Psalm 95

For the same reason. Okay, so our agenda for

today is we are going to complete the worksheet

that you see before you. It is the one that says

worship basics, like that. And you'll notice

it's in my fancy -dancy artistic handwriting

and drawing. Yeah, that's me. Okay, the other

one is for you. If we have time, we can do a

little bit of it just to kind of give people

a taste, but it's really for you to do on your

own. the there's answer blanks at the answers

at the bottom you fill in the words not hard

kind of a fun thing that you can learn a bit

more on top of what we're going to talk about

tonight okay tonight we will not have any stunts

so those of you love stunts sorry today is not

a stunt night okay but we will have trivia so

if you want to participate in trivia you can

do that also today is a big box night by that

i mean we're going to draw a name out of the

big box and somebody's going to want to win a

25 gift card to walmart which is in my puck puck

right now i got it i did not forget it okay Alright,

so we are starting when you see the number 1

under the big fat W there. See the number 1 under

the W. So the first passage of scripture that

we're going to look at is, and you can write

it in the box, Psalm 95, verses 1 -7. Psalm 95,

Psalms 95:1–7 Psalms 95:1–7

verses 1 -7. And we're going to look at three

passages of scripture before we're done. I want

you to know that there are literally hundreds,

if not thousands, of places that you could go

in Scripture to see about worship. So by no means

is this the vast... Yes, ma 'am. It goes in the

box. In the box. There's a colon. So you write

Psalm on the left, then 95, then colon, then

1 to 7. Go in the box. So I'm going to read Psalm

95, 1 to 7, and then we'll do a little guessing

game. We'll go through and see how much of it

we can get. I'll help you with that first part.

But then after that, where you start, you have

the first letter. We'll let people try to get

them if they can. OK, so it's Psalm 95 and we're

reading verses one to seven. Also, if you notice

over on the right hand side there, it says one

to two, three to five, six to seven. And we'll

break those down as well. OK, so it says in Psalm

95, verse one, come, let us shout joyfully to

the Lord, shout triumphantly to the rock of our

salvation. Let's enter his presence with thanksgiving.

Let's shout triumphantly to him in song. So for

starters, what do you think goes on the one to

two? What word goes there? You could put shout

there. You could say how to worship. You could

say shout. You could say excited. You could say

energy. Any of those things would probably work.

This is your worksheet. So you put a word there.

Shout, energy, excited, how. Don't put triumphantly.

It's a very small line. Yes. All right. But do

worship triumphantly nonetheless. Okay. Perfect.

Thank you very much. Okay. All right. Now we're

going to three to five. For the Lord is a great

God. Notice that for there. For the Lord is a

great God, a great king. Above all gods. The

depths of the earth are in his hands and the

mountain peaks are his. The sea is his. He made

it. His hands formed the dry land. There's two

of them. You need the front one? Good job. Good

job. Okay. So that was three to five. And what

would you put on the next line? So now you've

got to sum up three to five with one word. What

do you got? Praise. Okay. He likes praise. For

the Lord is a great God. What does that word

for mean when you see it at the beginning of

a verse like that? Do we know? Because, right?

So these are the reasons why we praise the way.

So the first part, one to two, was get excited,

be triumphantly loud. How to praise the Lord.

And then now you've got to, because the Lord

is a great God, a great king above all gods,

he is the depth of the earth. The depths of the

earth are in his hands and the mountain peaks

are his and the sea is his. He made it. His hands

formed the dry land. That's all why we praise

triumphantly, excitedly, loudly, right? And now

we got two left. Come, let's worship and bow

down. Let's kneel before the Lord, our maker,

for he is our God. And we are the people of his

pasture, the sheep under his care. And so what

word would you put there? Next to six to seven.

Bow. Somebody said bow. That would be pretty

good. Say it again. Submission would be a good

word. Kind of a big one for that little line.

Say it again. Reverence. That would be an excellent

word. Also kind of a big word. Good. Humble.

Submit. Kneel. Whatever you like there to realize

that it's about the posture of worship, right?

So really what we've got in this verse is the

first two was about how to worship God, right?

There should be energy. It's not saying you can't

be sorrowful when you worship God, especially

if you're crying out to God in need. Maybe somebody

died or somebody's sick or somebody really needs

help. And so you're begging God out of your need.

It's not saying you can't be sad. But once you've

begged God for your need, the idea is then to

praise him for his response, right? If you still

keep begging him like he has an answer and he's

not given, then he's probably not given yet.

You're supposed to respond in faith, right? So

we should move on to where people say, well,

I don't understand how I'm sad. I'm upset. People

come in here and they're excited to praise Jesus.

You don't understand that somebody that's sitting

across the room from you has got it just in their

life. They've got it just as bad as you've got

it. And somehow, because the joy of the Lord

in them, because the Spirit's filling them up,

whatever, they're able to praise him. So we have

to ask ourselves, the word says we praise him

triumphantly, loud, with thanksgiving. Because

he is God like that, we come to him humbly. So

how, why, humble, excited, whatever you want

to put in there in that middle. Amazing God.

I just put why. All right. Now, if you go over,

it says Psalm 95, 1 to 7, where you wrote the

verse. You see those two little arrows in the

middle. And the first line there is praise. P

-R -A -I -S -E, which is the idea. All right.

