How to Know You Are Worshiping the Saviour
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” Matthew 2:11-12 (NIV)
Intro: Someone said, "An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in,
and a pessimist stays up until midnight to make sure the old year leaves."
This morning, no matter which best describes you, I'm hoping you will join me in saying,
"so far, 2017 has been a great year!"
I am glad that January 1st came on a Sunday.
I think it is important that we start off the New Year by framing it with Worship.
What better way is there to begin a new year than to begin by worshiping the Saviour?
Today is also known as Epiphany Sunday.
I doubt that any of you were up late last night waiting for Epiphany.
More and more people have never even heard of Epiphany.
How many of you have already taken down your Christmas tree?
Well I have news that Christmas is not over.
The season of Christmas is twelve days long.
Epiphany falls on January 6, on the 12th day of Christmas.
On the twelfth day of Christmas you are supposed to have 12 drummers drumming.
That is why we had the little children playing the drums this morning.
Today we also celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men in Bethlehem.
Epiphany in the early church was one of the biggest feast days
–second only to Easter in its importance.
The third great feast was Pentecost, another day that is slowly diminishing in importance in the church.
Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost were the focus of worship in the church for the first 400 years.
Nobody even thought to celebrate Christmas until the fourth century.
So how come nothing epiphs on Epiphany anymore?
Why was Epiphany so important then, and now why is it so unimportant?
The word Epiphany means “manifestation” or “revelation.”
The Wise Men are remembered on Epiphany because they represent that the Gentiles
were quicker to recognize Jesus than the Jews.
In the early days when Epiphany was a great church feast,
it also celebrated the first miracle of Jesus–the changing water into wine at wedding in Cana of Galilee
and the announcement by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Son of God at his baptism.
Those three things–the Wise Men, water to wine, and Baptism
were all grouped together to symbolize the revealing of God in Jesus Christ,
and such revelation was cause for great feasting and worship.
Many people today have lost that sense of excitement and expectation of worship.
Worship is attributing ultimate worth to something.
Worship is valuing one thing above another thing.
Its origin of meaning is from the word "worth" so it is literally “worth ship”.
Today we are going to look at “How to Know You Are Worshiping the Saviour.”
I. You Find Him.
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east
[think about the phrase “from the east” because this tells us something very important about worship.]
came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one
[think about this phrase also: “Where is the one?”
That also tells you something about worship. Where is the one…]
The wise men came from the east.
They had traveled a great distance.
They had journeyed from faraway lands.
These were astronomers.
They had been watching the moon, the planets, the stars for years.
Mapping the design
calculating the patterns,
analyzing the data and predicting the behavior of the celestial bodies.
Then suddenly out of know where came this star.
Not a meteor, Not a comet.
But a rogue star.
They knew it would lead them to the one who is worthy to be worshiped.
Because they had been studying the holy scrolls of the prophets.
They knew the promise that God would send a Saviour.
They recognized this star as a sign leading them westward.
Across rivers and mountains
Guiding them to the perfect light to Jesus the light of the world.
We don’t have to use but just a little imagination here for the bible says
“They arrived in Jerusalem asking, where is the newborn King of the Jews?
We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him.”
Mathew 2:1-2
They got to Jerusalem they looked for Jesus at the palace of King Herod.
They asked King Herod where is the savior?
But the savior was not there.
They went past the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
They asked the priest where is the savior?
But the priest did not know where the Jesus was.
The savior was not there.
They walked through the streets and down the highway to Bethlehem.
They asked the inn keeper where is the child that was born on Christmas day?
But the Saviour was not at the inn.
They walked to the stable
They journeyed past the manger
But the Saviour was no longer there.
And then they came to a house and they see the child with his mother Mary.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
They knew they had found the Saviour.
Where do you find the Saviour?
How do you find Jesus?
How far will you travel to find Him?
When you find Jesus you will know that you are worshiping the Saviour.
Our focus needs to be on finding Jesus in 2017.
I want to live in a state of worship.
I want to be fully involved in worship.
If you remember a time in your life when you were really involved in Worship
Then you know certain things just came easily then.
Tell somebody beside you, “Life is better with Worship.”
In your daily life when there is no Worship things get out of sync.
If something didn’t happen for you this past year that you wanted to happen
it might be because you got out of worship
you took a spiritual detour.
Your life went the wrong direction
away from the blessings and favor that God had planned for you.
It is time to get back on the right path and go in the right direction to finding Jesus.
How to Know You Are Worshiping the Saviour
II. You Receive Him. “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” Matthew 2:10
The star appeared to them again.
It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.
They received the message from God.
They followed his direction
You know you are worshiping the Saviour when you follow where he is leading you.
Not everyone is open to receive God.
Here was this star that stopped directly over a house.
There was a spotlight on Jesus.
And the only people who came to worship him were people who were from out of town.
I know you have lost family, unsaved friends, people who need to receive Jesus as their Saviour.
It is on you to witness to them.
You must realize that being saved and being a Christian requires you to be a witness.
It is a commandment.
John 13:34–35, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
just as I have loved you,
By this all people will know that you are my disciples”
Being a Christian is revealed by our actions.
James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?
Can such faith save them?
Verse 17, “faith by itself,
if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
When you have received Jesus into your life you will want to tell others your God story.
That’s the kind of church I want to belong to is to be around people who know their God story.
Do you remember when you first got saved?
You wanted to tell everyone what happened.
We need that feeling to revive us again today.
Oh, will you receive the Holy Spirit into your life again today anew?
Will you start off this New Year receiving what God wants to do in your life?
The wise men were overjoyed by what they saw.
Can you list the things you have seen God do in your life?
What things has God brought about in your life?
What prayers has God answered for you?
How has your life been restored and overjoyed since receiving Jesus?
