Worship

Good morning. As Ron Lynch announced at the welcome, and if you missed it,

here's what he announced.

As God would have it, Mario and Daniel, two of the three pastors, they are out of town.

Actually, if you were looking carefully, you'll notice that Kenan is not here.

He is also out of town. It makes me wonder, certainly, hopefully,

Jenny, our director of children, is here, or else KidZone might be going crazy

over there in that building.

So that's it. I am Doug, and I am one of the last remaining pastors here.

For this weekend. So I'm excited for that.

It's good. And as God would have it, originally, I wasn't scheduled to be the teacher for this week.

But as God would have it, I want you to catch a theme here.

I am now. I am incredibly excited to be talking on this crucial,

very crucial topic as we continue in the series Church Unpacked.

As God would have it, they left me to teach on this absolute best topic, worship.

And as God would have it, you are here today, which means it is not by accident that I stand here.

It is not by accident that you are sitting there as we come to this topic and

get to unpack worship, because after all, this is how God has it.

For the past several weeks, we have been saying that one of the aims of teaching

a series like this is to learn as much as we can about the church and what the church does.

The church worships, but worship is not unique to the church because worship

is something that all people do.

Some people worship and it's acceptable to God.

Some people worship and it's not acceptable to God. But the heartbeat is worship.

What makes the church unique is who we worship and how we worship.

Nothing the church does is more important than that.

Get this. There is nothing more important in life than worship. Dog.

That's not an overstatement. We are all worshiping something or someone.

We are all wired to worship.

The only question is whether we will worship the right one in the right way.

I'm going to repeat that. There is nothing more important in life than worship,

because we all worship someone or something. The only question is whether we

will worship the right one in the right way.

Today, we are on a quest to discover and learn. For some of us,

maybe for the very first time.

For others, it'll be a great reminder. We are on a quest to learn what is worship?

What is worship according to the Bible?

If nothing is more important than worship, it seems to make great sense to know

what worship is. Do you agree with that?

All right, four people are going to have on this quest.

I'm not shaming. I'm just saying like four people. Are you ready to learn what

the Bible has to say about worship?

Oh, there you rest of you are. Welcome.

Well, it turns out that the Bible, which was originally written in a language called Hebrew for,

most of the Old Testament, with a little Armeric thrown in there,

and for the New Testament, the Greek language was the everyday street language

across the Roman Empire that wrote the 27 books of the New Testament.

It turns out, though several different words are commonly used in their language

for our one word, our one English word, worship.

And it turns out that you can't thumb through the pages of the Bible,

and you can't find one single dictionary style definition of worship.

Boy, that would be nice if it did.

We could just go right to it. Instead, the Bible uses stories,

commands, and poetry to give us a definition of worship.

And then as a person, as like what we're going to do today, as we start stacking

together these stories and commands and poetry, a definition of worship can be formed and made.

But there are hundreds of verses throughout the Bible where the word worship is in it.

We should be very thankful for people who have done some work before us where

we can kind of look into what they've done and check it all out.

It's wonderful. One thing would be like Strong's Concordance.

Do you know that a person can take any word in the Bible, like worship,

and use the Strong's Concordance, and it will show you where it is used and

how it is being used. It is a wonderful tool.

So I've put up for us a small sampling for us to get an idea of what worship

looks like and how it's done.

Sample number one comes from the Old Testament when the Hebrew or the Aramaic language is used.

In this chart, I want you to notice something, as our tech people did this morning.

They're like, Doug, what happened to the font? It gets bright and goes dark.

I did that on purpose to show you that sometimes here in the Bible,

one word is used much more often than others, and that's the case.

By far, the most common Hebrew word for English, our English word worship, is shahah.

I only listed one verse. By the way, shaha, if you say in the Hebrew tongue,

you really got to do something with that C-H in the middle with your throat. Shaha.

I'm just going to go with the English shaha, all right? But know that it's there.

I only gave one verse because of space, but it is found throughout the whole

Old Testament. You can check it out for yourself.

By far, it is the most commonly used Hebrew word.

Shaha, worship, means to bow down low to the ground to show complete submission

and deep respect for a higher authority.

Abad and yar are the next most commonly Hebrew words, meaning performing a lifestyle

service like required of a servant out of devotion to one's master.

And yar means approaching God with deep awe, healthy fear, and reverence,

recognizing his massive power.

And then in the New Testament, where the Greek language is used,

we find the same kind of meetings and the same kind of actions,

but just with different words.

The most commonly used Greek word is proskunao.

It means crouching, kneeling, lying flat to kiss the hand in respect, total reverence.

