Worship // LEVEL UP | Ps Jamie Corcoran

Today, in part two, I want to talk to

you about worship. I want to talk to you

about the idea

that if we're going to level up in our

relationship with God, that we have to

level up in our worship. Now, let me be

honest with you. When I first started

coming to churches like this, so again,

I wasn't raised in churches like this. I

got invited like perhaps some of you

have been or are right now. And I'll be

very honest again, I just had three

honest in a row, so I got to be honest

now. It's like I thought, "What a bunch

of weirdos?"

Right? I mean, it wasn't in a nice, you

know, you know, a cinema like here in

Northwest Dublin or a nice school or a

nice

nightclub like in the dark. No, no, it

was a hotel.

And it was a bunch of old people

running around the place like crazy

folk, lifting their hands in the air,

crying, "Jesus." I thought, "This is

like some American horror movie." Like,

"What have I walked into?"

And so, as Christians, we've got to

remember that we look weird. I mean, not

just generally, I mean, but especially

like in Sunday,

we look weird. Because I don't know if

you check, but the last time, I don't

know if you you remember last check, but

it's weird to have grown adults lifting

their hands to nothing in the air and

singing.

Especially if you're a guy.

Like, I don't know if you struggle with

that, too, but it's like, you know, if

you're a guy, it's like, man, it's

really weird.

And it wasn't until

I as observer became a participant.

I.e., it wasn't about the act of what

people were doing, it was who they were

responding to

that completely changed my perspective

in this whole talk. In fact, even the

word worship to me sounded weird cuz

like, think worship, like what is this?

Like, hoodoo, voodoo? They're going to

come out and a dance with capes and

offer a goat. Like, what what is

worship? Well, the English word worship

actually comes from an an older English

word, worship. If it looks Dutch to you

or German, it's because it is. So much

of the English language was shaped by

German

and and and and and so on. And so, what

it means is to give

means value. Okay?

Worth So, the word worth, the old word,

means value. And in English, the word

worth, without the e, also today still

means value. So, worship

is actually worth-ship.

And what it means is you're shipping,

you're you're conveying, you're

transporting, you're giving, you're

sending value. You're acknowledging

the value of something or someone.

Now, here's the thing. You don't have to

be a Christian to worship. Everybody

listening right now, across all venues

and all paradigms, we all worship

things.

Because think about who is Who is or

what is that sacred thing to you?

Perhaps it's a It's a political figure.

Perhaps it's an ideology. Perhaps it's a

a singer or football star. What is that

thing that people can joke about, but if

they cross the line,

you get ready to fight.

Like it's like something in your I was

at a family thing recently, and I made a

joke about something that my brother

cared about, and I could see his posture

change.

Cuz we went from having a crack at a

bunch of like

How dare you?

Funny how family works, isn't it?

And it's like that's a value. That's

something that's important to him, and

I've I've trespassed, and I've attacked

that value. You see, we all are

worshipping thing, not just some things,

some things.

Uh problem One of the biggest problems

in our culture right now, the Western

culture specifically, is that we worship

ourselves.

Which is fine. When I often say you're

on the pig's back, and promotions come

in your way, and you go for a job

interview, you get it first time, even

though there's like 10,000 people in

line, you go for a house you want, it's

yours, even though there's 10,000 PEOPLE

LIKE LIFE is great when everything's

working. You It's really easy to worship

yourself when everything's going your

way.

But what happens when your mortality is

fast-tracked to the present, and you're

going to die.

What happens when you're facing

something, an existential CRISIS, A DARK

NIGHT OF THE SOUL, AND YOU or medicine

or drugs OR PLEASURE OR ANYTHING IN THE

WORLD OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THOSE things

cannot save you?

When you realize the hard way as so many

of us have that you're actually really

bad at being your own god.

And worshipping yourself is a vain

pursuit that leads to nothing.

Someone says like, "Well, I don't

worship myself, but but I worship the

idea of something else, a lifestyle, I

want to prove to my father I'm

successful. I want to have this job and

this property AND THIS PORTFOLIO. THEN

MY FATHER THEN MY uncle then" I was

thinking the other day about this. I was

in a situation where someone said

something to me and it really bothered

me. I was like, "Man, why I'm the kind

of person that usually things have fall

off me like water off a duck's back,

right?" But it just got to me. I was

like, "Man, why is this getting to me?"

And I realized, "Man, my English teacher

when I was 13 said that."

