When The Music Fades - Week 2 (Mother's Day 2023)

It's a great responsibility for you to be the worship leader of your home.

Amen. Yeah, we must learn to set that atmosphere in our homes.

And today um is about that. And even though I may direct this towards

mothers because it's Mother's Day, this is not just four mothers. Come on,

somebody. This is a message about worship. It's a it's a message

about your home. Your family the epicenter of spiritual growth. The church is

not it's not the main place you should grow spiritually. Your home is the

place where you should grow spiritually. That should be the epicenter of your spiritual

growth. You take responsibility for your spiritual growth. We're here to aid you

in that is that is the church's job to raise up saints for works of

service. That's what we're that's our responsibility. Is your responsibility to cultivate that

personal relationship with Jesus. So in the Book of Samuel, when the Book

of Samuel opens up, it it opens up with this figure Hannah. Hannah

as a woman who who desires children. She wanted a male child. She

searched deep within her and she felt that this was what was missing from her

life, and it consumed every thought, every moment, and she cried out

and she wept to God, God, just give me a child. And

then she got so desperate. Come on, somebody, she reached that point

of desperation. Just I want you to say, amen, if you've ever

reached this place. Okay, now I'm probably gonna turn it on you in

just a minute, but I still want you to let me know if you've

ever reached this place. Have you ever reached the place of desperation where you

started negotiating and trying to cut deals with God a man, we've been there,

right, God, if you'll just do this, then I'll do that.

God, if you'll man, if you'll if you'll just get me a

raise, I'll give twice as much. And you didn't do the math,

right, So he gave you a seventeen cents an hour raise and given twice

as much means you're you know, one hundred dollars in the deficit. But

but nonetheless, but God, if you'll do this, I'll do that,

and we start negotiating out of desperation. And this is why we're Hannah case.

She said, listen, if you'll just give me a child, I'll

give him back to you, I will return him to you. I will

give him to you if you will just give him to me. So we

pick up here. The Lord has blessed Hannah. She has given her a

son named Samuel. And Samuel is that figure in scripture that is the one

that goes and anoints David to be the next king of Israel after saw.

He's instrumental in that entire era of the first king and the second king.

He's very instrumental in that area. He is a major player when we see

the lineage and the plan of God. And it's all because of a mother

who reached the place where she said, if you'll just give him to me,

I'll give him back to you. Symbolically, that's what we do when

we dedicate babies. If you got a baby and she hasn't or he hasn't

been dedicated yet, get him on the schedule to be dedicated. First Samuel,

Chapter two, starting in verse one, it says, and Hannah prayed

and said, my heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in

the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation.

No one is holy like you, like the Lord. For there is none

beside you, nor is there any rock like our God. Now some people

say that this is a prayer. There are theologians who say that this is

written in the same prose, it's written in the same meter and rhythm,

that this was a song written that she literally sang this to God. It

was her moment of worship before the Lord. So the Lord blesses her,

and she immediately goes into this place and this time of worship, and she

begins to build an atmosphere of worship in her home. Our homes have to

be a place that the atmosphere is set through worship. Worship creates a habitation

for God. It's that place where he dwells. We're gonna read a scripture

in just a moment that says that that he doesn't just dwell there, but

he's enthroned on the praises of his people. That when we have an atmosphere,

he's drawn to it. Not only is he drawn to it, but

he sits on it as Lord. That we give him the permission to be

Lord when we set that atmosphere of worship. And Hannah, she receives this

great gift. Now you know I talk to you about we reached that negotiation

point. Right, most of the time when we reach that place. Now,

I'm not talking to you, I'm not talking to anybody in here because

I know y'all, right, I know everything you've ever told anybody or told

God, you have fallen through one hundred percent, right, everybody in here,

there's not yeah. I mean I know so us. I know,

y'all. But most of the time, the way that happens with other people,

not y'all, but other people. As we ask God, we beg

God, we negotiate with God, we make a deal with God, he

does something, and then we forget our end. We forget you know what

we said, because usually the blessing is so much bigger than what we ask

for, because that's the God we serve. But Hannah, the first thing

she did is she said, Hey, you know what this baby has to

experience. Listen, this baby has to experience God's presence even as an infant.

