The Way of Worship | "The Way" Week 13

- Let him recapture your heart. That's, in essence, a phrase that captures what we've been trying to do for the last few weeks as we dive into a season called The Way. Let me ask you this question. If you, as a Christian, were approached by someone and were asked this question, what would you respond? And the question is, what are the biblical practices you shape your life around? Now, forget about just attending church. Besides attending church, what are the biblical practices that feed and sustain your spirit and the soul of your family? What are the things that are part of your life that people look at, then they say, oh, that's a disciple of Christ. And before we continue, I feel, you know, Pastor John has been given disclaimers and I feel like I need to share one as well, because if I can confess something to you as we dive into this topic, I must confess that this is not something that I've completely figured out. And I never preach as an expert, but especially today, because the topic that we're gonna unfold, it's a topic that I feel is very sacred, but our Christian culture has made very common. And I'm still trying to practice this biblically. I hope I get to grow more and more as a follower of Christ, but honestly, being a pastor, none of these topics become easier, just because you're a pastor, they don't become automatic,

but we still feel like we have a responsibility to talk about them because it is the full counsel of God's word, but I'm convinced that today, while we get to talk about every week, it's something that impacts our life as followers of Jesus, because especially today, but we're gonna discover that what we're gonna talk about, it impacts not only our life here on earth, but also extends all the way to eternity. So let me start by asking you this question. Do you know someone who can't carry a tune if he came in a bucket? And some of you guys are sitting by that person, you were like, "I know, right here, right here." I mean, like they would be great backup singers. Not like for a band or for a church, but like, "Hey, sing way back up, like back all the way up." You're a mile for me, back up, keep going. I'll let you know. And listen, not everyone here, my sing well, but don't get this wrong. Every single person here, every single person watching, you are a professional worshipper. Because I believe, according to the Bible, according to what we're gonna find out, is that we were created intricately and strategically created for worship. Worship is a biblical concern from Genesis all the way to revelation. God cares about why and how we worship.

So you may be here and you're like, "Man, I'm good so far. "I got this. "I come to church. "We have a band. "We have some people that sing. "We sing songs. "I listen to worship music on the radio. "There's over 100 worship leaders. "I am good to go on this one. "I've been struggling on the other ones, "but this one, I am good to go." But let me just remind you that the goal of today is not to help you sing louder or clap louder. The goal of today for us is that we are the goal of today for us is that we are and decide who gets the worship we're already giving and how. That's it. We get to reflect and decide who gets the worship we're already giving and how. So I want you to search with me as we look into the way of worship. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that we can come before you because of Jesus Christ. It's nothing that we have done or are able to do on our own. And because we come before you through Jesus, we believe that we can have access to your presence, to your Holy Spirit.

So as we open up your words, Lord, your words spoken into our hearts, I pray that it is heard not just by our ears, but by our spirit. And so that something new is activated in our hearts that helps us be shaped and transformed to your image. In the name of Jesus, we pray, amen. I want us to welcome our admin campus. I want us to welcome everyone joining from great mind. Can we welcome our online church as well? We're so grateful. (congregation applauding) - That we are together here today. And I also want to thank Pastor John. Can we honor and love on our lead pastor? Thank you so much. (congregation applauding) For giving me an opportunity to share and for always being so open for other people to share from this pulpit. I take that very seriously. And it's an honor for me to do this. I want us to go to the book of Romans, chapter 12. That's where our foundational text is from. And I know you're familiar with Romans 12-2, but I want us to give the foundation to Romans 12-2, which is Romans 12-1 that says this. And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be living and holy sacrifice,

the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. And once we do that, then we can say, and don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. We love to talk about worship. The tricky part about talking about worship is that whenever I say that word, everyone in this room can automatically have a very different idea of what I'm talking about. And if we're honest, some of us have a very cultural understanding of what worship is. That means we understand worship, not just according to the Bible, but according to what culture has made it to be, including Christian culture. The danger with that is that culture constantly drifts away from biblical values. And because of our changing culture, if our understanding of worship is tied to a shifting culture, our worship and our definition of worship, we'll shift with it too. And without knowing, we will end up reading scripture through the lens of a culture that's drifting away instead of the lens of God's unchanging truth. Let me remind you, the Bible wasn't written by first world life skin, Western people.

