BULLETIN STUDY QUESTIONS:  

  “Every man is bound somewhere, somehow, to a throne, to a government, to an authority, to something that is supreme, to something to which he offers sacrifice, and burns incense, and bends the knee.”—renowned Scottish pastor, G. Campbell Morgan

1. We all worship something or someone? How can you use that as a great starting point for witnessing conversations?

2. How do you define worship?

3. Why is worship included in a “Tough Topics” sermon series?

4. What do you come to GIVE in worship?

5. What do you come to GET/RECEIVE in worship?

6. “I would rather tone down a fanatic than resurrect a corpse”—Bishop Moule. Describe both your emotional and rational expressions of worship? Which way do you lean & why?

7. Describe a recent experience where you were awed by God.

I.  Intro. Preaching on tough topics may not be as hard as Phillie’s pitcher Cliff Lee’s behind the back line drive catch, but it comes close. (use Morgan QUO and tell how it can be used as a witnessing tool. Other segues into witnessing conversations: testimony, Eph 3:20 happenings, who is Jesus, how’s it between you and Him, are you interested in spiritual things?)

II.  Why would “worship” be in a series entitled “Tough Topics”? Isn’t worship just supposed to make us feel good?

     A.  That’s a very popular thought. It fits right into consumer Christianity that is rampant. I’ll go where I can get the best deal, that’s got the next big thing going on, get the biggest emotional ride, the most services, where not much will be asked of me, because the church/God is surely here just to serve me. Right now one of the trends is for people to go where they have the hottest band.

     B.  I know that’s where a lot of people are; and Jesus met people where they were. But He didn’t leave them there: “You who are without sin, throw the first stone; Go and sin no more; One thing you lack, sell all you have and give it to the poor; But who do you say that I am; Peter: But what about him? …what is that to you? You must follow me; Leave your nets [houses, lands, families] and FOLLOW ME!”

     C.  I’ll do whatever I can to help the church of Christ see that it’s not about consuming, but it’s about Christ & giving, serving. It’s about following Him in costly discipleship. That may cost me and us, I know.

     D.  Worship is about God’s presence among us. Every time worship occurred in the Bible there was this awesome sense that God had shown up.

          1.  I realize some of that depends on what we do to invite Him or hinder Him. Some of our ability to experience His presence depends on our condition; how receptive we are to sense His presence. Sometimes things we do, including me, the worship leaders, the worship setting, can hinder His presence being experienced by seeking people who just want to see Him high and lifted up, yet close and personal.

          2.  Yet sometimes Almighty God breaks through all the barriers I just talked about and shows up anyway.

          3.  Hear the words of pastor Warren Wiersbe: “We are weary of business as usual. We need and want a transforming experience from the Lord, the kind of spiritual visitation that will help to heel our broken homes and our split churches; that will strip away our religious veneer and get us back to reality; that will restore true spiritual values and destroy the cheap counterfeits we have been foisting on ourselves and the lost world; that will, most of all, bring such glory to God that the world will sit up and take notice and confess that ‘God is truly among you’ (I Cor 14:25).” (Real Worship, p. 14).

           4.  I want AFC to be like that scene from (Zech 8) where the presence of God was so powerfully and personally experienced that pagans were stopping Jews by grabbing them by the collar and saying (Zech 8:22-23). It’s probably been since HS that somebody grabbed me by the collar, and believe me it wasn’t to ask me about God’s presence. But I long for that to happen now. How about you?

          5.  Let’s not get too hung up over definitions. Definitions can cloud what we’re really after; and that’s the experience. Ill. Samuel Johnson’s classic defin of network: “Any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.” Huh? Beware the dangers of definitions

          6.  But I love this DEFINITION: “That corporate experience of Father God’s presence in which we GIVE ourselves entirely to Him, so that the Spirit of God transforms us to be more like the Son of God.” The Bible doesn’t DEFINE worship; but invites us to EXPERIENCE it.

          7.  The question is: Do we need an experience of God so that we can become more like the Son of God? I think the answer for most of us here is “YES.” But sadly, many are missing that. They are missing that because poorly conducted service, of apathetic or only occasional attendance.

          8.  What causes the latter? Worldly pursuits The same schedules and stuff that chokes out the Word in our lives (Mt 13:22) also chokes out worship that transforms. It could be sports, taking care of our stuff, our house(s), sleep. Whatever chokes out worship chokes out this transformation into Christlikeness.

          9.  There is a thought & practice among some that small groups are more important than worship; also expressed in house churches and just hanging out. I would agree if you’re just a baby Christian and HAVE to choose. But if you are a growing disciple why do you have to choose between the two. I realize there are special cases and temporary situations. Just don’t let self-deception make you miss worship that transforms.

