The Core Values of Worship at The Road - Leaders' Talks

Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hall.

I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior.

Embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit.

Today, be encouraged with a word from my guest speaker.

Welcome to the Born for War podcast.

Well, it's an honor to come before you this morning to present the word.

And I want to thank Pastor Steve and the leadership here for entrusting me to bring a message to you.

And you're going to be shocked of my topic.

I'm going to speak about worship.

Are you surprised?

How many of you have ever heard Pastor Steve make this statement?

We're a word and spirit church.

Yeah?

Yep.

That is definitely a core value of the church.

That's a vision of the church.

And so probably what you're thinking is like Steve brings the word, right?

And then when I'm up, I help bring the spirit, right?

Like Steve brings the word, and kind of the worship part is the, but actually, believe it or not, I am a word guy.

I really do.

I've, in fact, I've taken um years, decades even, and um studied about worship uh from the word.

And a lot of what we teach in the worship academy is uh teachings that I have developed over the years about the word.

So um don't don't think that like I'm a I'm a spirit guy.

I I am a spirit guy.

Okay, I do believe in the spirit.

How many, how many love you know, the the flow of worship in the spirit during worship?

Okay, we we we value that, but I really am a word guy.

But the problem is, is that um, and what I teach in the academy is that a lot of churches, it's kind of one or the other, wouldn't you say?

It's like you have churches that it's almost like it's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Bible.

Have you ever heard that?

God the that's the Trinity to some people, but how many know that the Spirit is important?

And uh He's many times left out of churches.

So we we don't want to have just one or the other, we want to have both.

And so um as I basically talked about um the core values of worship, uh, and kind of and it was interesting because as I was seeking the Lord on this message, I really had never kind of penned out and kind of put structure like uh what we're trying to build here.

And um, so but I remember years ago um I had a student that was at Christ for the Nations, and we had a lot of very, very talented students, and I was the worship leader over that ministry.

And um there was this one guy, Brian Sanders.

I came in, and there was probably a hundred or so worship leaders that we were training and equipping, and uh, and I I posed this question.

I said, um, I said, if you only had one hour to live, and what would you say would be the most important thing that you could do as a Christian?

And Brian Sanders raised his hand real high and he said, I would worship God.

And I'm like, no.

And then somebody else, somebody else raised their hand, and basically what I was asking is like, what is the most important aspect of our Christian life?

So somebody raised their hand and they said, Well, I would pray.

And then I said, No.

And then I somebody else raised their hand and said, I would go win a soul.

I'm like, no.

And then finally, somebody basically raised their hand and they said, It's all about the Bible.

And I said, Bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, ming, bing, ming, bing, ming, bing, bing.

And the first guy raises his hand and he said, Um, Pastor Brian, he said, uh, we were created to worship.

And I'm like, that's true, but where did you learn how to worship?

And he goes, The Bible.

I said, how did you, in fact, how do you know anything that there is to know about God?

The Bible.

I said, that's what I'm saying.

So I'm gonna, I'm gonna kind of take a few minutes over the course of the next uh 30 minutes or so, and I'm gonna share with you from the Bible what I believe the Bible has to say about worship and how God wants to be worshiped.

Is that cool?

You guys, you guys ready?

Okay.

So uh before I get into the Bible, let me talk about the Simpsons.

I know you guys have never seen that show.

Um, it's a bad show.

Um, don't watch it.

But I I guess I was streaming through the kind of scrolling through the channels, and The Simpsons was on, and I found myself watching it.

And uh, so where are we going?

What what what's the vision of worship here at the uh the road?

Well, it all begins with The Simpsons.

So I'm watching The Simpsons, and Bart is out buying a gift for March.

And uh he is in the mall and he's walking and he passes the dress shop and the clothing store and the kitchen shop and the home goods store, and then he ends up at the sporting goods store.

Remember, he's shopping for March.

And uh all of a sudden in the sporting goods store, he ends up uh in front of this bowling ball that's on this pedestal, and there's light shining on it, and it's glimmering, and uh he does his classic, you know, his jaw falls to the ground.

And uh so then the scene ends.

And the next scene is the birthday party.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, and they're singing to Marge, and they get to the end of the song, and everybody gives the gifts, and then Homer says, Wait, wait, there's one more gift.