And some of this person's words

30 years whatever it is later, almost 30

years later, has reignited something she

said but NOT I AIN'T AND IT'S MAYBE

SHOWED ME LIKE, "MAN, WE ARE NEVER truly

free of trying to prove a point to

someone somewhere sometime."

We got to be careful that we are in

control and other things We're not

allowing other things to control us. But

the things that we do allow to control

us, those are the things that we ascribe

worth, that we ascribe value, that we

are in fact worshipping.

Now, when you come in into contact, when

you come into communion, when you come

into relationship with Jesus, what you

realize is that Jesus divides his glory

with nothing.

With no one.

To be a Jesus follower means It's kind

of like being in a in a healthy

relationship. It's like I have friends

and acquaintances, but you're the only

one I love in this way.

My love is It's not something you've

taken or demanded or forced or coerced.

I have chosen.

In fact, it says in the in the old

Christian vows, forsaking all else,

I choose you.

Like we see it in the very construct of

the foundation of a family, the

marriage, that in the act we see worship

and devotion, like a not a weird

deification of another person, it's the

idea that I am devoting myself to you. I

have choices, maybe three,

in the world, maybe more, who knows.

Um or maybe I think I have choices,

maybe I don't have any choices,

depending on how you roll. But the point

is, I have the opportunity to choose and

be chosen, but I'm voluntarily forsaking

those things because I choose you.

And whether my feelings match that that

choice 5 years, 10 years, 15, 20, 30

years, I still make a choice

to choose you.

See, when we come into relationship with

Jesus, we make a choice

that Christ is our king.

He isn't a, you know, good luck charm in

our lives that we can pull out when

times of trouble. He isn't a feel-good

hit that we need when we're going

through a bad spell. He is

lord of all. In fact, as I often say, if

you've heard me say it before, either

he's lord of all or not lord at all.

Very simple.

It was an article I was reading from

Christianity Today, Christianity

sorry.co.uk, who said this. It said, "We

worship because God is worth it.

We believe in honoring him for who he is

and what he has done, in creation, in

history, in our lives. And yet,

his worth is so great, so infinite, that

we could worship forever and still only

have scratched the surface, which is why

the desire to worship is never

exhausted.

Because there's no end to the goodness

of God.

There's no end to the beauty and

magnificence and majesty of God. So, you

know, years and years and years, you

think, man, am I ever going to exhaust

my desire to worship? No, because God is

so infinite.

And not only do we need this a

spiritually speaking, but also

psychologically. I was doing some

research into the the impacts the impact

of worship psychologically. And we are

wired actually to worship to to maybe

another word that the common culture

might use is to I idolize. We're wired

to idolize a thing.

The article goes on to say that human

beings are designed to find ultimate

orientation, psychological health, and

spiritual alignment by the centering

themselves and magnifying a reality

greater than their own finite existence.

We're actually hardwired

to worship. Now, if you're a non-Jesus

follower and don't believe we're created

by God, you kind of go, "Well, where did

that come from?" And maybe it's got some

pro-evolutionary, you know, purpose and

keep us keep keep our hopes up in dark

days. But if if that's the purpose and

there's no one really there hearing the

prayer, then how will hope continue to

generate if after generation generation

there is no God intervening in our

story, eventually you're going to figure

out it's all nonsense. But the reason

why there's a church today in Navan,

Dublin, and Dock is because Jesus is

alive.

He lives.

And he saves.

And he heals. And he redeems. And you're

one of thousands of people sitting in

front of me today because people to your

right and left are here today because

Jesus has done something for them.

Living proof to the evidence of the

reality of Christ.

And for us as Christ followers, as was

said by the C.S. Lewis Institute,

worship for us is the referential

keyword response

of creation to the supreme worth and

beneficence of God. Far from being

limited

and I'll come back to this at the end.

The singing songs or attending religious

services, biblical worship is an

all-encompassing lifestyle of loving,

honoring, and obeying God with one's

entire

being.

So, if you're thinking, man, I might

become a Jew for a bit, be careful.

Maybe you don't want to.

Maybe you're not ready.

Maybe you don't have what it takes. Not

because you don't have Not because it's

based on your ability, because to be a

Christ follower, to worship Christ as

king,

is to live a life punctuated by his

love, not the world's love, his love.

You honor him, you obey HIM WITH ALL THE

ENTIRETY OF YOUR BEING.

There's nothing held back for you.

Nothing reserved, nothing put aside, no

secret press,

where the kids can't find the sweets.

It's all his

and all for his glory.

