IN A PIT WITH A LION ON A SNOWY DAY

When I was at the Innovate Conference at Granger Community Church in Indiana, I was looking at the available books for purchase. When a young lady saw me looking at this particular one, she said: “Oh, that book is great. My husband and I were motivated to take the plunge into missions after we read that book.” I thought that was a pretty good endorsement, and since I thought the title was cool, I bought it. The book is entitled: In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day: How to survive and thrive when opportunity roars by Mark Batterson.

The title is based on the story in II Samuel 23:20,21 – “There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two of Moab’s mightiest warriors. Another time he chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. Another time, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptians’ hand and killed him with it.”

I thought I would just give you some of my favorite quotes from the book:
· “God is in the resume-building business. He is alwys using past experiences to prepare us for future opportunities. But those God-given opportunities often come disguised as man-eating lions. And how we react when we encounter those lions will determine our destiny. We can cower in fear and run away from our greatest challenges. Or we can chase our God-ordained destiny by seizing the God-ordained opportunity.”
· "God loves impossible odds…maybe God allows the odds to be stacked against us so He can reveal more of His glory.”
· “How you think about God will determine who you become…Our problems seem really big because our God seems really small. In fact, we reduce God to the size of our biggest problem.”
· “Don’t let mental lions keep you from experiencing everything God has to offer. The greatest breakthroughs in your life will happen when you push through the fear.”
· “Maybe we should stop asking God to get us out of difficult circumstances and start asking Him what He wants us to get out of those difficult circumstances.”

This book only took me one day to read, but it was a great encouragement and challenge to me for the future. I highly recommend you pick this book up somewhere and read it. It is an easy read but a good reminder of some things that are easy for us to forget – about ourselves and God.

December praise and prayer report

Greg’s
Prayer Requests and Praises
December, 2007

Praises

1.Psalm 92:1,2 – “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.”

2. I was able to finish on time and send in the rough draft for my final project for school.

3. We had a wonderful time with my parents and my brother David’s family over Thanksgiving.

4. In two different instances, God’s people graciously provided for needs that we had this month.

5. I have a vision for my life that I think is from God. It goes like this: My dream is to help people take the next step in their spiritual journey. Coming up with this, through a process, has been a great motivation for me recently.

Requests

1.That once I receive my rough draft back this month, I will be able to make a plan to write and complete the final draft on time.

2. Our Christmas program as a church is on December 16th, during the morning service. Please pray that people who do not have a growing relationship with God will attend, and that God’s Spirit will change their hearts.

3. I am working through a life mission statement (mentioned above in the praises) and the accompanying goals and action steps that go with it. Please pray that I will focus on what God has called me to regardless of where I am or whom I am with.

4. Our outreach basketball league is beginning with open gyms this month as we prepare for the season beginning in January. All the guys on my team are non-believers. Please pray that God would see fit to use me in sharing the gospel with them this year.

5. Upcoming messages: December
2- AND GOD REMEMBERED – How God’s memory impacts our lives eternally
9– REAL FRIENDS
16– Christmas program
23 – THE CHRISTMAS WAR
30 – HOW TO GROW IN GRACE IN 2008

DIFFERENT MUSIC - PRAISING THE SAME GOD

This was the 7th message in the Heart of Worship Series. After laying the foundation with stories and principles of worship in Scripture, it was time to get more specific about how these things apply to us. This includes the area of music. It is the most controversial thing in a church, and yet it has to be addressed in a biblical way.


DIFFERENT MUSIC – PRAISING THE SAME GOD
Ephesians 5:15-21

Please turn in your Bible to Ephesians, chapter 5.

Have you ever played: “Name That Tune”? I would like to play that for a few moments, as we begin to consider this issue of music in worship. And to show how powerful music is from our culture, and how long we remember it, I have chosen some selections from television programs that first aired back in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Even if you don’t watch TV and even if your not over 60 years old, you may still recognize these theme songs. If you think you know it, just say it out loud.
· Track 3 - Flintstones
· Track 15 - The Beverly Hillbillies
· Track 20 – The Addams Family
· Track 28 – Gilligan’s Island
· Track 32 – The Andy Griffith Show
· Track 35 – The Twilight Zone
· Track 50 – Mission Impossible
· Track 58 – Hawaii Five-O

Even though some of these are older, the fact is, many of you still knew them. Why? Because these shows used music to help their show be recognizable; and even if you don’t remember an episode of the show, even if you have never seen the show, you may very well know the music that is their theme song. Music has great power. It connects us with a show, a company, a relationship. Some people hear a song, and they remember someone they dated, because that was “their song”. If you hear certain music, you identify it with a circus, or a sports event, or a funeral. And the same can be said for worship in the church.

We have been reviewing a working definition for worship. Do any of you know it by heart yet?

“Worship is responding to who God is and what He has done by giving ourselves completely to Him.”

Music is very powerful. It connects us to who God is and what He has done, responding to Him in a more memorable way than just saying words of praise.

If this is your first message from our Heart of Worship Series, this is a little of context. We spent the first 6 weeks of this series building up to some specific things the Bible has to say about music and our worship services.We have laid the foundation in previous weeks with some basic principles and stories of worship. Today, we begin to look more specifically at the musical part of worship. Music is used in all kinds of ways in our culture.

It is used when you call businesses and they put you on hold. It is used at sporting events, to get a crowd going. It is used to celebrate graduations, weddings or other great accomplishments. It is used in almost every area of life and at all stages of life. Most people listen to music in their leisure time, by choice. Some wouldn’t know what to do if they didn’t have earphones on and music playing! It is just a natural part of everyday life.

Music is also used in all kinds of ways in the Bible. Former President of Baptist Bible College and Seminary in PA – Dr. Milo Thompson, wrote a paper entitled The Ministry of Music. In that paper he lists several ways in which music was used in the Bible. Let’s look at some. And as we do, try to think about how, centuries later, we still use music in some of these same types of ways:
· Saying goodbye to a relative
Genesis 31:27 – “Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre?”

· Giving signals
Numbers 10:2-4 – “Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.”

· Helping people to remember God’s teachings
Deuteronomy 31:19,22 – “Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel…So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.”

This reminds me of little song that our family has come up with. We kind of like it when we find out that we were right about something and our spouse was wrong. I won’t tell you how this all started. But, when it comes to light that someone was wrong about something and the other person was right, the person that was right asks the person that was wrong to sing this little ditty: “You were right and I was wrong, that is why I sing this song – you were right and I was wrong”. You can imagine how much fun that it is – atleast for the person that was right! I digress.

· Helping to win a battle
Judges 7:19-21 – “…And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, A sword for the LORD and for Gideon! Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.”

After the tragedy of September 11th, one of the first things we saw was the politicians in Washington, from both sides of the aisle, join hands and sing: God Bless America. The feeling was that we were united and that we were going to fight back – together. A song has that uniting power.

· Praising a hero
Judges 11:32-34 – “So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand…So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. Then Jephthah came to his home…And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances…”

Cleveland was hoping to hold a parade in a couple of weeks for their world series heroes. Songs were written about them and music most certainly would have accompanied the celebration parade. We love to celebrate heroes, and we love to do it with music.

· Helping to heal a sick or disturbed person
I Samuel 16:23 – “And whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.”

Perhaps you have known people who are soothed and feel better and more relaxed when music is played. It can have a calming effect.

· Entertaining a king and his court
II Samuel 19:33-35 – “Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old…And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem. But Barzillai said to the king, How many years have I still to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?..Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women?..”

· Crowing a new king
I Kings 1:39,40 –“So Zadok the priest…had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon. There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, then all the people said, Long live King Solomon! And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.”

When presidential candidates meet with their parties and are nominated by their party, there is music; and when a new US President is inaugurated, there will be music played at the celebrations. So it was thousands of years ago in the Bible

· Helping a prophet know and speak God’s message
II Kings 3:14,15 – “And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts lives…now bring me a musician. And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him.”

You wouldn’t believe the kind of encouragement I have coming to speak after I have heard special music or sang a song of praise led by our worship team.

· Accompanying a procession
I Chronicles 13:7,8 – “And they carried the ark of God on a new cart…And David and all Israel were rejoicing before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.”

· Celebrating a victory
II Chronicles 20:27,28 – “Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD.”

· Mourning the death of a king
II Chronicles 35:23-25 – “And the archers shot King Josiah…And he died…All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day…”

Music has been played at every funeral I have ever been to.

