28 June 2026 - A Lifestyle of Worship - Pastor Clarance Shashi

Uh, the tribe that was chosen by God to minister at the temple, to serve at the temple.

So these worshippers were a tribe from the tribe of priests.

And how do I know that?

In 1 Chronicles chapter 9, verse 33, it says, Now these are the singers, the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites, living in the chambers of the temple, free from other service, for they were on duty day and night.

1 Chronicles 9:33

How many of you in the worship team complained?

You know, I've been on duty for like two times already this month, you know.

They were on duty day and night.

Now, why is it important for you to know that these people who, when they worship, God moved so powerfully, were Levites?

It's important because as Levites, we know that they were the ones whose entire lives were consecrated to service and honor and the worship of God at the temple.

So worship to them was not just a duty or an event or a lifestyle or something that they did a few hours a day.

It wasn't an occasional responsibility.

Worship to them was a lifestyle that they had committed themselves to.

Let me put it this way: their worship, their songs were powerful and it moved heaven.

Not because they were good singers, their songs were powerful, their worship was powerful and it moved heaven because they lived a life consecrated to the honor and worship and the service of God.

Not worship as singing a few songs, worship as a lifestyle, a lifestyle that is not limited to a few people, a lifestyle that all of us as followers of Jesus are called to step into.

Moments of worship are powerful.

But if you want to see your experience in worship and uh your experience with the power of God, go to the next level.

You want to see your authority go to the next level, you want to see your spiritual work go to the next level.

We need to be people who understand that worship is a lifestyle.

And the reason why I feel this is necessary, especially after a night of worship like the one we we just had, which was so powerful, is because we need to understand that our worship of God isn't and should not be limited to events of worship.

Yes, these are powerful moments, powerful expressions of our worship, but God, there is more, more of worship that we can step into.

So the Bible describes many expressions of worship.

What other expressions uh that we can does God consider acts of worship unto him?

So firstly, let's look at the etymology of the English word worship.

What does worship actually mean?

It comes from an old English word called worship.

It literally means ascribing worth to someone, like the old English, they'll call someone lordship.

So when they say worship, it actually comes from worship, that means this person is worthy.

You're ascribing worth to this person.

So worship is basically you revealing that person's worth or value to you.

So every time you do something, you behave in a way that ascribes worth to God that is considered worship.

So to worship God is to declare not just with your mouth but with your lifestyle, with your entire being, how much God is worth to you.

You know, I heard about a young man who was so in love with his girlfriend, his fiance, that he's he writes her this poem and he sends his message.

It says, you know, I and she gets this WhatsApp message, he says, he says, I will climb the highest mountain for you, I will swim the deepest ocean for you, I'll walk through fire just to see your smile.

And she's like, Oh that's so romantic, that's so sweet.

Are you coming to see me later this evening?

And you're asking my sea life.

It doesn't rain, I will come.

And you know, and sometimes we can be that way in our worship.

We can say God is worth everything in song, but we give him nothing in our actions and our lifestyle.

That is not worship, that is performance.

So, what does the scripture say about worship?

What is worship meant to be?

You know, I've taught you before about the law of first mention.

Every time a word or a concept is first mentioned in scripture, in that first mention is the foundational principle, so element of that word or principle.

So worship is first mentioned in scripture in Genesis chapter 22, verse 4.

Genesis 22:4

And it is in that story where Abraham is journeying, he gets this direction from God, this word from God, to go and sacrifice his son Isaac at a particular place.

So Abraham begins this journey, and he reaches to that place where God had showed him, which was the base of Mount Moriah, and he's about to go up to that place of sacrifice, and he says this.

It says this on the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up, saw the place in the distance, and he says to his servants, Stay here with the donkey.

The boy and I will travel a little further, and we will worship there, and then we will come right back.

So the word worship there is from the Hebrew word, it's a translation from the Hebrew word shaka, and it basically means to bow down, to prostrate yourself, to surrender, to humble yourself.

But let's let's look at what this means in the context of what Abraham is doing, in the context of this first mention.

Abraham tells his servant that he's going to worship God.

Yet there was no choir with him, there was no instruments for worship, he wasn't going up with the mountain up that mountain with a guitar and a cohorn.

All he had for this worship session was his son, some wood, a knife, and a heart ready to sacrifice for God.

The first mention and expression of worshiping God in the Bible was the man walking in radical obedience to his God, ready to build an altar and put on that altar that one thing that meant the most to him at that point of time.

The first mention of worship was not about songs, it was not about lyrics, it wasn't about music, it was choosing to walk in obedience to the word of God, even when it was so so difficult.

The first mention of worship was the act of sacrificial obedience to God.

And like I mentioned, every time something is mentioned for the first time in the Bible, that's the law of first mentioned.

