https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WorshipOfGod.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Revelation 5:11-14<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Why are you here?<\/p>\n
A. Because it is what you do on Sundays? Because your parents make you come?<\/p>\n B. I hope most of us will say we are here to worship. After all, we call this the\nworship service.\n
C. Yet, most of us have only vague notions what is worship. <\/p>\n 1. Think for a moment: Of the things we have done here today, which\nconstitutes worship?\n
2. What makes it worship?<\/p>\n D. Like many concepts in the Bible, there are multiple words applied to the idea of\nworship. By examining each one, perhaps we will get a better appreciation for\nwhat is truly worship.\nII. Most of the references to worship come from the Hebrew word shachah<\/i> (shaw-khaw’) or\nthe Greek word proskuneo<\/i> (pros-koo-neh’-o).\n A. Both words refer to a person willingly bowing himself to the ground before\nsomeone greater. It is used to indicate the powerlessness of the person bowing.\n B. It like the other words we will be examining, it is not used exclusively of\nworshiping God.\n
1. Joseph’s brothers bowed before Joseph – Genesis 42:6<\/p>\n
2. Just as Joseph, in turn, bowed before his father, Jacob – Genesis 48:8-12<\/p>\n
3. David bowing before King Saul – I Samuel 24:8<\/p>\n
4. The prophets bowing before the Elisha, the leading prophet – II Kings 2:15<\/p>\n 5. Or even to someone in a better position that you, such as Ruth bowing\nbefore Boaz (Ruth 2:10) or Abraham before landowner from whom he\nwished to purchase land (Genesis 23:7)\n C. The idea of falling on our face before someone is foreign to Americans. We don’t\neven prostrate ourselves to our president. But this is because we view everyone as\nequals, even if they carry greater power.\n
D. The example of Abraham’s servant<\/p>\n 1. When Abraham’s servant need help finding a wife for Isaac, he prayed for\nGod’s aid – Genesis 24:11-14\n 2. When God answered that prayer exactly as asked, he bowed his head and\nprayed – Genesis 24:23-27\n 3. When he was given an immediate granting of his request, beyond all\nreasonable expectations, Abraham’s servant prostrated himself on the\nground to worship – Genesis 24:50-52\n
4. When faced with proof of the power of God, the servant could do no less.<\/p>\n
E. The Bible teaches us that we all will prostrate ourselves in the presence of God.<\/p>\n 1. When God proves His might by the fulfilment of prophecy, every knee\nwill bow – Isaiah 45:23\n 2. It will occur at judgment as we all swear allegiance to God (a better\ntranslation than “give praise”) – Romans 14:11\n 3. Jesus’ great deed of saving mankind from their own sins will produce the\nsame effect – Philippians 2:8-11\n F. When Peter realized that he was in presence of the mighty God, he was struck\nhow worthless he was – Luke 5:3-9\n G. This is no different than Job’s reaction when he received proof of God’s\nknowledge – Job 42:1-6\n H. When Paul looked back at the kindness of God in allowing him, of all people, to\nbe His minister to the Gentiles, he bowed before God asking that others\ncomprehend what he had learned – Ephesians 3:6-21\n I. Such will be the response of all whom God saves from their wickedness –\nRevelation 4:8-11; 5:11-14\n
J. Songs<\/p>\n
1. All Things Praise Thee<\/i> (25)<\/p>\n
2. Lord, We Come Before Thee Now<\/i> (419)<\/p>\nIII. While shachah<\/i> (shaw-khaw’) and proskuneo<\/i> (pros-koo-neh’-o) demonstrate the reaction\nof people in the presence of God, two other words give us insight into the hearts of the\nworshiper. The Hebrew word yare<\/i> (yaw-ray’) and the Greek word sebomai<\/i> (seb’-om-ahee) refers to the sense of awe and fear a person has in the presence of God.\n A. The word is used to describe people who worshiped God, such as Lydia – Acts\n16:14\n
1. In older translation it is rendered as “Godfearing.”<\/p>\n
B. It is the heart-felt part of our religion – Isaiah 29:13<\/p>\n
1. Worship that is external only is unacceptable to God.<\/p>\n
2. God is to be served with fear – Psalm 2:11<\/p>\n
3. God is to be worshiped in fear – Psalm 5:7<\/p>\n C. Think about the reaction of men in presence of God’s messengers, the angels –\nDaniel 10:5-9\n 1. That happened with just an angel. Imagine the reaction of being before\nGod Almighty!\n a. Is it a wonder that the Israelites wanted a mediator? – Exodus\n19:18-20, 20:18-19\n
b. That was Isaiah’s reaction – Isaiah 6:1-5<\/p>\n
c. Or Abram’s reaction – Genesis 15:12<\/p>\n
2. This is what happened to the disciples when God spoke – Matthew 17:5-6<\/p>\n
3. John’s reaction to Christ – Revelation 1:17<\/p>\n D. If there is just one element missing from our worship, it is our awe of God. Who\ncan claim such a fear of God and then miss services because there were other\nthings to do?\n
E. Songs<\/p>\n
1. Holy, Holy, Holy<\/i> (238)<\/p>\n
2. Awesome God<\/i> (908)<\/p>\n
3. I Stand in Awe<\/i> (937)<\/p>\n
4. How Great Thou Art<\/i> (226)<\/p>\nIV. Our final pair of words is the Hebrew word abad<\/i> (aw-bad’) and the Greek word latreia<\/i>\n(lat-ri’-ah). These words refer to service given as a servant or bondsman of someone\ngreater.\n
A. Notice the commands to the Israelites regarding their worship of God<\/p>\n