And right behind proskunao, latriro and sebo.

They have meanings of performing spiritual obligations, acts of devotion,

deep religious awe, and adoration.

And as you can see, these lists go on and on.

Sometimes in the Bible, the worship is being given to God.

Sometimes it's being given to someone or something else, like angels and idols,

which means sometimes the worship is being done correctly and other times done incorrectly.

And I want to talk about that later as it pertains to us.

But first, let's start stacking these words and these stories and these commands

together to build a definition of worship.

I'm going to start with a story from John 4, verses 21 through 24.

John 4:21–24

Jesus is in this story, and this is what he says. Jesus told her,

that's a Samaritan lady, believe me, woman, an hour is coming,

when your worship, your prosecue now, every time you see worship in this passage.

It is proscunile. It's the most common.

An hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You Samaritans worship what you do not know.

We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.

But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship

the Father in spirit and truth.

Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. God is spirit,

and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

So this is a real conversation that Jesus is having with a real Samaritan lady

while standing next to a real well, getting a real drink of water.

And one of the things that he is discussing with her is the topic of worship.

And what he clearly tells her is that worship is not tied to a specific location

like a mountain or a sacred building like a temple or temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus is telling her and us, worship is mobile. It's portable.

Wherever you go, that's where worship is.

I was talking about worship earlier this week to Daryl Stevens,

who comes to the nine o'clock service.

He said it's the best service I ever preached because I mentioned his name.

Maybe a little humility thing there. Daryl Stevens, he leads a men's Bible group

on Monday nights. Guys, if you are available Monday night, seven o'clock,

meet at the church house.

They meet in a class that they have labeled TDA, theology, doctrine, and application.

But when you ask them what class they go to, they say, I go to the ta-da class.

Meaning when they study theology and doctrine and application,

ta-da, the light bulb goes on.

All right, so go to the class. It's really good. But here's what he was saying.

He gave me this little jingle about how worship, emphasizing that worship is

always with us wherever we are.

He said this, worship is not a here or there thing according to shadows and

types, but an innermost being thing according to Christ. That's right. That's good.

Special times, special gatherings, they do not create worship because worship is everywhere.

And then 1 Corinthians 10 31, Paul says, therefore, whether you eat or drink

or But whatever you do, do everything for God's glory, do everything for God's worship.

And then again in Colossians 3, he says, whatever you do, do it enthusiastically.

As something done for the Lord and not for men.

So not only is worship everywhere, worship is in anything and everything all the time.

Like that's point one. If we are going to build a definition of worship,

it needs to include that worship is every day, anywhere, and everywhere.

Worship is a whole life lifestyle, including all the normal in and out things that we do.

Normal stuff like eating, drinking, sleeping, brushing your teeth.

Worship is going on while you're on the phone.

When you're driving your car, it's worship. When you're doing the dishes, it's worship.

Taking out the trash, watching a sunrise, watching a sunset, worship never stops.

Worship is not like a light switch lights on lights off lights on lights off it's always on.

Now, in premarital counseling, I really get the couple's attention when I get

to explain to them that sex is an act of worship.

The best response I've got to date is from a to-be husband, and he said, I can't wait to worship.

Now, he kind of missed the point, because worship is all the time.

And I don't know, maybe there'll be an uptick in marriage counseling around here.

But Malachi 1.11 sums up the point. Listen to this staggering verse.

For my name will be great among the nations, from the rising of the sun to its

setting. That is all the time.

Incense and pure offerings will be presented in my name in every place. that's everywhere.

Because my name will be great among the nations, says Yahweh of hosts.

Worship is every day, anywhere, and everywhere.

And folks, this is under attack.

We have a modern culture. I suppose it's always existed.

We have a modern culture that puts this under attack. Either people don't understand

worship this way, or they reduce it and limit worship to being less than everyday

and less than everywhere.

So I'm going to add a column to our chart here, calling it today's cultural attack.

Today's cultural attack attempts to reduce and limit worship to a certain place at a certain time.

To limit worship to only a certain day at a specific time for 20 to 25 minutes

of music singing before a sermon, that is a travesty to think that way.

Worship cannot be shrunk down to a playlist of songs with a band on a stage

to do so. That is mockery of worship.

Worship is not something we go to to attend. And worship is always here where we are.

So point two, worship is with our entire body.

So back to John 4.24, and we're going to also look at a few other verses.

John 4.24 says, God is a spirit, and those who worship him.

Must worship in spirit and truth. Worshiping in the spirit.

What does that mean? It means worship that comes from the deepest,

innermost part of our being.