And uh he reaches under his chair and he gets the present, and when he goes to kind of like put it over, uh it goes over the cake, and the bowling ball falls out and lands on the cake and splatters Marge and everybody around the table.

And the final scene was basically the bowling ball on the cake, and then it kind of rolls over, and the name Homer is inscribed on the bowling ball.

This is Marge's birthday present.

And I'll be if the Lord doesn't speak to me in that moment.

And what he told me was very surprising.

I heard the voice of the Lord and he said, Brian, he said, that is the epitome of most of the worship that I receive today.

He said, People come in to church to present me gifts of worship for them.

Did you know that there are people that actually church shop?

If you don't, if you've done that, no judgment, but I'm just saying, people come into church and they like, hmm.

Well, the worship was I'll give it like a six out of ten.

Children's ministry, I'll give it like a seven out of ten.

Pastor Steve's master, it was an eight out of ten, it was good.

And they kind of determine what church they're gonna go to based on their own opinion.

I I wonder, I wonder what God thinks about our worship.

I wonder what God thinks about our services.

And so what happened when I watched that Simpsons episode and God spoke that to me, something shifted in my mind where I started asking the Lord, God, what are you looking for in worship?

Do you know that four and a half years ago when I tried out here at the road, um I remember the very first time I ever stepped foot on this stage, I did a hymn.

Do you know that Steve didn't ask me to?

He, in fact, Steve has never asked me to sing a hymn.

But you know that almost every time I lead, I do a hymn.

You want to know why?

Because I believe in the scriptures.

Here's what it says in uh Psalms: I will exalt you, my God and King.

I will praise your name forever and ever.

Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.

His greatness no one can fathom.

Listen to verse number four.

One generation will commend your works to another.

They tell of all your mighty acts, they speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

Verse number six, this is speaking of the generations, the older generation, the younger generation.

This is generations singing to one another.

They tell of your power and your awesome works.

I will proclaim your great deeds.

They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

I remember at CF and I, one of the statements that I would make from time to time, I would say, you know what's really tragic to me is that if we got up and sang a song, and I could guarantee that it was a hundred percent, one hundred percent truth and God for you, God's message for you, it would be tragic that if we did it as a country song, some of you would never even listen to it or give it the time of day.

Why?

Because our definition many times of worship is it's what I enjoy.

It's my style.

I like the hymns, I like Bethel, I like hillsong, I like Southern Gospel, I like a cappella, I like, do we see how self-centered all that is?

And and some people are like, well, I just I can get into the hymns, but you know, I mean, those courses, they just repeat the phrase time and time and time and time and time again.

I'm so sick of it.

Like, what does it matter?

So, so so core value number one is this.

Core value is our desire is not to base our worship off our own personal preferences, it's not based around us.

Because it's like if the song comes up and you're like, I don't like it.

Well, it's talking about God.

Yeah, but I but I just don't like it.

So I'm I'll I'll wait till the next one.

Well, do you do you do we see how how self-centered that is?

Instead of he's worthy no matter what.

He's worthy of our praise, despite the style, despite the what our preferences are.

You're like, give me proof, Brian.

Give me proof.

Okay, um, here's 1 Samuel 16.

Remember when David was anointed as the king, and Samuel went to the house of Jesse and they lined up all the brothers, and David wasn't even invited.

He was out in the he was out in the shepherd pasture.

Here's what God spoke to Samuel.

He said, But the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at.

People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

So anytime we're in the middle of worship, guess what?

He's he's not even concerned about the style of music.

He's looking at our hearts.

And he's saying, Man, what is your heart singing?

What does your heart say?

That's what I'm concerned about.

I remember I was getting ready to do a night of worship in um the years that I was at Christ for the Nations.

We did these monthly nights of worship, and uh the kind of churches from all over the city would come, and there's several thousand people there, and we just would go after God, and uh we were getting ready to have this night of worship, and the rehearsal went terrible.

And I was like, man, and I and I I kind of kind of stepped back behind the curtain, and I was just kind of pacing, and I was like, I don't know how this is gonna go.

Like, it doesn't seem like we're like whoa, okay.

And that's kind of how I felt, honestly, was I was like, that's what my heart was telling me.

And I'm I'm pacing and I'm like, this is not gonna go very well.

Like the rehearsals didn't go good, and and the Lord spoke to me and he said, Brian, he said, I'm not really concerned about the music.