The Bible was written by Middle Eastern shepherds, kings, exiles, prisoners, fishermen. So whenever Paul is talking about worship, his audience would not have connected that word as a musical term. In fact, the words praise and worship did not start being used until about 1980s, in the 80s. And then in the 2000s, we felt like that was way too long. So we reduced it from praise and worship in the 2000s to just worship. we automatically, culturally, understand that to be our musical expression of what we do in a corporate gathering. But when Paul is talking to his audience, he's not talking about music. When he says, present your bodies, he's using tempo language. He's using language that applied to Levitical priests that would bring sacrifice to be offered to the Lord. And he was talking to people who understood that when he's talking about bodies, he was not just talking about spiritually, he was also talking physically. He, these people understood that what you do with your body, not just your lips, is the ultimate form of worship. And the practice of worship itself doesn't just start here in the New Testament. In fact, before Paul, before the church was born, Moses sensed before Pharaoh and brings out this word. In Exodus chapter eight verse one says, "The Lord said to Moses, go to Pharaoh and say to him,

this is what the Lord says. Let my people go so they may worship me." And let me just remind you that there are always pharaohs in our life that are trying to keep us from worship him. And these are not pharaohs from Egypt, these are the pharaohs in our very own heart. Now if you read from the NIV, the NIV says worship, but if you have the ESV, the English standard version, it says this, that says, "The Lord let my people go, that they may serve me." But then the new King James Version uses the word worship and the new living translation uses the word serp. So which one is it, pastor us here? Is it worship or is it serve? Because in our understanding, those are two completely different terms. Is it worship or is it serve? It's both. And let me try to explain why this. The first thought is this. The way of worship is service. Two different words in the English, but in the Hebrew, it's the same word. Worship and serve are synonymous. The word worship in the Hebrew is the word abad, which means to work, to serve, to worship. And this is the word we find in Genesis chapter two, when God places Adam in the garden to abad, to work and keep it.

In Exodus chapter seven, eight and nine, and 10, one of the scriptures that we just read, God commands Pharaoh multiple times to release Israel so that they can abad him, so that they can serve him. Joshua 24, 15, we're familiar with this verse. Joshua proclaims, "As for me and my house, we will abad the Lord, we will serve the Lord." And we can't really dive into the full understanding of worship until we recognize that service is worship and that to be a disciple of Christ that is marked by the gospel is to live a life of service. This is an optional for followers of Jesus Christ, for followers of the way. Service is a lifestyle. The way of worship is serving. Now, we're very familiar with Romans chapter 12 verse two that says, "Do not be confirmed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." But we forget that the foundation to that, the reason why our thought life can change is because of our worship. Why? Because worship allows you to decide who and what gets to speak into your mind. We want transformation, but we forget that we must have worship. And if we must have worship, that means that includes a life of service unto the Lord. Now, in every one of our campuses, we have a serve team.

And on Sunday, 30 to 40 minutes before each, our gatherings begin, we have something that we call the serve team rally. Can we give it up for the serve team, first of all? (audience applauds) Thank you. Thank you, Adam, and in great light, for every person, every body. And the reason why we have our serve team rallies, because we have an opportunity for our staff and our volunteers to pray and prepare our hearts for the day. We pray for you. We pray for every ministry that is taking place in this campus and every campus. It's vital to what we do every weekend. And then at the beginning of the gathering, our worship team comes out and they lead us into singing. So, at victory, every member of the worship team is part of our serve team. But not every member of our serve team is part of our worship team. And that's intentional, because what we said earlier. Sometimes we even have the music a little bit louder so that you don't hear some of those people sing. (audience laughing) You know, the Bible talks about making a joyful noise to the Lord, right? Those noises should not be like cat-like noises. (audience laughing)

It should be, anyway, you know what I'm talking about. But if I say the worship thing every single person in this room automatically knows that we're talking about the band and we're talking about the singers. But in the Bible, there's no such thing as a worship team. There is not even something called the serve team. In the Bible, there's only the abot team that covers both. And if you have given your life to Jesus, if you have presented your body to Jesus, you are part of the abot team. Thank you so much. That means if you're changing diapers, you're part of the worship team. That means if you're greeting at the door, shaking people's hands. Guess what? You're part of the worship team. If you are, I don't care what you do on a Sunday, on a Saturday or a Sunday, whatever it is that you do, you are part of the abot team. But let's be honest, sometimes even for pastors, it's a little bit hard to talk about serving the church. Because local churches, and I feel sometimes that we have tried to remove the tension and the friction so that people don't feel awkward when you ask them to serve. Because we almost feel like I'm asking you to do something that's way above and beyond of becoming a child of God.