And then the second is the free word. And I got

this from the Beatles. I didn't come up with

it on my own. All together now. All together

now. So we are called to praise him all together

now. I understand. Again, I understand that you're

not necessarily in the same place that somebody

else is. You could be having more of this healthier

trouble than somebody else is. Whatever. But

we're all praising him together. Okay. And you

could. All right. I'll just leave that right

there for a second as we look at this. All right.

So now we've got four words going across the

middle. This is where you get to start kind of

guessing. You get the first letter. Based on

what we have. So far done with praise. Starts

with a C. Say it again. Come. It's a little more

complex than come, but that is a good word. Okay?

So what we've got is we talked about how to worship

him, excitedly, whatever. We talked about why

we worship him, because of the kind of God he

is. And we all come kneeling together. It's praise.

It's all together now. And it starts with a C,

and it's? Congregate. Okay, you could do congregate.

That would work, right? Or I put corporate. Okay?

Corporate, congregate, either one would work.

It's come together. I will let you have come,

but that's really two words because it's come

together, right? Okay, how about T, not phrase?

Sorry, that would be the easy one. We already

got that word. Say it again. Kind of. You're

getting close. It's not bad. Kind of ties into

the idea of corporate. Okay, so it's physical.

Remember we kneel. You're raising your hands.

You're shouting, right? So people talk about,

like, I worship God while I'm taking the garbage

out. Now, that's not impossible, but if you're

doing that, you better be taking the garbage

out for God, right? It's a physical thing. People

say, well, I don't need to go to worship. I'm

going to worship with other people because I

can worship at home by myself. That throws corporate

out, and it becomes not really a physical thing

anymore. Does that make sense? I don't need a

pen. Oh, you're okay. I got one right here. I'll

give you my pen. How about that? You got a special

pen now. Don't write a whole book, or if you

do, make sure I get a copy. Okay, corporate physical

J. Joyous or joyful? Yep, that was absolutely

called for. Corporate, physical, joyful, and

then the R. I don't really see reverent that

way. In the end, yes, but over the whole thing.

Say it again? I don't think that's a word. I

know what you're going for, but I don't think

rejoiceful is actually a word. I'm not sure if

it is or not. We got joyful or joyousness under

J. So remember, you're sorrowful. You come to

God and you entreat God. You beg God to do what

you need. And then what? Repenting. Okay, repenting

is good. That would be good. It's a response,

right? Repenting or response, same thing. So

repenting is turning to God. Response would be

responding to what God is doing. Why do you think

we always have an invitation? Because a worship

cycle isn't completed until somebody's responding

to God. Now, you can go to that really fast.

Like, you can come into worship and you can go,

man, I'm struggling. I'm in a bad way. get halfway

through that first song, realize how good God

is. Now I'm focused on God. I'm putting all that

out of the way. And you're responding halfway

through the first song. You can come to God and

say, God, I need healing. And you're like, I

don't feel like I've been healed, but God is

so good. He knows better than I do. And now you're

responding immediately, right? So worship is

a response. It's a response to God's character.

That's what the four was because of that. It's

a response. And then the bowing and getting down,

worshiping humbly, that kind of thing. That's

a response to his holiness, right? So worship

is a response. Okay, now we're on to number two.

So we made it that far. Everybody keeping up

okay? And again, your answers do not have to

match my answers, but you do have to have answers.

Get two tickets and you fill out the whole page.

The big box is the Psalm 95, 1 to 7. I said that

while you were still out of the room. So that's

why. Psalm 95, 1 to 7. Okay, so now this is going

to be a kind of classic New Testament passage

scripture about worship. John 4, 19 to 24. So

you're going to put John in there. You already

got the four, should have. And then it's 19 to

24. Without looking, does anybody know what story

this is? It's a classic passage about worship.

And it's in John 4. What story is it? Without

looking. Anybody know? Going once and twice.

Okay. It's Jesus and the woman at the well. Jesus

and the Samaritan woman at the well. Okay. And

the reason it's a classic passage about scripture

is because by the time done, Jesus says, God...

searches for worshipers in spirit and in truth,

right? So the passage is really about worship.

She asks him, well, we worship on the mountain

and your people say we got to go over there to

worship. And so there's a fight between my people

and your people about where we can worship, right?

That's the whole conversation that she has with

Jesus. And then Jesus says, it's no longer going

to be about, and there's the first box. Anybody

know what goes in the first box based on what

I just said? It's no longer going to be about

where. It's no longer going to be about where

you worship, right? It's no longer going to be

about. Do you worship on the mountain or worship

at the temple? It's no longer about where you

worship. Now it's going to be about who you worship,

but how is included. If you're a Christian, you've

got to get the picture of how, but it's who.

The reason that's a problem, back this truck

up just for a second so everybody gets this picture.

We might not all be on the same page. The kingdoms

split. There was a southern kingdom, Judah, Benjamin,

and a northern kingdom, the other ten tribes.

When they split, the law remained saying that

when people came together to worship, they had

to worship where? Say it again. Say it. The temple.

They had to come to the temple, which by that

time was built in Jerusalem, right? So that meant

the people who lived in the northern ten tribes,

when they wanted to worship or give their offerings

to God, they had to leave their country and go

down to Jerusalem to worship, which was a problem.