He said, You're all concerned about you know that the sound didn't go well.

He said, Brian, what if I told you that I'm not as concerned about the music as you think I am?

I'm like, well, that'd be encouraging because it wasn't very good.

He said, What if I told you that I only listened to the heart?

I'm like, okay, I think it's gonna go okay tonight.

He really is, more than you think.

He's not concerned about the sound of your voice, how good we do play up here.

You know what he's looking for?

He's looking for the heart.

He's looking for a heart that's surrendered, he's looking for a heart of worship.

And and you know, I mean, there is something to be said about excellence.

We do the best we can.

But more importantly, he's looking for a heart.

Number two, our desire is to give the song back to the people.

Song back to the congregation.

How many of you have been to one of our unveiled worship uh conferences?

Raise your hand.

Okay, quite a few of you.

Remember that first conference?

We've had three now.

So the very, very first one, Bob Sorge got up here and he was teaching, and he said something that I'll never forget.

He said, The song of the congregation has been stolen by the song of the stage.

And when he said that, it was like, oh, that is the vernacular, that is the verbiage that I've been feeling for decades.

Like I've I've I've wanted so bad to, and I tell our worship team all the time, I say, you realize that we're the biggest distraction, right?

I said, every time we get up here, and we're we're we're the ones that distract the congregation, because I said, our greatest gift, and and what God's called us to do is disappear.

Is yeah, we're passionate up here and we're worshiping God, but my hope is not that people walk out the back door and they're like, man, what a great song, what a great team, man, what a great voice.

If that's what we accomplished, we failed.

We totally failed.

I said, we need to disappear.

So you'll notice.

Um, I don't know if you've heard the song, Jesus loves me and inside for the Him belong.

They are weak, but he is strong.

Oh yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me.

Oh yes, Jesus lovely tells me so.

Did you notice that you didn't start singing till I stopped singing?

Everybody started singing because I stopped singing.

So you notice that many times during worship I'll be at the keyboard and we'll be playing and I'll go to just drums or just everybody cut out and just let the voices, and you notice that our church actually sings.

I mean, we really do.

That's not an accident, it's not an accident, it's on purpose, and and and here's why.

It says in Psalm 35, I will give you thanks in the great assembly.

Among the throngs I will praise you.

Our job and our vision is to give the song to you, because that's the whole point.

It's that the throng, that the assembly is meant to praise.

And and we have to get out of the way.

So if you ever wonder, like, why aren't they singing up there?

It's because I want you to sing.

I want you to connect with God.

That's the point when we come in on Sunday morning, is that everybody walking through the door that they get to see Jesus and experience Jesus.

Number three is this our desire is to build a culture of costly worship.

Our desire and our vision here at the road is to build a culture of costly worship.

So some of you know, some of you may not know.

I was a pastor and planted a church in San Diego for about five years.

And uh so we would have these gatherings.

We we would rent a space on the weekends on Sunday, but we didn't have anywhere to meet throughout the week because you know basically we just had it on Sunday.

And so I started having these gatherings at our at my house, and we had our 40, 50 people that would come in, we just kind of pack our living room, and um, we'd worship and we'd pray and pray for one another, and I'd share a little bit from the word.

And uh, and so uh I remember one of those gatherings, it was a Wednesday night, so I called up and I really felt like the Lord had told me, like, um, you need to start doing communion.

And um, so I I called our kind of our head usher, and his name was Bobby, and I said, Hey Bobby, I said, I said, can you uh can you bring some communion elements tonight?

I said, I really want to do um communion tonight.

And he's like, Yeah, Pastor, that's great.

He said, uh, let me go out in the garage and see if I can find out find any leftover elements.

And I was, and when he said that, I died inside.

I was like, leftover elements.

And this story came to my mind, and I remember exactly where I was.

I was on El Camino Real in Encinitas, California, kind of North County, San Diego, and I I literally pulled over because I felt so convicted leftover elements, and the story came to my mind of David when he counted the the fighting men and he and he told Joab, his commanding officer, he said, Go find out how many fighting men that we have.

And Joab was like, Why?

Like, and and and and Joab didn't want to do it, but he, you know, the kings basically his rule, you know, uh trumped Joab, so he goes out and he counts all the fighting men and everything.

Well, for whatever reason, that really offended the Lord.

And uh the Lord showed up to David through the prophet and said, Um, you have three options, uh, but judgment is on you because of this um this act that you've done.

