Series Recap:
- “The Deep End” - spiritual
- Previous week’s spiritual disciplines are: listening prayer, gratitude, devotional reading (reading to transform the heart), teachability, intercession, and fasting.
”28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and
Worship
Jesus teaches us that worship without theDefinition of Worship: an act of honor, praise, and reverence of deity.“8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” —Matthew 15:8-9
God doesn’t want worship to just be familiar to us; he wants it to bein us.
**Worship in Spirit and Truth**“4 Hear, O Israel: [a]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” —Deuteronomy 6:4-5
A life of worship is a life of continual reflection of the love we receive from God back to God.“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to
Him forever… God formed us for His pleasure.” —A.W. Tozer
Worship is not“21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” —John 4:21-24
**Worship through song**“5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the [a]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” —Genesis 22:5
Worship is synonymous with sacrifice.
Worship is expressed but it is far more than an expression. Without a heart of worship, everything that happens in the house of worship is hollow. Worship is a discipline that is to be embedded in all of our actions and spiritual disciplines. The heart of worship is13 For You formed my inward parts;
You [f]covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for [g]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.” —Psalm 139:13-14“14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my [a]strength and my Redeemer.” —Psalm 19:14“1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
3 He has put a newin my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.” —Psalm 40:1-3“7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
8 Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 I willYou, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the [c]nations.
10 For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.” —Psalm 57:7-11
“6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”
10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11 For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” —Matthew 26:6-13“Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.” —Mark 14:3
- Mary chose to be a
- Our worship plays a part in the increase of God’s kingdom.
THE SACRIFICE
Worship costs something.
- The jar symbolizes our life; our best and our
- The breaking of the flask represents full surrender. No turning back.
- The jar symbolizes our life; our best and our
Worship takes precedence over all other agendas.
- Prioritize praise over the problem.
- Worship doesn’t always
- When some saw annoyance, God saw anointing.
THE REWARD
Worship aligns us with God’s
- Worship places us into God’s protection/covering
Worship
- One person’s act of worship ministers to many.
ACTION - Practices:
Individual Practices:
1. Worship through song individually.
2. Fill up in His word so you can pour out His worship.
Continual reading, hearing, and singing of scriptures.
3. Write your own song for the season.
Write a letter, liturgy, or song to God.
4. Worship with all of your being: body, soul, and spirit.
Worship is expressed when we sing, jump, lift hands, dance, clap, kneel, and wait on the Lord. Everyone is called to express their emotions/affection.
Communal Practices:
1. Worship in community.
All individual practices apply in communal practices.
2. Make space to behold Him.
3. Find Him in His creation and give Him thanks.
Don’t wait for God to show up to worship.
The worship we give in this instant is different from what we will give in eternity.
“8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’[b]
who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne 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.”” —Revelation 4:8-11