Worship: A Commitment . . . Not a War, Part One, Part 2

On Sunday morning. What's the primary focus of our worship is all glorious above were commanded to worship the one who was all glorious above to bow down before him all over him, praising ascribed to him is worth. In doing so, we gratefully sing of his wonderful love is the lightest canopy space that great word or what, but the canopy of space is filled with the living God. Every Sunday morning.

Believers gathering community to worship God sending our praises upward and raising our voices to the canopy of space bill with the living God should be an anticipated highlight of our week, but sometimes the manner in which we worship can cause disagreements in the body sometimes escalates into controversy today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll invites us to open our Bibles to find the essential ingredients of worshiping God. He titled this next message worship, a commitment not a war part one and we begin with the harsh world that has lost its way.

It's wonderful to come into your presence father having been introduced to this time with what has fueled the Godhead since eternity past is the profound sounds of silence. Silence softens us and makes us tender helps prepare our souls, the sewing of the seed.

It helps us forget the stuff of life that is draining our energy and and is often added to our worry list. Forgive us father for all of those wasted hours we forgot to trust you. When we failed to rely on you, we come to you today as a is a group of sheep look to a shepherd come because we are inadequate in ourselves we come because we are incompetent to manufacture a deity, nor should we even try. We come to worship you and to adore you and to let you know how worthy. We believe you are worthy of our worship and praise. We would turn to no other father we we would listen to you and we would follow you. We fall in love with your son.

He has he has enraptured us, having captured our hearts. We thank you for Jesus, releasing him to us. Even though this harsh world didn't want him and didn't esteem him. So if you ever follow him still true, but we do and we find great delight in doing so, so fill this place with your presence again so that we might be lost in wonder love and praise the soft and tender presence of our God we worship the name of your son Christ everyone said site for living to search the Scriptures with Chuck Swindoll sure to download his searching the Scriptures. Studies by going to inside world.org/studies and now the message from Chuck called worship a commitment not a war part one God's house is a house of worship we you are parts of his body or bodies of worship.

We are never more fulfilled and satisfied them with that worship is pure and clean and consistent Jesus addresses the subject of worship in the fourth chapter of John which I like to turn for a few moments.

My mind is on a couple of verses tucked away in the center of the chapter, but those verses send him a context that are helpful to understand in the context we have a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman in Samaria.

Two things were scandalous.

First, that a man would talk to a woman in the first century in any sense of dignity and honor which he did.

And second, that a Jew would be found in Samaria of all places, no geographical spot was more hated than Samaria. But the Jews, but here Jesus is standing alongside a woman who is brought her pot to the well to draw water and he in the process tells her of her life. She's made a mess of her life story can be picked up about her 16 he said to her go, call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you have well said, I have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly she suddenly exposed as I perceive your profit. Indeed, he was the is you knew everything about her back. She goes on to say some religious things, our fathers worshiped in this mountain you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship Jesus were told that a people worse of the need to worship in Jerusalem she wants to get off the subject of her life so he decides he will address worship.

She says we understand that Jerusalem is where you go to worship. We believe it that this mountain of the first thing Jesus clarifies his worship is not connected with the place Jerusalem mountain wherever his words in verse 21 woman. Believe me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you worship father. He goes further, you worship that which you do not know. He has the audacity to tell her you're not connecting with the living God you worship one whom you do not even know we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

That isn't an arrogant statement. It's an accurate one. Trace it all the way back to Abraham and fast forward to the days of Jesus, and you will find the line of the Jews as the line of salvation came first to the Jews and through the Jews only by God's grace to expand to Gentiles like us. But it began with them and he speaks the truth. So the second thing he clarifies is that worship is not a mystical groping in the dark, hoping to reach some deity, whoever he or it may be, it is a clear, definitive, conscious connection with the living God.

He says to her you worship what you don't even know he's not being ugly he's being accurate. People need accurate information told them with compassion that he goes on to say, an hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father.

There is worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

We stopped there for such people that you and me.

That includes you and me such people the father seeks to be his worshipers. What a great thought, God seeks my worship I wake up in the morning, God seeks my worship. I'm living my life for the day, God seeks my worship I can do Sunday morning and am involved in preparing for and delivering his message God seeks my worship in doing so in your life is saying whatever the details maybe he seeks my worship.

He wants me to worship him as I drive my car.