· Worshipping, praising, and thanking God
Ezra 3:10,11 – “And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever…”

This, of course, is mentioned often in Scripture, that accompanies praise of God in worship. The song of Moses we mentioned a few weeks ago was written to thank God for His deliverance. Most worship services being held today around the world will use music to praise and worship God.

· Dedicating a newly completed building
Nehemiah 12:27 – “And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.”

· Making fun of someone
Job 30:1,9,10 – “But now they laugh at me…And now I have become their song; I am a byword to them. They abhor me; they keep aloof from me…”

Perhaps you have heard political songs that make fun of certain politicians; or other songs written to mock certain groups or people.

· Making a party more enjoyable
Isaiah 5:12 – “They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts…”

Many parties have some type of music don’t they?

· Making work go faster and seem easier
Isaiah 16:10 – “And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting.”

Many people that are allowed, choose to listen to music while they work. Most businesses I walk into have music playing somewhere in the building.

· Mourning the death of a relative
Matthew 9:18,23,24 – “And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping…”

· Playing Games
Matthew 11:16,17 – “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.”

· Welcoming a relative
Luke 15:25-27 – “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.”

Here is the thing. We know that in our world, music is used for just about everything. But, we should also know, that it was the very same way in the biblical world. And the Bible records the variety of life circumstances in which music was used. It is important to note, that music was very important to people in Bible times, and just like today, it was used for good or evil. Music was a part of every day life, just as it is today.

How powerful is music? “F. Olin Stockwell was one of the last missionaries out of the People’s Republic of China. He tells, in Meditations from a Prison Cell, how the Chinese indoctrinated their young people. By the hundreds, their youth spent their morning in study. But in the afternoons, they would sit in the presence of a leader with a pitch pipe, who used simple songs to teach phrase after phrase of the communist dictum. The young people learned all the doctrines of hate and fear and domination by way of melody.”

Andrew Fletcher said: “Give me the making of the songs of a nation and I care not who makes it’s laws.”

How powerful is music? We hear songs over and over again, and before long we know the lyrics but may not even be thinking about what they mean. As a young boy, my parents took us to a concert that featured a gospel group turned country music group, which sang pretty good music. But, the group that sang just before them was singing a song that included a line about hiring alchoholics to decorate our home. Well, my brother and I had heard this song several times on the radio even though we didn’t really know what it was about. When the group sang it, my brother just instinctively started to sing along. My parents looked at him with the death stare for what he was singing. But, we all know how music affects us, and we don’t even realize sometimes how much.

In His book My Heart’s Desire, David Jeremiah states: “While we may not think we’re taking in the lyrics, our minds are always busy with work that passes beneath the personal radar. Ask the gurus of Madison Avenue about the power of repeated words and phrases. They affect what we buy and what we believe.”

D.L. Moody, the renowned evangelist once said: “Music is just as important as preaching, sometimes more.” What he is saying is that music is that powerful, and can be used for incredible impact in worship. Why do you think, that in times past when evangelists and churches would do times of invitation at the end of services, asking people to come forward, that music would be played. It wasn’t just used as something to fill dead air, it was used to motivate people to be moved emotionally, so that they would move out of their seats and to the altar for a time of decision.

The power of music should not scare us away from using it in worship. In fact, the Scriptures encourage us to use the powerful tool of music for good in our worship services and life worship. One example of that is in Ephesians 5.

Just as music was a part of everyday life in the Scriptures and today, so worship music was a natural part of worship services. We will look at several of the different uses of music in Scripture, but let’s first go to the New Testament and listen to what God says through the Apostle Paul about the use of music in our worship. We are in Ephesians 5.

Remember that the epistles, many of them written by the Apostle Paul, were directed to churches – to believers, whom regularly met to worship God. And much of what Paul wrote was to be practiced in those early churches, as it pertained to worship. They are instructive to us as well, because they give us principles to live by and principles to worship by. God does not expect us to do everything exactly the way they did it 2,000 years ago. But, He does expect us to capture the same biblical principles and apply it to our day as we worship Him.

Let’s get the context here and read verses 15-21:

Ephesians 5:15-21 – “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

In the context of the command to live our lives wisely, walking with God, music is included. Instead of being controlled by alcohol, for example, which is unwise living, he says we are to be under the control of the Holy Spirit, which is wisdom. Instead of filling our human spirit with things that will destroy us, we are to fill our spirit with what will uplift us and encourage others.

And did you notice who gets the glory for all the music that comes from our overflowing spirits? Did you notice what all the different kinds of worship music is supposed to do? It is to give praise and glory to God. And it is to be done with hearts full of joy.

Charles Spurgeon said: “When you speak of Heaven, let your face light up, let it be irradiated with a heavenly gleam, let your eyes shine with reflected glory. But when you speak of Hell – well, then your ordinary face will do.”

So, then let’s concentrate on the three different kinds of music, listed in verse 19, that can be used to give glory to God in our worship: Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. There wasn’t just one type of music to be used in the early church worship, but a variety. This is an important principle we can learn from.

In His paper, Dr. Thompson offers another important thought here: “There is variety or diversity in music – psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs- for the purpose of worshipping God, ministering to mankind, and allowing for personal tastes (within a culture and with multiple cultures) and states of life. A great deal of variety in musical styles is possible because of difference in human personality, the abundance of cultural differences, and the different purposes for one’s expression (singing to two audiences - God and one another ). The church’s music program should be representative of this diversity, offering variety in worship.

One part of that variety is mentioned here as Psalms. This refers to Scriptural psalms set to music, songs of praise. You may already know that the Psalms were a huge part of the worship book for the people of God in Scripture. If you read the Psalms, you will see many notes to choir directors and those playing instruments, etc., because they were used in their corporate worship as a nation. There are more songs of praise in Scripture than just the particular book of Psalms, but this is certainly one place to start.

Let’s apply the command to sing Psalms together – right now. Please stand and sing with us, a song that is based on:

Psalm 84:1,2,10-12 – “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trust in you!”

Song: BETTER IS ONE DAY

It is great to read that Psalm and how much the people of God want to be in God’s presence and praise Him for His faithfulness. But, how much more powerful when these same words are set to appropriate, corresponding music! It brings to the surface emotions within us, and it is like putting an exclamation point to these words – the music causing the words to impact us to a greater degree.

The praises of Scripture are to be a part of our worship. If we just sing hymns and personal, spiritual songs, we are missing an important part of musical worship – singing the Scriptures themselves!

But, this is not the only type of music to sing in our praise to God. There are also the hymns. Now, we first need to admit and understand that the hymns we sing today are not the hymns he is referring to in Ephesians 5:19. They’re not? No. The hymns we sing today were written after the Scriptures were written. However, I do believe that our hymns today, for the most part, carry the same principles that the hymns of the early church did.

According to Dr. Thompson, Hymns were worship songs about God and His character and works, expressing the theological depth of the Christian faith. That is not really different than many of today’s hymns. The principle is that the hymns have a lot of depth doctrinally and focus on God Himself. But, you should know that introducing hymns to churches was not an easy task.

Benjamin Keach, a Baptist pastor of the seventeenth century, is credited with introducing hymn singing to English Baptist churches. He began first by teaching the children to sing because they loved it. The parents, however, did not enjoy singing hymns. They were convinced that singing was “foreign to evangelical worship.” A major controversy occurred when Pastor Keach tried to introduce hymn singing to the whole congregation in his church at Horsley Down.

Finally, in 1673, he got them to agree to at least sing a hymn after the Lord’s supper by using the biblical precedent of Mark 14:26. However, Keach allowed those who objected to doing this to leave before the hymn. Six years later, in 1679, the church agreed to sing a hymn on days of “public thanksgiving.” Another fourteen years passed before the church could agree that hymn singing was appropriate in worship. The controversy was costly, causing twenty-two of Benjamin Keach’s members to leave and join a “non-singing church.”

This kind of stuff happened way back at the beginning of introducing hymns into the church – people arguing about them and leaving churches over them!

We are told in Ephesians 5:19 to use hymns in order to praise God. Our hymns today, in principle, help us to do that. Let’s apply this right now by standing and singing together, and consider these truths about out awesome God:

Song: IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE
I love the hymns that have such a majestic feel to them, as we lift up the name of God, speaking of His character and glory! It is important to sing Psalms, worship songs from the Scripture that emphasize Praise of God. It is important to sing Hymns, worship songs that emphasis God’s character and what He has done. But, there is still more variety for our worship. Just the Psalms and just the hymns aren’t enough, according to God’s Word. In verse 19, there are also spiritual songs.

