Worship - Sermon Series

When I visited Central Asia in 1992, I visited a country where there was only 1 known believer. I met her during that trip... she had a real heart for the Lord though she was going thru a lot of persecution for her faith in Jesus.
- By the time I visited again in 94 there were about eight or so. Two of these became good friends.
- Muallim: a successful businessman during the soviet days... lost his wife and then lost everything in the war... He's a special friend... but a little unusual in that he hated to dance. During worship, he stood up and danced his heart out!
- Bacha was a little younger than me... he loved music... and began writing worship songs from the moment he accepted Jesus.
- From the very beginning of the church in that small, Muslim country, worship became central to all we were.
- Keep in mind that worship would attract a lot of attention... people would complain to the KGB and local religious leaders...
o At one of the meetings, rather than close the shades and window, the believers opted to open them... inviting their community to hear praises to Jesus... and inviting persecution by the government and local religious leaders (which did happen).
o They were hooked... they had b/c worshippers!

In Psalm 95, David invites all of us to respond to God's invitation to worship.

READ PSALM 95:1-7b

From the earliest period of church history, Ps 95 has been used as a call and guide to worship.
- Centuries before that, the Jews would recite this chapter, typically on the Feast of the Tabernacles, when they would symbolically re-lived their time of encampment in the wilderness.

But before we look more closely at this psalm, we should define what worship really is.
- In Hebrew, the word "worship" (Shakah) means to fall down or bow down.
- In saying, "O come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our God our maker", the Psalm is calling us to surrender, to give up.
- Worship begins at this point of surrender... a holistic, intentional surrendering where we lay ourselves down before God.
- Paul says in Rm 12:1, "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship."

Our English word, worship, literally means "worth-ship".
- Whether it's an object, or a person, or even an idea, worshiping is attributing ultimate worth to something. Valuing one thing above all else.
- To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all ways the value of what we see.
o The Bible calls this activity "glorifying God"
- It really isn't a matter of whether we will worship, therefore, but what we will worship.
o What will we value, esteem, above all other things?
o We were all created for worship... it was hard-wired into us... if we don't worship God, we will no doubt find something else to worship.

As Americans, we live in a predominantly secular society, so we don't see people literally bowing down before idols.
- Most of our neighbors don't have little statues of Buddha or Shiva or Zeus on the mantelpiece.
- You know as well as I do, that as a culture, we have b/c a people preoccupied with ourselves... be it our relational/financial security, physical beauty, sex, food, even health/fitness.
o There is so much I can say about this, but I think you know just what I'm talking about.
o The point is, then, that I don't need to stimulate any of us to worship... but to help lead us to the place where we are worshipping the One who is truly worthy of being worshipped, Jesus Christ.

I think this is what David is doing in Psalm 95... he is inviting to us to make God the object of our worship. I want to break the passage down into three sections: An Invitation to Celebration, Adoration, and Dedication.

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