As I was preparing this message, here's

what I wrote down. I said, "Worship is

the only logical, rational, natural

response

to our being in the presence of the

sole, supernatural, and sovereign being

of the entire universe."

Like, think about this. Think about

someone that you value greatly.

Again, it might be a great thinker, a

great scientist, perhaps a great movie

star, sports personality. And imagine if

today you walked out of one of these

venues AND YOU BUMPED INTO that person.

I don't have to answer aloud, but you

can answer yourself honestly. How would

you react? In fact, have you ever met a

famous person before, been in the

presence of someone who's like someone

that you perhaps value greatly? I

remember one time I was at an event with

a friend and a well-known leadership

guru that he valued greatly happened to

be at this event. And actually, the

event was being hosted in his building.

And when the guy came, my friend totally

panicked and shook his hand took up his

hand shook his hand and welcomed the guy

to his own event. Opened the door as if

he was visiting a church or something.

It was so stupid and so embarrassing and

so hilarious. Afterwards, he was like,

"Oh, no.

I just fanboyed, didn't I?" I was like,

"Absolutely, you fanboyed hard. It was

painful to watch.

But we know that something something in

us shifts when we recognize when the

presence of greatness.

When we we recognize the value of

someone who's doing or done something

great. HOW MUCH more the infinite

supreme creator

of the universe? Talk about SOLAR

ECLIPSES, THE PLANETS, THE MOON, the

stars. He created them. He didn't just

win a World Cup or defend a title or

help the poor and the

He created everything. SO IF YOU'RE

GOING TO BE IN THE PRESENCE of such a

person, then what would be in your mind

rationally, logically,

naturally speaking, you'd have to

ascribe and acknowledge the worth

of the one whose presence you're in.

That's what we do as Christ followers.

Every time we gather as special as we

gather, we recognize it's not about

church, lighthouse, or preachers, or

branding. It's about Jesus is in the

room.

And if we're going to live our

extraordinary purpose

as Christ followers, then we need to

level up when it comes to worship.

Here's the question. How does worship

help us level up in life? And like last

week, I'm going to give you a list. I'm

not really a list guy, but every now and

again list doesn't hurt. Basically, I'm

going to give you four. Four ways that

worship helps us to level up. And to

help and to and to kind of break this

down, we must understand what worship is

and how it affects us. Number one, very

simply, worship is about a person. In

fact, I should have put in there the

definite article. Worship is about the

person as I've just articulated in my

introduction.

In Matthew's gospel, chapter 15, verse 8

and 9, Jesus said this. He said, "This

people

honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me."

And he said this. This is very scary.

"In vain do they worship." Now, Jesus

was quoting the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah

Isaiah 29:13

29:13, and he was saying this in context

to where these religious leaders of the

day were confronting Jesus for why

Jesus' followers weren't following the

religious rules. So, Jesus was a bit of

a rule breaker. He said, "No." And a

little bit of a legend, a little bit of

a rebel. And so, his followers weren't

doing what the religious leaders taught

them to doing. So, they confront Jesus.

Jesus said, "Man, it seems like it looks

like on the surface that you're trying

to do the right thing and honor God, but

actually in your hearts there's

prejudice.

There's judgmentalism. There's

self-righteousness. You don't worship

me, you worship yourself."

And in that he he quotes this verse,

which to me is is is terrifying because

he's he says to us basically that he

sees through our acts.

Now, if you were raised in a church like

this, I wasn't, but if you were raised

in a Christian home or if parents in the

church, you got to be very careful you

don't fall into this category

of singing the songs

and saying the amens

and showing up because you were taught

culturally how TO DO THAT.

CUZ CULTURE WON'T SAVE YOU.

YOUR FAMILY SITUATION WON'T SAVE YOU.

ONLY A REAL AUTHENTIC personal

relationship with Christ the King can

save you.

Now, HERE'S THE THING, I CAN'T TELL AND

YOU CAN'T TELL I CAN'T KNOW OR YOU CAN'T

KNOW IT WHAT ONLY YOU CAN KNOW.

As I say these words, are they coming

out of biology like a human habit and

and you know, cultural expectation in

terms of how I was raised,

or are they coming from my heart?

Are they coming from deep within me that

I really believe I VALUE MAYBE I DON'T

MAYBE I DON'T FEEL IT TODAY.

AS WE'RE GOING TO SEE IN A SECOND,

sometimes praise is a sacrifice.

But it's from my heart.

Time and time again there's a repeated

narrative throughout scripture where God

does not look at the outward appearance

of people.