Imagine if everybody in America had to go to

Canada to worship, and they did their offerings

there. That's a real problem. It would be better

if it was the other way around. Wouldn't it be

better if Canada came to America? But anyway,

the point is, so what they did was they built

two places of worship there. We talked about

this a little bit when we studied the book of

Judges a couple or three weeks back on Sunday.

They built two places of worship there where

the people could worship instead. So now fast

forward so that Jesus runs into the woman at

the well. She's one of those people that worships

at one of those two places. places, okay? She

doesn't go to the temple to worship. And so she

says, well, you say, your people say we got to

go to the temple to worship, but our people say

we can worship over here. Who's right? And Jesus

basically tells her it ain't going to be about

that no more. It's not about that anymore. Now

it's going to be about who. And the who is not

quote unquote God, because who gave the order

to worship in Jerusalem? God did. When the people

are worshiping at those two other places, are

they worshiping God? Debatably, because God gave

the order to worship at the temple, right? And

they're worshiping at those other places that

God said they cannot worship. So are they worshiping

God? That is a big question. We don't know. They

could be going there intending to worship God.

Like you could go to a church that doesn't love

God, that isn't a Jesus church, whatever. But

you love Jesus and there you could worship Jesus,

even though they're not worshiping God. You worship

a false God. You could worship Jesus nonetheless,

right? You probably shouldn't do that, by the

way. Probably not a good idea. But you could

theoretically do it. which is why there will

be people from every quote -unquote denomination

in heaven, because there will be Christians who

are lost, essentially, not lost being unsaved,

but I mean stuck in denominations that are unbiblical.

Does that make sense? FYI, we are not a denomination.

I don't know if you know that or not. Southern

Baptist is not a denomination. We'll talk about

that another day. Okay. All right. So now we're

in the middle there. So we're looking at John

4, 19 through 24, and you're right in the middle.

And I'm going to read verse 21 if I can find

it here. Jesus told her, believe me, woman, an

hour is coming when you will worship the Father

neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. So

Jesus is saying there will be an end to ritual

or whatever other word you want to put there.

Tradition. You could put cult worship. There's

an end to that for sure. But I put ritual. Jesus

is saying there's an end to ritual. R -I -T -U

-A -L. Okay, and then... 22 says, you Samaritans

worship what you do not know. We worship what

we do know because salvation is from the Jews,

which is a reference to the fact that Jesus would

be a Jew, right? And then in 23, which is your

next line, but an hour is coming and is now here

when the true worshipers will worship the Father

in spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants

such people to worship him. So God seeks what?

True worshipers, right? That's the goal. So when

we come together to worship, If I could say it

this way, we just did worshiping God. Don't fake

it. That's no good to nobody. It's not good for

you or anybody else. Come in the room, turn off

all the other stuff, put it away, have nothing

else, and just focus on God and worship God.

Okay? That's the key. God is looking for true

worshipers. And part of what God is looking for

is Jesus dying on a cross. I can get to that

a little later. Okay. So, Number two was John

4, 19 to 24. Then in the box was no longer where,

now it's about who. Number 21 there in the middle,

verse 21 is an end to, and you put whatever you

want, but it's an end to ritual. This would have

been good too. I didn't think about this when

I wrote this, but an end to divisions would be

good, right? So ultimately we will worship God

together in heaven. We don't want divisions.

That's pretty cool. Anyway, whatever you think.

And then 23, God seeks true worshipers. And then

24, God is spirit. and those who worship him

must worship in spirit and in truth. Okay, so

you've got some filled out here. You've got an

E, a word that starts with an E, and then it's

a bi and a capital S. So what do you think? The

capital S is a good clue. You see that in scripture.

You always know, you always suspect something.

Say it again. Yep, so the S is spirit. So what's

the E? Something by spirit. It starts with an

E. Take a stab at it. That's not what I put,

but I like it. Nope, not earth. Sorry, can't

give you that one. Say it again. How about enabled?

That's what I put. So the verse is talking about

it's possible that we can do this because God

makes it possible. God is spirit. Those who worship

him must worship in spirit and truth. Enabled

by spirit. Nope, not child. This is a hard word.

I'll just give it to you. Conforming. So the

word is conforming. Not one you would guess,

I don't think. Conforming to the... Nope, not

worship. It must be worshipers and... Say it

again. Word is correct. Yep, worshipers in spirit

and in truth. So it's not complicated. Everybody

looks at that and goes, oh, that's really complicated.

It's not. The Holy Spirit enables you to worship,

but your worship must be conforming to the word

of God, right? That's why it becomes a problem

when people get into Holy Spirit worship and

they're barking like a dog or they're stripping

their clothes off and jumping around and they're

bouncing like a chicken, right? That's not conforming

to the word of God, coming to the shape of. allowing

that thing to govern you, right? So God's Word

tells us how we can do something. Like, you ever

make a Christmas cookie? A cutout cookie? What

shape was it? You made a square Christmas cookie?

Okay, that's not a very exciting Christmas cookie.

Oh, okay, so you cut it like into a tree, right?

So when you put the cookie cutter there, and

then you pulled it back, the cookie took the

shape of the tree, that's conforming, okay? So

the Word of God sets the parameters of how we

can worship God, which makes false worship never

right. This is the definition of it, right? Okay,

so we can worship. So in other words, could we

have a screamo worship? I mean, screaming. Everybody's

screaming. We're screaming at the top of our

lungs. Worship music. Could we do that? I can't

do it. Somebody in this room might be able to

do it. I can't do it, right? But somebody could

do that, right? Or what else? Country Western.