In that first mention are the foundational principles of what worship is.

So the foundational principle of worship is a life walking in sacrificial, sacrificial obedience.

Every time you choose to walk in obedience to God when it's hard, every time you choose to sacrifice when it's hard, you're saying to God, God, you are worthy.

You are ascribing worth to God, and you that is considered worship by God.

So while I love these expressions of worship through our songs and music and leading from the stage, I don't discount all of that, but the stage is never meant to replace the altar when it comes to worship.

Music and songs about God is never meant to replace a life of obedience and sacrifice to God, that is our true worship.

The first mention of worship in scripture is telling us that obedience to God is an expression of worship to God.

Every time we sacrifice, we lay down on that altar in obedience to God, God sees it as a form of worship unto Him.

We need to ask ourselves: when was the last time our worship or our life had an altar that we were willing to place things that were so precious to us simply out of obedience to God, simply because we know these things are getting in the way of our honor of God, that we are willing to lay down.

That was what God was expecting of Abraham.

That was what he considered worship in that first mansion.

We see a moment like this with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22, verse 41.

Luke 22:41

It says, Jesus knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me.

Then he says this, but nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

In that moment, he sacrifices his will on that altar so that he could fulfill the will of the Father for him, so that he could walk in obedience.

My will is you remove this from me.

I don't want to do this, but nevertheless, I lay down my will so that your will can be fulfilled through my life.

That is an act of worship, that's an expression of worship.

What was Jesus doing in that moment?

He was ascribing word to the Father by placing the will of the father above his own will.

Abraham, in that moment of laying Isaac on that altar, is ascribing word to God.

He's saying, God, you are worth more than this promise that I waited for for 25 years.

You are worth more to me than my own personal joy and happiness.

You are worth more than my future dreams and plans.

God, I trust you so much, and I want to obey your word, even though it is painful for me.

I value and trust you.

He was ascribing worth to the Father.

Every time you obey God's word over your will, it declares it is a form of you worshiping God.

You're declaring His Lordship, you're saying that His will is more valuable than your comfort, than your desires.

That is true worship unto Him.

Singing that God, you are my Lord, you are my King is easy.

Living like He is your Lord and your King, that is the challenge.

Obedience is not easy.

Obedience means sometimes I have to say no to something that my flesh desires.

It means that sometimes I have to give up something or even someone that I know is not God's will for me.

It means I have to die to myself and my flesh sometimes.

It is those, nevertheless, not my will but yours be done moments.

That is why we need an altar in our Christian walk.

Abraham builds an altar.

The altar, in its original context, is a place of sacrifice.

Every time you lay something down, you sacrifice for God, it is an expression of worship.

It is an expression of you placing something on that altar before God.

Which leads me to another expression of worship.

Paul writes in Romans chapter 12, verse 1, he said, and so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all that he has done for you.

Romans 12:1

Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he finds acceptable, that is truly the way to worship him.

The word worship in this particular scripture is translated from the Greek word later.

Everybody say later.

Now this word became the technical term for the ceremonial service or the rather the labor of the priest in the Old Testament tabernacle.

It was the priestly service.

So it is actually talking about the work of the Levites, you know, as they carried the heavy wood to be burned, as they slaughtered the sacrifices, as they tended the fire.

That was Latria.

That is Paul is saying doing that, those work was a form of worship.

It wasn't just those moments when, you know, in the Old Testament tabernacle, as you go into the most into the holy place, just before the most holy place, there was the altar of incense.

And uh most of the time the altar of incense is a representation of worship because they'll put the sweet smelling incense on the altar and the smoke will go before the presence of God in the most holy place.

So what Paul is saying, it's not just that, that part of their job that was considered worship, even the part where they were at the altar of sacrifice, sacrificing their animals, uh destroying the flesh as a representation of how Christ would be sacrificed for us to deal with the sins of mankind, to deal with the sins of the people, that was also considered worship.

Even as they carried the wood and they tended to the fire, that was considered worship.

Even them keeping the fire burning in the holy place, that also was considered worship to God, that is Latria.

So he's saying, present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

So he said in the so in the New Testament uh temple, you your body is now the temple, you are the priest, and your body is also the sacrifice, and because your body is the temple, everything that you do when you deal with the flesh, when you keep your fire for God burning, all of that work is considered worship by God.

In other words, your labor in living for God is worship, it is not just the feeling you have when you're singing a song, it is the work you do to keep your life holy before God.

When he says give your bodies as a living sacrifice, like I said, he's saying you are the priest, your body is also the sacrifice, and your daily choices are the latria, the sacred labor that ascribes worth to God.

And the problem with living sacrifices is those days they had to kill the sacrifices to put it on the altar.

But Paul is saying now today in the new covenant, you are living sacrifices, and the problem with living sacrifices is you can crawl off the altar.