When the Bible tells us that's not way above and beyond, that's just the foundation. As a child of God, you are part of the abot team, which means that you worship your Creator by serving. Serving is the way of worship. So worship by serving is something what we do with our hands throughout the week. But Paul doesn't stop there. He doesn't just stop with serving as being part of worship. He continues to remind us that worship is not only why you do for God, but it is what you bring to Him. Second thought, the way of worship is offering. Paul says Romans 12-1, give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. And the word give in the Greek is the word (speaks in foreign language) which means to place beside or near, to set at hand, to bring to or bring near. And when Paul says the word offer your bodies, he's meaning you bring your bodies as in a physical response. Our bodies have the ability to worship as well. We don't just attend church, we bring ourselves to church. Some of you guys didn't realize you started worshiping long before you came into those doors. That means mom and dad, when you prep in your kids to come to church, when it's inconvenient and costly, that's worship because you're not just bringing them to church, you're offering them up to the Lord. They become an offering to the Lord. You're not coming to church, come on, out of guilt. You're coming because you recognize I'm offering myself

and my family to the Lord as an offering. Dr. Davis and I got to work on this message together. And I'm always thankful for the perspective that he brings. He said, the whole act of gathering, of our gathering is worship. The drive to church, coming together, singing. the way you were talking to your kids. But you brought him. Amen, that's worship. Singing, praying, hearing the word is worship. Responding to the word is worship. Taking the sacraments, going back to the world to love the Lord in the world. This is all worship. And Dr. Davis reminded us that church is not a gas station we pop into, top our card, fill up, and sip off again. It is the heartbeat of our life with the Lord as we gather with His family in worship. (congregation applauding) Now, cultural worship on the other hand says worship is personal. That means that I bring what I want when I want to. And listen, I understand that we have a personal relationship with Christ. That we have a personal conversation with God, but as it relates to worship and to service, we can bring, Paul says, we bring our bodies plural. Worship is a family act, not a solo act. (congregation laughing)

I'll say it again, 'cause somewhere you guys look confused, like, does it mean what I think He means? Worship is a family act, not a solo act. Thank you. (congregation laughing) Come see me after church, I'll buy you coffee. (congregation laughing) Listen, some people can bring a piano or a guitar to church, but you can bring your kids. You can bring your spouse. If you're single, you can bring yourself. That's an act of worship. And to talk to parents for a moment, Pastor Craig Rochelle said this. He said, "Your priorities become your children's theology." Your children don't just become what you say, they become what they see. Do you want your children to grow up to understand what it means to live alive, offer to the Lord as an offering? Bring them to church. Let them see you struggle even when it's hard and inconvenient to come to church, because that's what's being modeled to them on a regular basis. Worship means we bring our bodies as an offering. We don't come empty-handed. We bring something to the Lord. Remember the match I came to Jesus with an offering. They opened their treasures of gold,

frankensized in myrrh. And Revelation says that the elders cast their crowns before the Lord, why? Because he deserves our gifts. He deserves that we offer up our lives. He deserves that we offer up our treasures. He is the one who has won. We're not gonna receive Jesus' crown. He will receive ours, because he's the one that's won. Our presence is an offering. Give your bodies to God because of all he has done. And I love how the NIV says, in view of God's mercies, present your body to God. Why do we bring our body every week? Why do we bring our body to serve? Why do we put our body, physical body, an inconvenient position when it's costly to offer it? Well, Paul tells us he helps us out because we know to worship means to do something that is costly and inconvenient. It's not easy. But Paul says, here's one way that can help you. Remember everything he has done. In view of God's mercy, in view of what he has done, present your bodies. And I recently, this past week, I went to, to spend time with one of our served in volunteers who was at the hospital because of shoulder surgery.

