This week, I
want us to consider re-thinking worship.
We begin at
the same place we began last week. We
must first consider Who it is that we are worshiping. If we don't know that, we can't move on.
Who is it
that you came to worship today?
We can easily
say we came to worship the Lord. But,
Who is He to you? Is He really the
creator, sustainer, beginning and the end…is He really healer, comforter and
friend…is He really the peace-giver and joy-filler…is He really your all in
all?
Because if He
is not, then you might be here not to worship, but to feel better about
yourself for coming. You see, if we are
serious about following Jesus Christ, then we will take the time to worship Him
and we will take our worship seriously as well.
What is worship? For me worship begins on Sunday morning and
continues on throughout the week. This
is the beginning of my worship which should spill over to the rest of my
week. Today is a sacrifice to the Lord
and today is when I offer myself to Him, as a serious follower.
Let's look a
little closer at what the Word says about offering sacrifices of worship to the
Lord:
There will be
several passages for you to consider as part of your worship. Think of each passage as a lesson. There are many more…these are just a few that
mean a lot to me.
Psalm 9:1-2
– Praise Him with your WHOLE heart. This
is easier to do if you love Him with your WHOLE heart!
Psalm 27:4-6
– He is there in our times of trouble.
He helps us make it through with our heads lifted. We offer Him sacrifices of JOY.
Psalm 42:1-3, 11
– Even in our times of distress and when nothing seems to go right and
everything seems to go wrong…even when those around question us for following
the Lord…we can HOPE IN GOD!
Psalm 63:1-5 –
Seek God early as you begin your day.
His lovingkindness is better than anything you can imagine. While He has you here, praise Him with JOYFUL
lips!
Psalm 95:6-7
– This reminds me of humility – bowing down to the KING…coming to Him with
respect and reverence. Showing Him the
respect and honor He is due.
Psalm 96:1-6
– Sing to the LORD – not to your neighbor…not to sound good for the
people. Sing to the LORD for He is the
One who is great and greatly to be praised!
Psalm 103:1-5
– Bless the LORD with all that is within you…Why? He is forgiver, healer, redeemer, provides
renewal and love like no other.
Colossians
3:16-17 – It is all FOR HIM…worship is not even slightly about
us…not even a little bit. Worship is
about the LORD.
Let me sum
up what all this means to me:
We are to come into His house with reverence
and respect. We are worshiping the HOLY
ONE! We should have a sense of AWE that
we can even come into His house and offer praise. However, we should come with such love in our
hearts for the One who has offered us the ultimate love. We have a reason to be joyful – despite our
circumstances, we have hope in Him.If we follow Jesus, worship should be quite different