Do we have country Western worship? Sure. Could

we have worship with no word, no music at all,

no instruments? You better believe it, because

it was like that for like the longest time, right?

There was almost no instruments at all. And it

didn't start with really having a lot of instruments

in worship until way later, right? So what kind

of worship would be ruled out? Based on what

we just said, what kind of worship would be ruled

out? That's exactly it. Worship that doesn't

line up with the Word of God. So we will not

have adulterous worship. We will not have stealing

worship. We will not have lying worship, right?

We will not have lustful worship. Or worship

that brings about lust in somebody, right? You

can go on and on and on. We will not have worship

that goes against the Word of God. And by the

time you get that, you get a pretty good idea

of what you can do and what you can't do. Does

that make sense? And you can do a lot more than

people are allowing in some cases. But you also

can rule out a lot more of things that some people

are allowing that just aren't allowed. Like worshiping

something that's not God. Worshiping the pastor

or the preacher or the worship leader. None of

that is allowed in Scripture, right? Okay. So,

Now we have a summary sentence that goes across

the middle. The W, the first word, is worship.

That was easy. So, it's worship is not a... Starts

with a P. Place. Beautiful. Who said that? He's

paying attention back there. Okay? Worship is

not a place, but a... Capital S. Spiritual. Right?

But it's spiritual. S -P -I -R -I -T -U -A -L.

Spirit U -L. Okay? And if it's a Holy Spirit,

it's a capital S. That's the name of God. You

capitalize the names of God. So you're talking

about your spirit, that's a small S. God's spirit,

always big S. Okay? So worship is not a place,

but a spiritual, this one's harder, A, kind of

like activity or, I mean, remember, we're conforming

to the word of God. So if you conform to something,

it starts with an A, but you conform to it, what

do you do? You get this on your car when you're

tired so your tires don't go bald. Awareness.

No, that's not it. What? Alignment. Yes. One

mechanic in the room. Okay. Spiritual alignment.

And then you know the rest. Come on. You got

it. Spiritual alignment. W with God's truth.

Whoever said it. Well done. That was a nice one.

I heard you. Okay. So worship is not a place.

So careful. That means when you invite your friends

to worship, you better make sure that you explain

what you're saying. It's like, you want to go

to worship with me? Make sure that the emphasis

is on the worship, not worship as a place, right?

It's worship as a spiritual alignment with God's

truth. Okay, number three. Passage three. Another

classic New Testament passage about worship.

Very short. Romans. Anybody got an idea what

it could be? What if I said, this is your spiritual

act of worship. Would that help you? What chapter

is that in, in the book of Romans? Anybody know?

It's Romans 12, 1 and 2. It's very short, but

I'll read it. Okay, Romans 12, 1 and 2. Therefore,

brothers and sisters, in view, that means keeping

in mind, of the mercies of God, I urge you to

present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy

and pleasing to God. This is your true worship.

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind so that you may

discern what is good. pleasing and perfect will

of god okay so in there we have motivations start

kind of starting in 1a so 1a was therefore brothers

and sisters in view of the mercies of god so

what are the motivations the mercies of god that

was makes sense right and then we've got 1b offering

yes perfect bodies as living sacrifices and this

is you know it proposes a pretty big problem

right Because everyone has lust of the flesh,

lust of the eyes, and pride of life. So every

single person, saved and unsaved, still has the

pressure of their body to give in to what it

is their body wants. Right? And so offering your

body as a living sacrifice can be a challenge

when you're struggling with your personal desires.

And yet, we are called to it by God. In fact,

if you're free, you can do it. You're offering

your body as a living sacrifice. All right, number

two, then, verse two. Renewing the mind. Yep.

Ooh, that's good. That's not what I put, but

I like that. But it's a little different, though,

because we're talking about worship specifically,

and worship does not... I'm going to say something.

Don't misinterpret this now. Worship does not

specifically align with Christ, right? It aligns

with... We just studied this whole section from

the previous verses. It aligns with the Word

of God, right? So Jesus worshiped, right? Did

Jesus worship himself while he was on earth?

No, he did not. He worshiped God the Father.

Did Jesus worship his own way? Some way that

he invented? Some new way? Was he a new age worshiper?

Started a new denomination? No. He worshipped

God the Father the way God had ordained worship.

So worship aligns with the word of God. And so

in this case, we're renewing the mind to avoid.

The A is avoid, not align. Remember the verse.

I'll read the verse again. But do not be conformed

to this age, but be transformed by the renewing

of your mind. So avoiding worldly. So we're back

to cookie cutters again. And believe me, if you

ain't cookie cutter by God, you're going to be

cookie cutter by the world. That's just the way

it works. You only got two choices. You can think

that you're unique. I remember when my girls

were in high school, that there were some girls

in their high school that decided to be God.

And they told my daughter, I don't remember which

one it was, at least I'm alive, I can't remember

now, told them that they were doing that because

they wanted to be individuals. They wanted to

be unique. And I said, well, you do realize there

are 12 million God. At that time, there were

12 million goth people in the United States of

America. It's not very unique. It's like I try

harder to come up with something that actually

is individual. But anyway, you can think that

you're escaping the conforming to the world,

but escaping one type of conforming just puts

you in another one unless you are attached to

Scripture or aligning with God's Word. So the

idea is to renew the mind to avoid worldly conforming.