And we laughed a little bit and talked about how he became a greeter. I don't know how he passed the test as a greeter. And he agreed with me, but what I love about him, he began to share how that's, If you would see him, you would think he's not the person that's the most talkative. And the other part that I love about talking with him is that every single time that we come together or I see him, he begins to talk about what the church has done for his life, but also what serving has done for his life. And every single time he has to pause because he doesn't have the words to adequately express what God has done in his life. Every time. And he blows my mind away because he's talking about things that God has done 30 years ago. But to him, they feel like they just happened yesterday. Why? Because he can't forget what God has done. And even though he may not be singing a song in that moment, I promise you, he worships when he serves. Because that's the offering that he's bringing to the Lord. And I don't know if you've realized this about some of our people. There's something about people who remember what God has done that changes the way they worship. There's something that happens when you get around people that don't forget the miracles, that don't forget the provision, that don't forget the kindness, that don't forget the healings, that don't forget the times over and over when they thought that we're walking through the fire by themselves. But once again, God put himself as the fourth man in the fire. There's something different with people live their songs and their worship because they cannot forget what Christ has done in their life. The things that he sent them apart from, that he saved them from, there's something different from worship that comes from people who remember. We bring our bodies and our voice as an offering. And if I'm honest with you, there are times when I thought, man, worship wasn't, wasn't that good? Or I wasn't feeling it? Or there are times where I'm like, man, it was good, but they were just not singing my favorite songs. And I'm not talking, I'm speaking for myself. None of you have ever thought that. But I wonder if those times, those moments have more to do with me forgetting what God had done in my life. I wasn't viewing his, his mercies. And let me just remind you that forgetting what God has done is one of the quietest ways to stop

worshiping. And can I encourage you, if worship feels flat, if it ever feels flat, let me encourage you with this. Or maybe if you just like, man, I'm just not into it today. If worship ever feels flat, can I encourage you, check your memory before you check the singer and the setlist. Remember what God has done, present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. The word reasonable is the word logic on which that's where we get the word logic and means describe something that has been carefully thought through and considered. So Paul is saying this, when we carefully thought through and consider his mercies, the logical response is to offer, to bring your body to the altar. Why do I serve? Because serving is my altar. Why do I give? Because giving is my altar. What does that mean? That it pulls away from me focusing on my flesh by serving. My body is placed on the altar saying, Lord, I'm willing to go through something inconvenient and costly because I want to offer you my worship with all that I am, with all that I have. I give I'm generous, not because it is something easy for me, but because I'm laying myself down on the altar. Why do I sing songs that I didn't write? Because sing and puts me out the altar, the lyrics on the screen are no longer lyrics written by somebody else. allow myself to forget what Christ has done when me. I will lift my voice and I will declare his goodness to all people because I am grateful. So we bring our bodies as an offering in response to God's mercy. And then Hebrews 12 reminds us something extremely important. The author of Hebrews reminds us that worship, that God does not accept all forms of worship. And this is a scary thought. Remember Cain? God rejected his sacrifice. Remember Saul? God rejected his sacrifice. Even Isaiah talks about God rejects sacrifices and offerings. So then how do we present ourselves? What is acceptable worship for Paul and the author of Hebrews to use that same wording for it to be acceptable? That means that there are some forms of worship that God will not accept.

And it's important for you and I to know that third and final thought, that worship is surrender. God doesn't just want a partial donation of your life. He wants total submission. And boy, that s-word, it's so hard for our culture to try to bring into our relationship with Christ. Let's read what Hebrews 12 says. It says, "Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service." That word service is the same root word used that Paul uses with reverence and awe, with reverence and awe. See, this is what separates biblical worship from cultural worship. This is what we must understand that God accepts worship and service that is costly. God accepts worship that comes with reverence and awe. In other words, things that we cannot treat us common. When was the last time we felt that reverence and awe and wonder when we read God's word, when we encounter God's presence, when we sang to Him, when we served His people? Why can't we treat it as common? Because Christ's ultimate sacrifice was costly. It wasn't common. But what does surrender as a former worship look like? Well, let's go back to the book of Genesis that tells us what worship is. This is the first time that worship appears in the Bible. Notice that there were no singers, there were no guitars, there was not a temple. It says, "On the third day, Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. And Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with a donkey, and I and the boy will go over there, and we will worship and return to you.'" And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son, Isaac. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife so the two of them walked together. Isaac spoke to his father, Abraham, and said, "My father," he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked together. The word "worship" here is the Hebrew word "shajah," which means to bow down to prostrate oneself. Again, it's a physical response. And even though there was no music, there was worship taking place. There was no singing. It was just a father on a mountain, placing wood on his only son's shoulder. The Greek word for bowing is a word "pruscanae," which means "to bow," to recognize the worth and superiority of another. This is the word that tells us that the magi bow when they came to Jesus, and then in Revelation 4, this is what the elders are gonna do as they cast their crowns before the Lord. Now, need your help for this, Edmond Gravon in OKC. If you were walking by yourself in a park, no one around, just one evening, and all of a sudden, someone comes and puts a gun on your back. When I counted three, show me what your physical body is gonna do. One, two, three, do it. Okay, most of you are still alive, the rest of you are dead, because you didn't, you just kept on walking. Just like, "I don't know what's up, hey." No, what you do is you raise your hands, why? Because this is a declaration that says,

