Feb. 26 - Why Worship?
#1 – Focus on God
2 Kings 17:38-39 NIV
Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."
#2 – Passionate sacrifice
Revelation 3:15-16 NIV
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
#2 - Passionate sacrifice
Romans 12:1 NIV
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.
#3 – Spirit and truth
John 4:23-24 NIV
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."
#4 – Best of the old and new
Jeremiah 6:16 NIV
This is what the lord says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'
#4 - Best of the old and new
Psalm 96:1 NIV
Sing to the lord a new song; sing to the lord, all the earth.
#5 – Go for great
Psalm 33:1-3 NIV
Sing joyfully to the lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
#5 - Go for great
2 Samuel 22:36 NIV
You make your saving help my shield; your help has made me great.
#5 - Go for great
Malachi 1:8 NIV
When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the lord Almighty.
#6 – Believer deep/seeker clear
Ephesians 3:8-9 NIV
Although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
#6 - Believer deep seeker/clear
1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
#7 – Freedom
Psalm 119:91 NIV
Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.
#7 - Freedom
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Resources/Tool box* for today’s message
•Read and Reflect on the following: Psalms—23, 27, 40, 103. Why is worship more than music, songs, and words on a screen? •For Life Group: Use Psalm 136 as a responsive reading. Have one person speak the descriptive verse and the group responds with the repeating verse. •Questions for Life Group or Personal Reflection: Describe a time in which you really sensed God’s presence in a close way. What are things you do to draw close to God? How does personal/private worship influence corporate/congregational worship? Vice-versa? •Prayers of Thanksgiving: “Lord I thank you for…” *Tool Box is a book, website, video, questions and scripture that you can use for further study or application of the message from the worship experience
"Pray for one another"
How can we pray for you?