He wants me to worship him as I career my family wants me to worship him as I work alongside my what he wants me to worship him when I am alone or when I'm with others. He wants my worship once my worship. That brings us to the question of what is worship. What is he mean when he says the father seeks worshipers worship comes from the old Anglo-Saxon worth ship W ORT H ship worth ship TH was dropped and is becoming worship means to attribute worth to someone or something. More specifically, when referring to our God is attributing supreme work.

To him who alone is worthy of what we worship. We do that we do it in silence.

We do it in our hearts we do it with our words we do it with our songs. We do it when we play our instruments. We do it corporately. We do it individually, but we come before him attributing to him supreme work see the purpose of the church is to cultivate worshipers isn't a place to make business contacts. It's a place where we learn about our God, so that our worship of him. It becomes increasingly deeper and more meaningful and understandable. God is reachable God's love is pervading our presence and it is is there for us to respond to him in our praise and in our worship. That reminds me of acts chapter 2. If you go there and you will see a body of people who worship acts 241 comes on the heels of Peter's sermon where he is deliver the gospel. What is the gospel is that Christ died for our sins on the cross. He paid the complete penalty for our sins. Nothing left to be paid by anyone. Christ paid it all. It means also that when he went to the grave after he died shortly thereafter he was raised from the dead, bodily and miraculously, and he still lives. He died for my sins and the sins of the world and he has been raised victorious over sin in the grave and by believing in Jesus Christ who died for me and was raised.

I am born again and so were all do so.

Peter has presented the message and we read in verse 41 that they received his word. The term means to welcome they heard it I understood it, they believed it and we read they were baptized as a result of believing the gospel. They were then baptized.

Now imagine, it says at the end of the verse. There were about 3000 so and what did they do they worship, how do I know they continually devoted himself, if I may play off those words so worship is not a halfhearted haphazard activity where with the short of a shrug. I think about religious thing know it's a devoting myself when I prepare my message because I am a worshiper. I prepare with devotion, I work over words I shape the word so that they fit together in a way that makes sense as best I can I do it through prayer.

I do it through research. I do it with time not to call attention to me, but you deserve that. More importantly, God deserves that. Because this is an act of worship.

The delivering of this message and you involved in listening to it. You are involved as well. So we are devoting ourselves, not halfheartedly but with a full heart to those things that are worthy of our time and attention so they're doing that and also to the teaching as I'm going through this passage of Scripture. If not literally, at least mentally.

You have your finger on the text of Scripture and you're leaving it there because you are serious about the word of God. That's an act of worship. You're focused on him and you were listening to his word and it is it is replacing false information, or maybe traditional information, half true and have not with accurate information to the teaching of the word becomes your nourishment so they devoted themselves to teaching and fellowship, meaningful relationships that they got together, not just a sip on tea and coffee and and eat a sandwich though there's nothing wrong with that. I been doing at home a lot about looking but the point is, they had all these things in common and they shared them in common with one another is an act of worship. You know what worship will add a dimension to relationship that goes beyond, it transcends friendship.

That's why when you were with other believers and you have similar things in common and you enjoy them together you say when it's over. I wish that would never ended was so good it was great know why the presence of the Lord was in the fellowship and in the breaking of bread. I think it means mealtimes as well as the bread and the cup remember at the end of their meals. They would preserve or reserve up part of the loan from some of the wine for the bread and the company would remember the Savior's body and blood. Why else would we give the blessing our meals. It's a sacred act. That's a new that's a new thought for some of you your your meals are acts of worship. Now, having said that let me urge you to be creative, but try praying maybe at the end of the meal you thought about in the middle of it, just pausing and saying let's pause right now and give God think is delicious. This is wonderful and so we thank the Lord that sometime we we sing our prayer and it's good to do that when you're at home rather than out no restaurant somewhere, breaking into some song in and teach your children to do this I was serving a church two years ago in another place another time, and they have traditionally done little of the doxology service and start without the doxology coming. It was as it was the beginning.

It is now and ever shall be world without him doxology at the beginning so I said let's do it at the thought. I canceled the rapture. It was amazing. I had a fellow literally say to me I do not work at the work is a doxology and some variety to your prayer at the mealtime. It'll enhance your worship. It'll it'll it'll wipe the scales off your eyes is refreshing and they took their meals together. The breaking of bread and prayer. Of course it's a time of prevailing and purposeful, heartfelt intercession, no clichés, no empty repetitions they can net you know why their friends were being channeled for the gospel. They remembered families in prayer the remember people in prayer. Those of you going to prison for their faith. They pray for it was worshipful it it it it will transform our prayer line. Surely the presence of the Lord is is in our prayers and look at the result. 43. Love the way it begins everyone kept feeling a sense of all, what is you can't put into words. That's why it's a sense of all that everything in me wants to now explain it to you but I can't explain it to.

