GROW: Five Essentials Every Christian Needs Over the past four weeks, we have explored four essential disciplines of spiritual growth. Growing Through the Word of God – as it reveals the true nature of God and His wisdom, principles and purposes for living a fruitful and faithful life. We grow through the Word as we hear, trust, and obey what God has said. Growing Through Our Prayer Life– to live in communion and communication with Him, – to grow in gratitude and thanksgiving; to learn about the authority God has given us; to trust His promises and bring the power and revelation of God’s kingdom into our own living situations; to release God’s wisdom, healing and peace into our world. Growing Through Service - Serving develops us, builds relationships, opens the door for reciprocal help and assistance; - expands our skills, and produces joy and gratitude within us and in others. Growing Through Stewardship – We discover that we have been blessed to be a blessing. God has given us gifts and talents according to our designed purpose. We grow through stewardship as we faithfully manage everything God has entrusted to us. Today, we come to the fifth essential: WORSHIP And worship brings every other essential together. Reading the Bible can be worship. Prayer can be a form of worship. Service can be worship. Giving can be worship. In Addition: Singing can be worship. Obedience can be worship. Forgiveness can be worship. Waiting can be worship. SLIDE #3 Worship is not merely one part of the Christian life. Worship is the orientation of the entire Christian life toward God. WHERE IT ALL BEGAN – EXODUS THE “OVERARCHING STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PASTOR JAMES COVERED SOME OF THIS LAST WEEK - IN THE BEGINNING, God desired a family on earth – to reveal Himself to the rest of humanity – he chose the children of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. In the course of time, they found themselves enslaved and abused under the control of Egypt – for 400 years. And God said, “enough” and brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Next ,He began transforming them by getting the culture of Egypt out of them. 1. GOD BROUGHT THEM OUT — SO HE COULD BRING THEM TO HIMSELF Exodus 3:12 NASB And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Pharoah said – You belong to me But God said, No, You belong to Me – and I am going to bring you to Myself through worship Worship is the pathway of freedom and deliverance into a true relationship with God. Worship is not God demanding attention because He needs our praise; Worship is God inviting us into relationship because He desires our hearts. Exodus 19:4–6 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ Key thought: Deliverance has a destination — His presence. God wasn’t merely interested in changing their circumstances. He wanted to reveal Himself to them and establish relationship with them. Through the wilderness, God gave them the design for a Tabernacle – a Dwelling place so He could go with them and lead them. He would manifest His Presence there. Moses would go there nightly and stand before him. He would linger in his Presence. Through dwelling with God and encountering Him through worship, Moses became a friend of God. Moses declared in Ex 33 – If your presence doesn’t come with me, I don’t want to go anywhere. Sometimes we come to God primarily because we want Him to change something: Change my circumstances. Heal my body. Fix my family. Provide financially. Give me direction. And God certainly cares about those things. But eventually, mature faith learns to say: “God, I don’t just want what You can give me. I want You.” How about our Heavenly Father – He rescued you and me from a mess so we could have fellowship – a relationship with Him…. But we often only go to Him with problems more than gratitude or appreciation for who He is LET’S DIVE DEEPER INTO THE DEFINITION 2. Worship Begins by Recognizing the Value and Ultimate Worth of God The English word worship comes from an older expression related to worth or worthiness. Worship is the acknowledgment of worth. To worship God is to declare: “You are valuable beyond comparison.” “You deserve my attention and affection.” “You deserve my trust and my obedience.” “You deserve my whole life.” The great commandment can be our instruction for worship: to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Jesus quoted it from the Old Testament in Mark 12:30. Meaning of the Commandment • Heart: Your core emotions, desires, and deepest affections. • Soul: Your life force, spiritual identity, and essential existence. • Mind: Your intellect, thoughts, and understanding applied to learning truth. • Strength: Your physical energy, resources, and active service is to love t 3. Worship is not only a religious activity. Everyone worships something. Worship is what happens when we assign ultimate value to someone or something. Whatever receives your highest devotion, deepest trust, strongest affection, and greatest sacrifice is functioning as an object of worship. Some people worship success. - They sacrifice health, relationships, integrity, and peace to achieve it. Some worship approval. - They change who they are depending on who is in the room. Some worship comfort. They will obey God as long as obedience does not become inconvenient. Some worship control. - They struggle to trust anyone—including God—with an outcome they cannot manage. Some worship money. - It becomes the place where they seek security, identity, and power. Some worship themselves. - Every decision revolves around personal preference, personal pleasure, and personal advancement. The question is not whether you worship. The question is What holds the highest place and gets greatest priority in your life? 4. So How Are We Supposed To Worship? The Old Testament Hebrew word shachah carries the idea of bowing down, prostrating oneself, showing reverence and submission. The New Testament Greek word proskuneō likewise carries the idea of bowing before or reverencing someone. So worship is much bigger than singing. A working definition: Worship is the response of our whole being to the revelation of who God is. (repeat) God reveals Himself. Our hearts respond in awe. Our lives yield and we bow in respect and honor. Our souls worship. That response may involve: Singing Raising our hands Kneeling Silence Prayer Surrender Serving Giving Thanksgiving Serving But none of these actions automatically constitute worship. We can sing without worshiping. We can raise our hands without surrendering our hearts. We can say the right words while our hearts are somewhere else. WORSHIP IS ULTIMATELY ABOUT THE HEART RESPONDING TO GOD. Illust - CAMBODIA 2007 – youth from surrounding villages – teaching on worship for 3days- – P James & Jeff B… The Holy Spirit Fell – and we saw young people singing, kneeling, praying, weeping , confessing - with hands extended for a couple hours – then breakthrough came – a HS refreshing - rejoicing, jumping and dancing – All the expressions of worship through young people newly exposed to the Presence of God for a couple hours 5.Worship is more than the songs we sing; it is the daily surrender of our whole lives in response to who God is and what He has done. Worship is aligning our values and actions so people see Jesus in us. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1; NIV Worship is honoring Jesus for who He is and all He has done and is doing. Worship does not begin when the first note is played and does not end when the final song is over. Worship is honoring Jesus by reflecting Him. His life radiates from us and is contagious. In Acts 4 the religious leaders could recognize the disciples had been with Jesus – they saw the boldness and courage 6.Worship effects our lifestyle and impacts those around us When you leave this building, worship continues in the way you speak to your family. Worship continues in the decisions you make when no one is watching. Worship continues in the way you conduct business. Worship continues in how you respond to disappointment. Worship continues in the way you manage your body, your time, your relationships, and your resources. It’s a Lifestyle Worship can involve sacrifice as we yield to circumstances inconvenient and uncomfortable – obeying what is right versus what is easy Worship continues when obedience costs you something. Worship continues when God’s plan is different from yours. The real test of worship is not only whether you will sing when the music is playing. The real test is whether you will surrender when life is not going according to your plan. This is where worship leads us - so we can surrender control and welcome God’s active presence, power, and transformation through the Holy Spirit into our daily lives. Away from distraction. Away from self-reliance. Away from the need to control everything. Away from living with ourselves at the center. Worship puts God back in His rightful place. And when God returns to the center, everything else begins to find its proper place. II. GOD SEEKS TRUE WORSHIPPERS – THE WOMAN AT THE WELL Slide #10 A.TRUE WORSHIPPERS - John 4:23–24:“The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will wors
