Monkey See, Monkey Do – “Worship”
February 12,
2006. Pastor Matt
What
is worship?
Worship is Bowing Down
One of the first times the word worship is used in the Bible
Genesis 22:1-5
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son,
Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will
tell you about." Early the next morning Abraham got
up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt
offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham
looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here
with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
Worship:
-
To bow down. To prostrate
oneself. [1]
-
It was culturally common for You bow down to a superior ruler
o (as a prisoner would lie down, as a fighter is in trouble when on the ground, totally vulnerable to
he who is above you.)
-
We bow our heads to pray, not to keep us from being distracted, but because
we are acknowledging that we have entered into the presence of someone who outranks us!
???Have we lost
the awesomeness of our God????
Exodus 3:1-6.
Specifically 4-6.
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy
ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
-
Moses showed extreme respect and reverence for God
Abraham realized
his place with God and bowed in total surrender to the Lord
When we say it is
time to worship, we are saying it is time to bow down our lives/ sacrifice our lives to His control.
How do we worship as New Testament Christians?
Romans 12:1
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.
We bow down/ surrender
every aspect of our lives to Him
A. what is our “bodies?”
The body is the instrument through which we express ourselves.
physical body parts
but also
your total personality
The mind,
Emotions
the will
even the Holy Spirit within the body
...........basically,
everything we do here on this earth as long as we are alive and in our bodies here on this earth
B. What is a “living sacrifice?”
-
a living sacrifice is in contrast to dead animal sacrifices.....we die
to our self, our old self and live for Him (it is not just a one time deal)
A living sacrifice is a person who chooses to die to himself daily and live bow down to Him daily
Every
aspect of our lives should be lived for Him
-
a sacrifice is something set apart for God,
Worship/
our life is not even about us.
We
don’t live for ourselves, but for God
-
our life is something we give to God, we owe him because He bought us with
His Son’s blood
____________________________________
-
we move from the assumption that worship is something we do for 20 minutes
on a Sunday morning to worship being a lifestyle
-
We move away from the idea that church is about us.
o It is not about us.... It is about Him
§ On Sundays, everything we do is for God, we must leave our preferences
at home, and make that sacrifice to do what brings glory to God
§ This is every day of the week two
· Remember that Sunday is just a group of people doing as a group what they are already doing
all week long.
_______________________________________
Why do we worship?
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy,
-
This passage is referring back to 11:33-36
-
Because of what God has done for us...
o He created you, chose you, sent His son to die for you
o He owns you
o We worship because we know who God is and what He does.
-
Can you give me examples of how
God has been merciful to you?
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
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Let’s take some time to take off our sandals, bow down and worship
Him.
EXAMPLES
OF WHY WE WORSHIP HIM:
Revelations
4;6-11.
In
Heaven the four living creatures worship and the elders cat their crowns at Jesus’ feet and say…
11"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to
receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and
by your will they were created
and have their being."
PSALM 95:1-7
1 O come, let
us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come
a before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3
For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are
the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea
b is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land . 6 O
come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
7 For he is
our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
____________________________________
I thought worship
was about singing….
Why Sing?
Psalm 150.
Because it is a
practical way we can express how we are already living it out in our lives.
Haven’t you
figured it out that what we do on Sundays is what we should do all week?
Psalms 33:1-3. Sing joyfully
to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise
the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him
a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Closing
o this is not something I can convince you of
o when you truly understand what He did for you, a desire to live for Him comes naturally
Do you need to bow down control of your life?
Do you need to praise him for what he has done in your life.
[1]Strong, James. Enhanced Strong's Lexicon, H7812. Ontario:
Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1996.