1. Deuteronomy 6:13 – Only God is to be feared and served (worshiped)<\/p>\n 2. Deuteronomy 10:12-13 – To fear God is to obey, love, and serve him from\nthe heart\n
3. Deuteronomy 10:20-21 – God is our praise<\/p>\n
B. Such a heart-felt service is required of Christians as well – Hebrews 12:28-29<\/p>\n
1. If we truly love God, we will be obedient – John 14:15<\/p>\n 2. As servants of the Almighty, we give our lives to His service – Romans\n12:1\n C. We serve the Master by doing the things He has asked of us. No slave serves a\nmaster by making up things. He asks his master’s will and then performs it with\nhis full might\n 1. The Lord’s Supper, commanded by God, memorializes Jesus’ death on our\nbehalf – I Corinthians 11:23-26\n
2. Singing is service to God – Colossians 3:16-17<\/p>\n
3. Prayer is pleasing in God’s sight – I Timothy 2:1-8<\/p>\n
4. Giving – II Corinthians 8:1-9<\/p>\n
5. Listening to God’s Word – Nehemiah 8:2-3, 5-6, 8<\/p>\n a. The message of the cross brings glory to God – I Corinthians 1:18;\n2:1-5\n
D. Songs<\/p>\n
1. Follow Me<\/i> (150)<\/p>\n
2. Take My Life, and Let It Be<\/i> (613)<\/p>\n
3. I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go<\/i> (314)<\/p>\nV. Worship is not in the common and everyday events in our lives. Worship is not accidently\ngiven. It is the natural reaction of men in the presence of God to offer praise to him.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Revelation 5:11-14 I. Why are you here? A. Because it is what you do on Sundays? Because your parents make you come? B. I hope most of us will say we are here to worship. After all, we call this the worship service. C. Yet, most of us have only vague notions what…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[636,352,574,84],"class_list":["post-3278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-awe","tag-fear","tag-service","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51840,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-everything-we-do-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":3278,"position":0},"title":"Is Everything We Do Worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Harold Hancock A Christian should try to please God in everything he does, but everything a Christian does is not worship. For instance, a Christian may travel, work, rest, and sleep with God's approval, but he is not worshipping God when he does these things In the New Testament,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2705,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":3278,"position":1},"title":"What is Worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: John 4:19-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was asked recently to address a question of what constitutes worship \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Defining terms, such as worship, is interesting because there is a tendency in the religious world towards vagueness. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Pentecostal beliefs emphasize the emotional experience (the spirit). Worship is not real unless you can feel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62696,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-heart-felt-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":3278,"position":2},"title":"A Heart-Felt Religion?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: John 4:19-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It seems many people today are struggling with the concept of worship. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Suppose a visitor comes to worship with us. We sing songs of praise to God. The lights are on, eyes are open, no one is swaying with hands\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10292,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-children-attend-your-worship-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":3278,"position":3},"title":"Do children attend your worship services?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. We are going to be visiting Omaha next weekend and we are looking for a church to attend on Sunday morning. I have a couple of questions. Do you allow children ( 2 years old to 6 years old) to be a part of your worship service or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5922,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-bagels-and-coffee-improve-our-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":3278,"position":4},"title":"Will Bagels and Coffee Improve Our Worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Weliever \u201cDuring our years of church planting, we tried to change people\u2019s perceptions about what the Sunday worship would look like,\u201d wrote Michelle Lazurek, in a recent Crosswalk.com article. \u201cWe took out pews and replaced them with pub tables and chairs, added lights and a stage and most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Coffee-and-Bagel-300x210.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8645,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-worship-at-home-because-it-is-more-convenient\/","url_meta":{"origin":3278,"position":5},"title":"Can we worship at home because it is more convenient?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 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