And then true worship. So this one's a little

tricky. Para S's. Want to take a stab at it?

It's hard. So it's sacrificial. Sacrificial what?

Sacrificial sacrifice? I like it. It's not what

I put, but it's not terrible. What are we sacrificing?

More. More than that. It's true, but it's more

than that. It's surrender. It's your whole self.

You can put sacrificial self or sacrificial surrender

either way. Remember, that's what we're doing.

It said we're... presenting our bodies as a living

sacrifice. So it's this. It's a story about the

little boy who come to worship and he had no

money to put in the offering plate. And after

they pass the offering plate and nothing, and

he hadn't been put in it, he came up and he asked

the deacon to put it on the floor and he put

the offering plate on the floor and the little

boy stood in the offering plate. And I suppose

everybody cried. I don't know if that actually

happened or not, but I would have. It's yourself.

Put yourself in God's hands. Sacrificial surrender

of one's, starts with an E. entire, and now it

starts with an L, life to God. Perfect. Sacrificial

surrender of one's entire life to God. If you

do not surrender your entire life to God, you

are not following God. It's certainly not worship

anyway. Not worship of God. God's an all or nothing

God because he can do everything with your all

and he doesn't want your little bits. He wants

all of you. Okay, seven principles to come out

of this and we are rolling into the end here.

Are we all caught up? Has everybody got their

blanks? Check mark. For all your blanks? Okay.

Seven principles. Number one. I Roman numeraled

them. Got them all right. Okay. Number one. CC.

What do you think? Carbon copy. That's it. Make

your worship a carbon copy of somebody else's

worship. Nope. That's not right. Sorry. You were

being facetious. Which starts with an F. Christ

-centered. Christ -centered. It's not Christ

-centered in that we can only worship Jesus Christ,

the man or the son of God. We worship God, the

Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the

Holy Spirit. It's Christ -centered in that it

is only in him. And let me ask you this. We could

have a little doctrinal debate here if we're

not careful, but it's pretty easily proven scripturally.

Can a person who does not know Jesus worship

God rightly? That's the correct answer. Now can

you tell me why that's true? The only way to

get to God is through Jesus. That's what he said.

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one

cometh unto the Father but by me. John 14, 6.

Go ahead. Exactly. Exactly. If you have not submitted

to Christ, you cannot worship God. Which means

there are a lot of churches in which there are

a lot of people. And there may even be some of

us. There might be somebody in this room. No

harm done, right? But the truth is... If you're

like, I come to worship, and I sing, and I love

it, and I love the music, and I feel good, but

I never really feel a connection with God. If

you have not surrendered your life to Christ,

you're never going to feel that connection with

God. Or if you ever do, it will actually be a

connection with someone or something substituting

themselves for God, and that will be a bad day,

right? It's through Jesus. Jesus said, no one

cometh unto the Father except through me. Christ

-centered, only in Christ. Okay, number two.

VR, tricky. I worded it a little differently

here. So if it's B, and we already said we have

to conform to the Word of God, what would the

B be? Him. I'm sorry. Yeah, only in Him. Yep.

Only in Christ can we truly worship Him. Worship

the Father. Okay? So now we've got a B, and we

know we have to conform to the Word of God, so

what's the B? When I tell you, that's not right

by the book, how do I say that? It's not biblical.

Right? Or biblically. In this case, it's biblically.

And the word I used, and you might like something

better, I don't know, is regulated, biblically

regulated. So the Bible regulates our worship,

just like we said, well, that's not acceptable.

That is acceptable, right? But it's not my idea

what's acceptable because I'm not going to ever

worship. I'm not going to ever choose to worship

through hard rock unless God of heaven tells

me specifically to do that. Then, of course,

I will submit. But I'm not going to do that by

my own choice. But if the Lord leads me to do

that, I'm going to do that. But if the Bible

says no, then it's no. Biblically regulated,

okay? And then this biblically regulated means

it's what? Okay, aligned or according to the

scriptures. Good. I submit to you, if you live

long enough, you will go somewhere and someone

will initiate unbiblical worship and you will

have to either confront it or leave. You'll have

to make a choice. It's going to happen, guaranteed.

It's happened to me a bunch of times already.

I'm like, ooh, okay. Number three, S -E. Capital

S. Even though it's the beginning of the sentence,

it would have been a capital S anyway. Spirit.

Spirit. Spiritually what? How about empowered?

Spiritually empowered. Or spirit empowered. Okay?

And then I gave you the other part. Indwelt acceptable

worship. Right? So we're talking about the Holy

Spirit in us making us able to worship. Spirit

empowered worship. So just be aware that there

are a lot of other lesser spirits. They're far,

far lesser. They're not even in the same field.

But there are a lot of, you know, false, demonic,

and evil spirits that would like to mess with

your worship. They would love to do that. Okay,

number four. Starts with an S. And it goes with

no autonomy, price paid. So it starts with an

S. What is it? No autonomy, price is paid. Say

it again. Sacrificial or sacrificed. Sacrifice.

The price has already been paid for you to worship.

The price has already been paid. Right? Okay.

