Welcome to Bible Baptist Church Ballincollig, Cork Celebrating 12 Years Today is the Lords Day Sunday, 27 th August, 2006

August Memory Verse For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. 1Timothy 4:10

Announcements Dawn Jouans Birthday on Friday – in France Joy Barleys Birthday next Saturday Kevin and Eileen OKeeffes Anniversary next Sunday! Church Study at 7pm – Continuing Study of the Confusion about the Gift of Tongues Wednesday evening Bible Study at 7pm – Matthew 26

One More Birthday… Mary Ann Murphys is tomorrow!

Wrong Ways to Worship God Make Sure We Worship God His Way John 4:20-24

Introduction (Revelation 4:11) There are a million ways to worship God Most are the wrong ways People have a built-in desire to worship The chief purpose of man is to worship God The worship of God is the most fulfilling and powerful of experiences Throughout the Bible, you have the record of people worshipping God

What is Worship? True worship, real devotion does not consist in the performance of certain religious duties at set times, but in the spirit in which the Ordinary duties of common life are performed. William Law

This is a Multi-Part Message Wrong Ways to Worship The Right Ways to Worship

Preview – Wrong Ways to Worship (John 4:20-24) Geographically Ignorantly Paganly Without the New Birth Stubbornly Religiously Selfishly - Only for looks Apathetically – with no passion, heart, zeal

Stubbornly (John 4:22) How do people normally worship God? How does God demand that we worship Him? Humbly Stubborn worship started just outside the garden of Eden with the worship method of Cain (Gen 4:3-12) Worship is defined by the Jews! Not popular opinion You have to know the God of the Jews – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! You have to believe a Jewish Messiah – Jesus was a Jew You have to get a Jewish Bible You have to honour the Jews Place in Gods Plan (Romans 9:1-5; Romans 1:16) Humbling isnt it? Good! That will be the best way to approach God – as a nothing, clinging only to Jesus, knowing you dont even deserve crumbs from the table!

Religiously – according to traditions (Matthew 15:7-9) To worship only religiously means Having a form of worship - a form of godliness – praying just so, and talking using religious sounding words and phrases Acting like you are worshipping, but only acting! Going through all the motions of worship, but the heart is still far from God Religion is a work to try and impress God – wasted effort! Worship is a work of the heart to try and love God To worshipping God religiously means to do everything you can for God, but without having true love for God Examine your heart! Worship is not a Sunday Thing – it is a spiritual thing that you do on Sunday, AND Monday, AND Tuesday, etc! What you DO is not worship – what spirit and what attitude you have while you do what you do is worship!

Selfishly - Only for looks (1Samuel 15:25-30) and for personal gain How much time do you pray for THINGS and improvements in your welfare instead of for others, and improvements in your attitudes? Selfish worship is what drove a wedge between Lucifer/Satan and the Lord in heaven at first – Lucifer thought only of his lack Later, Satan taught Eve to believe SHE was lacking too and to think of HERSELF! Self worship is shown by the amount of time you spend in front of a mirror, how much money you spend on clothes, and fashion, and how much time you spend worrying about what others think of you instead of God! So many people only worship a good, giving God that gives them what they want – if God is not meeting their needs at the moment, they dump Him.

Apathetically – with no passion, heart, or zeal (John 5:40) No real need. You just do things because it is expected So, no prayer life – just a few prayers here and there No serious study of the word of God – just a Book No burden to win souls No commitment to a local Bible believing Church No thought about sin in your life No worry about the judgment of God

Without the New Birth (John 4:24) It is impossible to worship God as a condemned sinner Thats why, when you are sinning, you feel the hypocrite when you come to church – because sin blocks your relationship with God Unless that sin-record is taken cared of, all the worship in the world will do you no good Jesus said to a very religious, very worshipful man named Nicodemas, that he HAD to be born again to worship God Same goes for everyone

Conclusion (2Corinthians 11:3) There are a million ways to worship God Most are the wrong ways Geographically Ignorantly Paganly Stubbornly Religiously Selfishly - Only for looks Apathetically – with no passion, heart, or zeal Without the New Birth The worst of all is to try to do it ignorantly, without the new birth!