What are those? Again, the spiritual songs we sing today are not going to be exactly the same as 2,000 years ago. But, in principle, they are the same. They have been defined as: “an ode that reflects a path or way of life, the experience of a person knowing God, a personal testimony, along with singing Scripture and brief expressions of praise to God.”

Many times, these spiritual songs have a very personal feel to them. Many times, these reflect a personal experience someone has, and they respond to God in song, based on who He is and what He has done from their personal point of view.

The next song we will sing could have been a spiritual song that a certain prophet would have written in response to his life experience. He was a prophet in a time when God had to discipline His people. It was not an encouraging time. In fact, God was going to use another, more wicked nation to do the disciplining of Israel. This was extremely disappointing and confusing to the prophet, Habakkuk. He didn’t understand what God was doing. The nation of Israel had experienced some times of great blessing from God, and now they were going through a dry time, a tough time of trials.

But, Habbakkuk’s concluding remarks leads us into the spiritual song we are going to sing together this morning. Please stand with me as I read and then we will apply this right now as we sing with joyful hearts:

Habakkuk 3:17-19 – “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”

Song: I WILL PRAISE YOU


In his discussion of this passage in Ephesians 5, Dr. Thompson concludes: “Different styles elicit different physical, emotional, and spiritual responses, which should be carefully evaluated for desired results…There is no one style of biblically acceptable music that is more spiritual or sacred than another. The kind of biblically permissible music you like is determined to a great degree by your background and culture. Certain tones and scales sound pleasant to Asian ears, while others sound pleasant to Middle Eastern ears. Africans enjoy different rhythms than South Americans. The Bible does not say that any one of these is superior or wrong per se. Many of the growing, dynamic, intergenerational churches in today’s culture are employing a blend of traditional and nontraditional music.

We will talk more about music next week. But, let me conclude this morning with some suggestions on how to apply the passage from God’s Word to our lives today:
SO WHAT?
1. Understand that our worship music will be different than the worship of the Bible.

Why is that important to accept and admit? Because some believers start to think and act as though they use the worship music that Moses and Noah and Abraham and the Apostle Paul and Jesus used. The fact is: our music is not going to be exactly the same as the Scriptures and it is important to understand that. So, we can never say that our worship music is what was done in the Bible and yours is not!

I think this is a good time to make another important point about how others worship – especially in the area of music. It is the natural tendency of believers and churches to be critical of other believers and churches that worship with different styles. If we will admit that we cannot do exactly what they did in the Bible, then hopefully that carries over to the understanding that just because other people also do not do it exactly like they did thousands of years ago, and just because they don’t do it like we do it, it doesn’t mean they are wrong or dishonoring God.

I love what Warren Wiersbe said, in his book Real Worship, as it relates to learning from other traditions and churches. He said: “Most of my worship experience has been in the fundamentalist independent church tradition, where the word worship was found only on the cover of the hymnal…Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I could learn a great deal about the worship of God from churches that I had excluded from my fellowship. What a rude awakening!...believe me, it wasn’t easy! More than once I longed for those days of comfort and security, when all truth was safely tucked into my notebook, every question answered, and every Christian was accurately identified and pigeonholed.”

Hopefully, we can demonstrate grace in this area of music, understanding this important point.

Although we will never have the exact same worship, we can use the same principles that God gave for worship at all times in all cultures!

2. Apply biblical principle by enjoying different types of worship music

A Psalm and Hymns and spiritual songs are not only going to have different words and emphasis, they are probably also going to vary in style and rhythm and instrumentation. We will discuss this more in the next couple of weeks, but the words are what are emphasized in the Scripture, and the way in which it is sung and the instrumentation used simply had to do with the culture in which it was used.

Since we live here in American in the 21st Century, we hope to apply the biblical principles to our culture in which we worship God. We are not trying to worship exactly like the Hebrews worshiped in the Old Testament or exactly like the early church in Acts. We are interested in praising God, according to His guidelines, in our particular culture, just as believers always have. I believe that is what God expects.

So, although all of us have our own personal preferences when it comes to music to listen and worship to, as a church we will use a variety. And, specifically, we will utilize the principles of Psalms, Hymns and spiritual songs. Let’s enjoy the variety! Let’s appreciate the diversity! Let’s give all that we are to our worship of the one and only true God, whether we are singing a song we like or not. If it is biblical in its content, then let’s sing it with all we have for the glory of God!

The greatest way you can apply this message today is responding to God with a humble, pliable, heart attitude in this area of worship music. Will you take a moment to commit yourself to God, that you are willing to put aside the criticism and concentrate, instead on praising God with other believers in worship, regardless of your personal preferences.

Keep in mind that Ephesians 5 tells us we are to be encouraging and strengthening one another with this music. And since we are not all alike, that means variety and diversity! And that is a biblical thing! Let’s pray.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I did write this on Thanksgiving morning and then forgot to post it! But, I guess we can be thankful, even if its not technically Thanksgiving.

Today is just another holiday for most. It is time off of work, time for football, time for family, and time to eat and eat and eat some more. Time to consider the God centered beginnings of our nation or time to reflect on God Himself – not much time for that – for most. Then again, what do I expect? People who are not followers of Christ are going to focus on the temporal and natural.

But, for those of us who do follow Christ, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to corporately remember all that God has done. Of course, it is a reminder that every day is to be a day of thanksgiving and praise to our God – for who He is and what He has done. But, today is a great day to reflect on God’s mercies and faithfulness.

Today, I am thankful for:
· My relationship with Jesus Christ
· Teresa, my wife – my lover, my friend, the greatest mom in the world
· My parents – mom and dad, who have always loved me and follow Christ faithfully
· Children – Alex, Isabella, Breanna, Caleb and Gabrielle – all unique gifts of God, with differing personalities and abilities.
· God’s Word – It is my guide for life, giving His wisdom each day
· The Holy Spirit, who convicts me daily and comforts me in this life
· The people of Grace – God has truly blessed me with people in our ministry who love Him and love us unconditionally

My Prayer:
God, may I live in a constant attitude of thanksgiving. May I always remember to thank and praise you for your character and your works. Don’t let me ever think that I am the one who bring about anything good, but that “every good and perfect gift comes from above”. May your glory be known through me and throughout the world.

AMEN!

I WONDER AS I WANDER

This was the 6th message in the Heart of Worship Series. By this time, I had given up the notion that I could cover all of the biblical stories of worship. At some point, I needed to deal with how all of these worship stories and foundational principles of worship related to our particular church and corporate worship. But, before I went there, there was a theme I had seen several times as I did my study for this series; and it was the theme of awe and wonder in worship.

This concentrates on what worship is all about: considering God's character and being in complete wonder about who God is and what He has done. In a world that doesn't want to take time to consider anything, it is important to take the time to consider how to incorporate wonder back into our life worship.

I WONDER AS I WANDER

Please turn in your Bible to Romans 1.
I have been immersing myself in this topic of worship in the Bible, and have come to a somewhat depressing conclusion. There is no way to fully teach all that the Bible has to say about worship. I set out to work our way through the stories of worship in the Scriptures and I realized something that actually instructed me:

Pretty much every story in the Bible is a part of the story of worship. It really is incredible. But, it also means that I have been frustrated recently in trying to keep this message series down to three months long rather than three years long. I want to preach all the stories of worship and I can’t. So, today, I want to tell a couple more stories of worship and then, next week, we will get into the biblical and controversial discussion of music in worship; and finally we will get to the biblical vision for worship here at Grace.

David Jeremiah, in his book My Heart’s Desire, tells this story: “The American space program launched our imaginations when men first landed on the moon. Do you remember? One story of the space program’s fascination happened during the last days of our Apollo flights. Jacob Needleman was one of the reporters gathered to cover the launch of Apollo 17 in 1975.

The launch was scheduled for evening, and the reporters were making a social occasion out of it. They strolled the lawn of the press section, where refreshments were laid out on picnic tables. They snacked, drank, and cracked their usual jokes drenched in sarcasm. That’s the way of reporters, who see and report the worst of the world’s events on a daily basis.

Finally it was time for the great atlas rocket, a thirty-five-story tower of power, to hurtle into the heavens. There was the familiar countdown, then the launch. As Needleman tells the story in Bill Moyer’s book A World of Ideas II, the reporters were suddenly all but blinded by a vast field of orange light. Their eyes could barely handle the intensity. Then, in deafening silence – given that sound travels less rapidly than light – the great rocket thundered into the dark canopy of night. The sound waves arrived seconds later in full force with a cataclysmic whoooooooosh and a mighty hummmmm that jangled the reporter’ bones. They felt their toes tremble with the earth.