I just know what is not there and you do to give you checkpoint for any time you are at worship Stonebrook Community Church. If you have left and not worship. And let's say it's not your fault.

Let's say you came, genuinely desirous of worship and it wasn't really leading you in worship we have failed. We failed number.

Worship is a reciprocal thing when his corporate worship. There is the sharing is the giving is the receiving and we do this together but you have every reason to expect that every gathering is a worship.

Your soul needs to be nourished.

Your heart needs to be lifted up.

There needs to be this sense of all.

That's why some say when the services overrun want to get up.

Why is nothing magical about seats you know what's amazing is the sense of all is the presence of God that kept feeling they kept feeling a sense of all and it looked next.

There were signs and wonders carried out by the apostles and no one could explain. There were miracles that happen right in their midst and those who believed were together and there wasn't a status symbol and there weren't any ranks and they had all things in common. Verse 46.

Day by day continuing with one mind. Look at the harmony and in the temple. They met there and they worshiped him from house to house, they worship and they were taking their meals together and there was gladness so it wasn't somber like oh.

All time. Some of it is serious, but some of it is hilarious because in our laughter is in our joy. Why is it been reduced to the local bar commits only place Reagan laughter when he did leave the church.

Wonderful expression of worship is our laughter is contagious.

They had gladness in the sincerity of heart, I know I'm pointing out what probably seems obvious to many of you, but we race for this and we miss the presence of the Lord is what ignited on I was thinking as we were singing to worship the King and knowing we would be doing that. I wrote down some thoughts.

You realize what you're saying today. Did you connect with the words of the grand old hymn did it occur to you that the title is a command worship the King fact, the vocative makes it a very strong all worship the cane. Listen worship the King did you when you sang.

He's all glorious above are commanded to worship the one who was all glorious above to bow down before him over him all of our praise and ascribed to him. His worth in doing so, we gratefully sing of his wonderful love. We tell of his might to smite the Kings might we sing of his grace was grace the king's greats whose role was the lightest canopy space that great words are what the canopy of space is filled with the living God. That's in the song, that's what we sing to him, his chariots of wrath. The deep thunder clouds form dark is his path on the wings of the storm.

But is that all the risk to our God. There's so much more so much more than a full care what time can recite it breeze in the air. It's shines in the light, get this, it streams from the hills and this sends to the plane and sweetly distills in the do and the rain writer is a wordsmith. He gives us words for worship and if you're not careful will sing them. Just because we've heard him throughout our life's worship song's that can be a chorus written two weeks ago.

It can be a handwritten five centuries ago. It's a statement of worship put to rhythm and music in the Tunis to tune our hearts to sing greats as we finished our tour we ended with come bow fount of every blessing to my heart to sing my great streams of mercy, never cc call for songs of loudest praise. People begin to stand up stood tease me some melodious sonnet in the great line toward the year and prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love them looked at the woman next to me who was sitting there with her head in her hands just worship. She knew she was prone to wander and maybe head prone to leave the God she lots and so my my and so are you.

It occurred to me about this time that I'll have time to finish my message is always been. It's too important for us to rush through it will pause here will meet again okay with me.

Would you please we do tend to worship our work and work at our palladium play at our worship have been caught up short today with a reminder that God seeks our worship regardless of your level of maturity color, culture, geographical background, morality, or lack of it, regardless of your occupation and your financial status.

That's important. What's important is that you know the Savior we worship you and father were learning how to do that.

Some of us are late arriving.

We been busy with the urgent help is now clear away the debris that the urgent ring that we might sit before you do the import. I ask in Jesus name you're listening to the Bible teaching of pastor and author Chuck Swindoll. He's titled today's message worship, a commitment not a war part one and it's a topic that will resume on the next three programs as well. So keep listening and then if you'd like to learn more about Chuck Swindoll and this nonprofit ministry. Visit us online@insideworld.org now just before our time is gone. Let's take a moment to thank those of you who share your comments with us at Insight for living. We truly enjoy hearing how God is working in your life.

Let me encourage you with a recent note that read Chuck I been listening to you since the mid-1970s. You let my husband and me out of legalism.

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The preceding message worship, a commitment not a war part one was copyrighted in 2008 and 2010 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2010 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. all rights are reserved worldwide.

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