Purpose Driven Life 2
Call to Worship
Psalm 105 1-4
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
Prayers
PRAYER OF PRAISE AND ADORATION:
We praise you, O God, with words of thanksgiving in our mouths and in our hearts - words which can never really do justice to the depth of your care for us.
We rejoice in your blessings, yet we so often fail to live up to them. Like your people of old, we often desire to fashion you in our image or in ways that we can control. Knowing these failings of ours as you do, you still invite us to share your life of grace and abundant love by being united with Jesus Christ through the power of your Spirit. We do not deserve such gifts.
We can only receive them and respond because Jesus intercedes for us in our weakness. May this time of worship and our daily living proclaim our thanksgiving for these undeserved and lavish gifts of grace. In Jesus' name,
we pray. Amen.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION -
Merciful God, you have graced our lives with the life of Jesus, and we rejoice that our lives are forever linked with him through baptism. This enables us to recognise and proclaim Jesus as your Son, and our Lord and Saviour.
In him, our lives - our minds and our hearts - are transformed and renewed so that we may discern in your will for the world all that is good and acceptable and perfect.
We confess, however, that there are times when our actions and our words seem to be conformed more to the world's values than to doing your will.
Forgive us when we believe that our faith experience is superior to the way others have come to faith and so fail to recognise and share the humility that life in Christ possesses. Forgive us when we exclude people from our fellowship through prejudice and discrimination; and so fail to recognise and share the love that life in Christ imparts.
Merciful God, so transform us with the life of Christ and renew us in his image that the grace, humility and compassion which marked his life will be clearly visible in and experienced through our lives; so that we who are one
body in Christ may delight in sharing the gifts you graciously give us for both the building up of this community of faith and the communities in which we live and work and play. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS:
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, to whom we have been reconciled through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17,18a).
Thanks be to God!
We respond together with the prayer that Jesus taught us "Our Father"…
Announcement and offering
Hymn: Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice
Interview: Olive C
Setting the Scene:
Pic: Pen in hand
Piece of paper - sign your name
Sign your name with your other hand.
What does it feel like writing with the wrong hand
Feelings: Backwards, weak, wrong, no fine motor control, difficult.
Why do you write with the hand you write with?
Learned that way. It was natural. Example. Social programming, etc. The preferred way!
We all have preferences, what feels right is what we keep doing, When we go outside our preference zone, it feels like there is something wrong, against the wind, difficult, weak.
It’s the dame with worship and church. When someone introduces us to another style of worship, new elements within worship, the use of video clips to illustrate a point, an upbeat song, asking us to get up and pray with other people - we may feel awkward - uncomfortable.
Because we all have strongly held preference - like right or left handedness, and the danger is that we equate our discomfort with the discomfort of God! If we don't like it, God doesn't like it! We tend to think that our preferences are God preferences. He prefers a certain style, way of worship, style of service.
But did you know - God loves worship, desires that we worship Him. God has given the gift of music to all generations. He has no preferred style of music, We do, but God doesn't! What God truly desires is that we worship him in spirit and in truth.
Not anything to do with style of music, but all to do with hearts sincerity.
A problem Christians today have is that they have missed out on what true worship is - for worship is the whole of our life! It is how we live and move and have our being - worship is not defined by something that happens here for an hour and a quarter. It is much more than that.
If worship is defined in Sunday morning worship - what we have defined is a shallow relationship with God. If your family relationships were defined by what happens at breakfast table on a Monday morning between 7 and 9 then we have missed out on so much. If your own preference become so important to us it's because we have failed to grasp that worship is much more than Sunday - it is the whole of life.
Next weekend we will learn much more about worship - worship with our talents, our bodies, our whole selves - worship that is not just confined to Sundays, but an experience to influence all that we are. Come along next week and learn about worship - don't say its not your thing - because your thing is to worship God, that is why you were made, so why not shrug off your preferences and worship God in spirit and in truth
Song: You shall go out with joy
Bible Reading: Mark 12:28-34 - Libby E
Hymn: Like a mighty river flowing
Talk:
Making God Smile
Prayer: Romans 12:1-2, (start sermon with this as a prayer)
12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers & Sisters, 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. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Introduction:
Pic: Question Mark
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is. -- Albert Einstein
You have probably have heard the question "why am I here?" so many times that it is almost a joke. In our culture we are told that the truth is relative. We have become a society that believes, and pressures people to think that no absolute truth exists.