And when worship is done correctly, it is driven by the Holy Spirit.

Like he is the force behind it.

And the outcome of that is a surrendering to God.

And worshiping in the truth.

That's worship that is founded and grounded on knowing who God really is.

As revealed in the Bible, or as we've been singing about, and even Ron shared

this morning, as we can see it can be revealed in creation as well.

It's the mind that worships in truth.

And again, this happens when the Holy Spirit is the driving force behind this kind of worship.

It is then when our eyes and our minds are divinely opened to know God as he

is. and then flip over to Romans 12.1.

Paul says, Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present

your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

This is your spiritual worship.

This is your spiritual latrero, your duty, your obligation, your spiritual duty.

So what we get now is from a story in John 4, we see that worship is everywhere,

and it's done in spirit, our innermost being, and it's done in our mind with truth.

And now we have this command from Romans 12, where we worship with our body.

Live life as a living sacrifice, laying everything about your physical body,

on the living altar, if you will, giving everything to God in total surrender.

Sounds serious. And in building a definition of worship, it needs to include

that worship is in spirit, in truth, and with the entire body.

And this is under attack in our culture today. I'm going to add it to our chart.

Today's culture attempts to reduce and limit worship to physical experiences and emotional highs.

So true. The thrill, I mean, it is a thrill, the thrill of physical experiences,

and the emotions that they create can be amazing.

But in the end, if they are not rooted from a place of deep innermost being,

stirred by the Holy Spirit,

they will only serve as false worship and temporary fixes, which is nothing

more than emptiness and futility.

People today get bamboozled. I like that word. They get bamboozled.

Thinking they need a checklist of physical things in order to worship.

I need the right kind of song, at the right kind of volume, with the right kind

of lighting, the right kind of fog,

check, check, check, thinking that's what makes worship moving and powerful.

No, that's bamboozled. Physical actions alone, apart from the deep innermost

Holy Spirit actions are useless actions.

And God's not interested in that kind of worship. Listen to what God's prophet

Amos says on God's behalf. Amos 5.23.

Take away from me the noise of your songs. I will not listen to the music of your harps.

You can read the chapter for yourself. The reason that he calls their singing

a bunch of noise is because their outer worship doesn't align with their inner spirit worship.

It sounds the same way the piano sounds at my house when the grandkids come over. Boom, boom, boom.

Jesus pretty much says the same thing in Matthew 15, eight.

These people, they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Worship is under attack Attempting to reduce it and limit it to physical experiences

and emotional highs Last point, point three Worship is giving worth-ship.

Whatever is loved most, whatever is valued most, whatever is trusted most,

whatever is treasured most is worshiped most.

Revelation 4.11.

Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power.

Remember singing any songs this morning about that?

Because you have created all things and because of your will,

they exist and were created.

Next chapter over, Revelation chapter 5, verse 12.

Revelation 5:12

They said with a loud voice, The lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive

power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

The Bible is not silent, nor is it short in giving God, Jesus,

Holy Spirit, the due deserved when it comes to worthness.

And we shouldn't either. We should give the same due deserved.

Which means like whatever other people and other things that we love and value

and treasure and trust, None deserves more worthship than God.

So again, I'm going to say, as we're building this definition,

it's got to include giving God his worthship,

declaring him, declaring God to be worthy of all glory and all honor and all

power because of who he is, what he's done, and what he's going to keep doing.

And this is under attack in our modern culture.

Go back to the Garden of Eden. This is under attack. We can finish the chart like this.

Culture attempts to reduce and limit worship to self-centeredness.

People, me, guilty of taking God, all-powerful,

capital G, uppercase G, and making it lowercase G to something that fits my

standards a little better.

And when we do that, that is idolatry. That is self-centered idolatry.

Attempting to dethrone him of his worth-ship.

Making worship all about what we get instead of what we give,

that is self-centered idolatry.

It's attempting to rob God of his worth-ship.

Making worship about all the good gifts that he gives us, and he gives us a lot of them.

Instead of the giver, it is self-centered idolatry.

Attempting to treat the gift as being the supreme thing and ignoring the giver.

Modern culture attempts to reduce and limit worship to self-centered instead of self-surrender.

So, okay, with these understandings of these three points of what worship is

from the Bible, let's build this definition of worship.

But before we close with that definition, I'm thinking someone else might be

thinking of a question something like this.

Okay, Doug, I hear what you're saying about worship, but how can worship be

ongoing all the time at the same time sin is happening?

Like, how can there be a person who's worshiping all the time also be that very

same person sinning at the same time? How can those two things coexist?

Because of what we said at the start. Everyone is hardwired for worship.