Thank God for some of us.

That's why I got a mustache. God doesn't

care.

He looks to the heart.

And he sees the hearts. Now, we do the

exact opposite. We just disregard the

heart and we judge the outward

appearance, right?

We got to be careful not fall into the

camp of we we say the right things.

We sing the right things.

But our heart is far. When our heart

When our words are backed up with our

heart, that's where worship is.

It was John Piper, the great thinker,

leader, author, and speaker who said

this. He says,

"The inner essence of worship is to know

God truly and then keyword again respond

from the heart."

To that knowledge. By valuing God,

treasuring God, praising God, enjoying

God, being satisfied in God above all

earthly things and then that deep

restful, joyful satisfaction in God

overflows

in demonstrable acts of praise from the

lips and demonstrable acts of love in

serving others for the sake of Christ.

In fact, it was John Piper who said at

one time that worship really is being

satisfied in God. Worship is being so

intimate with God that you're like, "I

have everything I need

because I have Jesus."

This idea that it's a response and it's

it's visible, it's observable, it's

demonstrated not just what we say, but

of course in how we act. So, we worship

a person and when we're when we're

growing in connection to that person,

that person

just like any person influences our

lives.

The more you grow toward Jesus, the more

you grow like Jesus.

The more his values become your values.

It's not People often think that being a

Christian is trying to follow all these

rules, you know, right and wrong and

someone's wagging a finger somewhere. No

one's wagging a finger.

Jesus said, "Come and follow me." That's

his invitation. And when you truly

surrender to him and you give him like

all of who you are as in all of who he

is and you trust when you go on this

journey, you don't change yourself.

In fact, most of you don't story. I I

was very I'm still very skeptical. I

mean, God gave me the gift of suspicion.

I mean, I'm Irish. Living Living next to

our thing is for 100 years, you're going

to grow to be very suspicious of

everyone. And so, you know, I was very

Even Even though I I knew when I prayed

the prayer for the first time that it

was God I experienced, I was still like,

"Maybe it was the Guinness. I don't

know." Um

but it wasn't until like the unfolding

months that I that things were changing

inside of me that I wasn't actively

trying to change.

Like, CAN YOU IMAGINE IF YOU JUST

started like losing weight and getting

muscularly strong without even trying?

You're like, "That's a miracle. Either

you're very sick and about to die, or

it's a miracle." EITHER WAY, IT'S QUITE

EXTRAORDINARY. IT'S NOT NORMAL. In the

same way, when you allow God to

transform your heart and His Holy Spirit

lives you, He brings change from the

inside out. And then comes a choice, a

choice that my father and I taught me

many years ago. You got to choose then

which one do you feed?

Do you feed the flesh, the selfish part

of yourself, and give it what it wants,

whether it's, you know, experiential,

whether it's illicit, whether it's, uh,

you know, um

betrayal,

or do you feed your spirit? Word,

worship, and prayer. Which one do you

want to be the stronger one and

ultimately have the victory in your

life?

When we grow in our trees, we become

like Him.

When we become like Him, get this. I

don't know if you notice this, but think

about what the world actually needs

right now is people who are more like

Jesus.

Do you even know what Jesus is like?

Kind, compassionate, strong, courageous,

sacrificial, generous. You don't realize

it, but what you need from your spouse

is you need them to be more like Jesus.

So, rather than praying, "God, fix

them," pray this prayer, "Lord, make me

more like Jesus, so it inspires them to

do likewise."

You're What you need from your kids is

you need to be more like Jesus.

You go If you think about every scenario

in life, if the people that frustrate

you were just more like Jesus, they

wouldn't frustrate you. If the whole

world was more like Jesus, there

wouldn't be wars

or political strife.

There wouldn't be all the damage, the

danger, the destruction we see. If If

the world And that's God's plan that

ultimately we become like his son.

Worship starts with the person of

Christ. Number two, worship then is

about a posture.

So, response to the person, there's a

posture.

And what is the primary And again, I

could do a whole series on worship.

Maybe one day I will. So, I'm trying to

fly through this stuff here. But what is

the primary posture of worship,

especially comes to our expression of

worship? The answer is perpetual

gratitude.

Please understand if you're new or

someone who's not yet Christ follower

and you're here, the reason why we sing

is not because we have to.

We sing because we want to.

The reason why we live Again, and I'm

not I'm not by any means a Catholic

basher, you know, um it's part of my

story, it's part of the story of this

land. There's good and bad. But, you

know, when I was growing up in the

church, there was very predictable

moments where you were supposed to do a

thing.