The rocket traveled higher, then higher still as the first stage ignited in spectacular blue flame. It seemed to have become a star, bearing three men bound for glory. And then all of it was gone, vanished into the periphery of the atmosphere and the depths of space. There was silence among the press corps. The interrupted wisecracks died on the reporters’ lips, not to be recalled. Needleman saw the men’s eyes filled with light, their mouths wide open, their faces lit by the inner glow of sheer wonder.

Most amazing of all was the sight of hardened cynical newspapermen whose whole bearing seemed changed. The edge had been knocked off; smiles were now authentic and gentle. Conversation was quiet and reverent. Men were helping each other with their chairs and notebooks. If only for a moment in time, a sense of awe had taken possession of them and changed their behavior patterns.”

There are things we see that completely amaze us. And those things change us: our attitudes, and many times our lives. This morning, we need to take the time to consider our wonder about God. Not so much the “why did God do that” kind of wonder, but the “isn’t God amazing” kind of wonder. It needs to be a part of our corporate worship; but it also must be a part of our everyday life worship.

Do you remember the working definition we have given for our Heart of Worship message series? Can anyone say it? Let me get you started.

“Worship is responding to who God is and what He has done by giving ourselves completely to Him.”

This morning, our focus will be on the first part of that definition: “who God is and what He has done”. We respond in worship because of who God is, so we need to consider His character. We respond in worship because of what He has done, so we need to consider His amazing works.

Wonder is “the seed of science” said Emerson
“Philosophy begins in wonder” said Alfred North Whitehead
“To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand” – Jose Ortega Gasset “Wonder is the basis of worship” wrote Thomas Carlyle.

Warren Wiersbe tells us that “many words cluster around the idea of wonder: amazement, surprise, astonishment, bewilderment, admiration, awe, and fascination, to name but a few. The word in the Hebrew Bible means “to distinguish, to separate. In our English versions, the word is translated “hidden, marvelous, too high, too hard. The Greek words in the New Testament are similar: “amazement, marvelous, admiration, wonderful work, something strange.”

Warren Wiersbe, in his book Real Worship, said: “This is the paradox of Christian worship: we seek to see the invisible, know the unknowable, comprehend the incomprehensible, and experience the eternal.” Let’s listen to that again:

“This is the paradox of Christian worship: we seek to see the invisible, know the unknowable, comprehend the incomprehensible, and experience the eternal.”

But, we find from life experience, that living in the wonder of worship of God is not what most people do. There is a decision that every person must make:

1. WONDER AT THE CREATIVE GOD OR WORSHIP THE CREATION

Many times in Scripture, those who saw what God did were filled with wonder:
· Elihu, in response to what God was allowing in Job’s life – “Behold, God is great, and we do not know him” (Job 36:26)
· Zophar, another so called friend of Job - “Can you search out the deep things of God?” Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?” (Job 11:7)
· And the Apostle Paul, after talking about how God goes about saving people and the doctrine of election – “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33)

Those are examples of true wonder at who God is and what He has done. Probably one of the greatest examples that every person has the opportunity to respond to is the created world and created bodies we live in. Not only that, but there is the wonder of the great blessings God has given man.

A century ago, G.K. Chesterton wrote: “The world is not lacking in wonders, but in a sense of wonder”

What was a sight in God’s creation, that brought wonder to you? [Grand Canyon, An Ocean]

For me, one was a view in Zion National Park in Utah, Sitting at the top of one of the cliffs, just looking out over the incredible scenery and spending time praising God. And nothing created can top my amazement and wonder when I looked for the first time at our newborn babies. Amazing!

You are there in Psalm 8:
David was wondering about the amazing, creative God. Let’s voice His wonder as a group. The verses will come up one at a time in two parts. This side, including this side of the balcony will say the first part out loud; and then this side, including this side of the balcony will say the next part out loud. Consider what you are saying to the creator:

Please stand with me.
I will point to your side when it is time to read:

Psalm 8:1-5-
1 - “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 - Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes,

To still the enemy and the avenger.

3 - When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 - What is man that you are mindful of him,

And the son of man that you care for him?

5 - Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

And crowned him with glory and honor.”

Thank you. You may be seated.
If you take time to consider the creation, then you must wonder at the Creator – who He is and what He has done. But, unfortunately, that is not how most respond. Most respond the way it is described by Paul in Romans. Please look with me at:

Romans 1:20,21,25 – “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceive, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened…because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

Warren Wiersbe stated a sad truth and commentary on our generation: “When we look at creation and see only ourselves, then we start to think that we are the Creator; the result is idolatry.”

This is more than just a decision on whether or not we are going to believe that God is the Creator of all. There is a decision to be made that has to do with life worship. Whom are we going to follow? Whom is going to receive our wonder? For whom will we live each day? There is a decision that each person must make:

2. WONDER AT THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOD OR WORSHIP MAN’S REPLACEMENT

David Jeremiah states how wonder is connected to our definition of worship. He said: “Our heart’s desire, even if you haven’t come to realize it, is to live every moment in the wonder of worship.”

This is about choosing who you will wonder at and follow today; and tomorrow and the next day. This is not just about Sunday going to church worship or singing songs worship. This is life worship.

Please turn in your Bible to I Kings 17.
On your journey of life as you wander through, have you noticed things that others have done that have made you wonder about them? For example:
· A garbage woman in Florida in Florida found a plastic bag stuffed with $65,000 – enough to pay her salary for two years – yet she immediately turned it in to authorities – wow!
· In Pittsburgh, a man tried to get change for a $1 million bill at a Giant Eagle store. When the checker refused, the man threatened her with a gun – a scanner gun, that is. He was arrested. Must have been a Steelers fan!
· Another person in Pittsburgh – a woman there is suing Kmart because a store charged her an extra 28 cents on a 12-pack of toilet tissue after improperly applying state sales tax to this nontaxable item. Does that make you wonder?
· A Missouri man may face jail time after stealing a 52 cent doughnut. On his way out, he pushed a store clerk. Since police are classifying that as minor assault, the misdemeanor shoplifting charge turns into strong-arm robbery, which has a potential prison term of 5-15 years!

Every day we read about, or hear about something that has happened and we wonder about it for a while. Why did they do that? How could that have happened? In our key story of worship today, you may wonder at what the humans do, but our main wonder must be about who God reveals Himself to be, and what He does.

Last week, in our continued look at the stories of worship in Scripture, we mentioned that Saul was the First King of Israel. David, a man after God’s own heart, was the second king of Israel, and we spent some time in his story. The third and last king of United Israel was Solomon. We talked about him at some length when we worked our way through Ecclesiastes; but one of the main contributions he made was to rebuild the temple, the place that represented the presence of God. However, Solomon also was led away into idolatry and it destroyed the kingdom.

After that, Israel was divided into two parts: The Northern Kingdom, still known as Israel; and the Southern Kingdom, known as Judah. In the Northern Kingdom, Jeroboam, who rebelled against Solomon’s foolish son, Rehoboam, appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites I Kings 12). You may remember, that the issue of who the priests were was a huge issue, as they were representatives of the people in going to God and offering sacrifices. God intended for all to come to Him, but for centuries, only the priests were allowed. This issue of sacrifice is also important to the whole story of worship in Scripture and to our own life of worship story.

The counterfeit priests, that Jeroboam had set up, led people in counterfeit worship experiences in order to worship counterfeit gods – two golden calves. That effort, of people trying to create a substitute religious system became known as the sins of Jeroboam. According to Gerrit Gustafson, The first king after Jeroboam to commit the sins of Jerobaom was the infamous King Ahab, who married the equally infamous Canaanite woman named Jezebel.

I Kings 16:30-33 – “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the god of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”

But God raised up a prophet to confront the wicked Ahab and give him a consequence for the nation’s idolatry:

I Kings 17: 1 - “Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, as the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

I Kings 18:1 – “after many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third era, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.”

God works it out that the wicked king Ahab would meet up with his prophet Elijah, and God would use His prophet to set up a challenge:

I Kings 18:17-19 – “When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

And that brings us to Mount Carmel and the story of the history-changing power of an awe-inspiring God.