And David can't, David can't decide, so he said, You decide, and it would ended up being three days of plagues, and it killed uh so many of the Israelites.

Um and so so David's praying and he's like distraught about it, and then he sees this angel standing at the at the the edge of Jerusalem with a drawn sword, and he goes out to this guy, this guy's house where the angel is, and he's gonna offer a sacrifice basically to stop this plague.

This is where this passage comes from.

Verse number 21.

I think this is in oh, I didn't put the chapter.

Uh oops, it's somewhere in the Bible.

Okay, it's verse 21 somewhere in the Bible, okay?

Ariuna said, Why has my Lord the king come to his servant to buy your threshing floor?

David answered, so I can build an offering, an altar to the Lord.

That the plague on the people may be stopped.

Ariuna said to David, Let my Lord the King take whatever he wishes and offer it up.

Here's the oxen and the burnt offering, and here's the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.

Your Majesty Aruna gives all this to the king.

Ariuna also said to him, May the Lord your God accept you.

But the king replied to Ariuna, No, I insist on paying for it.

I want to say that one more time.

No.

I insist on paying for it.

I will not sacrifice something to the Lord that costs me nothing.

I will not offer a sacrifice to the Lord that costs me nothing.

So David bought the threshing floor and oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

David built an altar to the Lord and there sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

So here I am, just got off the phone with Bobby, my head usher, and I told him, I said, Hey, don't worry about it.

And uh so I pulled back out on El Kamina Rio, and I'm driving, and I see a Pier 1 import kind of home goods store.

And the Lord speaks to me and he says, Go in there and buy some things for the communion tonight.

And he told me, he said, and I want you to pay full price for everything.

So I went in and I bought this really kind of elegant kind of gold goblet.

It wasn't real gold, but it was it was very expensive, and this platter, and I bought a bunch of candles, and I was just gonna kind of make this a special kind of communion time.

And so I go up to the register and uh and I put all the stuff on the register, and um the lady starts ringing it up and everything, and she says, Oh, hey, she said good news.

She said these candles are half off.

I said, ma'am, if you don't mind, I'd really like to pay full price for those.

And the look on her face, she was like, What?

She goes, I've never had that request before.

She goes, why in the world would you want to pay full price?

They're half off.

I'm like, well, this is worship to the Lord, and I'd really like to just pay full price.

And so she's like at the register and she's trying to like ring it up and can't.

She's like, I need a manager up here in the front.

She goes, I know this guy's crazy and wants to pay full price for the I mean, like the whole store shut down, and I'm like standing there and I'm like, what?

And and uh, and so finally the manager comes up, he pay, he figures out how to ring it up, and I end up paying full price, like$200 and some dollars for this thing.

And then I went next door.

There was a uh a uh grocery store, and I bought the most expensive bottle of wine, and and and what the Lord was was teaching me was how flippantly sometimes that we come in and throw our worship at him.

Is it costly?

Or are we just kind of half-hearted singing?

You want to know one of one of the most pathetic things you can ever hear is a uh half-hearted shout.

Worship leader.

Give the Lord a shout.

Come on now.

I mean, all right, that's a shout.

It is one of those things, it's like if you're gonna do it, might as well do it all the way.

I remember I was singing that song one time, we fall down, we lay our crown as we all stand up.

And I was like, I remember the Lord just telling me, like, if you're gonna sing it, you might as well do it with all your heart.

So we're our desire, and and and I wonder if that's why we don't see more results in our worship.

I mean, worship can be a thing of war.

Worship can be something that is a transferable His presence getting in us and us dwelling in His presence and encountering Him and experiencing joy and peace and hope and fullness.

And I wonder if I wonder if we were the problem because it's not costly enough.

And David learned this.

And and I when I teach in the academy, I always I always teach this principle about how costly is your worship.

Remember the woman with the alabaster jar that came before the Lord and offered her most precious possession that she had?

Did you know that there was a reward with that?

Did you know that Jesus' heart was moved so deeply that he turned to her and he said, From now until eternity, wherever the gospel is preached, this single act of worship will be counted precious and will be told of you.

Do you know that our worship can actually touch his heart in a way that comes with promises?

And I wonder sometimes too.

I wonder, like the woman at the with the alabaster jar, like, who told her to do that?

Like it had never been done.