That my home has to be saturated with the presence of God. And

that's what creating that atmosphere of worship does in our homes. Now, Listen,

first of all, it doesn't mean you have to walk around. You

don't have to walk around off this little light of them. Now you don't

have to do that, but you're probably that's all you're getting today, saving

that from my album release. Listen, I got friends in ministry that man,

they can preach better than me, they can administrate better than me,

they can see. It just makes me so mad. That wasn't friend,

Sorry, I was repentance actually is what that was, I guess. And

I had this bitterness in my heart towards people that are more talented. But

that's okay, I'm prettier than they are. Happy Mother's Day. So we

have this place where we come to and God. There is an expectation from

God back to us when he delivers on his promises and he's true to his

character and nature, and that's that we begin to worship him back. He

peels some of those layers away because ultimately, true worship Listen, true worship

is not out of a place of desperation. True worship comes from a place

of obedience. True worship comes from a place of surrender. You know,

it's easy to come out fighting when your back is against the wall. It's

easy to use all the tools in the arsenal. Come on somebody, when

when you're at the bottom of the hole and you have hit bedrock and you

can't dig any Deever, it's easy to worship. Then, it's hard to

worship when you're on the mountain and you look around and you can see the

beauty of the horizon and you have a view of the ocean and all of

those things are happening. I've said view of the ocean because I hope Pastor

Clay's watching because he's on vacation today. It's hard to worship him then because

everything is okay. But just like Hannah, it's our responsibilities, moms,

it's your response on ability to set that atmosphere of worship that draws the presence

of God and allows him to be crowned in your life. But now let's

keep reading, because scripture contrasts Hannah's actions almost immediately in this passage of scripture.

So stay in First Samuel, chapter two and jump down to verse twelve.

Now, the sons of Eli were corrupt. They did not know the

lord and the priest's customer, the sons of Eli. Eli was the priest.

The sons of Eli were also priests. Now I want to read.

I want to read this passage again, with you understanding that they were also

priests. So let me let me read it to you again. Now,

the sons of Eli were corrupt. They did not know the Lord. They

were priests. They had all of the working functionality, they had all the

outward trappings. They knew the words to say, they knew where they were

supposed to be. They knew the songs well enough, come on, somebody

to lift their hands in the right places, and maybe even shout and sway

a little bit. But there was nothing in them that really knew the Lord,

because anyone who really knows him will spend time worshiping him. And the

priest's custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the

priest's service would come. Now, this is not the normal, this is

their custom. This is not how it was supposed to go. And the

priest's custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the

priest's servant would come with a three pronged flesh hook in his head while the

meat was bulling, then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or

cauldron or pot, and the priests would take for himself all that flesh hook

brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

And then they went a step further and they would wait until someone was

offering a burnt offering where they would burn the tastiest, most choice cuts,

the fat of the meat. And they would come because they didn't like burn

flesh, and they would say, listen, you need to give us our

portion raw right now. And the people would say, no, we got

to burn at first, and they would say, hey, listen, you

need to give it to us or we're gonna take it from you. Let's

contrast this to Hannah, because as we follow these two figures, things get

really interesting. Kinnah creates this atmosphere of worship. And here we have Hofney,

that's one of the son's names, who is telling people, listen,

you're coming to worship, but your worship is invalid because it's more important than

you take care of me than it is for you to take care of the

Lord. It's more important for you to look at me than it is for

you to look at the Lord. It's more important for you to be obedient

to me than it is for you to be obedient to the Lord. Now,

let me chase a wild rabbit here for just a second. That means

the Lord doesn't like it. When you find out your favorite preacher speaker is

going to be on vacation and you don't show up for church, you know

why we don't tell you when I'm going on vacation, because you don't come

to church. And that is just wrong. So a matter of fact,

if you show up to church for me, you're not gonna get anything out

of it anyway. If you show up when Pastor Gary schedule to preach,

you're not gonna get anything out of it anyway. If you only show up

when when Clint's gonna be singing, you're not gonna get out anything out of

it anyway. You show up because this is the Lord's house and this is

the ordained place that we meet with him. And when we get past ourselves

and our selfishness and we roll in to be obedient with the Lord, crazy

things happen. Good, crazy things happen. Amen. And these two sons

of Eli, they're coming, and they're coming, and they say, listen,

I'm stopping the worship that is happening. They were the antithesis of Hannah.

They literally stole worship from the God instead of offering worship to God.

And if you come to church and you go through the motions, and your

children see you go through the motions, and your husband or wife sees you

go through the motions, your neighbors, your neighbors see you go through the

motions. Come on somebody and you see those things happen. But then your

worship in church like you're in heaven. But then you go home and you

live like hell. You are the sons of the prophet rather than a worshiper

like Hannah. When we understand the depth of God's presence and his desire to

be with his people, it opens us up and awakens us to a whole

new level of being an experience with God. Let me read you that passage

that I quoted early in Psalm chapter twenty two, verse three. It says,

but you God, you are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel,

that we call him Lord. But in order for him to be lord,

we have to allow him to have his throne. And his throne is

our worship. His throne is our open heart us slanted towards him, regardless

of what's going on, regardless of what he's experiencing, regardless our hearts towards

him, no matter what's going on in our lives. Hannah offered this worship

knowing that she was about to take her only son that she had begged for

and drop him off at the temple. Now, let's talk about this atmosphere

that she's said in her home. She drops Samuel off at the temple,

and he's now living at the temple with Eli, and one night they go

to bed. Samuel is awakened. He hears this voice and he jumps up

and he runs to Eli. Runs. He says, yes, Master,

what what do you want? And listen. Eli's asleep, I mean,

and he's like, I don't know what you're talking about. Boy, go

back to bed, or I'm gonna get your MoMA to come pick you up.

