THE HABIT OF WORSHIP (PSA 95:1-7b)

SERIES: THE HABITS DISCIPLES CULTIVATE, PART 3

GCEFC: MAY 3, 2009

INTRODUCTION

1. In your more introspective moments, have you ever wondered why you’re here? Why you’re here on planet earth for a period of time? So why are we here?

a. Is it to get a good job so we can make lots of money and buy some cool things?

b. Is it to find a mate, get married, have children, raise the children, and then get some grandchildren as a bonus?

c. Is it to get a quality education and training so we can excel in a career and then enjoy a comfortable and well-funded retirement in a place that has a better climate?

d. Maybe it’s to make a lasting contribution to the world in some field of knowledge or to make a significant discovery.

e. Or to stay here a while and then leave the world a better place than we found it.

f. Or is to realize you only go around once in life and to grab for all the gusto you can. Unbridled hedonism being why we’re here.

g. Richard Dawkins, one of the leading atheistic evolutionary spokesmen says that the only reason we’re here is to survive long enough to pass on our genetic material to the next generation.

h. An environmentalist might say that we’re here to pass through history and leave the smallest possible carbon footprint.

2. This might sound kind of strange when you first hear it. But in the total scheme of things. In the final analysis. When all is said and done.

3. The reason we’re here in the ultimate sense isn’t even about us. We’re not really here for our purposes—we’re here for God’s purposes.

4. The Bible draws an analogy between the potter and the clay. The potter makes out of the clay whatever he wants and for whatever purpose he wants it. The clay has no say.

5. The potter doesn’t ask the clay what it would like to be. The potter decides what the clay will be and that’s what it becomes.

6. And so it is between us and our Creator. PSA 100 says that it is God who made us and we are his. We’re here at God’s pleasure, not our own. We’re here to do God’s bidding.

7. And though we may enjoy the visit. Though we may enjoy the ride and the journey…it’s not about us—it’s about God who made us.

8. So the question is not: Why do I think I’m here? The question is: Why does God have me here? What is his reason for my existence?

9. I’d suggest the ultimate reason every human being is here is for one overriding purpose.

10. That purpose is to bring glory to God. We exist to bring God glory. No one has ever improved on the Westminster Catechism’s assessment that: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

11. And though there may be a thousand ways we can bring glory to God. One of the most fundamental ways of bringing glory to God is through our worship of God.

12. When God created the universe it brought him glory. When God created human beings it brought him glory. When God redeemed Israel as a people, it brought him glory.

13. When God sent his son to die on the cross for the sins of the world and raised him from the dead on the third day, it brought him glory.

14. Every time a person receives God’s gift of grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, it brings him glory.

15. Every time a believer in Christ does something that reflects God’s purpose, his righteousness, his Word, or honors God in some way, God is glorified.

16. And whenever individuals or the corporate people of God offer God heartfelt praise, adoration, and worship—God is glorified.

17. John Piper, a modern day theologian says that: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. If we are satisfied in God, we will worship God as a natural outflow of that satisfaction.

18. Worship of God is so fundamental to a believer, that if someone claiming to be a believer finds worship less than stimulating, I would be very concerned.

19. Worship is something we’re going to be doing for eternity. If it seems kind of ho-hum to us now, then we should be concerned.

20. The writer Susan Ertz said: Millions long for immortality who don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

21. Worship is one of the most significant things we do. It should be a fundamental part of every disciple’s life. It should be an engrained and cultivated habit.

22. So having looked at the habit of silence, and the habit of study. Today we’re looking at the HABIT OF WORSHIP.

A. THE CALL TO WORSHIP

1. I’d like to do this in 2 parts. By exploring PSA 95 briefly together. And then by suggesting 5 qualities that should characterize our habit of worship.

2. PSA 95:1: Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

3. This is a call to worship for the people of God. The elements of worship are clear:

a. We come

b. We sing

c. We sing for joy

d. We shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation

e. We come in thankfulness

f. We praise God enthusiastically

4. We come not just because God commands us to come, but because God is worthy of our worship—V3.

a. God is great

b. God is king over all so-called gods, which are just idols

c. God is the creator of all

d. God owns all

5. And we come to worship God because he has made us—V6.

a. We kneel before the Lord our Maker

b. He is our God

c. We are his people

d. We are his sheep who are under his care

B. THE QUALITIES OF WORSHIP

1. So let me give you 5 qualities that should characterize our worship.

2. First, our worship should be sincere—not hypocritical.

a. Though it’s not possible for us to worship God perfectly—we can worship God sincerely. Perfect worship must wait until we’re in heaven before God’s throne.

b. But even though our worship cannot be perfect now, it must be sincere now.

c. The best bad model of insincere worship in the New Testament is the Pharisees. Jesus had harsh words for them because their worship was hypocritical and not sincere.

d. He says in MT6: And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have their reward in full.

e. Their desire was not to bring glory to God—but to themselves. And their actions did bring glory to them. So Jesus says they already got what they were seeking.

f. But it’s not true worship. It’s something else. Our worship should be sincere, not hypocritical.