If you are going to ask another person to receive Christ as their savior
If you are going to ask another person to become a Christian like you are.
Then you always share something about your own personal spiritual relationship with Jesus
before asking someone about theirs.
Tell them your God story.
Tell them something God has done in your life.
End with “I know for sure that I am worshiping the Saviour.”
Then ask them have you come to the place in your life where you “Know you are Worshiping the Saviour?”
You will know it when you receive him. You will be overjoyed by it.
How to Know You Are Worshiping the Saviour
III. You Praise Him. “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” Matthew 2:11a
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down
[think about the words “bowed down”]
and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts
[think about the phrase “presented him with gifts” – that’s part of worship.]
of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Worship is participation.
How do you participate in worship?
Did you come to watch worship
Or did you come to do worship?
That is the difference that God is looking for in your life.
There were a lot of watchers of the stars.
Everyone could see this huge, bright, shining star over Bethlehem
But only a few wise men came to the house and bowed down and worshiped him.
Some people will say I worship in my heart.
Or they say I worship in my home.
Those are internal expressions of worship.
Internal expressions of worship alone are not enough.
That is why there has always been external expressions of worship called praise.
Bowing down before Jesus is a great expression of humility and devotion.
The bible often talks about bowing down or kneeling.
That is why we are invited to kneel at the altar
it is an outward expression of an inward feeling.
Another form of praise is lifting up holy hands.
Have you ever had a child lift up their hands wanting you to hold them?
Oh how it warms your heart when they crawl up into your arms and want to spend some time with you.
Do you do the same things to the Lord?
Do you lift up your hands to Him
or tell Him thank you for what He’s doing in your life?
When your desire is to praise Him
Then you will Know You Are Worshiping the Saviour.
How to Know You Are Worshiping the Saviour
IV. You Are Changed by Him.
“Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of frankincense and of myrrh.”
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”
Matthew 2:11b
[Think about those words “return by another route.”]
That’s also part of what it means to worship.
When the authority of Jesus was validated by the signs and miracles he performed
–like changing water into wine
–by the voice of God thru the Holy Spirit descending like a dove at his baptism
Those signs were God’s way of saying, “Hey, this is the guy!”
and Epiphany was the church’s way of saying, “And we can never be the same again.”
When you become a Christian your life will never be the same again.
Everything changes.
You are not the same anymore.
You are born again.
Your life takes on new meaning and purpose and direction.
Maybe you’re not familiar enough with what worship really means.
Maybe you don’t know what worship is.
Just for clarification, worship means to show the worth of Jesus.
No one and nothing else can compare to our God.
He is awesome!
He deserves our thanks
He deserves our love
He deserves our admiration
He deserves our praise in everything!
When times are tough so often we forget to focus on what God has done for us.
We begin to magnify the negatives around us
We let that consume our thoughts and even our actions.
Or worse yet we don’t let it change the route we are taking.
In ancient biblical times the army of Israel would send singers, dancers and musicians
out to face the enemy’s army before they would send out their warriors!
Before all else they wanted to worship God.
When all odds are against us
and we’re facing our biggest enemies; frustration, fear, depression, anxiety, doubt, anger, brokenness,
whatever it is, we can rise above it through praise and worship to our God.
When you want to change the course of your life.
Begin with worshiping the Saviour.
When we worship God it magnifies His greatness
it brings into focus who He is;
It makes clear the path he wants us to go on.
I love that!
I am changed by Him.
So here’s what you need to do:
don’t wait until you arrive at church to start preparing for worship.
Get up a few minutes early on Sunday and pray.
Ask God to prepare your heart.
Read a Psalm.
Listen to some worship music.
Start the process a couple of hours ahead of time.
That way, when the singing starts at beginning of the service your heart will be ready to worship God.
If you will do that, it will absolutely transform your whole worship experience.
Let me mention one last thing which may be hindering your worship.
If you find that no matter what you do, you can’t seem to engage in worship,
your heart stays lukewarm,
you feel that you’re just going through the motions
then that means you need to clear something away from your life.
A song you don’t like should never block you from worshiping God.
A sermon you don’t like should never block you from worshiping God.
God doesn’t rely on what we sing or even how a sermon is delivered in order to be worshiped.
Worship is between just you and Jesus.
Church used to be first in people lives.
Then because of other things it began to take second place among priorities.
Now for a lot of people today it is more like fifth or sixth place in their lives.
What things are you putting between you and worship?
Authentic worship comes when you put Jesus first in your life.
Then nothing else will come between you and God.
It all has to do with what you value the most.
What is worth the most in your life?
What do you value the most in life?
What are you worshiping?
That’s why you’re here – to focus in on him.
To do the most important thing you can do this year of 2017 is to worship God.
And when you worship it actually changes you.
It does something great to you.
Your life is like this big map.
There’s the “You are here” arrow
and it’s at the busyness and the messiness and the routine of your life.
There is this destination over here called “Worship.”
So how do you get from where you are to this place of worship?
Those first worshipers that first Christmas teach us.
They knew how to find Jesus.
They knew how to receive Jesus
They knew how to praise Jesus
They knew how to be changed by Jesus.
Don’t let it be freezing on both the inside and the outside.
I invite you to pray a prayer of commitment to worship,
let worship become the most important part of your life
Prayer: Lord, I want to worship you. So I ask you to help me to see and recognize both my spiritual needs and spiritual gifts.
God, I also pray that you build my faith.
Help me to expect you to show up.
Give me a heart I pray that chooses to rejoice.
Help me to bow down and humble myself before you.
Help me to stand up and lift up my hands and praise you.
I want to get the kind of person who gives gifts back to you because you’ve given so much to me.
Jesus, I worship you. In your name I pray. Amen.