Now we're on to a big C. Nope, it's not Christ.

That would be great, but it's not in this case.

We do it together. It's corporate or congregational.

Now, I know that still there's people who are

going to say that they worship on their own,

and they're not wrong because it is a living

sacrifice 24 hours a day, right? But it is commanded

congregationally. Scripture commands it, that

we do it together. And I think part of that is

because we're all different. So when they say,

God, we were made in the image of God, what they're

talking about is we're made to represent God.

I don't know if you noticed or not, but there

probably aren't any two people in this room that

are the exact same height, same skin tone, same

hair color, same hobbies. We're all unique. Every

one of us is unique. That's what makes us equal.

We're equal because we're unique. And then when

you put that unique equalness together, you get

worship, right? I can worship God, but I will

fail to worship God. I will set out to worship

God in my house, in my prayer closet, in my backyard,

but I will fail because there's things about

me that aren't right that day or because I'm

distracted or I'll start to read the Bible and

get... Oh, I'm going to watch TV instead or some

dumb thing like that, right? You do the same

thing. But together, when we all come together,

look at the power of it, the unique equal us

congregationally, right? And then the you then

would be united, which is why it doesn't work

when people come together and hate the person

sitting next to them or hate the color of the

carpet, right? Or hate the kind of music. That

stuff doesn't work. It's united. And there's

that our rejoicing body. So we are called as

a church to be a united, rejoicing body. That's

what we are. And to be a body, you've got to

step out. You've got to step away from your job.

You've got to step away from your family, the

family that's not here anyway. You've got to

step away from your money. You've got to step

away from your house. My house is not part of

my body. My hobbies are not part of my body.

They might affect my body, especially like when

you're playing softball or something. But the

bottom line is you have to step away from everything

else and unite with the body. And that's the

power of worship that God is looking for. That's

worship in spirit and truth. Bless you. Okay.

And then six. This is a really big word. Worship

is, it goes back to Romans 12, transformational.

I'll spell it. T -R -A -N -S. That part's easy.

T -R -A -N -S. Form. F -O -R -M. Transform is

to change the shape of something or the makeup

of something. Transform. And it's A -T -I -O

-N -A -L. Transformational. Transformational.

Weird word, but perfect for this use. Okay. Now,

can anybody finish the whole sentence in one

swoop? Haley, you're the puzzle master. You got

it. She didn't got it. Anybody else got it? Transformational.

So that N is a not. Can we do it from there?

Yep. Not just. Nope, not spiritual. It is another

capital S though, but it's not spirit. What?

Nope, not sin. It's not just Sunday. How about

now? Not just Sunday, but Romans 12. Be transformed

by the renewing of your mind so you may discern

what is a good, pleasing, and perfect will of

God. It's not just Sunday, but ongoing renewing

or renewal of the mind. It's a little sticky

here, but you can do it. Through the word. Got

it. So this worship that God is calling us to

is transformational, changing us all the time

through the renewal of the mind, through the

word, right? Because if it's not happening that

way, you will eventually get off course and find

yourself not in biblical worship. Because all

your worship has to conform to the word of God.

So if you take the word of God out, even though

I'm like, I'm a follower of Jesus, Holy Spirit

of me, I'll never make a mistake. I'm just a

follower of the Holy Spirit. It'll be fine, right?

except one day you won't because you haven't

renewed your mind enough to know better okay

last one number seven and this one is sort of

like an extension of it so it's mission minded

mm mission minded so worship is mission minded

i kind of gave you this illustration when i first

talked when i said like we're going to talk about

worship and now you just had one of the coolest

experiences to talk about worship which is worship

being together we worship as a team and then

we saw it Well, when people come who don't know

Christ and they see the body really worshiping

the way they are supposed to, that's cool. That's

cool to them. They're like, wow, they're putting

themselves aside to be together in worshiping

this God. This God must be important, right?

So it's mission -minded. Worship fuels, the word

is fuels, the, that was two blanks, GC. If it's

mission -minded, what's the greatest thing in

the world for mission -mindedness? GC, fuels

the great commission. That's Jesus' last words

on earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples.

That's the Great Commission. So worship fuels

the Great Commission as we, and you see the rest

of it, exalt. That means lift up God's glory

among the nations. Now, did anybody notice we

missed a little something? On the whole page,

where did we miss it? Top right. So what do you

think the SD stands for? Beautiful. Spiritual

discipline. All right. So worship, not only is

it a command of God, and most of the spiritual

disciplines are, not only is it a... It's like

breathing. It's like eating. It's your bread

and butter to be a follower of Christ. Because

if you let your worship conform to the word of

God, you will become like Jesus who let his worship

conform to the word of God and so on, right?

So you want that. You always want to worship

the way God has led us to do that. But on top

of that, it's also spiritual discipline. So spiritual

discipline is a thing that God has said we can

do, we can choose to do to draw closer to him,

right? You can't walk. physically to the throne

of God from here. It's not in Google Maps. It's

not on any star chart. You cannot physically

get there with your body in your car or in a

jet or in a spaceship, right? But the spiritual

disciplines allow you to draw close to God of

your own volition. You're choosing to do that.

These are the things that God has given us to

choose to do that. So worship is one of those,

all right? So if worship is one of the things

that we can choose to do to draw close to God,

then what do you think that first C is? No, but

that would have been good. It's choose. This

is the pattern for how to do worship as a spiritual

discipline. Or it could be how to do service.

