Pastor's Picks Part 2 | Worship, Not A Genre with Rhet Troxell

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected

or to give online, please go to hcv .church slash

connect or hcv .church slash give. If at any

point during this message you feel called to

make a change in your life, text CHANGEME to

97000. Now enjoy the message. My pastor, your

pastor, Chris, is enjoying some much needed time

off. And so when he asked me to handle the service

on August 10th, He asked me to preach. And I

said, well, what if we just did a whole lot of

worship? And he said, I love it. Let's do it.

So today is going to look and feel a lot differently,

as you can already tell. So my message today

is going to be very, very short. And we're going

to spend an additional time, as we just did,

up front in worship. And then we're going to

do a couple more songs, and I'm done. But as

the offering is still being taken, I did want

to hit the announcements real quick. So today,

August 10th, team up. Gather with Kelsey in the

family room. to hear all of the volunteer teams

at HCV and learn how you can join one. So that

is today, after every service, team up, gather

with Kelsey in the family room. August 15th is

the deadline to register for anyone interested

in volunteering for the North Carolina missions

trip. You can find more information and sign

up at hcv .church forward slash nctrip. Next

Sunday, the 17th, is our summer baptisms and

pool party. Are you coming? Yes. It's an amazing

time. I love it because I get to be in the pool

and I get to baptize some of you guys. And that

is one of my favorite things that I get to do

in my life. So I'm pumped about it. If you're

ready to commit your life to Jesus, sign up at

hcv .church forward slash baptism. And or if

you'll be joining us for our pool party and ice

cream social, don't forget we have ice cream

afterwards. You must RSVP. Must is in all capitals

from Tracy. Okay, must. You must RSVP at hcv

.church forward slash pool party. Get your name

on the list. It's a rocking good time. And lastly,

this is a little bit self -serving, this announcement

here. On August the 23rd, right here in our house,

we will be having our huge, big, whatever you

want to call it, massive night of worship. We

do it one time a year. And August 23rd, doors

are going to open at 630. Worship will start

at 7. Lauren's really excited about it. So for

nothing else, you should come out because Lauren's

really excited about it. But no, in all seriousness,

we would love, love, love. to see you come out

on August 23rd. Bring your neighbor, bring a

friend, bring a co -worker. We would love to

have you come out. So as I mentioned, my message

today is going to be very short. It's going to

be like 10 or 15 minutes, but we're going to

talk about the value of our worship. The value

of our worship. I want you to turn to your neighbor,

the one that you like, and I want you to say,

why the whole bottle? Say that. Say, why the

whole bottle? Now turn to the other neighbor

that you don't really know so well and came in

late. to kind of slid in there and say the same

thing. Say, why the whole bottle? You see, I'm

here to tell you today, and I kind of alluded

to it a little bit earlier, but there is a song

of praise, a song of worship in our souls, in

our spirit, in our body that only we possess.

You see, God gave each and every one of us a

unique ability to connect with him. And if I

can just be honest real quick, I'm getting a

little bit turned off at the world and how They

define worship. You see, we've created worship

to be like this genre of music. It's like if

you pull out your phone, you've got your work

playlist and your workout playlist and your cleaning

the house playlist. Then you've got your worship

playlist. Worship is not a playlist. Worship

is not a style of music. Worship is a tangible

connection between you and your maker, between

you and your creator. Worship isn't... what we

do up here, right? This is called music. This

is called music. This is called playing instruments

and singing songs that lead you into a place

of worship, right? So yes, we're a worship team,

and we love to do what we do. When I get to heaven,

I'm going to tell God, thank you. I'm going to

tell Jesus, thank you for giving me this gift,

because leading you guys, leading this church

in worship, is my favorite thing to do. But it's

not because I like music. I do like music, but

that's not my reason. Stacy isn't up here singing

because she likes the way her voice sounds. Alan

doesn't play drum because he just likes to drum.

We like to do this. We love to do this because

we are quite literally blazing a way in the wilderness

for you to sing out your heartfelt hallelujahs

and connect with your creator in worship. And

your worship is valuable. far more valuable than

you could ever imagine. And I think sometimes

we devalue worship and what it can mean because

we look at it as a genre or we look at it as

just singing. Worship doesn't need a guitar,

doesn't need Sam's beautiful white falcon, okay?