I wonder if there's forms of worship that have never been invented yet.

If there's ways of worshiping him, she's like, okay, here's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna take this alabaster jar, I'm gonna interrupt the the group and cut.

I mean, she was just under inspiration of the Lord, and she she invented a way of worshiping him that that was very precious to his heart.

And I I think that I think that we can move his heart if we just get out of the box a little bit.

So our desire is to offer worship that is costly.

Number four, our desire is to build a worship culture of bodily expression.

Did you know that there's seven Hebrew and Greek words uh for praise in the academy?

I go through each one.

Probably the most famous of all the words is hello.

Sound familiar?

Uh it's where we get the word hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Okay, that's and you want to know what it means?

It means to boast about, to glory in, celebrate clamorously or loudly foolish.

Don't you know that God loves foolish worship?

I don't know if Kenny is here today, but right here, man.

I'm like, this is the he may be the greatest worship leader in our church.

I mean, he just right here.

I mean, he just gets, he just uh jumps and shouts and glories in the Lord, and I think the Lord loves it.

I think the Lord loves his childlikeness.

I remember one time the Lord spoke to me and he said, Brian, you're getting too old.

I was like, I was 30 at the time.

I was like, really not that old?

I'm like he said, No, no, he said it I I'm talking spiritually.

He said, It's time to grow young again.

You've lost your childlikeness.

Just that.

You you do you know that kids don't even care how they look when they dance?

I mean, if you see have you seen kids dance, like just they do not care.

They don't care.

And I I think there's something to that where we just make a fool of ourselves.

I remember I was leading worship at a an event, and I was like going crazy, like it was a bunch of youth, and I was like, I'll give anything for you, God.

I love you, Jesus.

I was like, I'll give you, I'll give you my house, I'll give you my car, I'll give you my time.

I was just like yelling out things like, You can have it all, Lord.

I'll even dance like David did, like a foolish person.

And the Lord, like, as soon as those words left my lips, he said, prove it.

I was like, okay.

I mean, I'll lift my hand.

No, I was just kidding.

No, and I jumped out from under behind the keyboard and I just went crazy.

And it was all great until my uh foot got wrapped around a mic cable.

And let me tell you, it was not a graceful fall at all.

It was like I mean, mic stands and guitars falling and everything, and I'm just laying there, and I just I see the Lord smiling at me.

I just, I'll be a fool for you, Lord.

I just, there's nothing I wouldn't do.

Can you imagine?

I remember when me and my um wife now, but she was my girlfriend at the time, were dating, and uh we'd been going out for like a year, and uh it was about that time, like to uh tie the knot.

But can you imagine if I went and bought a ring and I got down on one knee and I presented the ring and I said, Um I've thought a lot about this.

I did my pros and cons.

I think we work.

Like your life goals and my life goals seem to match up.

And um, I think that I think we'll make beautiful children, um, you know, and basically logically present why we work.

But just know this other than reproduction, like I don't ever want to hold your hand or kiss you or touch you or tell you I love you, but I love you, and um, will you marry me?

Can you imagine?

Can you imagine?

Uh ladies, how many of you would uh run for the the hills?

All right, absolutely.

We do the same thing with the Lord, we do that all the time.

God, I I love your book.

I love I love all that it says in there.

But when it comes to expressing our love and affection to him, it's like, well, I'm just a reserved person.

Don't ask me to get my emotions involved.

I mean, how would that work in any other relationship?

And yet it says in the in the word, Psalm 150, you all could probably quote this to me.

Let everything that has breath halal and praise the Lord, which means clamorously foolish, express our affection to him.

Which is why you'll see people like Kenny, and you're like, what's wrong with him?

He's he's showing his affection to the lover of our soul, and he's not ashamed of it.

And so we try to build a we try to build a culture here at the road where you can.

Sing, don't just sing, sing loud.

Don't just shout half-heartedly.

Uh no, shout.

Maybe even dance.

If you don't dance, tap your toe.

I mean, do something to show and express your worship to the Lord.

It it's in the Bible, it's all over the Bible.

So, how do we how do we worship the Lord?

Well, singing and shouting to the Lord.

So basically, vocal worship.

And there's so many different things, but I'm just going to touch on a few.

Here's what it says: shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving.

You know, the amazing thing about Thanksgiving is Thanksgiving is the entry point.

I've talked about this before.