I didn't do the thing, everyone knew you

were doing the thing, and eventually

your granny or someone's granny would

look at you and say, "Do the thing."

You don't have to do the thing. That's

kind of how you're like, you know,

"Okay, I'm in line. I'm doing the

thing." That's how you learned the

liturgy cuz there wasn't like there was

no instruction manual for what you

should do.

Um whereas here, it's like

if you want to stand there quietly with

your eyes closed, that's cool.

Stand there quietly with your eyes open.

That's cool, too. I don't know if you

notice, but me standing with your eyes

open, not singing, not worshiping looks

more weird than worshiping. That's just

for free. Um

you want to chat like it's like there's

no one way. It's like there's some Like

when you're in the presence of God, some

visceral, demonstrable reaction has to

happen because it's real.

If it was not real, then maybe

maybe that's why you're not feeling it,

so to speak.

But the point is what drives it isn't

some kind of religious obligation. It's

like when you realize Let me let me make

it personal. Why do I sing?

I mean, look at me. Do I look like the

kind of guy that sings in church?

No, definitely not. That's not the cloth

I was cut from.

So, why do I WHY DO I LIFT my hands?

I'll tell you why.

Because when I stop for a moment, I'm

not an emotional person, but even now

I'm feeling getting emotional.

And think

what God has done for me.

I KNOW 20 YEARS AGO

THIS week today, what God has done for

me, the minute I step into his presence,

I'm beginning TO THINK ABOUT WHAT HE HAS

DONE. I JUST CAN'T HELP BUT EXPRESS

GRATITUDE.

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT THE LAST

TIME I CHECKED, IF YOU DO SOMETHING

incredibly kind and generous for someone

else, I know you just nod.

Come on, bro. At least a thank you, a

note, a letter, a hug, RIGHT? YOU'RE

LOOKING FOR YEAH, YOU DIDN'T DO IT FOR

THAT, BUT YOU WANT SOME KIND OF

RECOGNITION OF THE VALUE OF WHAT YOU'VE

DONE.

HOW MUCH MORE GOD, WHO SAVES our soul,

heals our lives, and gives us hope for

ALL ETERNITY, WHO SENT HIS SON TO DIE ON

THE CROSS ON OUR BEHALF THAT WE MIGHT

HAVE LIFE?

IT'S LIKE THE MORE IT'S IN YOU, THE more

the MORE IT HAS TO COME out of you.

Because you're grateful.

There's a beautiful story. I love this

story. It's in Luke's Gospel 7.

Uh Jesus is invited to this

uh leader's house, and there's other

religious leaders there, and this woman

comes in. We're told that she was not

someone who was wanted. She was a

misfit. She was an a social and

spiritual outcast. We're told she was a

sinful woman. And in that culture, you

would kind of sit in the ground, you'd

kind of you know, lean on a table like

this. That's how you'd eat. You'd see

your feet Everyone's feet be away from

the table. And of course, you would have

taken off your sandals, and it was

customary uh it was a gesture of

goodwill that back then you would either

you'd have someone who you employed, or

you yourself would wash the feet of your

guest or to eat was a whole thing. Well,

Jesus in this big wig's house and he's

having dinner with all these other big

wigs and this woman is behind him

quietly she's sobbing. She's sobbing.

She's sobbing. She's sobbing. Cuz she

realizes the weight of her guilt. She

realizes the price of her sin. SHE KNOWS

HOW broken she IS AND SHE SOMEHOW

intuits or has revelation that this is

the man who can set me free. And so what

does she do?

She weeps.

And she washes his feet with her hair.

She

understood that his feet is more value

or more value than all of me. And the

prayer just touching even his feet. So

she's in this incredible worship. And

what does everyone else do? They all

point fingers.

Uh Jesus,

you see the one there?

WASHED YOUR FEET LIKE WITH HER HAIR.

LIKE YOU NOTICING THAT LIKE?

AND OF course Jesus knew the hearts of

those looking around and he knew they

weren't really they were trying to they

were trying to And so what does he do?

He says to the the owner, like I arrived

at your house you didn't greet me with

the right proper greeting. You didn't

value me. You didn't You didn't do

anything above what's what's what's

minimal

on my arrival. But this woman he says

has not stopped sobbing and washing

feet. Why? Here's why.

I tell you, her many sins have been

forgiven

as her great love has shown. Love.

Not obligation.

Not forced coercion.

And he says, "Whoever has been forgiven

little

loves little.

