Throughout my years of study, I have searched for good working definition of the purpose of the church. I finally realized that it all boiled down to glorifying God.
If we are called individually to glorify God, then the church’s job is to glorify God has a corporate body.
Then I began to question, ” how does the church do that?”
It was then that I ran across a book called a church organized and functioning by W.L. Howse and W.O. Thomason. Written for the training union for Southern Baptist by convention press.
They outlined the churches function to be worship, proclamation, education, and ministry.
So, tonight I begin with worship. Worship, as defined by this same book, means to experience an awareness of God, to recognize his holiness and majesty, and to respond in loving obedience to his leadership.
And I believe that it is fitting that we begin our talk by reading the 134 Psalm.
1Oh, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
you who serve as night watchmen in the house of the LORD.
2Lift your hands in holiness,
and bless the LORD.
3May the LORD, who made heaven and earth,
bless you from Jerusalem.
Let us pray.
Last Sunday, I spoke about Matthew 16:18, and how Jesus told Peter “now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church”.
I talked to a friend this week about this verse, and we talked a little bit about the original Greek.
The word for Peter is Petros–means stone even a little pebble.
And the word for rock, where Jesus will build his church, is petra, which means large mass of stone.
And I thought that this word picture was so strong.
You see, you and I are mere pebbles compared to the large massive rock of Christ.
And, thank goodness, it is upon the massive rock that Christ will build his church. Jesus is the foundation.
But when you place a pebble next to a huge foundation of rock, you have a much big appreciation for the large rock.
And we should similarly have a big appreciation of Christ as the foundation for our Church.
And that brings me to the first point, in worship we have an awareness of God. How are we made aware of God? We are made aware of his creation,
Let’s look at
Psalm 148:1-5.
1Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens!
Praise him from the skies!
2Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all the armies of heaven!
3Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
4Praise him, skies above!
Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!
5Let every created thing give praise to the LORD,
for he issued his command, and they came into being.
We have a greater awareness of his creation. Because, of course, he is our creator.
Today, we are recognizing soil and water stewardship day. Because, we recognize the importance of maintaining what God has given us, we must be good stewards of that.
But, it is still response, of knowing who gave it in the first place.
This Psalm definitely speaks for the voice of a shepherd.
He talks about the heavens, the skies, the angels, the armies of heaven, the son the moon, the earth, the ocean, the fire, the hail, the snow, the storm, the wind, the weather, the mountains, the hills, the fruit trees, the cedars, the wild animals, the livestock, the reptiles, the birds, the kings, and the people.
He sits and makes a list of all of God’s creation. And he is aware of God. And we should be to.
I’ve been here two weeks, and it is a definite awareness of God out here in cross keys!
I walked through by the fish ponds on Thursday, it was so nice just to enjoy God’s creation. True worship gives one a greater awareness of God’s Creation.
We also have a greater awareness of the blessings of our lives.
Psalm 23:1-3.
1The LORD is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.
2He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
3 He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,bringing honor to his name.
4Even when I walk
through the dark valley of death,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
5You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You welcome me as a guest,
anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
6Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD
forever.
This passage is primarily referred to the shepherding nature of Christ.
But I believe it’s more than that. I see in this passage, how the Lord provides for our needs, our every need.
When the time is hard, this passage focuses us back on what is truly important.
We in Americans want many things. We say we need this and that.
For me, I need the fastest Internet connection. Some will say that they need cable television. If you’re looking for any of these things, out here in Sadalia, you can forget it!
But, do we really need all these things?
I’ve got rest in a green pasture.
And peaceful streams.
And he renews my strength.
And he guides me along right paths.
What is really important in our lives? Is it the latest toy on the market? Or is it time to spend with the father?
Finally, we also have awareness of our salvation. Psalm 27:1-4
1The LORD is my light and my salvation–
so why should I be afraid?
The LORD protects me from danger–
so why should I tremble?
2When evil people come to destroy me,
when my enemies and foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3Though a mighty army surrounds me,
my heart will know no fear.
Even if they attack me,
I remain confident.
4The one thing I ask of the LORD–
the thing I seek most–
is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
delighting in the LORD’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.
How is he our salvation? Because he died on the cross for us. We were born sinners. And because we are sinners we are condemned to die. But Christ paid that penalty for us.
If we accept this payment, he can save you from death and hell.
At the end of this service today, I’ll stand up front and can lead you to that salvation.
Not only do we have an awareness of God in worship. We recognize his holiness and majesty. Psalm 93.