When the fire of trial gets a bit hot, or the cost of forgiveness is high, our flesh wants to jump off.

What Paul is saying is Latria worship is the daily decision that you make to stay on that altar even though you have the power to walk away.

God sees that as worship unto him, God sees that as you ascribing worth unto him, living for him.

When the desires of the flesh rise up, get yourself, stay on that altar, become a living sacrifice for him, put to death those things which exalt itself against the will and the honor of God.

Put to death those things that want you to walk in disobedience to God.

Every time you do those things, God says, This man, this woman is ascribing word to me.

Wasn't that song that we sang with that beautiful chorus?

It was in that moment that you chose to stay faithful to your spouse when temptation was high.

It was in that moment when you said no to the flesh because you knew it would be wrong to give in and that would dishonor God.

It was in those moments when you chose to be silent and hold your peace when everything within you wanted to lash out and repay hurt for hurt, evil for evil.

It was in that moment where you held back from punching that person on the face, from showing the peace sign to the guy on the road next to you, half the peace sign.

It was in that moment when you chose forgiveness, even though it was so hard for you, but you made that choice because you wanted to honor God.

It was in those moments that you presented your body as a living sacrifice on that altar, and those moments were worshiped unto God.

And many of us had these moments in secret.

There was no one watching us, no one appreciating us, applauding our moves.

But God saw, and most importantly, God saw them as moments where you ascribed worth to him, where you ascribe worth to his word, to his spirit, and he received it as worship unto him.

That is Latria that the scripture identifies as worship.

So worship is obedience and sacrifice.

Worship is when you do the work of disciplining yourself, choosing to make choices in your life, living for God.

All of that is worship.

Another mention of worship in the Old Testament is found in the book of Exodus.

In Exodus 8, chapter 1, it says, And the Lord said to Moses, Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him this is what the Lord says, Let my people go so they can worship me.

The Hebrew word translated into English as worship here is the word Evoda.

Everybody say avoda.

And this word can be translated into three different terms.

It is used interchangeably as worship, work, and service.

It is the same word in Genesis chapter 2, verse 15.

Genesis 2:15

It says, God put man in the garden to work it, to a water it.

So what is he saying?

How we handle our work and how we handle our service, our serving God is an expression of worship unto God.

You know, sometimes we can separate things we do as as spiritual and secular and carnal.

You know, the idea that church needs that everything that happens in church and around church is sacred and spiritual, everything we do outside is secular.

That is actually Greek philosophy that had crept into the church.

That is not the word of God.

In the Hebrew mind, there is no word for, there's no idea, word for the concept of secular.

They believe that if God created all things, then all things belong to Him.

So when we divide our lives into worship time, spiritual moments, and real-world times, secular moments, we are actually practicing a form of uh spiritual schizophrenia, dualism that is not of God.

So the idea of aboda kind of deals with that because it means worship and it also means work.

It is the understanding that if I am a child of God, everything I do, everything I touch becomes an opportunity for me to ascribe worth to my God, not only in church and ministry, but even in my workplace.

Paul writes to people stuck in slavery under the Roman Empire, and he tells them this in Colossians chapter 3, verse 22.

Colossians 3:22

He says, Born servants or slaves, another translation calls it, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not just with eye service as men please, but with sincerity of heart, fearing God.

Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, not to men.

Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen, there's nothing spiritual about being someone's bondservant or someone's slave.

But Paul says, every work that you do, no matter even if you're a slave, even if you're a bond servant out there, do it as though you're working for God, as though you're serving the Lord.

And this also applies for you and I today.

When you go to school, when you go to classes, when you go to work on Monday, regardless of whatever whatever the situation or circumstances is in that environment that you're in, regardless of whether you like your boss or you don't like his face or whatever you think of him, do your work as though you were serving the Lord.

Because in that attitude, how you handle your work becomes a voda, an act of worship to God.

And in that sense, you are actually acknowledging that ultimately your reward, your promotion, your blessing is not that man in your office, it is the Lord.

Amen.

And the Bible does say promotion does not come from the east, the west, the north, or the south.

It is the Lord who raises one up and puts down another.

Amen.

Daniel in the Old Testament worked for one of the most cruel, egoistical kings in that time.

Daniel's work was a political administration.

There was nothing spiritual about that, especially when you're working for a heathen king and a kingdom.

But it says in Daniel chapter 6, verse 1 to 5, it said it pleased Darius, the king, to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be over the whole kingdom, and over these three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss.

Daniel 6:1–5

Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and the satraps because there was an excellent spirit in him.

And the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

So the governors and the satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could not find any charge or fault because Daniel was faithful.

Nor was there any error or fault found in him.