But whoever has been forgiven much

loves much."

When we truly understand what who we

have in God, just God as the person God,

and then what he's done for us, our

posture must change.

And it must become a posture

of perpetual gratitude.

We're so thankful. So grateful for all

that God has done. In fact, if you're at

a point where I I I just I'm struggling

to worship. I just can't break through.

I just I've lost spark. Let me encourage

you. Just begin to write a list.

An honest list

of all the things that God's grace and

God's mercy and God's protection and

God's provision have afforded you in

your life. And I tell you, you won't get

to 10

before you feel the need to bow down

and worship God. Number three, worship

is about a profession.

It's a person

that reflects a posture

that's evident in a profession. Jesus

did this in John's gospel again. Story

goes that Jesus uh uh interacting with a

misfit, someone he was not religiously,

culturally, or even politically supposed

to be talking to. So, whatever side

you're on of any fence, this is the

opposite way down the line. And of

course, what I love about Jesus is he

was always crossing over lines and

breaking barriers because he isn't this

weird statue-like figure we see

portrayed in so many religious

institutions. Jesus is love in the

flesh. And love does not stand behind

lines and our judgment stop them from

going forward. He crossed over and

interacts with her.

After long conversation, says in verse

23, "A time IS COMING AND HAS now come

when true worshipers" cuz the debate was

what is true worship, who's the true

God, which religious place is more

important. And he's like, "All that's

irrelevant. What matters is this, a time

has come with in with me

where true worshipers worship the Father

in spirit

and in truth

for they're the kind of worshipers

the Father seeks.

God is spirit and his This is what God

says to us. His worship must worship in

spirit and truth. Spirit refers to the

supernatural component of what we do.

There's no way to talk it out or explain

it down or talk it away. There is a very

real supernatural element to what we do

as Christians. Why? Cuz God is

supernatural.

He does things that defy the laws of

physics, defy the laws of men. He heals,

he saves, he breaks in. He's God.

But truth refers to credibility, Our

lifestyle that we can't sometimes

happens in in church traditions as we

worship the show so much. We think the

show saves us the lack of integrity and

character in our life. That's not true.

It's when the supernatural meets the

credible as the true power of God is

visible. It was St. Augustine of Hippo

who said, "A Christian should be a

hallelujah from head to foot." That's

for free.

And of course the word hallelujah or

alleluia as it would have been in Latin

simply means praise the

Lord. If you ever wonder what does

hallelujah mean? It just means praise

the Lord. Yah as in Jehovah. Praise the

Lord. So, hallelujah means every

Christian every Christ follower should

be identified because their whole life

is is is marked as a response is a

worship response to what God has done

for them. In other words, we

we worship as an expression

from what we have experienced. It's an

expression. Next slide, please.

Of what we have experienced. And it's

showing the world cuz again it isn't

very natural especially in this country

these in these days especially

if you're a young person or especially

if you're a dude it's like just what you

you do what now? You go to church and

sing songs? What?

You crazy?

You know, I know there's people who hide

from cameras when the cameras are there

cuz they're like, "I don't want my

friends and family see me on Instagram

singing songs in church." God forbid.

What will they think of me? Well, maybe

you should reverse that and think, "What

will they think of you?"

Maybe they need to think about you

in church singing songs and go, "Why

would he do that?"

And of course they'll mock you and

they'll belittle you and they'll do all

the things they do to all of us. And

then you'll say, "Yeah, but let me

explain why."

A person.

A posture.

A profession. Now lastly as I close,

let's talk about the let's talk about

the the actual interaction. Worship

is about praise.

In Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15 and 16,

Hebrews 13:15

the author says, "Through Jesus,

therefore, let us continually offer to

God a sacrifice of praise."

Why is it a sacrifice? Because sometimes

you feel it and sometimes you don't.

Here's the good thing. Regardless of

where you are and how you are and who

you are, God always is.

He never changes. He didn't have a bad

day. He didn't wake up late. He isn't in

a rush. He isn't surprised. HE IS NOT

OVERWHELMED.

THAT'S WHY THE BIBLE CONTINUALLY

portrays God as

sitting

on the throne. You got to be like level

100 boss to sit through what's what's

happening in the world sometimes. Not

because he doesn't care, because he

knows the outcome.

It's like when you watch something, a

game, for the first time you're at your

seat, my gosh, you know, what's going to

happen next? Well, you've already

watched the game, you're re-watching

with a friend.

You're chill.