[playing of “Let’s Get ready to rumble”]
Author Gerrit Gustafson pictures the context: “Elijah announced what we will call The great Worship contest. Gather all Israel to Mount Carmel. This would be like a nationally televised contest in our day – the Super Bowl, for instance. Oh, and make sure that the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah are there – the ones that Jezebel is so chummy with. We’re going to find out who the real god is. Here are the ground rules: Your prophets can worship their gods in any way they want, for as long as they want. Then I’ll worship my God. We’ll know the true God to be the one who answers our sacrifice by fire. Ahab and Baal’s prophets accepted the challenge. Ahab gathered together the people of Israel and the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah as instructed.”

The view pans across the thousands gathered at Mount Carmel, toward a rough-hewn prophet, Elijah, the Tishbite. His words to Israel were stinging, but bore authority:

I Kings 18:21 – “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go limping between two different opinions? I the LORD is god, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.”

Elijah then explains the contest, that the prophets of Baal would build an altar to their God and put a sacrifice on it…

I Kings 18:24 – “And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God. And all the people answered, It is well spoken”

Now, I want you consider something with me concerning this story of worship. This is the same kind of battle line that is drawn in our culture today. This is the continuing battle for worship of our day. Just like Israel, our nation has tried to worship two or more gods at the same time. From one side of the mouth, we say “In God We trust”, and then we make it illegal to actually talk about it in some places. We sing “God Bless America” but we don’t want to say who that God actually is, because it would offend some; and we may allow prayers in some public events, but we are afraid to use the name of Jesus, because others do not believe in Him.

We have been called the Christian nation and we certainly have Christian foundations; but our present society in this great land is far from following Christ. So, every day we see this battle being played out. Is the one and only true God, Jesus Christ in the flesh, the one who is worshiped, or are we going to worship something or someone else, even with religious dressing applied?

This was the battle of Elijah’s day and it continues in daily life worship today. And the setting was in place for them to wonder at the truly amazing, one and only true God. Elijah was saying to them: It is time to make a decision. Decide whom you are going to serve. This is all about sacrifices. Even this very battle on Mount Carmel was built around a sacrifice.

Team Baal was up first.

I Kings 18:26 – “and they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying O Baal answer us….!”

Let’s get a feel for this. I need your help, and no, this does not count as blasphemy. All of you are the prophets of Baal. You are hoping somehow, that you are right and Elijah is wrong. Although you have never heard your god answer any of your prayers before, maybe he would this time. And so you say:

O BAAL ANSWER US [Repeat several times]

Let’s continue in verse 26: “But there was no voice, and no one answered…”

Perhaps you have heard that some athletes like to talk trash to other players, taunting them and mocking them, especially if they are winning. At about noon, Elijah started the “trash talking”. “Hey, guys, maybe you need to yell a little bit louder. I’m sure Baal is just pre-occupied with a few other things. He’s sittin’ by the pool, getting some sun; or maybe he’s in the restroom and doesn’t want to be disturbed. No, I know what it is: he’s taking his god nap. He’s just been sleeping: all day! You must not be yelling loud enough; or convincing him that he should act. Let’s see what you got!

You don’t think Elijah would say such things? Look at verse 27:

I Kings 18:27 – “And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”

Understand, these were people who had been deceived into thinking that God was not real and they had replaced the true God with other gods. But, they also understood, that with any form of worship, to any god, real or not, there had to be a sacrifice. So, they took it upon themselves, after yelling for hours with no response to take it to another level. Never could the term “fanatic” be used more appropriately than here:

For the next several hours, they continued to dance and run around and cry out to Baal. But they even went further, to a scary extreme. They began taking swords and cutting themselves, spilling out their own blood, in an effort to motivate Baal to send down fire on their sacrifice. But…Nothing changed. Nothing happened. Nothing worked. Their time had come to an end.

I Kings 18:28,29 – “And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.”

I know this seems crazy, but it is not unlike unbelievers today. Although we see the evidence of the one and only true God all around us, they still believe there is no God and attribute His awesome creation to chance. Although we know and feel how God has worked in our hearts and still moves in our lives, most people still attribute everything that happens to luck, chance, fate.

And, on top of that they give themselves completely to the worship of mankind and the worship of self. They pursue comfort, riches and pleasure. Enjoying life is the highest goal, and God will not get in their way. They go to extremes to oppose God’s ways and to expose their beliefs. But, just as with the prophets of Baal, they serve a god that cannot respond, because he does not exist. No matter how loud they yell their beliefs or how much they sacrifice for them, it doesn’t make it true.

So, after about 9 hours of this nonsense, it is Elijah’s turn. It is God’s turn. Elijah prepared his altar and then did something strange, to give himself and God, seemingly, a terrible disadvantage:

I Kings 18:33-35 – “And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And he said, do it a second time. And they did it a second time. And he said, Do it a third time. And they did it a third time. And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.”

He didn’t want to just show that God could make the sacrifice burn, but he wanted to make sure that it was even more amazing than that – that the wonder that would result from this miracle would be impossible to miss.

Elijah is approaching this differently than the prophets of Baal. There is no shouting, no pleading, no cutting, no cultic dancing. He is simply approaching the center of the crowd and talking to God.

I Kings 18:36,37 – “And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I’m your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

This was not just about a great miracle. This was about Elijah showing he was right and they were wrong and finding a satisfaction and justification. This was not just about winning some game. This was about getting worshipers back. This was about the hearts and lives of God’s people being turned around so that they would worship the one and only true God with all of their hearts once more. This was about life worship. And the battle lines that are drawn every day are about life worship. You are hearing false messages from our world every day; and you have a choice to make: To follow and begin to worship others, or to test that message with the truths of God; and then to respond according to who He is and what He has done.

So, how did God respond?

I Kings 18:38 - “Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”

Can you picture it? Commentator Gustafson continues: “After praying a simple prayer, Elijah backed up, making room for God’s answer. After a brief wait, a startled shout rose from the crowd: Look! Tens of thousands of faces stared up into the sky. Coming toward the altar like a meteor, a great ball of fire lit up the evening. Its heat consumed the sacrifice, the wood and even the stones of the altar.”

God delivered. And the people fell down in wonder and amazement:

I Kings 18:39 – “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces…”

This is the response of those who see and understand that there is one and only one true God and they see His work and understand some of who He is.

Matt Redman, the renowned worship leader and song writer said: “When we face up to the glory of God, we soon find ourselves face down in worship.”

And that is where the people who viewed God’s awesome power and the revealing of Himself as the one and only true God, found themselves – on their faces in wonder. And they responded with words of praise, which is worship:

I Kings 18:39 – “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”

Can you hear it? Can you understand that although you were not there on that mountain that day, that you also have seen God’s amazing work, that has shown you that he is the one and only true God? You have seen some of His awesome creation. Many of you have experienced Him changing your heart and turning your life around when He saved you. You have seen God do things that there is no other reasonable explanation for than God. And you know that God has worked in your life in some amazing ways. And your response should be the same response heard that day from the amazed crowd. Let’s say it together:

THE LORD, HE IS GOD. THE LORD HE IS GOD. [repeat it several times]

And more importantly than our words of praise, in response to our wonder of God, is this: That our life worship (how we live) be an everyday response to who God is and what He has done.

SO WHAT? Let me challenge you with some personal responses you can make to God’s Word, as it concerns our wonder in worship:

1. Take time each day to quietly consider one of His creations.
This has been my application to this message this week. To take time to think about one of God’s creation and just wonder at it. I have looked at the stars. I have looked at my children. I have looked at my life. If you will take a few moments each day to wonder at God’s creation, you will be worshiping.

2. Spend time praising God for His amazing grace in your life
· This should include your salvation, which regardless of how you came to Christ, is truly amazing. And if it has been awhile since you have been in sheer wonder about God’s grace in saving you, then it has been too long.
· This should include God’s demonstrations of His grace in your life on top of salvation. Has God been at work in your life? Has He blessed you in many ways. Have you spent some time in wonder for how God has poured His grace upon you? Let me challenge you to do so.

3. As you experience each day, connect the wonder and worship of God to your life

That is, don’t just think of God for a quick moment as you get up. Don’t just think of God when you pray for your meals. Don’t just think of God when you have your personal devotional time each day. Live in the wonder of worship. When something you consider to be good happens, connect it to the wonder of God working in your life. When something you consider to be bad happens, connect it to God’s grace and talk to Him about it, giving Him your trust once again. When you have a decision to make, wonder at God’s wisdom and go to Him. Whatever the circumstances of your life each day, part of your life worship is living in wonder of who God is and what He has done. And it is believing that He is not just the God up there, but that God the Holy Spirit resides in you and is with you each moment of each day.

