratitude. That's

what God is talking about, and not that lesson we

see in those verses is that God is not sick inform.

God is seking faith, faith, genuine faith. God is not

looking for rich ones. God is looking for relationships. He

wants the act, the act behind the act, the heart

that is behind the act, your action.

The God help us in the name of Jesus.

In the course of the week, I was listening to

to a man of God and he was sharing something

in line of this. He said, in his church, where

the church is located, he had a brother who was

you know, everywhere everybody knows him. But somehow this brother

was beginning to touch sisters in the church. Eh, I

mean touch, you know, retouched to sisters in the church.

And so the man of God confronted the man and said.

Brous, that is not that is not right. You can

be doing this in this place. And the man, the.

Young man, was angry, say how can you be talking

to me that way? So he left the church and

he went to another church. And this church is a

new is a church that just came into that environment.

And so as soon as the man joined that church,

how I was doing well in the Bible school, I

mean Bible study, will answer it, will you know, give

contributions very well? Know powerful loier this brother is. Very

soon they made him the leader of youth in that place,

and as God we have it, shortly they discovered that

he was from a particular church. So they went to

tell this man of God that was stelling the story.

They went to a meeting. They say, ah, this man

is from your church, and this one, this on, this on,

this one, and is one of our youth leader and

all of those things. But what we have observed a

BOUNTI is that this man has touched many of our

sisters in the church.

The man was your.

Busy so in seed for filling purpose, Sally, he was

just fulfilling purpose. And come to think of it, and

God was blessing that those seeds that was he was sewing.

I know the way God was blessing the seed.

Twins, twins, twins, as many songs.

God is not looking for what you are doing.

God is looking at the hearts. It is the heart

that God sits after. It's not looking at that. You

can talk about the Bible.

It's not enough.

God is looking at your faith. Does your faith correspond

with that form that you say you have. It is

not about rituals. I can do this, I can do that. No,

but about relationships. Number three things that I will see

in that text is in verses fourteen and fifteen. And

what you see there is God prescribes to worship. God

confronted them, and then again it shows them what it has.

And now God is now telling them, this is the

kind of worship that I want. He says, offer to God, thanksgiving,

Call upon me, and what will happen?

I will deliver you. So God reveals.

That he truly desires what thanksgiving fulfilled vowel and depends

thence on God. In trouble, can we say together, thanksgiving,

fulfilled vowels, dependence on God. Let's say it again, thanksgiving,

fulfilled vow dependence on God. That's all that God is

looking for. Thanksgiving, a heart that remembers God's goodness, a

heart that remembers God's goodness. I am who I am

today just by.

The grace of God. And he says, fulfilled vows.

It's about integrity and sincerity before God.

Oh, for many of us.

When we are looking to God for something, you make

a lot of promises. Are you fulfilling that vow? Go

ahead and fulfieling? And he says again, dependence on God.

We're in trouble, he says, call upon me and I

will deliver you. It's a real relationship of trust. That's

what that means. Therefore, to worship involves gratitude, obedience, and

trye in God's help. God desires a thankful art, not

just repeated phones.

Real worship glorifies God.

Not only in charge, but in life trials everywhere we are.

In the Book of John, Chapter four, verse twenty three

and twenty four, Jesus also attest to this. It's a

true worshipers. We worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

That is confirmation from Jesus himself. So not those who

merely attend services. How does this apply to Rose? As

I close this money? As Christians today and especially in Anigeria,

how does this.

Apply to Rose?

Application Number one is this God is not impressed by

outwards shoe. Break free from cultural Christianity. Tell somebody by

your side, break free from cultural Christianity. You know what

cultural Christianity is? The abbit is a kind of abbit

or tradition. Some people go to church because of year?

What will somebody say? Somebody will ask me where you're

not in church?

What happened?

Some people are worshiping God because of year. Some people

are doing worship because of family. Some people are doing

it because they want to receive blessing from the Lord.

For what a reason are you doing it? Many Nigerian

believers mistake church attendance, long prayers and loud songs as

proof of spirituality. No going into mountains, go into valleys

and everywhere. When you will never take the Bible and

even open the Bible throughout the week, and then you

run ether sketter, God examines the heart.

Worship without obedience is empty.

Number two application is that worship is not about what

we give to God, but how we relate to him.

What she is not about what we give to God,

but how we relate to him. It's God saying don't

give a frad No, it's God saying don't go to worship.

No.

Is God saying don't do things that are to be

done in the church. No, But God is saying do

it with the whole of your hearts. Do it with

the whole of your heart. Worship is not just what

you do in church. It is how you live every day.

Do we get that that you are in church like this?

That is not enough worship? What do you do in

the course of your Are you grateful or you are grumbling?

Are you holy in your private life? Are you honest

in business when you're in trials? Are you trusting God?

God is not pleased when we sing in church and

singing in secrets? No, God is not looking for that.

Number three application is that religious for christy provokes God's displeasure.

Hypocrisy.

Everybody notices you you're doing this, but you're doing something else.

