Worship: Bringing God Glory. Sermon 1 of 6 February 14 th 2016

Where Are We Going? Deuteronomy 6:4-5 on page 284: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Which Jesus quoted in Matthew 22:37-38, Mark 12:29-30, and Luke 10:27. Exodus 34:14 on page 141 “14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

Our Focus Worship. Evangelism, Discipleship, Fellowship, Ministry.

Worship Worship is the End and the Beginning of Discipleship, Evangelism, Fellowship, and Ministry. These Equal 167 Hours a Week. They Lead to 1/168 th of a Week to Worship Together. Living purposeful lives in all aspects of our faithfulness ends in genuine, God focused, thankful, Worship.

It is Also the Beginning… When we start each week off meeting together with God as our focus it can be the kick start to a week that encourages us to live purposeful lives. Worship that is genuine in heart and head is relevant and impactful.

Moving Ahead This topic is congregational and it relies on the application of all of the previous topics. Worship is a topic that each generation needs to understand from God’s perspective.

Six Parts of the Series 1.God Alone is Worthy of Worship. 2.We Are Made to Worship. 3.Worshipping in Spirit and Truth. 4.Living a Life of Worship. 5.God’s Direction in Worshipping Together. 6.Worshipping Jesus – Our Easter Message.

What is Worship? 7 Words From the Hebrew… O.T.- (7812) Sha ckah (Shaw-khaw) 172 Times Eg. Gen 24:26 -To depress, bow to, reflexively. -To be humble to. 5 of the 7 Hebrew words for worship primarily focused on the way the Israelites postured themselves before God: kneeling, bowing, raising of hands, falling prostrate, etc.

From the Greek There are three key Greek words and one other word used only once. N.T.- (4352) proskunew 60 Times Eg. Mt 28:17 -To kiss the hand, token of reverence. -Fall on knee & touch ground w/ forehead in homage.

From the Greek (3000) latreuw 21 Times Eg. Acts 24:14; Phil. 3:3 -Serve for hire. -Minister to God. -To perform sacred service.

From the Greek (4576) sebo 10 Times Eg. Acts 16:14, Acts 17:4 -reverence, devout. -personally esteem. -showing reverence or awe.

From the Greek The compound word (from 2309 /thélō, "desire" and 2356 /thrēskeía, "religion") *(1479) ethelothreskeia.* Col. 2: Only in verse 23. -"Will worship", that is, worship that one prescribes for himself. -Self Imposed or self-directed worship coming from one’s own will.

English Roots Our English roots draw us to the concepts of “worthy” and “magnify”. What do you value? What gives your life joy, purpose, and meaning? Another way to ask the question is “what do you love?”

What Do You Love? We love family (philia), our spouse (eros), our kids (storge), our things and our pleasures (thelema), and we love to give in self-sacrificing ways (agape). No matter what, or who is on the list, God alone is worthy of worship.

The Passages Deuteronomy 6:4-5 on page 284: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Which Jesus quoted in Matthew 22:37-38, Mark 12:29-30, and Luke 10:27. Exodus 34:14 on page 141 “14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

God in First Place Luke 14:26-27, and verse “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. … 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Matthew 13:44-45 Mt 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Mt 13:45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Absolute Statements Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Mark includes all your mind. This does not give room for anything or anyone else. In Luke we learn that nothing else should get in the way of following Jesus. In Matthew “…in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” And 45 “he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

Only One God Worthy of Worship When you magnify something it becomes your sole (and soul) focus and you notice things that you had not seen before. This change in attention and perspective relates to worship.

What Is It? Cauliflower

What Is It? Eyebrows

What Is It? Velcro

Sunday Focus As we gather on a Sunday morning as a congregation our focus should be on God. We magnify Him so we focus our attention on Him and see how wonderful He is. All aspects of our worship service should draw us to look at God and enlarge His presence in our lives.

Consider Our Service This Morning Did you come full and ready to worship? How prepared were you to focus on God? How has our ________ led to seeing the worth and priority of God? We have had opportunity to focus on God, how well did you focus?

Getting Ready… How do you think this series will challenge and encourage your choices in worship?

God Alone is Worthy of Worship God is deserving of our attention and focus. He is worth magnifying, examining, and celebrating.

God Alone is Worthy of Worship May today’s message impact your worship of God through the week and bring you back next week as we look at the truth that all people everywhere have a built in desire to worship.