Come on, somebody. I told her I didn't want just getting told

her not to bring you over here. I knew this was going to happen.

So he goes and he lays back down and it happens again. Here's

the thing that you need to understand, though. The Bible says that this

happened in a time where the Lord wasn't regularly speaking there was not a lot

of open revelation that was happening during this day. He wasn't speaking through the

prophets or to the prophets. It was a time where where the Lord had

kind of withdrawn his voice. And we see different seasons throughout Salvation history where

the Lord allows humanity to enter into these wilderness moments, these moments where the

remnant Church comes to life, where those that are truly dedicated and sold out,

those who have been bathed in an atmosphere of worship. See, the

voice came because this young man, Samuel, had been in a home where

the atmosphere of worship permeated every fiber of his being. That the things that

he heard at home were his mother singing to the Lord. The things that

he heard at home that he saw at home were the miraculous wonders and signs

of the presence of God filling a place where he called home, not just

a temple that he attended, but a place where he lived. Come on,

somebody, now, let's jump over. Let's look at these other two

boys who made it their purpose to steal worship rather than set an atmosphere of

worship that literally, while they were on watch where these two priests were there

who not only didn't worship, but stole people's worship. So people showed up

and they stole the ark of the Covenant. Now listen, let me tell

you. In a time when revelation wasn't common, in a time where God

is not speaking widely through the mouths of the prophets, God's people only have

that place, the Empa Center, where they have been taught that God's presence

is that blue flame burning between them, the wings of the Charibrom, that

place that represented God's presence. And now someone had come and taken God's presence,

and the two sons of Eli were killed. So you have the atmosphere

of worship that positioned young Samuel to hear the voice of God. I'm gonna

finish there in just a second. Then you have the atmosphere set where not

only did they did they not worship, but they did things that prevented worship,

created an atmosphere where worship wasn't necessary, where it was looked down upon.

An atmosphere of selfishness is the opposite of the atmosphere of worship, because

worship is selfless, it's sacrificial, it's giving, it's obedient. And these

young men were responsible for God's presence being taken from the people of God because

of their attitude and their actions, the antithesis of worship. Now, let's

jump back to Hannah and Samuel. So the voice spoke to Samuel the second

time he goes into elijahm He says, yes, Master, where are you?

Who are you? What do you walt? And he's like, listen,

you've woke me up again. Son, I don't want anything. I

hadn't said anything. I don't talk in my sleep. And then something he

came to, this revelation that see had becomes so accustomed. Now I remember,

this was the father of the two boys who did not know worship.

He had become so accustomed to not hearing the Lord speak that he forgot maybe

the Lord was speaking. Is it possible that, because of the condition and

the atmosphere in our homes, that our children and our spouse have forgotten that

the Lord does speak. Just let me let that settle in for just a

second. Put that in the crop pot. He had forgotten that sometimes the

Lord does speak. And he has this revelation and he looks at saving.

He says, listen, go lay back down. Maybe it's the Lord speaking

when he's when when you hear it again, I just want you to set

up, and I want you to say, speak Lord for your servant.

Here's the most powerful thing you can do when something happens and you don't understand

it is say speak Lord for your servant. Here's it'll listen if you if

you have prayer time like that, it will change your life. If you

spend time listening and you respond rather than you talking trying to get him to

respond, it will change your life. So he goes and he lays back

down, raised in the habitation of worships, sensitive to the voice of the

Holy Spirit, sensitive to God's presence. It's even though he couldn't quite define

who it was speaking yet, because that's spiritual maturity, that's discipleship. That's

different than just being in the presence of God. Do you realize you can

be in the presence of God and not be fully spiritually mature and understand what's

happening when you're in the presence of God. Two different things that work together

to build us into the spiritual champions that we all desire to be. He's

laying there in the he hears this voice again, and he says, speak

Lord, for your servit hears, and he is thrust into this journey that

leads him to be the center piece the most pivotal time in Judah and Israel's

entire history, because he came from a home that was bathed in worship when

the music fades and the grandeur is gone, when it's not about the people

that are with us or the song that's playing, but it's just simply about

you and God. Will you worship with the same reckless abandon and dedication and

wholehearted submission that you do when the music's just right and the lights are just