I want to close this morning by reminding you that when we read stories of worship in the Scripture (such as the first priest, the first king, the first prophet), they are normally just the beginning. Later in history, someone came to fulfill those roles and will one day be worshiped forever. The sacrificial system we read about in the Old Testament stories would one day come to a fulfillment when one more sacrifice would be made: the one and only true God would come down to the earth in human flesh, as Jesus Christ; and He would offer Himself as the one time sacrifice, shedding His blood for the sins of the world.

The Scriptures make this connection, between the wonder and worship of God to the wonder and worship of Jesus Christ – they were the same. But the sacrificial system, where the blood of animals would be offered is replaced with the once for all sacrifice of Christ; and then we are to respond to that with the every moment of every day sacrifice of our lives. God is not just looking for us to say a prayer one time, hoping to go to Heaven. He is looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth – following Jesus Christ daily.

Let’s consider the wonder and amazement in God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, as we close our message today. Are you in continual wonder at who Jesus Christ is and what He has done? How are you going to respond?

AMAZED VIDEO

Ripped Off!

Do you know the feeling when you think you have just been ripped off? I have sensed it several times, but usually I cannot prove it, or am not able to do anything about it. Normally, I sense it right away. Today, I realized that I might have been ripped off for hundreds of dollars several months ago. I was looking for a mechanic that might be able to figure out a problem I had been dealing with for a few years. No one seemed to be able to fix it, but this guy guaranteed that he could. It seemed to take him forever, but finally he said it would take $750 and never have problems again. I didn't think I had a choice. I paid the money and received my car - eventually. It had taken about a month.

What a surprise when the car didn't start a day after getting it back! I called the mechanic and he came to get the car. He said he would figure it out and we would never have problems again. It seems like I had heard that before somewhere. More time passed. We were getting ready to go on a long trip and needed the car.

Today, watching the news, I saw one of those investigative segments. This one happened to be about certain auto mechanics in our area who had been reported the most often to the Better Business Bureau. The investigative team borrowed a car from a dealership and had it checked completely by the dealership and an independent mechanic they trusted. They took one thing from the car that would make the engine light go on but cause no damage to the car. They then took the car to several mechanics to see what they would say.

Many of them came back with long lists of what needed to be fixed, up to $850, when nothing needed to be fixed - just something put back in place. And I couldn't believe my ears or eyes when my mechanic appeared on the screen, having cheated the investigative reporter about $450. When they went back to confront him, he yelled at them to leave and wouldn't talk to them.

I think my senses might have been right in the first place. Did he give me a fair price for work that really needed to be done; or did he just try several things and charge me for them, no really knowing if they would work - especially since one day after paying the money, it didn't start!

When this type of things happen, we can feel and do a variety of things. I am tempted to be angry and write a nasty note. I am tempted to feel good that he was caught trying to cheat someone else. I am tempted to feel bitter at being cheated. By God's grace, I have not gone through with any of these thoughts. I have learned that, in this life, I cannot guarantee that I will never be cheated.

I cannot make everything right. But, I know who can. I have to trust that God will keep His promises; and will only allow into my life, including the possibility of being cheated, if it will allow me to grow in Him and for Him to be glorified. He will, with 100% certainty, make everything right in His time.

But, I need to share, with all glory to God, what had taken place when I was still waiting to receive the car back and hoping it would be fixed and in time to take our trip. Out of "nowhere", I received a call from someone asking me to take a ride to a used car dealer. There, I was shown a car and this person offered to buy it for me. I couldn't believe it. What a blessing!

We turned my car in for this new used one. I shouldn't be surprised at all. God provides for me when I do not deserve it and from all kinds of sources. All praise goes to Him. Hopefully, I will learn more from this experience and strengthen my trust in Him, regardless of the circumstances.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

This is the 5th message of the Heart of Worship Message Series. As I was working through the stories of worship in the Scriptures, I had to pick and choose what to focus on. It would be too easy to get bogged down in the details of each story. For this message, I centered on the lost opportunity the people of Israel had to be individual priests, the disobedience in worship that resulted in death; and the right response to God in unbridled worship. When God's glory is the goal, we are willing to sacrifice our own preferences and self-consciousness.





TO GOD BE THE GLORY
Biblical stories of worship

Please turn in your Bible to Exodus, the second book of the Bible, and chapter 15.

A parish priest was being honored at a dinner on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his arrival in that parish. A leading local politician, who was a member of the congregation, was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner, but he was delayed in traffic, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited. "You will understand," he said, "the seal of the confessional, can never be broken. However, I got my first impressions of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I can only hint vaguely about this, but when I came here twenty-five years ago I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first chap who entered my confessional told me how he had stolen a television set, and when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. Further, he told me he had embezzled money from his place of business and had an affair with his boss's wife. I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that, and I had, indeed come to, a fine parish full of understanding and loving people." Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his talk. "I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived in this parish," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession."

Oops! This illustrates what we have been discussing recently in our Heart of Worship Series. There is the image we all tend to portray and then there is the reality of our hearts and private lives. We all have that tension, because even the most godly among us still has the sinful nature to battle with his new nature on a daily basis. The daily pursuit we are to have is that the spiritual reality of who we are in Christ as redeemed, holy, and Christ-like will actually be more of a reality in our daily life worship.

As we have learned already, we are all worshipers, whether we are worshiping God or someone or something else or even ourselves. We have also learned that worship is not just about music or Sundays, but worship is an every moment of every day experience. And the desire of our hearts is that as we worship with our lives each day, it will be acceptable worship, giving all glory to God.
From the beginning of our worship series, we have talked about a working definition for worship that explains how worship is about all we are and all we have. Does anyone know it? Let me start it for you:

“Worship is responding to who God is and what He has done by giving ourselves completely to Him.”

Let’s say it all together:
“Worship is responding to who God is and what He has done by giving ourselves completely to Him.”

So, today, we continue with the biblical stories of worship, as we learn more about the life challenges of worship and what God has called us to do. Today, I believe you will find that the key issue at hand in these stories is the glory of God. Whose glory are we concerned about as we live our lives of worship? We pick up the story from last week. God’s chosen people, Israel, had been in bondage in Egypt. God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharoah and sent 10 plagues upon Egypt, continuously giving one main message. He kept saying this is the primary reason I want my people released. Do you remember what it was?

“LET MY PEOPLE GO, SO THAT THEY MAY WORSHIP ME”
That is what God wanted then, and that is what God wants now.

[up on the baptismal]

In Exodus 15, after God delivered His people from bondage in Egypt, and after God delivered His people from the pursuing Egyptians and across the Red Sea,
Everything was great. Optimism was high. The people were ready to follow God and the leadership He had given them. They were ready to give glory to God.

Exodus 14:31 – “Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.”

Exodus 15:1,2 – “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, sang, I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

It was an incredible time of worship for the people of God. But, please understand that this same song of worship will be sung around the throne, in praise of God’s glory in the future. Listen to what the last book of the Bible reveals:

Revelation 15:3,4 – “And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

One of the greatest miracles in the history of God’s people produced a song of worship that will be sung in Heaven one day. And eventually, all nations will recognize how awesome God is and worship Him.

IN THE END, EVERYONE GIVES GLORY TO GOD
This should affect our lives today, as we consider that in the end all glory will be given to God. That is our desire today, this week, and in our lifetime.
And the stories of worship continue.

Please turn over to Exodus, chapter 19.
[go stand on the top row of the choir loft]

Three months after leaving Egypt, this nation on the move came to the place of one of the greatest moments of opportunity, and one of the greatest tragedies, recorded in Scripture. They were back in the land of the burning bush. Moses knew this area well. Listen to God’s plan:

Exodus 19:4-6 – “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

God’s stated plan was that all the people of God would be His priests and come to Him directly. This is what God said. And how did the people respond to the news?

Exodus 19:8 – “All the people answered together and said, All that the LORD has spoken we will do…”

One of those instructions is in the last sentence of verse 13:
“…When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

So, then, God shows up:
Exodus 19:16 – “On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.”

Look at chapter 20 and verse 18. You have the 10 commandments given, but don’t miss the response of the people to the invitation to go directly to God as a kingdom of priests:

Exodus 20:18-21 - “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die. Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness were God was.”