"Believe what you want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone!" .yet in our hearts we know that absolute truth exists, and this statement is a lie. There are right and wrong things to do, believe, and act upon.
So where does this leave us? Why are we here? ...or has this question truly become irrelevant?
Why do these questions haunt our existence? Because there is a deeper meaning to life. There are many things written by God into our hearts and our natures that we will never understand if we do not relate to God.
Last week we looked at Psalm 8 - and acknowledged that God knows why we are formed - we were once dust - taken us into the palm of his hands, and when dust is held in Gods hands, something amazing happens, we are formed into diamonds, multi facetted to reflect Gods glory and light to a world seeking for answer and reason. (We are indeed "Crowned with glory and honour, made in Gods likeness")
The writers of the Westminster Confession of Faith once said that “The chief end of humanity”—the number one purpose for people—“is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
The Bible assures us that God has created us in order to bring pleasure to him; and, as we do that, we begin to discover an ever-deepening pleasure or enjoyment in God. The language the Bible uses to describe all of this is far more concise. It is the word “worship.” The old English term “worthship.” Worship is the act of expressing what you believe God is “worth.” Or what you consider contrastingly, to truly “be worthy”, if it isn’t God that your life is focused on.
1, Consistent Worship .
Pic: worship
For many Christians, when we hear the word worship, we think about Sunday morning and of what happens for an hour when we meet together. Try to start a discussion with a group of Christians on the theme of Worship and you will see how quickly the conversation will on style of music, volume, rhythm, liturgical or free. Comparing churches with each other, different traditions and method. Friends, we are often guilty in narrowing worship down to this. Yet worship is much more than this - the whose of life is to be a worshipful experience, the whole of life is to be constant communion with God. Last Sunday following the service one of the girls brigade mums asked me why we had not celebrated mass. I explained that we were not a Catholic church, and we did not celebrate Communion every week - just once a month. When she had left the building I wished I had said that the whole of life is Holy communion with God, every meal is a breaking of bread in his presence, every drink is a sharing of his joy and suffering. Communion is not an act we do once a month - communion with God is our life; worship is not something that happens for an hour on a Sunday morning - worship is why were are here.
When I entered into marriage I entered into a lifelong commitment. Marriage is a covenant that is for all times. Not just once a week; Likewise parenting is a tall commitment. If we met once a week around a breakfast table and departed with the words: I'll see you next week, I'll see you next Christmas, I'll see you if somebody dies, it would be a pail reflection of the commitment we are expected to demonstrate. God desires that we should worship him everyday in everyway , at all times -. Every time you turn your face towards his face - it pleases God - the way you are pleased when your loved ones pay attention to you. We are made in his image.
The Psalmist says: “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.”
Worship is seeking to please God with your life. Worship is far more then an act of communion it is an act of devotion. Worship is not just part of your life - it is your life. That to which you devote yourself is your life- it is your worship. God wants you to worship him.
The apostle Paul know this, and kept returning to this theme in his letter writing
1 Cor 10: 31 whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Col 3: 17 Whatever you do whether in word or deed do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Col 3: 23 Whatever you do work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
Do we look at the totality of life as an act of worship?
Do we look at the way we parenting as an act of worship?
Do we look at the way we handle business transactions as an act of worship?
What about the way we handle that treat our neighbours
What about those opportunities at work and play
Hoe often we fail to recognise act of worship?
Using the gifts and abilities God gave us- pleases him
Trusting him through hard and difficult times in our work, health, family, - pleases him
Anytime we regard what we do and who we are as a way of honouring, devoting and serving God - it pleases Him
For God senses that we sense his worth.
Will this facet of our self angled in the right way, God’s glory can meet us and we him no matter where we go.
A coffee shop can become an altar.
Your work desk becomes a sanctuary.
A daily task quietly done can become a psalm of praise that sounds in heaven and makes God smile
Worship is about seeking to live in communion with God everyday
It is about honouring God with your entire life as an act of devotion.
Going back to the left and right hand thing from before. Corporate worship on a Sunday is a way that together we give honour to God, and show grace to each other. What happens here each week has to be much more than personal preference to worship, but a growing understanding of who we are, how a time to give thanks and rejoice that in this life of worship such a diverse group of people can join hearts and minds in this common act of praise.
