Sermon Central
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We're Not Worthy Series
Contributed by Carl Willis on Jan 28, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: So what’s worship all about anyway?
Today we will be continuing our series on the 5 foundational purposes of our church. You will see that each of these purposes should be foundational in your personal life as well. I’m going to be using two passages from the book of Isaiah today as we examine the purpose of worship.
“…I had a vision of the Lord. He was on His throne high above, and His robe filled the temple. Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over Him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying, as they shouted, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord All-Powerful! The earth is filled with Your glory.’ As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I cried out, ‘I’m doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful. One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, ‘This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.’
After this, I heard the Lord ask, ‘Is there anyone I can send? Will someone go for us?’
‘I’ll go,’ I answered. ‘Send me!’”
“I will bring them to My holy mountain, where they will celebrate in My house of worship. Their sacrifices and offerings will always be welcome on My altar. Then My house will be known as a house of worship for all nations.”
Let’s start off with some common perceptions of worship. Somebody tell me what you think worship is. How many of you were thinking congregational singing? As you are going to see that is only a small piece of the puzzle. Worship is to honor, to revere, to adore and to give loving devotion.
So the question for you now is this....what do you worship? Money, recreation, relationships, possessions? If your relationship to any of these things is described in the definition of worship, you have a problem on your hands.
Our worship is reserved. God has commanded that we worship Him and Him alone. To worship anything other than God is idolatry. See what God says:
“Do not worship any god except Me.”
“Respect the Lord your God, serve only Him, and make promises in His name alone. Offer your praises to Him, because you have seen Him work such terrifying miracles for you.”
So we are commanded to worship nothing aside from God. Now we need to examine, why we need to worship God. First and foremost God commands it.
“The Lord your God commands you to love Him and to serve Him with all your heart and soul.”
“You also must obey the Lord – you must worship Him with all your heart and remember the great things He has done for you.”
Not only has God commanded it, but God deserves our worship as well.
“You are the Lord’s people. Obey Him and celebrate! He deserves your praise.”
“The Lord is great and deserves our greatest praise! He is the only God worthy of our worship.”
God has been so good to us. We worship, because we have been given so much.
“Because of Your great mercy, I come to Your house, Lord, and I am filled with wonder as I bow down to worship at Your holy temple.”
“Sing joyful songs to the Lord! Praise the Mighty Rock where we are safe.”
“Let’s praise God! He listened when I prayed, and He is always kind.”
The Bible tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people.
“…O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”
If God inhabits the praises of His people, then we need to realize that our worship, brings us directly into God’s presence. As we enter God’s presence there are some dramatic effects of worship. I’ve given you a brief list here:
- Change of focus from us to Him
- Reminds us of His majesty
- Illuminates our own unworthiness
- Reveals hidden sin
- Purges the heart – brings us to confession
- Humbles us
- Lifts our burdens
- Brings about peace
I can think of very few things in the Christian life that have this much power. Being in God’s presence is both humbling and uplifting.
So how does a person worship. We will examine three facets of personal worship. These are worship in mind, body, and spirit.