3. Second, our worship should be consistent—not sporadic.

a. We’re exhorted in HEB 10:25: Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.

b. That is, some are apparently in the habit of not meeting together. But we should be in the habit of meeting together. This encourages everybody.

c. The early New Testament books indicate that the church gathered on the first day of the week for worship. The tradition stuck.

d. The first day of the week is not the only time we worship, but it’s one of the primary times we gather as a church family.

e. Weekly worship is not an option we choose from among dozens of others. It’s not an elective course. It’s not a menu item we select like an appetizer or dessert, or extra salad dressing on the side.

f. Worship is what disciples do. Worship is why we’ve been created. Worship is why we’ve been redeemed. Worship is a habit disciples cultivate.

g. When it comes to weekly worship, here’s what should characterize us all:

(1) We show up

(2) We show up consistently

(3) We show up consistently on time

(4) We show up consistently on time and ready to engage and participate

4. Third, our worship should be purposeful—not aimless.

a. A pretty good short definition of worship is found in 1PET 2:9: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

b. Worship is about the people of God declaring his praise for what he’s done for us in calling us out of a condemned state, and redeeming us into a forgiven state.

c. So it’s totally out of place and totally misses the point whenever we leave worship and say: You, know, I didn’t get very much out of that.

d. But if worship is what it should be, then it’s not about what you get out of it—it’s about what God gets out of it. Worship is for declaring his praise—not for making me feel better.

e. Now—I may feel better as a result of worship. I may feel fulfilled as a result of worship. But that’s a by-product, not the purpose.

f. Have you ever gone to a concert, and at the end of the concert have the orchestra stand up and say: We didn’t get very much out of that!

g. So what? The point was for the audience to get something out of it. And God is the audience in our worship—not you and me.

5. Fourth, our worship should be biblical—not speculative.

a. Jesus said in JN 4 that true worshippers are to worship God as he is. That we are to worship God in spirit and in truth.

b. Not according to whatever new-fangled idea comes down the pike. Some new way of worshipping that is supposedly superior to what preceded.

c. Our worship should be determined by what the Word of God teaches us about worship. Anything else is shaky and unreliable.

d. According to JN 4, worship has an emotional and feeling element—in spirit. And worship has an intellectual and thinking element—in truth.

e. We should not go overboard in either direction. It’s not one or the other or one at the expense of the other. It’s both—striving for an appropriate balance.

f. As you’ve heard me say many times before—the Word without the Spirit and we dry up. The Spirit without the Word and we blow up. The Spirit and the Word together and we…grow up.

6. And finally, our worship should be mindful—not distracted.

a. The greatest commandment says: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your MIND.

b. It stands to reason that if we are to love God with our minds, then we are to also worship God with our minds. Remember, in spirit and in truth.

c. And the main way we worship God with our mind is by engaging in worship thoughtfully, and by not being distracted.

d. And do you know what the greatest distraction to our worship is? WE ARE. We’re our greatest distraction because we allow our minds to wander.

e. We’re thinking about the temperature of the room. People in front of me. People coming in late.

f. What I’m doing tomorrow. What I did last night. What I’m doing this afternoon. Whether a call may be coming in on my cell phone. Where I’m having lunch.

g. It always cracks me up when someone comes in late on one side of the sanctuary. They walk down the aisle and everybody looks over at them.

h. No telling how many purses could be stolen at that precise moment because everyone is looking the other away.

C. CONCLUSION

1. Every disciple should cultivate the habit of silence. And the habit of study. And the habit of worship.

2. All disciples were redeemed for worship. It’s our highest calling. We’ll be doing it into eternity. It’s a good habit to cultivate now.

3. Our worship should be sincere—not hypocritical.

4. Our worship should be consistent—not sporadic.

5. Our worship should be purposeful—not aimless.

6. Our worship should be biblical—not speculative.

7. Our worship should be mindful—not distracted.