right, and listen. I can go on and on and on with all

the conditions that we try to meet to make everything. But do you know

why we turn the lights off so that you can dance and know and you

don't feel like people are watching you. We do everything we can to make

it easy when you're here, because I believe that if you get a taste

of God here, you'll taste and see that He is good, and you'll

get addicted to him and you'll want him when you get home. In Psalm

Chapter one O two, verse eighteen, it says, this will be written

for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise

the Lord. Listen to what he says, mom and dad, and grandparents

and great grandparents. He says. The things you do now, the things

you set in place now, the atmospheres you create now, are literally shaping

the generations that have not even been born yet. The foundations you lay now,

the future generations of your family will build upon, and it will be

the catlet, It will be the starting block, it will be the new

level, and which they don't have to go through the things that you went

through. They don't have to build to the point because you've already set in

the foundation and built an atmosphere, and they can walk into the atmosphere that's

already said that. Literally, you're a word shipping for your grandchildren, your

great grandchildren that have not even been born yet. That responsibility of worship,

not just in a corporate place, but in our homes and our private lives

sets the foundation for future generations when the band could come and get ready.

When we look throughout our modern history, we can see that our faith Christianity

over the generations has become more and more about an event and less and less

about a lifestyle. See before, when you talk to someone about the Lord,

they talked about their personal experience with him in everyday life. Now,

when you talk to someone about the Lord, they tell you where they go

to church. Oh, where you go to church is not the Lord.

Now, first of all, we want you all to come here. If

you're listening online, we'll make a seat for you. Come here. But

that's not your relationship with Jesus. Your relationship with Jesus is who he is

in those still quiet, dark moments in your home when nobody else is watching,

when everyone else is far from you, water those thoughts and the thing

that's on your heart? What are those things? That is what I'm talking

about. By creating the atmosphere of worship in your home that the generations to

come will build upon. That's your responsibility as a mother, as a father,

as a child, as a grandparent and ann and uncle, a fred

what. I don't care who you are, that's your responsibility. And today

on Mother's Day, as we celebrate you, and we should celebrate you.

And I think it's scripture that we celebrate you. I think it's I think

it's very appropriate that we honor those who deserve honor. But I would challenge

every person here to set an atmosphere of worship in your home today that after

you have set your husband out to dig a hole for the flowers that your

kids bought you, right or better yet, send your kids, give your

husband the day off too, because after all, it's Mother's Day. But

you wouldn't be a mom if he didn't help. Just a thought, just

a thought, not self serving in any way. Set that atmosphere of worship,

Set that moment where he's king in your home and realize you're building for

generations to come, the thing that will be, And speak to that which

is not as though it were. Everybody's standing with me all over the building.

Maybe you're here today, and this concept of worship, you know,

it's a complicated, it's it's a weird thing because if you don't know Jesus,

you don't understand worship. If you've never really had that grace collision where

you meet the one who loves you more than any person possibly could, the

one who has pursued you from the moment of conception, who has chased you

to this point in time, in this place, who finally has an opportunity

for an introduction. See, if you don't know him, then you can't

really embrace worship. Or maybe you've been on that pursuit and you've had that

collision, but you've just allowed to happenstance, circumstance things to bring a separation

between you and the Lord. Life's hard. Over the course of weeks,

months, years, you've allowed that divide between you and the Lord to grow.

You just don't experience him the way you used to. The task of

creating a worship environment of your home feels like something that's unattainable because you're not

close to him. Listen, if you're here today and you've never asked Jesus

to be your savior, to forgive you of your sins and be the Lord

of your life. Or if you're here and you find yourself distant from himma

sin in your life this kept you from him. We're just simply indifference.

This is your moment to make things right. I'm going to count to three.

And if you're here and you want to ask Jesus to to be your

lord for the very first time, or if you're here and you say I

want to close that distance, I want to. I want to make things

right with the Lord. I want to. I want to feel close to

him again. If either one of those are you, I want you to

step out and make your way to the front. Our altar team was going

to come and wait on you. This is your moment. This is your

moment to make the greatest decision for you and the future generations to come from

you that you could ever make. This is not just about you, but

generations to come. So when I count to three, I'm going to ask

you to step out and make your way to the front. You're in a

room of people that love you and they want the best for you, and

that best is coming to Christ's. On the count of three, I want

you to step out and move. Our alter team's gonna come and get in

place. It doesn't matter if it's just you. If today was only about

you, that's okay. Was a service well done if it's only for you.

So on the count of three, I want you to step out and

come in. The band is gonna play one, two, three, Step

out and move right now. I want to come back to the Lord,

Amen. I want to. I want to ask him to forgive me of

my sins. And be the lord of my life. Come on, that's

you, because when I know you're here, I know you here. There's

two or three more people in this place that you're holding on right now.

You're holding on right now. You don't want to, you don't want to

take that first step because you don't know what's gonna happen. Step out and

move right now. Come on, come on, we'll wait. Come on.

Come on. Amen, Amen, Amen, there's more, there's more,

there's more. Come on, come on,