It doesn't need Christian playing this amazing

melodic sound behind me. Thank you, by the way.

Worship is simply a posture of your heart. toward

your creator. And there's a story in the Bible

that I want to look at today. But before we get

into that, what if I asked you this? If you asked

yourself right now, what is your worship worth?

What is your worship worth? If Jesus was sitting

here on the stage this morning, could you look

at him in the eye? And be authentic in saying,

I'm giving you my whole heart. I'm giving you

my whole worship. I'm not withholding a little

bit when circumstances get rough. But God, Jesus,

I'm laying it all down at your feet. What is

the value of your worship? So we're going to

look at John chapter 12 today. So my man Aidan,

John 12 · chapter mention

if you could put up verses 1 and 2. Let's read

this together. Six days before the Passover,

Jesus therefore came to Bethany. where Lazarus

was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So

they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served,

and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him

at the table. Aidan, go back one slide for me.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore

came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus

has raised from the dead. Somebody say, I smell

a setup. Because when I get to verse 3, the context

of verse 1 and 2 don't really matter too much

until you understand what I'm about to show you,

okay? So you see, the Bible is one of the greatest

adventure books, one of the greatest movies,

one of the greatest things that you could sink

your mind into. I encourage you guys to read

the Bible and look at it through the lens of

context. All right, verse number three, Aidan.

One more. Mary, therefore, took a pound of expensive

ointment made from pure nard. She poured it onto

Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

was filled with the fragrance of perfume. There's

a couple things that I want to point out here,

okay? She poured the bottle, right? It doesn't

say that she took a syringe out or took a dropper

out and sprinkled a little bit of the perfume

on the feet of Jesus. It says that she poured

the whole bottle. She didn't withhold. her worship.

You see, her pouring out her perfume is her act

of worship. Notice the Bible doesn't say that

Peter was over in the corner playing an acoustic

guitar and they were singing. No, her act of

worship is what she is giving Jesus in the moment.

She is anointing Jesus with the perfume. You

see, sometimes you have to realize back in the

day, Mary didn't have a 401k or a bank account

or a savings account. This was quite literally

her treasure. Her bottle of perfume is the way

that she stored her wealth. And scholars say

that the amount of perfume that was poured out

was equal to one year's worth of her salary.

One year's worth of her wages. So we know that

in this moment, Mary was quite literally giving

it all. It wasn't just a fraction. Right? She

didn't pour out a little bit and she didn't keep

some back and say, well, I got to keep this because

I got to pay the bills next month. She didn't

care. In the moment, she's in the presence of

Jesus. She's in the presence of Jesus. And friend,

you are in the presence of Jesus every day of

your life. He might not be here in the flesh,

but you stand before the throne of God every

day that he's blessing you to open up your eyes.

Okay? So she poured the whole bottle. Not just

a little bit. And I love this too. The last sentence.

The house was filled with the fragrance of perfume.

So check this out. When she decided to pour out

her perfume, if I decide to pour out my perfume,

Christian and Sam and Elijah and Randy and Alan

and the girls, they're all benefactors of me

pouring out my worship. People in the immediate

vicinity of Mary's worship was also blessed.

They were there because the outpouring of her

spirit, the outpouring of her heart. allowed

the whole house to be filled with the aroma that

she chose to give. So when you come in here on

a Sunday morning and you lift your hands, you

might just think that you're lifting your hands

to God for yourself, but that person behind you

might see you and they might say, well, if he

can do it, and if she can do it, and if this

person over here is worshiping with tears in

their eyes, then why can't I? Maybe I need to

get a little bit of what they got. Maybe I will

lift my hands. And simply because you chose to

lift your hands in worship and pour it all out

in that moment, somebody around you was also

blessed. The whole house was filled with the

fragrance of perfume. Aidan, let's go. Next slide.

But Judas Iscariot. But Judas. One of his disciples.

That's important. One of his disciples. He who

was about to betray him said, why was this ointment

not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?