The signal was given for the people to approach God, going directly to Him. But, the loud noises that accompanied the presence of God scared them to death. And the fact was, the people were not ready to be a kingdom of priests. They were not ready to approach the holy, awesome God. They were turning this great opportunity down. They were scared of God. Only one priest, a representative of the people, Moses, approached God that day. It would be centuries before the priesthood of all the people would become possible again.

[walk down to the floor, in front of choir loft, with pulpit between you and communion table]

So, after that, a priest kind of stood high above the people and would stand between them and God. Let’s say this stand is the priest and the communion table represents the presence of God. Although in the New Testament we read that all believers are priests before God and can go directly to him and not through a man, it is still difficult for believers today. The precise definition for a priest is one who may draw near to the divine presence. Many believers are afraid of going to God and feel much more comfortable going through another religious man or a church or religious tradition.

God wanted every believer to come to Him as a priest. In His book The Adventure of Worship, Gerrit Gustafson explains: “That did not mean there would be no farmers or herdsmen, teachers or judges. It meant that the farmers, herdsmen, teachers and judges would have been priestly farmers, herdsmen, teachers and judges, fulfilling the New Covenant community’s commission:

I Corinthians 10:31 – “…Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”

In the classic series by C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, Lucy is a character that represents believers and a lion named Aslan is representative of God. At some point, Lucy, speaking of the lion, asks Mr. Beaver: “Is Aslan safe?” Mr. Beaver responded: “No. Of course he isn’t safe. But he is good.”

That illustrates the issue of believers coming to God when we are afraid of what will happen if we fully trust Him and give ourselves completely to Him. Is God safe? No, but He is good. And nothing happens to us outside of His plan for our spiritual good. So, the question needs to be asked and answered by each of us here this morning:

Do you fully believer that God is good and that you can trust Him with all you are and all you have? If your answer is yes, then you are in the mode of life worship. If your answer is no, then you are at a point of decision and commitment. This is not about perfection. This is about your willingness to come to God as you are, with a humble heart, to directly offer your life as a sacrifice; and to trust God to do with it as He pleases.

OFFERING YOUR LIFE WITH COMPLETE TRUST GIVES GLORY TO GOD

Please turn in your Bible to II Samuel 6. If you are using a Bible in front of you, it is on page 272 or 278.

And the Adventure of Worship continues: “Life went on after Sinai. Moses was inspired to write a constitution and a legal system for the new nation. A tabernacle was created to become a physical place where God’s presence would abide, a shadow of what God had desired. The furnishings for the tabernacle were exquisite: the Ark, the table, the altar, the lampstand.

And then in Exodus 28, God gave His people their hearts’ desire. He appointed the Levites to be intermediaries of His presence for the people. Rather than being a kingdom of priests, Israel became a kingdom that had priests. Not quite a priestly nation among the nations, Israel had a priestly tribe among the tribes. Though not a priesthood of the order of Melchizedek, the Levites did become a priesthood, and Aaron was selected as the first high priest. Before Exodus 28, it was normal for leaders to offer sacrifices. Afterward, however, only the official priests were allowed to offer sacrifices.

Although the experience at Sinai was a setback, God continued to look for worshipers who would worship Him in spirit and in truth. Eventually, Israel pressed God to give them a king such as the other nations had. Again, God acquiesced. He gave them their desire. The first king, Saul, was a disappointment. The second one, however, became a legend as a king and as a worshiper.”

His name was David. He was a shepherd boy. But God would use him greatly. He killed a lion and a bear with his own hands. He wrote songs that the people of God would sing for centuries. We know this song book as the book of Psalms. As a young boy, he faced the giant Goliath and defeated him with a sling and a stone.

[stand by the communion table and refer to it as the Ark of the Covenant]

As king, David was responsible for making sure the Ark of the Covenant was taken care of. In Exodus 25 and 37, the Ark of the Covenant is described. It was a box, overlaid with gold, that contained the Ten Commandments, the rod of Aaron that was used in the 10 plagues, and a container of Manna, that represented God’s provision of food for the people and other important objects that led people to give glory to God. In fact, the Ark itself was a representation of God’s presence, and when it fell into the hands of the enemies, it brought a lot of destruction to God’s enemies.

David was used by God to bring reform to the nation of Israel. He took back the city of Jerusalem from God’s enemies. He made it the political and economic center of Israel. He then set Himself to the priority of making Jerusalem the spiritual center of Israel. There was one major problem. They did not have, any more, the one object they needed to represent God and His presence. They had lost the Ark of the Covenant. They had to get it back.

Steve Strong and Steve Glick, would you guys please come and help me out, by getting this ark of the covenant ready to travel?

II Samuel 6:1,2: “David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, with the ark of God…”

Why did David take 30,000 men with him to retrieve the ark? It is not because he expected a battle. According to I Chronicles 13, it was because he wanted to have a traveling worship service. They were going to play instruments, sing and dance the 8 miles or so back to Jerusalem.

[Steve and Steve begin their journey]

So, here we have Ahio and Uzzah traveling with the Ark of the Covenant on a cart. And then, the inevitable happened. The oxen pulling the cart stumbled, and the ark began to fall. [Steve and Steve act it out, with Strong praising Glick] O.k. guys you can continue your journey to the back, and then I need you back here Glick.

II Samuel 6:6 – “And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.”

That is what it says happened, right? So, what should we do with Uzzah? He’s really a hero, don’t you think? He saved the Ark of the Covenant, which represents God’s presence, from falling and crashing to the ground. We should vote Him Man of the Year. We should give him a medal for his quick thinking and bravery. We should have a parade in his honor. We should name a street after him: The Uzzah Underpass or something like that. But, that is not what God chose to do. Let’s read on:

II Samuel 6:7 – “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.”

What? Did I read that right? God didn’t give Him a great reward; but instead, struck him dead? What is going on here?

I have a sister, named Mary. One day, while in Jr. High, she, and a bunch of her girlfriends were in a van, parked in the driveway. They were getting ready to go bowling, or something. There is a slight incline in the driveway, that leads to the woods in the back. Apparently, one of the parents, who was driving, had turned off the motor, but left the car in neutral. With the moving of these Jr. High girls, the van started rolling down the hill toward the woods, and was picking up speed. You can imagine that they were all screaming. My sister jumped from a seat in the middle, into the driver’s seat and put on the brakes. She was the hero! Do you think the parent came out of the house and berated my sister for driving without a license? Of course not. She was hugged and applauded and thanked.

So, help me out here. Why was our hero, the good- hearted Uzzah, given the death penalty by God?

Because of this truth:
DOING WORSHIP HIS WAY GIVES GLORY TO GOD

The Israelites and King David put Uzzah in a bad spot, because they disobeyed four specific rules God had given them. From Exodus 25:15, Numbers 4:1-15, and Numbers 7:9, we find these four rules:
*The ark was to be carried (they transported it by oxen)
*It was to be carried on their shoulders (they had it on a cart)
*It was to have the poles in it at all times (they steadied it with hands)
*Only a certain group from a certain tribe of Israel were to do the carrying
(Uzzah and Ahio were not from that tribe)

God gave specific directions, and His people directly disobeyed. God is serious about us worshipping Him in His way. There are things you know He wants you to do. The Bible tells us about all kinds of specific, direct commands He has for us. It tells us how to love each other and God. He wants your worship. But He wants your life of worship to be from the heart and obedient to His Word.

For those of you who hope to be religious without a true relationship with God, He doesn’t want it. God wants all of you. Don’t just say you’re a Christian and going to Heaven and that is all that matters. He wants your emotions, your passions, your desires, your body and your heart. Don’t come to God unless you are coming with everything! We can thank God that He doesn’t strike us dead when we disobey; but that doesn’t mean that He is not serious about us remembering this truth:

Worship must be done God’s Way! That is what brings Him glory.

Before we get to the next lesson of worship for God’s glory in this chapter, let’s take a personal quiz.