The entry point, it's the gate, it's the door.

But you can't be thankful.

Okay, let me do this.

Um, one, two, three, be thankful.

Wait, okay.

It's impossible to be thankful without remembering something that he's done for you.

So as we enter his gates with thanksgiving, one of the important things is to go back.

Just think about his goodness.

Think about his faithfulness.

Think about the times that he was there for you.

Think about the times that you didn't deserve it, but he still came through, anyways.

So, so remember, remembering is a part of Thanksgiving.

It leads us there.

Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him.

Praise his name, for the Lord is good, and his love endures forever.

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Remember Paul and Silas in prison?

I mean, if there's one situation where you didn't feel like praising, it would probably be when you're locked in prison.

But instead, they went against what their flesh was telling them, and they lifted their voice, even in stocks and bonds, and began to praise the Lord.

And when they praised the Lord, what happened?

The chains fell off, the doors opened.

God set them free.

I wonder, I wonder if if we praised God that way, what might happen?

Here's what it says in Psalm 96: Sing to the Lord a new song.

Sing to the Lord all the earth, sing to the Lord, praise his name, proclaim his salvation day after day.

Let me say that first line again.

Sing to the Lord a new song.

You ever wonder why in the middle of worship sometimes the words go off the screen and we start singing?

And you're like, well, if they put the words up there, I might sing along, but I don't know.

What are we doing?

Singing to the Lord a new song.

Let me ask you this question.

When you get a Hallmark card, what do you enjoy more?

The thing that the Hallmark people wrote?

Or the thing that your loved one wrote?

What do you think the Lord enjoys more?

What you sing from somebody else's song?

Or what you sing from your heart?

I love you, Lord, I worship you, I bless you, I thank you, I give you glory, thank you for never giving up on me.

Thank you for being faithful time and time again.

Thank you for your goodness and your mercy.

Thank you that when my marriage was almost over, that you sustained us.

Thank you that my kids are healthy.

Thank you, Lord, that you always provide, I always have food to eat.

Thank you, Lord, that I have clothes to wear, I have a car to drive, thank you.

Man, that that worship is the worship that moves his heart.

Not something somebody else wrote.

I mean, we do that too.

I mean, we we do that.

Just saying in between the songs, sing to the Lord a new song.

Sing to the Lord your song.

You're like, well, I'm not a singer.

He's not even about that.

Open your heart and just tell him how you feel about him.

Lifting of hands.

This is what it says in Psalm 1404.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.

I got out that handlifting part.

I feel so uncomfortable.

Like, just it's in the Bible.

Lift, let us lift our hearts and hands to the to God in heaven.

Therefore, I want men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, as in the New Testament, without anger disputing.

Everybody, just do this.

Just put your hands up.

Just look at them.

You realize that everything you do in life, you do with those hands.

You love with those hands, you sin.

With those hands, you work with those hands, you eat with those hands.

So, so when we lift up our hands to the Lord, we're basically saying, Everything I do, I offer to you.

I give you, I give you.

Then, isn't that crazy?

Holy hands?

These don't feel very holy to me.

I sin with these hands.

What if there's an exchange that happens as we worship him, as we glorify him in his presence?

What if he some of him gets off on us?

I don't have time to talk about serving God as worship, bowing in worship, giving as a form of worship, dancing.

I mean, there's tons of ways, but I will offer this one last one if we can all stand to our feet.

In Academy, I talk about this as being what I believe is the highest form of worship, I believe.

I mean, it really is something that we do as obedience to something that he commanded us to do.

He said, remember.

As oft as you do this, just remember my sacrifice.

Don't forget.

Don't forget that I gave it all for you.

And this brings us back to that point every time.

It says in 1 Corinthians 11, for as oft as ye eat this bread, drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Matthew 26, now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, he broke it and he gave it to his disciples and he said, Take heed.

This is my body.

So can we thank him right now as we eat together?

Thank you, Lord, for your broken body for me.

Thank you for paying my debt, the suffering you went through so I could have life.

And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood, the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

God, we thank you for your blood.

We thank you for your sacrifice.

Thank you for shedding innocent blood for me.

We just remember you and we honor you, we worship you with us.

Thank you for listening to the Born for War podcast.

We hope today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

To connect with Pastor Steve's sermons, books, and blog, visit Steveholtonline.org.

God bless.