The Why Behind Worship!

Lately, I have been thinking, a lot, about why we meet together on Sunday mornings for worship.  One Sunday, about two weeks ago, I was on my way to church when God put a verse in my mind:  Psalm 51:10.  Psalm 51:10 is why we join together to worship.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me."
                                                  -Psalm 51:10

God wants us to join together and glorify Him through corporate worship.  That is not all worship is, though!  If it were, worship would be all about us.  Worship is not about us!  Worship is about God and expecting Him to do greater things among us.

God is expecting to create in us clean hearts and align our spirits with His.  Paul tells us, we are to renew our minds daily, but weekly we should gather together and ask God to clean our hearts and renew our spirits!  When we come to worship expecting God to create something new in our hearts and spirits, worship becomes about Him, what He has done and wants to do within us!

It doesn't matter whether you are a seeker, new believer, or 50 year veteran of Christianity, Psalm 51:10 is the foundation for corporate worship!

So this week, go to worship expecting God to create something new within you.  When you do, God will.  

Do You Believe God For The Big Stuff?

Read John 7:11-17.

Do you believe God for the big stuff in your life?  He can take care of it.  He's God.

Live Louder!

Life isn't easy.  Everyone knows that.  For a follower of Jesus in particular, life can be a great challenge.  Why you might ask?  Because we are given specific instructions to share Jesus with the world (Matthew 28).  Sharing Jesus isn't just telling people about Him—It's living it out so that people notice something different in you.  In John 7:7 Jesus makes a very blatant point.  He was speaking to his disciples about a festival to attend.  Jesus told his disciples to go because they were not known as his followers yet so they weren't in danger.  What was the danger?  Death, prison, ridicule.  Jesus says: The world can't hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil.  Jesus' point is simply look, the world hates me because I call it what it is.  In other words, the world recognizes that Jesus is different because he didn't live like the world, in fact, he accused the world of being evil.

It should be the same in our lives as well.  People should notice that we are not the same as we once were.  Maybe we aren't even the same as we were  yesterday.  The difference is Jesus.  It's Jesus showing us in our life what is evil and what is good and then acting on the good and not acting on the evil.  Being a follower of Jesus requires action.  If we do not follow through on the things Jesus shows us in our lives then we will never fully experience life to the full as Jesus describes.

Dr. Chris Marshall of New Life Christian Ministries  states the following, helpful formula, for followers of Jesus.

INFORMATION + APPLICATION = TRANSFORMATION

Like wise,

INFORMATION - APPLICATION = INFORMATION

Do you want a transformed life?  Then ACT on the words of Jesus and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  Show people the difference.  If they don't notice, I would ask the question: Are you really following Jesus?  The Apostle Paul tells us to not copy the ways of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds—through Jesus—so that we become a new person by the way we think.  God is always making something new.  He is constantly redeeming his creation.  If we are followers of Jesus then we should experience Jesus making something new in our life every day.  Even if that new thing is a simple smile where there used to be a frown.

The world will hate you because you will accuse it of it's evil through your life.  That doesn't matter.  What matters is your relationship with Jesus and how seriously you take Matthew 28.  If you take it seriously people will notice.  If you don't, they'll notice that too.

Thoughts On Leadership

The other day I was reading the account of Moses' call into ministry.  I have always loved this account because I can relate to it in this way:  God puts have an amazing calling on our lives and we are pumped to serve him!  Then reality sets in and we begin to say "I'm not good enough!"  It's a shame that a lot of times our human insecurity casts a dark shadow on the will of God.  Instead of leaning into God and trusting that His will and purpose for our lives will lead to "greater things" as Jesus said, we lean into our insecurity and begin to fall prey to a lie.  When God gives a call to a person, he provides for that person what they will need to fulfill the calling!  I find it interesting though that Moses still trusted more in his insecurity than the power of God.  However God still provided for him!  Moses told God he couldn't speak well.  God tell's Moses: "Who gave man his mouth?"  Moses still wimps out and says God please send someone else! (Ever been there?)  God became angry at Moses for not trusting completely in His power but He still provided for Moses!  God gave Aaron to Moses to speak for him.  This part is interesting:  God told Moses, Aaron would be like Moses' mouth and Moses would be like God to Aaron.  God makes it clear though that He will help these guys by teaching them what to do!  God would have taught Moses by himself, but Moses trusted more in His insecurity.  God also gave Moses a sign and a promise through his staff.  So remember, lean into God.  He alone is our provider of security: He bought us at a high price!  Remember that the next time someone comes to you to fight against the visions and decisions GOD GAVE YOU for your ministry!

Just one more thing I want to point out.  Everything is going awesome for Moses in terms of fulfilling God's plan.  God gave him the call at the burning bush, God gave him Aaron to speak for him, and Moses is on his way back to save his people.  Then there is a bump in the road, which there often is in man's life.  Exodus 4:24-26 says that while Moses, his wife and child where lodging along the way "The LORD met Moses and was about to kill him."  That is comforting. God gave you this amazing call, he provides for your needs to fulfill that call, and now he is going to kill you.  Lots to look forward to as a Pastor or leader in the church!  Actually the point here is very clear and that is why I love God's Word.  God is a just God, and he cannot allow Moses to lead his people out of Egypt unless Moses himself is following the law that God gave to his native people.  Moses neglected to circumcise his son therefore neglecting the covenant God made with his people through Abraham.  The long and short of this is that God cannot allow a person to serve Him without accountability!  Serving God is pretty serious stuff.  In fact, teachers in the church will be held to a higher standard of judgment!  Take this lesson from Moses and get rid of sin in your life if you know where that sin is!  God has provided our forgiveness of sin through Jesus, so don't, as the Apostle Paul says, live in it anymore.  It was crucified with Christ.  Be free and serve God, fulfilling the calling God has placed on your life!

The Two Main Points:

1. Trust God alone.  He called you.  He'll teach you and provide for you.

2. Get rid of sin.  Serve free.