Or it could be how to pray as a spiritual discipline

or whatever. The pattern is always the same.

The first thing you do is choose it. And if you

choose it and just do it, are you done? No. That

would not be a spiritual discipline. This is

a choice. Because in order to make it a discipline,

there are some other steps that have to occur.

So the first thing is you choose it. The next

thing is a P, and that is? Nope. We're not practicing

it yet. No, we're not praying yet. We pray before

we choose, probably. Actually, I could put that

on there, but it's planets, right? Remember,

spiritual disciplines. If I'm going to do 10

push -ups a day, my plan is I'm going to do 10

push -ups a day, right? I choose to do 10 push

-ups a day. I plan to do 10 push -ups a day.

Now, it's still not a spiritual discipline, is

it? I've done the early steps, but it's still

not a spiritual discipline. I chose it. I planned

it. Now, the S is I must schedule it, right?

So I'm going to do 10 push -ups a day. I choose

to do 10 push -ups a day. I plan to do 10 push

-ups a day. I'm going to do them in the morning.

Or I'm going to do them at night or whatever.

I'm going to do 10 in the morning and 10 at night

or 5 in the morning and 5 at night. I plan it.

So we've got choose, plan, schedule. Then the

C is commit. That's right. So now I've done it.

I've chosen to do it. I've planned it. I've scheduled

it. I've committed to do it. Last night I went

to bed saying this morning I'm going to do 10

push -ups. And then I get up in the morning and

I carry it out. That's the spirit of this one.

Here is how you can do worship in the simplest

form of the spiritual discipline. You can say,

I will worship God every Sunday morning at 1130.

You chose to do it. You planned it. You scheduled

it. You commit to it. And if you show up, you

carried it out. Easy. Now, if you're a worship

leader, not so easy. Because now the plan is

you got to practice it. You got skills. You got

decisions that you got to make. So now you got

additional things you got to do, right? But that's

all in there still. In fact, probably our worship

leaders give us the best model for what spiritual

discipline of worship looks like because they

have extra steps that they have to go through

and they go through them. And if the time comes

to start worship and they didn't go through them,

we don't get to worship the way we had intended.

So they're not only showing us worship when they're

singing a song to lead us, as they all did up

here today, but also they're showing us the spiritual

discipline of worship as they are preparing for

that moment in time. as we should too in fact

i'll say this to you if you show up at 11 30

in the morning on sunday to worship led by the

praise team and you have not prepared yourself

maybe you didn't go to bed on time and you didn't

eat the right foods you skipped breakfast had

too much coffee right you didn't go to the bathroom

so now at 11 47 you got to go to the bathroom

so you didn't go before you came in here whatever

it's pretty much an insult to the worship leaders

who have done the spiritual discipline of worship

up to that point they're ready Same thing on

Tuesday night, for example. So they're setting

that model for us. This is the model. You may

not be somebody that loves worship, but it's

a spiritual discipline. You may be somebody who

wants to draw close to God. So what do you do?

Choose to do it, plan to do it, schedule it,

commit to it, and carry it out. And then you

will draw close to God. That's what God promises.

Now, again, John 14, 6, not unless you have Jesus

in you. Not unless you turn your life over to

the Lord. All right. We're very low on time,

but we have time. If you'd like to do a round

of Bible trivia, it begins now. Everyone that

completed their worksheet gets two tickets. Also,

just FYI, the tickets for tonight that you earn

tonight do not go in the big box to win the gift

card. There's hundreds of tickets in there already.

However, there is an empty cup. And so anybody

who wants to, one of the things you can do with

the tickets that you earn tonight is put them

in the empty cup. And if you do, they will go

in the big box before we draw for the gift card.

But you won't win anything else. That is to take

home and do on your own. That's to do on your

own. Okay. I have questions. They are randomized

for... This is not the randomized list. One second.

Let me go back. They're randomized for difficulty.

75 questions. Some are harder than others. We've

got quite a few folks standing. Zayden, we're

starting with you, sir. Are you ready? Who was

thrown into a den of lions? Daniel is correct.

How many fish did Jesus use to feed the 5 ,000?

Two is correct, sir. Chris. Oh my gosh. You get

the first hard question. You get to sit down

and keep your ticket if you want to. Who was

the mother of Samuel? Did you sit down already?

You didn't have to yet. I didn't tell you that

question yet. No. Okay. He's going to pass on

that one. That's a toughie. All right. But now

Ace has stuck with it. Ace, who was the mother

of Samuel? Researching. Wheels are spinning.

Okay. Who was his mother? You can sit and keep

your ticket, or you can take a guess and risk

it. Definitely. Do you want to guess or not?

All right, Adam, back to you. You'll be the final

one to fall to the tough one. Okay, so the mother

of Samuel was somebody? Hannah is correct, and

Hannah is named after her, so now we won't forget

it anymore. Okay. A .N., it's hard. Not really.

What is the last book of the Bible? Careful.

Say it again. Revelation is correct. There's

no S on the end. That would be wrong. Arden.

Who built the ark? You got it. Abby. What river

was Jesus baptized in? It's kind of a middle

one. Middle difficulty. No helping. No helping.

You can get it. You can guess or you can sit

and keep your ticket. Not sure? Go sit down.