Why was this ointment not sold and given to the

poor? Jesus said, leave her alone so that she

may keep it for the day. Aidan, go back one slide

for me. Judas, why was this ointment not sold

for 300 denarii and given to the poor? Anybody

got a naysayer in your life? You think you're

doing something good? And there's that person

who just kind of drags you back down. You see,

Judas was a disciple of Jesus. You could argue

that he was closer to Jesus than Mary ever was.

Mary's pouring out her worship, and Judas, quite

literally someone who's been following the footsteps,

walking in the same physical footsteps of Jesus,

is saying, what are you doing? Has anybody got

those people? Why do you go to church so much?

Why do you always volunteer every time they have

an event? When that worship team is up there

singing, why do you sing so loud? Why do you

get out in the aisle? Why do you dance? Why do

you look so happy when you're singing a song?

Yeah, there's no one better than you. We get

it. We get it. They sang that chorus six times

by now. Okay? I trust in God. God, I trust. Why

do you get so excited about it? This is where

it gets good. You ready? Mary didn't have to

say a word in the moment because Jesus came in.

And what did he say? He said, leave her alone.

And you see, Jesus will do the same thing for

you. He will shut the mouths of the lions of

your life. He will shut the mouths of the enemies

in your life so that you can continue walking

in your purpose. Aidan, put back up slide number

one, verse number one in this verse again. Six

days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came

to Bethany where Lazarus was. whom Jesus had

raised from the dead. Does anyone know the connection

of Lazarus and Mary? Lazarus was Mary's brother.

So maybe Mary was pouring out her perfume because

in chapter number 11, which comes before chapter

number 12, that's the story of the Bible where

Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. So Judas,

not having the connection that Mary did, Mary's

pouring out her whole worship because she's seen

the wonder working. never ending, miracle raising,

dead raising power that her Lord Jesus had possessed

just days beforehand. So when people question

you, why do you go to church so much? Why do

you sing the way you do? Why does that worship

team get so excited about worship? Maybe they

just haven't experienced the power of Jesus that

you have in your life. And I guarantee you that

every single one of you, every single one of

you has a reason to pour out your perfume. You've

seen Jesus bring you through the dark times of

your life. You've seen Jesus walk you through

the desert when there was no rain. You've seen

Jesus blaze away in the wilderness. You've seen

him give you just enough money in your bank account

to pay the bill. You see, Judas was a disciple

of Jesus himself. And he couldn't even see the

value of worship that Mary was bringing. So here's

the challenge that I have for you today. Only

you know the posture of your heart. Only you

know the things that Jesus has done in your life.

And each of you possess a bottle of your own

perfume. The choice is yours how much you decide

to pour out. Last year when Lauren and Carl and

I gave a message, I... I said something has stuck

with me ever since. I said praise is free, but

worship costs you something. When things in your

life are going great, it's easy to lift our hands

and sing, Praise the Lord, O my soul. Right?

But when you just got laid off, or when your

son or daughter has gone off the deep end, or

you've just got that... pathology report back

from the doctor that doesn't look so good. That's

when worship comes in. And in that moment, Mary

chose to pour out the whole bottle. So this morning

I present you with an opportunity. An opportunity

to save a little bit and keep it on the back

shelf for when things get really rough in your

life. And give God just a little bit this morning.

And give Him just a little bit tomorrow morning.

And give Him just a little bit next Sunday. Or

you have the chance to pour out the whole bottle

of perfume. So look to your neighbor now and

say, I know why the whole bottle. If you remember,

we started by asking why the whole bottle. Now

you know. Because you can't get to the chapter

12 of your life when you're sitting around the

table with Jesus until you've seen him work in

chapter 11. You can't get to chapter 12 until

he heals and raises Lazarus from the dead in

chapter 11. So why don't you guys stand back

up with me this morning. God, Jesus, we want

to give you the whole bottle this morning. We

don't withhold any for ourself anymore. The time

for circumstantial worship is over. But God,

we want to give you our whole heart. We want

to give you everything. We don't just want to

give you a little piece. We don't just want to

say, God, just take a little bit. But we want

to say, you can have all of me. All of me. All

of me. So my challenge to you this morning is

will you give him your whole heart, the whole

bottle, and your whole worship? that you are

working now.