You are on your way to the store to buy something you really need. If a needy person comes up to you and convinces you that he is in real need, and you have $100 in your pocket, what do you do?
A. Give him all of it
B. Give him half of it
C. Give him some of it
D. Show him your empty pocket

You are on your way to cheer on your favorite team in the most important championship game of all time. What do you do?
A. Paint your body in team colors and scream like crazy, in freezing temperatures, for the whole game
B. Paint your face and wear only team colors
C. Wear a team hat or t-shirt
D. Dress in neutral colors, so no one will get mad at you from either team

You are proposing to your boyfriend/girlfriend because you are madly in love, and want to spend the rest of your life with this person. What do you do?
A. Stand on a table in the most public place possible and scream about your undying affection and desire to marry the love of your life
B. Pay for the athletic stadium or fly over plane to name your love and post the question: Will you marry me?
C. Let friends and family know and get involved in the special day
D. Find a quiet, secluded place, and pop the question

You just found out you inherited a million dollars, what would you do?
A. Appear on all the talk shows and let the world know of your new found wealth
B. Jump up and down and scream for days on end
C. Let your closest friends and family in on the secret
D. Change your name, get plastic surgery and move to a farm in Idaho

Your answers to these questions probably tell us something about you. It probably reveals your personality; and whether or not you are a private person or love the social life. You might have even answered, based on what other people might think of you. You want to be dignified, respected, and not do anything that would make people laugh at you or criticize you. In fact, with some of these questions, it is probable that we would criticize people who might answer these differently from us.
My questions for you this morning has to do with your response to God. My questions this morning is these: How much does God want of you in your life worship? And, how much are you willing to give?

Back to our story in II Samuel 6. After the death of Uzzah, the Ark of the Covenant remained in another home for 3 months. It was now time for David to go get the Ark and return it the rest of the way to Jerusalem.

O.k. I need your help. Would you all please stand with me? Let’s pretend you are all actors and you have been asked to participate in a very important scene: a scene of celebration. Imagine how you might cheer if your favorite politician or actor or athlete walked in the room. Imagine how excited you would be if you heard that you won a million dollars or whatever the best news would be for you. And then you would be ready to understand this.

David and his men are bringing back to Jerusalem the Ark of the Covenant, the representation of God Himself. And everyone is excited. As we travel down, will you help me clap as though it was a very exciting time. Ready? Here it comes. Let’s begin.

[Steve and Steve bring the communion table back to its place]
I know. Some of you were concerned that you might get struck by lightning if you clapped and cheered in church, right]? Thank you , you may be seated.

But, what the text emphasizes here is the response of David to the exciting prospect of having the representation of God’s presence back where it belongs.

II Samuel 6:12 – “And it was told King David, The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing.”

II Samuel 6:14,15 – “And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.”

Here is the next lesson of life worship to learn here, in respect to honoring God:
RESPONDING TO HIM WITHOUT PRIDE GIVES GLORY TO GOD


Consider King David’s humble, thankful heart of praise and worship.
When they bring the ark home, he is filled with unrestrained worship toward God. We read that he danced before God with all his might. He gave his whole body to God. He wasn’t concerned with what people were thinking. That is tough to do, isn’t it? I know I care about what you think. But if I do not speak what God wants me to speak or do what He wants me to do, because I’m worried about your response, I’m in trouble. We all are.

David simply responded from his heart to what God had done; and it came out in dancing before God. He also took off his royal garments, and revealed his humble, priestly garment, the dress of a commoner. Why would the King do that? Because, in his response of worship, he set aside his pride, and his position, and just gave all of himself to God. Wow! That takes humility.

In His book, The Unquenchable Worshipper, Matt Redman gives this illustration: “Another example of an extravagant worshipper was Charles Wesley. Within the space of 50 years, this undignified lover of God wrote around 6,500 songs of praise. One of his earliest songs, written to mark the first anniversary of becoming a Christian, was a song with the first line ‘O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise.’

When I first heard this hymn (Matt says) I thought to myself, A thousand people singing to God isn’t really all that impressive. After all, we’ve probably all been in meetings bigger than that. But then I discovered what Wesley was really imagining. He was picturing himself having a thousand tongues! He was saying, ‘I wish I had a thousand tongues, because if I did, I’d praise God with every single one of them.’ In one sense utter foolishness, yet a beautiful picture of extreme worship.”

King David responded in worship by setting aside his pride and giving of himself. This is a key to true worship. What about you? Are you willing to set aside your pride and give God all of your praise and worship? Yes, this could include worship with music. You have to ask yourself if you are willing to be led by God’s Spirit in responding to who He is and what He has done. Are you willing to say Amen? Are you willing to clap, if led to do so? Are you willing to raise your hands if God moves you to? Are you willing to close your eyes or move to the music or sing out loud at the top of your lungs for God’s glory?

Forget about music for a moment. Are you willing to set aside your pride and give sacrificially out of a grateful response to God? Are you willing to humble yourself and serve wherever you are needed in ministry here? Are you willing to fail while trying to do something great for God? Are you willing to be looked at a little funny by others when you give yourself wholeheartedly to God?

And this life worship goes outside the church building as well, right? We have to set aside our pride in order to share our faith with another person. We might have to set aside our pride to invite another person to church. We might have to set aside our pride to bow our heads and give thanks in public; and the list goes on and on. Perhaps God will reveal to you how you need to give Him glory by setting aside your pride in some area of life worship.

But, there is one more inevitable fact we must recognize when we give our life worship for God’s glory; and we see it acted out in this passage of Scripture. So, The Ark is returned and David is in his common clothes, worshipping God wholeheartedly as he dances before Him.

II Samuel 6:16 – “As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.”

Who is Michal? She is David’s wife! And she despised him for his unbridled worship before God. Listen to what she says:

II Samuel 6:20 – “And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

David’s wife was embarrassed. She was full of pride, not only for what people might think of her husband, but for how that might reflect on her!

This is an important lesson to understand about life worship:
CRITICISM WILL COME WHEN ONE UNASHAMEDLY GIVES GLORY TO GOD

Real Worship will be Criticized!

When you give all of yourself to God: in singing, praying, serving and living your life, you will be criticized. It is unfortunate that it was David’s own wife criticizing him, but sometimes it will be coming from those we care about most; even from those who should be our greatest supporters.

If you give all of yourself in your response to God, people will not like it. They may not like how enthusiastically you sing, or your choice of instrument or what musical style you use to give praise to God. They may not like the fact that you sacrificially give money to God at church when you could have used that money to take them out to eat or buy them a more expensive present or have gone to Disney World a year earlier for vacation. They may not like the idea of you sacrificing work hours or declining a higher salary because you want to devote yourself to your family or to serving God in some way. Others may not like the way you pray or the time you take leading family devotions. You can probably think of many other examples.

But, I will guarantee you this. If you live unashamedly before God and others, criticism will come, and unfortunately, it may come from your dearest friends, your loving family, or even from within your own church. I have certainly experienced that in every church I have been a part of.

Please know this: God knows how to deal with those who criticize Him and those who criticize others who worship Him with all they have. Look at what David’s wife experienced as a result of criticizing this worship of her husband:

II Samuel 6:23 – “And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.”

Pretty serious. No, this doesn’t mean that if you criticize the worship of others, that God will bring this bad of a consequence. But, it does mean that God takes this seriously; and is not interested in us spending our time criticizing how others give of themselves to God. That is one major reason I don’t spend my time criticizing other Christians or churches for how they worship. It is a waste of time, and not really my place. Plus, it very well may displease God and be an obstacle to me worshipping Him wholeheartedly.

I close with David’s response to his wife’s criticism:

II Samuel 6:21 – “And David said to Michal, it was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD – and I will make merry before the LORD. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes…”
Did you hear what David was saying when criticized by his own wife? He said, I wasn’t doing this for anyone else. I wasn’t worried about what others were thinking about me. The LORD has blessed me. I will worship Him. And if it means being more undignified than what I have already done, I am willing. I will give the LORD all of me. I won’t hold anything back.

There are 2 things to learn here. First, be very careful to not waste your time worrying about how others are giving of themselves to God. If you find yourself worrying about how they are worshipping God, then it is likely that you are not humbly worshipping Him, focusing your attention on God alone.

Second, when you are criticized for giving of yourself completely to God, don’t stop worshipping Him. If you are within the bounds of Scripture, and if you are doing what God has directed you to do, then keep going. In fact, offer all that you have and all that you are in worship to Him. Don’t be afraid to go to any length to worship Him, giving all glory to God. Because that is what this life is all about, isn’t it?

Take some time to consider the message of God’s Word this morning, and check your own heart attitude. Re-commit yourself to giving Him all of yourself in worship, whatever He may ask of you. Regardless of how old you are or how long you have been a Christian, ask God to help you to be willing to keep growing in your worship of Him, learning more and more how to respond to Him for His glory. And ask God to forgive you for any wrong attitude of pride or criticism that has taken root in your heart. Cut it out by asking for forgiveness; and getting your heart attitude right with God.

Let’s pray.