If a person is not actively worshiping God, then by default,

someone or something else is being worshiped.

A long time ago, a theologian named John Calvin said this, the human heart is an idol factory.

Man can we put a product line out.

And as these idols are produced sin our sin misplaces where worship should go,

instead of going to god it goes elsewhere,

We should love God, but we love money.

We should trust God, but we trust a lie because we think it will get us out of trouble.

We should treasure God's word.

I kind of treasure my entertainment, my stuff or something else.

So it's not that worship isn't happening or that it is stopped. That's not the case.

It's that worship is out of whack.

Because we are out of whack.

There's another catchy old theologian phrase that goes like this,

and it's referring to Romans 12.1 that we looked at earlier,

where we are told to present ourselves as living sacrifices.

The phrase goes like this.

The trouble with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar.

Like that wasn't a problem for the dead animals they sacrificed.

Those guys ain't going anywhere.

But Christians, we are living sacrifices who can so easily slide off the altar

table, if you will. Stop easily, stop living a self, living a sacrifice life for God.

And we so easily can make worship about us or something else.

Which is why Romans 12, too, is so important for us.

Here is a key for making worship not be sinful.

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your

mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Renewing our minds means rewiring

our minds with the gospel and how often you think that has to happen,

Every day, often, throughout the day.

We recalibrate our minds with the word of God. Pay attention here.

How often do you think that needs to happen?

Come on. Thank you. There's one more question.

How often do we need to realign our mind with the Holy Spirit's mind?

You're getting there and we're done at that point. Good job.

Having an ongoing prayer and purpose.

Like John the Baptist, he hit the nail on the head when he said this in John

3.30, he must increase, but I must decrease.

That's gonna be good worship where we are continually renewing our minds,

not being conformed to the modern cultures of today.

Okay, now for a definition of worship. And again, I'm going to present to you

that I believe this is a Bible-based definition based on what we've looked at

here this morning. Certainly it could be added.

It could be edited. Get that? Might be able to change it around.

Reducing it, I don't know. I might have an issue with that part because I think

everything that we looked at is from the Bible. Here's the definition of worship.

Worship is giving God his complete worth for who he is and what he has done,

through the response of a person's entire body, soul, and mind,

expressed in humble reverence, awe, and total surrender anywhere,

everywhere, and all the time.

Read it again. Worship is giving God his complete worth for who he is and what

he has done through the response of a person's entire body, soul, and mind,

expressed in humble reverence, awe, and total surrender anywhere and everywhere all the time.

There is nothing more important in life than worship. We all worship something or someone.

The only question is whether we will worship the right one in the right way.

That is the question for each one of us to consider.

Who are you worshiping and how? Let's pray.

Father, I thank you for your word.

And specifically, that the word has so much to say about what worship is and

how it is to be done and how it is not to be done.

And so my prayer for myself and everyone here would be that we would grasp the

bigness of worship because we grasp the bigness of you.

And that we would renew our minds,

every day, like several times throughout the day, as needed.

Give us that type of worship in spirit, in truth, fueled, driven by the Holy Spirit,

so that indeed we can worship you in a way that is honoring and glorifying and deserving.

God, help us not to let it just be from our lips.

Or any other just limited physical trait that isn't first processed through

our deep innermost being.

I don't know, Father. You read Romans 2, Lord. you gave that to us,

and you say to us, don't be conformed to this age.

Be transformed.

And so I start wrestling with what does that look like?

What does my attitude look like when it is transformed?

What does it look like when it's conformed to this age? Conformed to this age, prideful.

God, give us transformed attitudes of humility.

And then, what does a transformed mind, what does a conformed to this age mind

look like when it comes to our eyes, right?

It's not pretty. I think it's eyes that are greedy, lust, very much porn-like,

compared to transformed eyes.

Eyes that would seek out purity and beauty, things that are honorable.

Father, what do my hands look like when they are conformed to this age?

Working for self or working with evil intent,

compared to transformed hands.

Hands that do acts of kindness and compassion. Father, give us transformed minds

so that our hands are like that.

And feet conform to this age.

I think that's the feet that are like swift to mischief, trouble, and evil.

Give us transformed mind so that our feet are transformed and they walk towards

righteousness. They walk in righteousness.

As we are plugged in to the kingdom that you are building in.

Father, let us worship you in spirit, in truth, with our entire body,

and help us to do it everywhere, anywhere, all the time, giving you the worth,

that you deserve. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Leave you with these words from God's word, Revelation 4.11,

our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power because

you have created all things.

And because of your will, they exist and were created. That's good news.