Okay. Aaron. What river was Jesus baptized in?

The Jordan River is correct. Jason. Who betrayed

Jesus for 30 pieces of silver? Judas Iscariot.

Judas Iscariot is correct. From the back. Jaden.

How many books are there in the New Testament?

We got caught on this one before. Somebody got

caught on this one. New Testament. How many books?

If you guess and get it wrong, you lose your

ticket. Oh, he's down. Hannah. Anyone named after

Samuel's mother should know the answer to that

question. Okay. Haley. 27 is correct. Failed

out the last second. Okay, Holly, who was the

first woman? You better know that one. That'd

be rough. Okay, Chris, who climbed a tree to

see Jesus? All the kids know this one. Does Chris

know it? Can't remember? I won't blame you if

you don't. Draw on a blank. Sit down, keep your

ticket. All right, River, I put the pressure

on you because I said all the kids know this.

Do you know it? Who climbed a tree to see Jesus?

It was a sycamore tree. Straddling around in

there. Willing to take a risk or not. Nope. Down

he goes. Down she goes. Sorry. All right. Natalie's

down, too. Oh, my goodness. Okay. Who climbed

a tree to see Jesus? Somebody over here. Not

yet. I didn't. He's still up. That was three.

You stay up. Say it again. Zacchaeus is correct.

Okay. No. Michael. What city had its walls fall

after Israel marched around it? I said this last

time. Yes, you did. They marched around it, and

the walls fell. Going once. Hey. Jericho? Jericho

is correct. Okay, and then we're back to this

side over here. Zayden. Who interpreted dreams

in Egypt? What might be easy for somebody might

be more difficult for somebody else. It all depends

on how your wheels turn. Interpreted dreams in

Egypt for Pharaoh. His name was... Going once.

If you sit, you keep two tickets. No. Caleb's

like, I'm about to get this question. All right.

Time's up. Sit or guess. Okay. Caleb, can you

do it? Interpreted dreams in Egypt for Pharaoh.

You will be kicking yourself after you don't

get it. Down he goes for two tickets. A .N.,

that's you who interpreted dreams in Egypt for

Pharaoh. All right. Somebody over here, name

it. Joseph is correct. Okay. You also got to

code him any colors. He's slightly more famous

for that, I think. Arden. What was the name of

Jesus' mother? That's a tough one. Aaron. Who

was the first king of Israel? Saul. It's correct.

Jason. What did God put in the sky as a sign

of his covenant with Noah? Rainbow is correct.

From the back row, it's Haley. Who denied Jesus

three times? Say it again. Peter is correct.

Jesus is going to be a tough contender today.

Holly, how many loaves did Jesus use to feed

the 5 ,000? Five is correct. Mike, who led Israel

after Moses? Joshua is correct. He pulled it

out at the last second. Well, he did sit through

the whole book. Okay. Back to Arden. The whole

right side is down. Arden. Come on. What was

the name of the garden where Adam and Eve lived?

Eden. Oh, my goodness. He's got crutches. Okay.

Aaron. Who baptized Jesus? John the Baptist.

Jason. How many years did Israel wander in the

wilderness? 40. 40 years is correct. Haley, who

was known for his great strength and long hair?

I need your final answer. Who was known for great

strength and long hair? Samson is correct. Holly,

what book comes immediately after the four Gospels?

Acts is correct. Mike, who was Abraham's wife?

Don't help him. Are you guessing or do you want

to sit? You sound like a question mark. I need

a non -question mark if you want to guess. You're

standing for three tickets? You sit for three

tickets or guess? Three tickets. You'll be sticking

hard with this first difficult question if you

sit. Abraham's wife. Try it again. I don't think

there's... FYI, I don't think there's anybody

in the Bible named Sierra. He knows it, but he's

not saying it. Three seconds. Two, one. Arden.

Sarah is correct. You were so close, dude. But

you got three tickets, so that was awesome. Aaron.

What mountain was associated with Elijah's contest

with the prophets of Baal? It is much harder.

But it's four tickets. Mountain associated with

Elijah's contest with the prophets of all. He's

down. Jason, what is the name of the mountain?

Down. Haley, what is the name of the mountain

associated with the battle between Elijah and

the prophets of all? She's down? Okay, she was

the third. It is Mount Carmel. Holly, what was

the name of the first martyr of the Christian

church? Stephen is correct. Who do we got left?

Just Arden and Holly? Okay, keep track of your

tickets because I'm losing count. Okay, Arden,

what town was Jesus raised in? I don't guess.

It's like five tickets or something. Nazareth.

Nazareth is correct. Holly, who was sold into

slavery by his brothers? Joseph is correct. Arden?

What did the wise men follow to find Jesus? It's

random. The star is correct. Holly, who was Jesus'

earthly legal father? Joseph is correct. I'm

going to give you like seven tickets now, I think.

Arden, who doubted Jesus' resurrection until

he saw the evidence? Sit down, take all your

tickets. You got to get it. What is it? That's

correct. Well done. All right. Well done. Give

them a round of applause. That was awesome. Nicely

done. Okay. So remember how this video, everybody

needs to get the number of tickets that they

earned. Sue for your worksheet, and then how

many have you got during trivia? No problem.

As soon as I get these started, I'm going to

pass it up. Thank you.