Sermon Central
-
Worship - For God's Glory
Contributed by George Rennau on Apr 28, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: Too often We waddle away from worship the same way we came in. Unchanged. It should Not Be. When we Genuinely worship God We are responding to God¡¦s grace giving Him our lives Allowing Him to change us and make us better people.
TITLE: Worship - FOR GOD’S GLORY
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
[2] Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
[3] For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
[4] In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
[5] The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
[6] Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
[7] for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
INTRODUCTION:
A parable is told of a community of ducks waddling off to duck church one Sunday to hear their duck preacher. After they waddled into the duck sanctuary, the service began and the duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly.
He pounded the pulpit with his beak and said,
With these wings, there is nowhere we ducks can not go!
There is no God-given task we ducks cannot accomplish!
With these wings we no longer need walk through life.
We can soar high in the sky!
Shouts of Amen!¨ were quacked throughout the duck congregation.
The duck preacher concluded his message by exclaiming,
With our wings we can fly through life!
WE......CAN.....FLY!!!!¨ More ducks quacked out loud AMENS! in response.
Every duck loved the service.
In fact all the ducks that were present commented on what a wonderfully convicting message they had heard from their duck preacher....
and then they left the church and waddled all the way home.
APPLICATION
Too often We waddle away from worship
the same way we waddled in....
Unchanged.
It should Not Be
When we Genuinely worship God
We are responding to God’s grace
giving Him our lives
Allowing Him to change us and make us better people.
In Romans 12:1-2 Paul described worship in this way when he wrote,
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
True worship then should be a time when we allow God to challenge and change us.
Those who waddle in should not waddle out!
Instead AS Isaiah 40:31 says,
they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
PRAYER
This morning I would like to examine
1. The importance of Worship
2. Having a proper attitude in worship
THE IMPORTANCE OF WORSHIP.
Someone once said,
Worship is to the church like breathing to the human body;
it is an absolute necessity.
THE CHURCH MUST WORSHIP TO LIVE.
If we are to be a healthy church,
Then we must be a worshipping church
Because it will keep us strong in everything else we do:
Evangelism,
Ministry,
Discipleship,
And fellowship
As important as worship is
Many Christians still don¡¦t understand it.
People have Misconceptions
Some Christians see worship as a FILLING STATION¡¨
where they receive the necessary resources for the normal activities of the week.
To them worship is that ¡§pause that refreshes.
Some people that view worship this way want to ...just get close enough to God to warm themselves with His love
BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE CONSUMED BY IT.
For others, worship is more like A GIANT PEP RALLY.
To them a meaningful worship service seems to be related to the loudness of the participants,
and the amount of energy expended in the process.
They tend to view worship as something done
TO them and FOR them,
RATHER THAN BY THEM TO HIM.
Now, don¡¦t misunderstand me....in some ways worship is a filling station.
When we worship we get energized to do God¡¦s work in the world.
And there is a sense in which it is also a pep rally.
We come together to encourage one another...to cheer each other on.
BUT THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT WORSHIP IS SO MUCH MORE.
The word worship someone has said means worth-ship.
We come to this place in order to worship He that is worthy.
THE SCRIPTURE TEACHES THAT ONLY GOD IS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP.
Revelation 4:11 says, You are worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honor and power.
So when we worship God, we are declaring His worth.
Someone has described it this way,
It is the quickening of the CONSCIENCE by His HOLINESS; ..
The nourishment of the MIND with His TRUTH,
The purifying of IMAGINATION by His BEAUTY; ...
The opening of the HEART to His LOVE; ...