You can abuse everybody. You can disrespect people. Your worship

is not complete. God, give God your life, not just

your lips. When they said lift up only hands, you

see a lot of holy hands that are very unholy.

Like Israel, many Nigerians may offer sacrifice.

But what happened? They live in corruption.

Manjuria is one of the most corrupted nations in the world.

But check it out.

We have plenty of churches, but you ask yourself the question,

what is happening in all of those churches? We worship

like this on Sunday we bring sacrifices to God. Yet

there is triber a trade. When we get to the

rem of politics. It's about me, my family and everything

about me. A lot of people come to charge and

give a free dance. Are free there me choice, But

you see what there is this sexual scene. There is

the dishonest in their lives. God says in verse seven,

I will testify against you. God desires holiness, not performance.

God desires who not performance. How many of us are

coming to church this morney and you just had sex

with somebody that is not your wife or somebody that

you are not married to. It is a scene before God.

Your worship can never be acceptable to God. When Jesus

was caughting Isaac twenty nine and verse thirteen, he says,

these people are on me with your lips, but your

hats are.

Far from me.

Is that your situation in Nigeria today? We give offering

but cheat others were first. But how about a tred?

You see some people you can do forty days, sixty days,

seventy days, pray and first, but let's something may fight,

Just share it like this, leave church aside, live Bible

us this one and we deal with you.

And the person is firsty deception.

And lot of people speaking tongues, but they lie in business.

I've seen places where I'm feeling from and they will

ask me, are you baptized in the Holy spirits with

the evidence of speaking in tongues? Yet you see, and

I know that a lot of people say, yes, you

can speak in tongue.

Black beads blow it very well. But how do you

relate with other people? You lie? No, that is not

your only spirit.

Real worship is consistent with living, not just loud singing.

And finally, one other thing that we see there is

that real worship is practical. It overflows into our daily life.

It overflows into our life. Let worship transform you to

Worship is seen in gratitude, in integrity, in forgiveness, in compassion, effectfulness.

Our Sunday, I mean our Monday to Saturday life is

as much worship as our Sunday. Said this, true worship changes.

How we treat others to worship changes, how we spend

money to worship changes, how we angle power. True worship

changes how we respond to suffering. Romance, Chapter twelve, Verse one.

The Bible says, offer your bodies as living and living sacrifice,

that is worship beyond the ritual. You offer your body

the totality of yourself as living sacrifice to God. The

question is this, are you worshiping God from your heart

or just following tradition Christian go to church Sunday. Let's

go to church. That's tradition. It must be beyond rituals.

The question is have you replaced gratitude with performance.

It's your life aligned with God that you claim to worship.

Do you trust God enough to call upon Him in

the day of your trouble or do you rely on

rituals because I do this? Because I do this, God,

no suppose allow this will happen to me. Let me

conclude this way, God is calling us to worship beyond rituals,

beyond traditions, to offer our lives as living sacrifices.

Let your worship go.

Beyond the altar of the church to the author of

your heart. Let your sons be backed by a life

of thanksgiving and holiness Versus fourteen and fifteen. Of that

some fifty says, sacrifice things offerings to God. Fulfill your

vows to the most eye, and call upon me in

the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you

will honor me. I pray for somebody this morning that

God will grant unto you the heart of repentance and

the heart of obedience to its called this morning, shall

we pray together? Can you just take a moment and

just search your heart? Have you been doing all rituals? Well,

go to churche. Let's do it. Let's do that one.

Let's do that one. We're doing it. Some of us.

We don't feel like doing it at all because you

feel that they are forcing you to do it.

It's not it's not no, no, no no, It's not

about you. It's about who God is. So the question

is always God to you. If you have not come

to that realization, this is your opportunity today to come

to realization that, whether you like it or not, God

is God. He is no man, and God is looking

for a heart that is drawn to him, a heart

that we're passionately serving. Can you talk to the Lord

this morning and say, Lord.

Why we make man your way.

Me? Please?

I rebute, you're frow in my home.

God, fa Gods, God, Holy Sea, and.

Your place. Then we sinking to get altogether. I'm my

wee man, my lad your place.

Blast.

I repute, Go broad go Father, go.

B bos no spra.

Go Father.

B bo.

A wistert ste mm hm hm that's free mm hm.

God, thank you for this morning, h thank you for

your thanks for beginnions. Yes, savely, thank you for familist

accept that thanks in Jesus' name, telling the God you

have been chose that we should give us, not the

money or whatever we have. I'll give all our hour

to God, just as surgeon Romance you have one. These

are life as a living scy coach. This is what

we're promising to do this morning. Help us to so

doing Jesus' name, Lord God and night to pivot us.

Help us a lot to fulfill our vows to you

in Jesus' name. But then the girl I pray a

Lord for the pastor the church, give a team, guide

him directed a lord in Jesus' name, God Almighty, let

his work spread a lot in Jesus' name. For us

as individuals. Father, we have videos, our desires. Beat what

is in Jesus' name. Love, God Almighty, dive with us.

Let us going to live for you in Jesus' name.

Thank you Love for answer. Prayer in Jesus christ name,

we are praise