2) Authentic worship
Pic: kneel and worship
But worship is much more than corporate - it's also personal. And the other 167 hours a week that we are not together in this way, we are challenged to find appropriate ways to worship that brings honour to God and is true to who we are:
God always requires authentic worship - far broader than what we do here on a Sunday morning. In recent years there has been much research on the human personality. The Meyers Briggs worship reveals that we are indeed intricate beings, we differ greatly from each other, and have varying needs and desires. The challenge is to fine ways of worship that suit us for those 167 hours a week, and to worship God in spirit and in truth. Let me give you some examples:
The Extraverts among us will crave noise and a chance to dance and meet with others to encourage them. They (Or should I say I) will love God through celebration.
Whilst the Introvert will prefer to love God in solitude and simplicity. In quietness - Jesus word about the closed door in solitude will speak volumes to you if you are introvert.
Sensory people worship God with their senses and appreciate the beautiful world around them that involve their sight, smell, taste and touch, not just their ears.
Intuitive folks love God by studying with their minds, by discerning what is right and by shrewdly sharing with others in insightful ways.
We have to be true to the people who we are:
If we love nature we will naturally become aware of God when surrounded by his beautiful creation. Taking in the vastness of creation.
An Activists will draw close to God through confronting evil, battling against in justice and making the world a better place.
Care Givers - will love God by loving other and meetings needs.
We can all think of people we know that connect with God in a particular way. I look around me and I acknowledge the activists, who worshiping God through social action, the sensory folks, who are so hands on and passionate, the care-givers who never tire in their worship of God through acts of love and tenderness.
The challenge is to be aware of ourselves, and how God has made us, and to worship him with all of our lives.
We are challenged to find that aspect of our personality where we can truly connect with God and to do it as our reasonable act of daily worship.
Don't forget - worship is not about us - It I about God, we have to learn how the praise of God can becomes a natural expression of who we are.
3) Sincere worship.
Pic: Sacrifice (Agnus Dei - Francisco de Zurburán (1598-1664), Canvas 38 x 62 cm.)
In our reading from Romans that I started this sermon with, the apostle Paul invites us to: Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice - Holy and pleasing to God for this is your spiritual act of worship.
Here Paul writes to a people who knew about sacrifice. They know about things like purification, ritual and sacrificial perfection that were necessary to please God. But no more was this requires - forget the endless searching for a spotless dove and a perfect lamb - the sacrifice that was required now was far more personal.
In the Old Testament we find Amos attempts to communicate God's word to Israel. Amos - which means "Burden bearer" - bears the burden of God's heart to a stubborn people who had turned away from God. Someone has described Amos as 'the first Great Reformer.' He was not like the other prophets, Amos lacked the sympathy, warm love, and feeling of the almost kinship with the people that other prophets had, Amos was the stern prophet of justice and righteousness.
Through Amos God spoke against ancient Israel : Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Why did God say this? It sounds to me like your worshiping. Why did God say this?
Amos goes on to say there was no real "body", no substance behind it - no essence of self behind what they did when they met together - there was - no living sacrifice in it. Sabbath worship alone is never enough - without the life of worship it is of nothing to God.
Amos tells Israel that they had failed to surrender all of self in obedience to God. Especially their care for the poor, and their work for justice was sadly lacking and so all there noise, all their songs and best efforts, God did not recognise as worship.
Conclusion:
Pic: consistent
I sense in this church many acts of worship that go on through the week. We have been acknowledging these in the service in recent weeks, and will continue to do so. Those acts of grace, love and kindness that demonstrate that once the service is over here on a Sunday - the life of worship goes on.
But let us never sit back on our laurels - God still requires that living sacrifice from each of us. If we really want to make God smile - consistent, authentic and sincere, worship is to be our daily relationship with God. And so I conclude where I began with those words from Romans 12 - but the Message version sums it up all so well;
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. 2Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Amen.
Intercession: (With flute only) Bless the Lord my soul (Taize)
Closing Hymn: He who would valiant be
Benediction:
Go into this week filled with
the peace of God which passes all human understanding,
the mind of Jesus Christ which surpasses all human thinking,
the power of the Holy Spirit which outlasts all human strength