Popcorn. It's like Yep, I don't know I

know how this ends. Therefore, I'm at

rest. God is sitting. So, we sometimes

have to offer a sacrifice of praise.

Saying, "God, I didn't feel like coming

to church today. I was down. I was

tired. I was broke. It was me, BUT BUT

I'VE COME ANYWAY."

AND THERE'S SOMETHING POWERFUL.

There's a a way that God honors his

people when praise comes from a

sacrificial place. Now, he says, "This

praise is the fruit of our lips where we

openly profess his name, but also we

should not forget to do good and share

with others for this sacrifice is also

God is pleased which leads to the last

message of the series. Now,

there's two kind of parts of the Bible,

there's the Old Testament and New

Testament. The Old Testament would have

been for the longest time the Hebrew

scriptures and so much of what we

understand of biblical praise comes from

the 39 books of the Old Testament. They

would have for sure shaped how the first

century church worshipped because a lot

of the first converts were people who

converted out of Judaism into

Christianity. And of course, there were

all the non-Jews, all the Gentiles

they're called, people like us.

And when you look at the Old Testament,

what what were the main ways of praise?

Well, there were seven key Hebrew words.

I want to finish this. Seven key Hebrew

words that demonstrate or or shows us

how we should have should effectively

honor God in worship. Now, they're very

small cuz I want to put all of them on

the screen, so forgive me. I will read

them out. Here's number one. The first

word for praise in Hebrew is the word

barak.

And barak means to kneel down,

to bow down, or to bless God in

reverence and submission.

This is like when someone really saves

you. Like you are in really in a pickle,

and you are in massive trouble, about to

lose the house, lose the kids, lose

where you live, lose it all, and someone

steps in, AND YOU JUST CAN'T HELP

YOURSELF. YOU THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN TRULY

SHOW how grateful YOU IS YOU FALL ON

YOUR KNEES AND SAY THANK YOU.

That's barak.

Halal, which is the first half of the

word hallelujah,

is to shine,

to boast, to celebrate,

or to make a clamorous joyful show of

praise. That's what most Christians are

known for. The happy-clappy Christians,

the crazy car maniacs. It's like It's

like, "YEAH, WE WANT TO GOD'S THE YOU

KNOW, GOD IS FIGHTING FOR US, PEOPLE.

COME ON. HE'S ALIVE. WE'RE GOING TO

WE'RE GOING TO MAKE A SHOW OF IT." OF

COURSE, ALL THE introverts go, "Oh,

please. Hallelujah."

God's done something. Now, move on.

Next word is shabach.

And shabach uh it's almost like a shout

back. It's like to address in a loud

tone, SHOUTING OUT IN TRIUMPH, GLORY,

and loud testimony. KIND OF LIKE, "YEAH!

AMEN!

COME ON NOW."

WHATEVER YOU want to say. It's like some

kind of like I I recognize what's

happened, and so then something in me

wants to wants to affirm that, and so

it's evidence in some kind of shout

back, like a shout back. Number four is

tehillah, which is to sing a spontaneous

unrehearsed song of praise straight from

your spirit to God.

My friends, if you want to level up this

week, this is just for free,

do this.

It's something I do when I when I really

need to press go, I need to get into the

presence, I need to fight like the

elevator can't stop on levels four or

five, I need to get to the top.

Here's what I do.

I sing a spontaneous song from my soul.

And I can't even do cuz it's not

something you plan. It's like something

Paul says in Romans, there's a certain

type of prayer and praise that you you

just you even words can't get you there.

It comes from a cry deep in the soul.

And often times when I'm on the front

row going to preach, I'll do this. I'll

I'll just pray to God and say Holy

Spirit, if you're not with me here, I'm

not going.

No way. Like I'm naturally an introvert

person.

I'm not the most extrovert. Like I don't

I don't want to be here talking to all

of you

if God's presence is not here with me.

No way. And so I need to press in. It's

like I need to I need to I need to bring

a

uh to heal our praise. I I I do

spontaneous song. Number five, a toda

to extend or lift your hands in

Thanksgiving.

Often expressing gratitude even before a

prayer is even answered. Love that. So

God, I know you haven't answered a

prayer yet, but I'm giving you praise

anyway

cuz I know you will. Now, you can say,

"Well, this is very extrovert. My hands

in the air really is Why do we do this?"

Well, you know, think about sport. Like

you know, you can argue certain cultures

are more extrovert than others. Like,

you know, I'm Irish and my wife's

Brazilian. If you watch, you know, a

game at a sports game in a stadium in

Brazil, yeah, there's a lot more color

and there's some reason uh probably

someone's throwing a smoke bomb and lots

of singing and banging and stuff and

everyone gets out and kills each other.