1The LORD is king! He is robed in majesty.
Indeed, the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be shaken.
2Your throne, O LORD, has been established from time immemorial.
You yourself are from the everlasting past.
3The mighty oceans have roared, O LORD.
The mighty oceans roar like thunder;
the mighty oceans roar as they pound the shore.
4But mightier than the violent raging of the seas,
mightier than the breakers on the shore–
the LORD above is mightier than these!
5Your royal decrees cannot be changed.
The nature of your reign, O LORD, is holiness forever.
In worship we recognize the majesty of God. Once you’re aware of all the great things that he has done, then you realize how awesome he is.
In our worship, we need to demonstrate that.
When we meet on Sunday to worship God, we need to recognize that it is not just a gathering of people.
It is a time that we spend worshiping a holy and majestic God. We need to take that time very seriously. Yes, we need to have joy. Yes, we need to have happiness. And I believe that includes humor.
But, we don’t need to let our guard down on the seriousness of the business that takes place here. We need to take strides to make every worship service as meaningful as possible. We don’t ever want to offer God anything but our best.
Further, we recognize the holiness of God. Holy is defined as Standing apart from sin and evil. God is holy and he has no place for sin.
When we are confronted with that holiness, we are moved to confession. Psalm 51:1-7.
1Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3For I recognize my shameful deeds–
they haunt me day and night.
4Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5For I was born a sinner–
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6But you desire honesty from the heart,
so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.
7Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me–
now let me rejoice.
9Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
This is the song of David when he was caught in adultery. This man after God’s own heart was at the bottom of his spiritual life.
Confronted with a holy God, was moved to confession. And this is important part of worship.
We must confess our sins before God.
The Bible says that we must leave our sacrifice at the altar and don’t make amends, before we dare to worship. So worship includes confession– when we recognize this holy God of ours– we must confess.
An awareness of God, recognition of his holiness, brings loving obedience.
Obedience is not something that we do we feel good.
Many people are spiritual when it is time to be spiritual. And then you see them somewhere else and it is not time to be spiritual– and you know what happens then.
Obedience is acting on God’s laws.
We are obedient when we praise.
Psalm 150
1Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his heavenly dwelling;
praise him in his mighty heaven!
2Praise him for his mighty works;
praise his unequaled greatness!
3Praise him with a blast of the trumpet;
praise him with the lyre and harp!
4Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
6Let everything that lives sing praises to the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
It is commanded that we spend time in praise. We were built by God to praise him we must have an outlet to do that.
We must also have the words to say. Many times we don’t have the words to say, because God is so great.
But I’m reminded of the great hymns that we sing that to a wonderful job of describing what we cannot understand. We need to praise.
And we need to study the word of God. Psalm 119:9-12.
1Happy are people of integrity,.
2Happy are those who obey his decrees
and search for him with all their hearts.
3They do not compromise with evil,
and they walk only in his paths.
4You have charged us
to keep your commandments carefully.
5Oh, that my actions would consistently
reflect your principles!
6Then I will not be disgraced
when I compare my life with your commands.
7When I learn your righteous laws,
I will thank you by living as I should!
8I will obey your principles.
Please don’t give up on me!
9How can a young person stay pure?
By obeying your word and following its rules.
10I have tried my best to find you–
don’t let me wander from your commands.
11I have hidden your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your principles.
If we are truly to worship, we need to take time to understand what God is trying to tell us through the scriptures.
We do this during the sermon time. We do this during the hymns. Each hymn must be biblical, and they are useful for teaching.
But more important than these is in your personal time with God each day. I am sure that many of you tonight do not have a daily quiet time.
This is a time when you spend time reading the Bible and praying. It is an important time each day.
It allows you to focus on Christ, and your relationship with him. This is simple to understand.
While Monica is gone, we talk daily. That phone call is very important to our relationship. Yes, we could go week without talking. But our relationship would suffer.
And many people go weeks, months, years, without speaking or hearing from God. This time in the word is vital to worship.
To worship is to experience an awareness of God, to recognize his holiness and majesty, to respond in loving obedience to his leadership.
There may be one here tonight that does not know that God we worship. That God seeks to know you.
Through the work of his son, Jesus Christ, he has made it possible to approach him. Don’t let that opportunity pass you by.
If you wish to come to Christ tonight you can do that. Or if you wish to join the church you can do that as well. Whatever your decision you come.
—–
Sermon was preached in April 2001.