"Hey, I'm not fighting you, look at me. "I have nothing in my hands to fight you with. "I'm not going to fight you. "You do whatever you want, I surrender." Now, the problem with that illustration is that's called forced surrender. And God is not gonna force you to surrender. That's why you have free will. God invites you, how do we surrender? We surrender where we're confronted with His love and with His mercy. That's the surrender that God is looking from us. And to be honest with you, at least in my life, the times that I've struggled with surrender were the times that I was no longer walking in awe and reverence of Him. I stopped being amazed by Him. He was no longer beautiful. His sacrifice was no longer costly. So my life leaned more towards religion than relationship, even though we need both in order to follow Jesus. We remember Him. Because the Bible says that one day there will not be a single person who will be able to stand in the person of Jesus. Revelation seven says, "After these things I looked and behold, "a great multitude which no one could count "from every nation and from all the tribes, "people's and languages,

"standing before the throne and before the Lamb. "Cloth in wide robes and Paul branches were in their hands "and they cried out with a loud voice saying, "'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne "and to the Lamb and all the angels were "standing around the throne and around the elders "and the four living creatures and they fell "on their faces before the throne and worship God. "I used to think when I go to heaven, "I'm gonna be in awe and completely distracted "by what the angels are doing. "And I'm just gonna think, man, those are cool beings. "I can't believe that they get to send in God's presence "and do all that they do. "I think it will be a little bit different. "I think the angels are gonna be singing their presence "and they're gonna be like, oh my goodness. "They understand what it means to leave under God's mercies. "They understand what it means to experience God's grace "in a way that the angels can never experience. "They understand what it means to offer up something "to God in the form of physical, of a physical body. "Oh my goodness, look at these people "offering their worship to the one and the only who died "to save them. "That's why we get to worship." The Bible says they press Kuneo. So the question for you today is this, for Edmond as well. Have you bowed your heart to Jesus yet? Have you accepted His ultimate sacrifice for your sin?

He did that so that you can, one day, stand before God as this child to worship Him. Have you done that? If you have it, I'd like to invite you to take that step forward and to say, Jesus, I'm surrendering not because you're forcing me to, but I'm surrender because I haven't counter your love, having counter your mercy, having counter the power that you have to save me from my sin. And then that's you, when I count to three, I want you to raise your hand simply as a sin. Ready, one, two, three. Raise your hand right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you. All over the place, keep them raised. Wave them high. Awesome, awesome. Put your hand out. There's probably about 15, 17. I don't know what hands. Thank you, thank you, ma'am. Put your hand out, thank you. Would you repeat this prayer after me, say, "Dear Jesus, thank you for saving me "from my sin. "Thank you that you died on the cross "for my sin and my rebellion. "But rose on the third date from the death "to give me victory. "I sinned today as your child, "forgiving.

"I am a new creature. "In your name I pray. "Amen. "We're so grateful that you joined us today. "At Victory we pray big prayers to a big God "and we expect big results. "If you would like to receive prayer, "you can submit a prayer request "by visiting victory.church/pray. "If this message or any of our messages "have impacted your life "and you would like to partner with us through giving, "you can do so at victory.church/go." Thank you again for joining us. At Victory Church, we live life to the full. (upbeat music) (gentle music) You