Monday, March 7, 2011

WIRED FOR WORSHIP - Part 1

Here are the extended notes for Part 1 of a four part series we will present over the next nine months at a2 Church. The complete mp3 of the message is available for download via a2's website by clicking here or on iTunes by clicking here.

Thanks for your interest in the teaching ministry of Chris Goins and a2 Church.

WIRED FOR WORSHIP - Part 1
What It Is and Why The Wires Get Crossed

March 6, 2011

“Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god." ~ Harold Best, Unceasing Worship

Hebrews 13:15 (NLT / NIV), Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.

Hebrews 13:16-17 (NLT), And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. 17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say...

According to Mark Driscoll, this passage indicates that worship includes rubber meets the road stuff like:
(1) praise;
(2) proclamation;
(3) humble acts of service or random acts of kindness;
(4) generosity;
(5) sacrifice; and,
(6) submission to or respect for the godly authority God has placed in our lives. ~ Mark Dricoll, Doctrine, Chapter 11, Worship: God Transforms


“Worship is every act of the heart, mind, body and soul, which intentionally expresses the infinite worth of our great God.” ~ John Piper

"Worship is our response to what we value most." ~ Louie Giglio, The Air I Breathe

"Worship is responding to all that God is with all that I am." ~ Unknown


Three Facts About Worship:

• Worship is a response. It includes both acts and attitudes.

Worship is a verb.

Psalm 96:1-3 (NLT), Sing a new song to the Lord! 
Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! 2 Sing to the Lord; praise his name. 
Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. 3 Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. 
Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.

Psalm 96:7-9 (NLT), O nations of the world, recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. 8 Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! 
Bring your offering and come into his courts. 9 Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. 
Let all the earth tremble before him.

• Worship is a response to the truth about God.

“Worship is every act of the heart, mind, body and soul, which intentionally expresses the infinite worth of our great God.” ~ John Piper

• Worship involves every aspect of our lives.

Romans 11:36 (NLT), “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.”

Then Paul says, “Guys, in light of who God is, all that He has done and that fact that all glory (weight, prominence and preeminence) go to Him and Him alone…” Paul makes the following statement…

Romans 12:1 (MSG), So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

You are wired for worship!
Worship is central to who God made us to be.



Four Reasons Our Wires Get Crossed In Worship:

1. Our wires get crossed in worship when allow it to become casual and routine.


Example: Rehoboam replacing “shields of gold” with “shields of bronze.”

2 Chronicles 12:9-10 (NLT), So King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. He ransacked the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace; he stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. 10 King Rehoboam later replaced them with bronze shields as substitutes…


Example: Israel’s worship in the aftermath of God’s faithfulness, His intervention in their lives, and His presence.

Exodus 14:31 (NIV ’11), …when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

Exodus 15:21 (NLT), And Miriam sang this song: 
“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea.”

Exodus 19:16 (NLT), On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled.

Exodus 19:17-20 (NLT), Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply. 20 The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses climbed the mountain.


Psalm 96:9 (NLT), Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. 
Let all the earth tremble before him.

Hebrews 12:18-23 (NLT), You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19). 19 For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. 20 They staggered back under God’s command… 21 Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”
22 No, you have come to Mount Zion to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself…



Three Practical Actions To Keep From Crossing Your Wires
and Getting Casual and Routine:

1.) Prepare your heart for worship.

2.) Invest or engage yourself fully!


Psalm 66:2 (NIV ‘11), Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.

3.) Don’t ever lose the wonder.


2. Our wires get crossed when we become consumer oriented.


IMPORTANT: Worship isn’t primarily about what I can get out of it, but worship is about what I am able to give to God! Worship is not about ME or YOU; it’s about GOD!


OUR GOAL when it comes to CORPORATE WORSHIP at a2 Church:

We’re going to respond to ALL THAT GOD IS with ALL THAT WE ARE! We are going to respond to God’s holiness, righteousness, passion for justice, honor, goodness, compassion, tender mercy, amazing love and extravagant grace! We’re going to respond to the fullness of God’s being, every facet of who God is, with every resource we have at our disposal! We’re going to respond with our hearts, minds, voices, bodies, the arts, the spoken Word, prayer, dance, art, silence and reverence! We will never put God or our response to Him in a box! But we will never be consumers when it comes to our worship!

Examples: Isaiah 6; Luke 7; 2 Samuel 6; Psalm 47:1


3. Our wires get crossed when our worship gets out of balance.

John 4:23-24 (NLT), "But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

IMPORTANT: Worship should always strike a balance of being “in spirit” and “in truth.”


4. Our wires get crossed when our worship gets disconnected from real life.

Isaiah 29:13 (NIV ’11), The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Isaiah 29:13 (MSG), “These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their hearts aren’t in it… …they act like they’re worshipping me but [they] don’t mean it…”

Isaiah 29:14 (NIV ’11), Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder…

IMPORTANT: Worship is not meaningful because of the words that come off our tongues or the actions of our body. Worship is meaningful to God only to the extent that it’s a reflection of WHO we really are and WHAT we’re really about… Worship is only meaningful when the actions and words are connected with the way we are living our lives.

Isaiah 29:14 (NIV ’11), Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder…

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