     E.  Worship is connecting to the Almighty so we don’t become like the dry branches Jesus talked about in (John 15) that can do NOTHING.

     F.  We are dry branches when we have lots of motion, but little fruit. Rampant today. Pastor George McDonald comments: Without true worship “we will fail miserably or succeed more miserably,” (p. 17). We see lots of outward and worldly signs of success in many churches today. But are we bearing fruit in the form of true disciples that are changing their homes, work, & the world?

III.  Another corrective to consumer Christianity today is we must get it that worship is GIVING to God, not getting.

     A.  Some give in order to get. That’s “closet consumerism.” Millionaire industrialist R G LaTourneau, who gave away millions to Christian causes as a follower of Jesus, commented on giving in order to get God to do something for you: “If you give because it pays; then it won’t pay.” The same applies to worship: If we worship for what we can get, then it won’t pay.” It’s got to be about giving to God.

          1.  The saintly, yet powerful prophet of God, A W Tozer echoed this about giving to God: “Whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God.” If we worship because it pays; it won’t pay.

          2.  Now will we GET blessing as a by-product? You bet we will. But getting can’t be our motive for worship.

     B.  When the Spirit of God called the fist missionaries to leave the comforts of home and culture for cross cultural evangelism [FP promo here] He called them while they were “ministering to the Lord and fasting” (Ac 13:2, & Heb 10:11). The word “ministering” (“leitourgeo”-recognize it?) is fascinating in that it’s taken straight from the priestly worship of the OT. Here priests were all about GIVING to God their service, the sacrifices and THEMSELVES.

IV.  There are four primary Hebrew words the Bible uses for worship: the most used is “shacah.” It means to bow down in humble honoring (Gen 18:2).

     A.  Interestingly nearly ALL the words we translate “worship” have something to do with bodily posture or expressive language. The various words mean: “to fall before, to bow, to lie prostrate, to kiss (“proskuneo” Jn 4:21-24), to leap, to shout, to bend the knee, to raise the hands, lift your face, to work, to serve, to offer sacrifices.” Yet in much of the church today we stand, sit, or sing quietly calling it worship. Huh?

     B.  Bishop Temple called worship an adoring RESPONSE to God (p. 22). I like that emphasis in worship--there’s always some action God wants as a result of what happens in the experience. That’s a part of the transformation.

     C.  That response will be one of passion and emotion. I would agree that too much of worship in some circles is mere emotionalism that doesn’t translate into transformation. But I would also agree with Bishop Handley Moule who gets in our faces with: “I would rather tone down a fanatic than resurrect a corpse” (p. 24).

     D.  The very word “orthodox” means BOTH “right opinion” as well as “right praise.” There has to be both rational and emotional elements to worship. Are there to yours?

     E.  When Jesus said you must worship “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4) He was talking about rational (mind) and emotional (feeling) worship? Do you lean one way? Do you depend on the music part of worship to give you your emotional booster shot and the sermon to build up your mind? If your emotions aren’t stirred and your mind isn’t enlarged do you blame the musicians & the preacher? There is a $1.26 billion lawsuit being brought against Pepsi Cola Co for what amounts to a secy’s mistake. So what is your eternal soul worth? Have you ever thought you might want to sue your church for not helping you grow your soul correctly?

     F.  But if W. Crk.’s exhaustive & expensive research teaches us anything it is that the worshipper is in the (discipleship) driver’s seat, the church is in the passenger’s seat. We’re in this together.

V.  We must restore the awe and mystery to God and to worship. I’m afraid we too often try to do what Chuck Swindoll warned against: “We try to unscrew the inscrutable” (Isa 55:9; Rom 11:33; Eph 3:19). I’m always amused when I or another preacher tries to make you understand the peace & love of God that transcends understanding (Phil 4:; Eph 3:20). Would you want to serve a God you could completely figure out?

     A.  Preachers will often explain the mysteries and reduce the Christian life to 4 slides or spiritual laws, 5 ways to pray, to a godly marriage or to healing. Can God be reduced to 5 steps or 20? I [alone?] laughed at my sermon a few weeks ago with nearly 10 points. I was tempted to tell you to make up for that today’s would be pointless.

     B.  Where is the awe? It’s pretty hard to fall on your face over the awesome majesty of God while sipping on a latte. It’s tough to think of God as awesome if every other adjective out of your mouth is “awesome.” How can God, your new ride, and your taco all be described the same way? Am I making something major out of something minor? Tozer said “No one can know the love of God who has not first known the fear of God.” But, GOOD NEWS, we can experience things that we can’t explain (Ps 34:8). Have you tasted both His awesomeness and His love? Are you exper’g His presence?