That's a different story. Um

you know, you think, "Well, that's

that's because they're very, you know,

South American vibrant." But it's like,

have you ever been

in Park and Croagh Eoghain

and heard Ireland a Fhéinn?

You ever stood in Lansdowne Road or

whatever it's called now when Ireland's

playing England and sang Ireland a

Fhéinn?

Anybody with me?

It's like you can say what you want

about the shy Irish, but there's a time

when the Irish get over their shyness.

It's when something matters more to us

than our self-image. It's not about

culture or personality. It's when the

thing in front of you is worthy of such

reaction, you give it the reaction it's

worthy of.

Problem is not that you have to resort

to chemical-induced confidence to get us

there.

Well, rather than chemical-induced

confidence or spirits that comes in a

bottle, what about the Holy Spirit

to help us get there?

Yada, number six, to extend

your hands vigorously as an act

of surrender, worship, or confession.

Uh your reliance on God. Number seven,

lastly, zamar, to make music.

Touch the strings or sing joyfully while

playing which is why we have music in

church.

We have music in church because there's

something powerful, mystical.

I want to say the word magical, but

something supernatural about music. When

we combine our singing, our our

demonstrating what's happening inside

externally with song, something powerful

happens.

But there's so many different ways. I

want to encourage you, if you're a

Christ follower and you've been around

this thing a long time, like have you

honored God in all sorts of kind of

ways? Have you had the spontaneous song?

Have you lifted your hands? I mean, I

never I never forget like for me, there

was such a struggle in my heart the

first time to lift my hand. I felt so

weird. I I actually

in my own vainglory thought everyone was

looking at me.

Here, let me give you a secret. No one

cares if your hand is lifted, my friend.

Cuz no one's looking at you. Only you're

looking at you. No one cares what you're

doing.

People care about their thinking.

Everyone else is thinking about them.

There's no room for you in their head

cuz they're already thinking about

themselves.

And so I remember just the struggle

going like

you know, it's like I was so so

pathetic.

But eventually when the sweat

came off and eventually got over it, I

was like, man, there's something really

freeing about allowing my body to

express the feeling I have in my heart.

And so I would to encourage you. Maybe

there's a breakthrough. Don't over

spiritualize it, but maybe there's a

breakthrough in your life that comes

through worship when you throw your

hands in the air as an act of surrender.

And say to God, I need you. Final

scripture, Romans 12:1-2 says this,

Romans 12:1–2

Apostle Paul, "Therefore I urge you,

brothers and sisters, in view of God's

mercy, to offer your bodies a living

sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

This is your true and proper worship. Do

not conform to the ways of the world,

but be transformed by the renewing of

your mind." If we are to live out our

extraordinary purpose and experience all

that God has for us, then we must level

up in worship. And right now, we're

about to go into a response time in all

locations. And I want to give you a

practical moment to apply what we've

learned.

To say to God today, I don't want to

just sing some songs

or watch other people sing songs. I want

to experience your presence.

I want to be able to respond to you from

a posture of perpetual gratitude. I want

to know

the glory

and power of your person.

And maybe I'm going to sing for the

first time. Maybe I'm going to lift a

hand. Maybe I'm going to Whatever it is.

I'm going to Maybe I'm going to trust

that the person that everyone's singing

to actually exists

and can hear our voice. But my question

to you today, church, is as you get

ready for all that all that the future

has in store for us,

will you level up?

Will you level up today

in your worship?

Will you just give it to God? Maybe it's

guilt or shame or fear.

Maybe you're the woman

whose heart broken cuz she realized the

weight of her own brokenness, crying to

feed you. Understand, you have

before you a king who does not judge or

reject or rebuke,

but who lovingly, graciously,

gently welcomes you in.

Maybe it's that fear of what other

people may think of you.

Sincerely, who cares?

Like

what matters most is what does God

think?

What does God think about our worship?

Does he is he Is it a sacrifice that's

pleasing to him?

And then

what's at stake because maybe today

your greatest breakthrough isn't another

financial payment away or another

you know, uh opportunity or another

Maybe it's it's that as you worship God

and surrender to him, he will indeed

fight

your battles.

So, as we go into response time

let's not just switch off. Let's

actually respond. Let our worship today

be

from a

posture of

gratitude.

Let it be a heartfelt

profession to the person of Jesus. Amen.