His evoda, his work was so high quality that his enemies couldn't, they were so jealous of him, but they just could not find any fault in him, in his conduct, to a point where they started accusing his God.

Because they knew the reason why Daniel was like that was because of his relationship with God.

So they couldn't get the king to find a problem with Daniel, so they kind of got the king together, have a problem with Daniel's God.

Ascribing word to God also means you being so good at your job that your secular critics have got nothing to say.

Nothing to say at all.

Listen, if you go to work late, students, if you're not studying, not doing your assignments, your homework, if you don't handle your responsibilities given to you well, and you're being denied bonus or increment.

I've got news for you.

That is not persecution from the devil.

Yeah?

That is not persecution.

Before you blame the devil, like I said last week, right?

It's the devil's fault.

Examine your own conduct.

Have you been how have you been handling the blessings that God put in your care?

How have you been handling those things that have been entrusted with you?

How have you been treating your bosses, your colleagues?

Have you been doing your work as unto the Lord?

Do you see that?

Remember, Paul is saying to these guys who are under slave masters, serve them as though you're serving Jesus.

Do you do your work as though you're serving Jesus?

Because if you do it that way, the scripture says it is it becomes a form of worship unto God.

I am choosing to walk in integrity, not because the circumstances around me encourage that.

I'm choosing to walk in integrity because I want my life to honor God, because I want to obey the word of God for my life.

So I'm making these choices, and God sees that choice as worship unto Him.

I'm choosing to show up every day, do my best.

My boss is like Hitler.

But never mind, my ultimate boss is Jesus, and my promotion will come from him, and I will continue to serve as if it's unto the Lord.

Amen.

And every time you do that, God sees it as worship unto him.

Amen.

He says, Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, whatever, not just whatever you do on Sunday, those two hours in church, on Friday in your connect group.

He says, Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Think about how you can handle everything that you do in and outside of church and ministry as unto the Lord for the glory of God.

Because, like I said, that is an expression of worship to Him.

Worship through your lifestyle choices, worship through your disciplines, worship through the ethics that you choose to walk in, through your service, to your work, and every time you do that, you ascribe word to God.

That is your aboda expression of worship.

You know, there's this conversation in John chapter 4 that Jesus has with the Samaritan woman at the well, and it is about worship.

John 4 · chapter mention

This woman tells Jesus, you know, she's at the well, and Jesus is sitting there, and this woman comes to Jesus, and they have this conversation, and she she goes on about places of worship.

You know, you Jews believe that uh, you know, we must worship you in in Jerusalem, but you know, we believe that we we must worship in this mountain, and and they have this whole conversation because for a thousand five hundred years worship was location bound, place bound.

If you were not in the tabernacle in Jerusalem or you weren't at that particular mountain, they they would not consider anything outside of that as worship.

But Jesus demolishes that that concept, that idea, because here he is at a common well, talking to this woman about worship, and he says to her, When the true worshippers come, the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and in truth.

For the father is seeking such to worship him.

So he basically saying, God's not too concerned about where you're worshiping, you know, this mountain, that place where you believe God is, whatever.

So God is actually looking for worshipers, true worship is people who will worship in spirit and in truth.

So this lady says there's two locations where we argue about where we should worship.

And Jesus says, Yes, there are two locations where you should worship, but the locations are in spirit and in truth.

In spirit, the word is pneuma, and this is not just talking about your emotions in worship.

To worship in spirit means that your worship is no longer tied to a physical building because the Holy Spirit now dwells in you.

You are that mountain, that place of worship, you are that temple, that place where God dwells, that place of worship.

Wherever you go, worship is in session.

And when you understand that, you know that we don't go to worship, we carry worship wherever we go.

Then he doesn't stop there, he says, in truth.

The word there is elity.

Elitya means in in reality uh or unconcealed, it means the in your internal spiritual passion, the passion of your spirit must match the external reality of your life, the truth that you walk in.

If you sang like an angel on Sunday but lived like a Philistine from Monday to Friday, your worship is out of alignment, and the Father is seeking, he's looking for people whose Sunday song matches their Monday movement.

He's looking for those who realize that what our lives can be worshiped wherever we are, not just at a concert, not just an hour or so on Sunday at church, not just for a night of worship, you can have great experiences at the night of worship, but you can go through your Monday to Friday dry if you don't understand that your lifestyle can also be worship unto God when you work as unto the Lord, when you sacrifice, when you choose obedience when it's difficult, all that is worship rising up to God is you ascribing worth to your creator.

And I do believe God wants us all to go to the next level, the next level where we understand that there is more.

We all want that more from God, but I believe God is saying it's time for you to step up into the more for your own life, in your own decisions.

We want to see the breakthroughs, we want to see those miracles.

And God is good, He gives us all of that, but He's calling us higher to a higher level.

Don't be satisfied with where you are, and let our lives.