One of the key components of a follower of Jesus is worship. Some may ask how do I worship God personally? As a parent, how do I teach my kids to worship? This coming Sabbath we’ll discover the importance of worship individually, and how we can build up our faith as a family unit.
Handout | PowerPoint | Transcript
Thank you, Ben. If you’ve been blessed by our praise team, please say amen. Everyone, we greatly appreciate you. Thank you for always doing a wonderful hard work and also faithfully coming to practice every Friday night. Thank you.
Let’s Pray. God, we thank you as we join together as a family and we pray Lord, as we begin a new series on worship. Lord, be with us in Jesus name. Amen.
Well, good morning and happy Sabbath, everybody. January is over. How many of you felt like you struggled through January? How many of you felt like January took forever? Even though we had an extra day, you know, well, it’s a new month and also a new sermon series last week. Sorry. Last month we went through what did it mean to have a Christ Centered life. And this month I want to be focusing on Anchored in Worship.
How many have ever been on a boat before? How many of you have actually ever had to use an anchor? So you can’t just throw the anchor overboard. Unlike the shows of the 1940s and 50s cartoons, just throwing an anchor down doesn’t make you stop sometimes, especially smaller boats. The anchor, you actually have to kind of make sure it digs into the ground. I remember this vividly. Those of you who have watched the weekly video, you know what I’m going to say. When I was maybe 15, 16, 17 years old, we had a boat, family boat. We went out to Catalina island and we were on the east side, just north of Avalon. And I think we’d stayed overnight and we had dug in with the anchor, allegedly pulled it up, wanted to go to another spot to go and fish. So I threw the anchor out, but it did not stick because 10 minutes later we realized we were not in the same spot. And there was a fishing charter boat maybe 100 yards and over the speaker they said, you’re drifting over the reef. And where the reef was, it was a protected area where no motorboats are allowed and said, if you don’t move, you’re going to get in trouble. So we pulled the anchor up, moved, motored over to another spot where we thought would be good. I made sure the anchor caught and it was stuck and the boat would not move. It would drift around a little bit, but it would not move from that spot.
Worship. Is worship important? Our lives, should it not be anchored in worship? Should we not be anchored in spending time with God? Worshiping, serving and adoring? Years ago, there was a TV commercial of a young man who went to the airport with flowers in his hand. However, he was struggling because he was following his parents bidding. In his country of origin, it was normal to have arranged marriages. And given that he had left his home country to come to the United States and experience the United States away from his family and everything, and yet here he was at the airport with flowers in hand to meet his soon to be wife. Never had seen her. He knew the person escorting, bringing her over here. He didn’t know what she looked like. And as he stood there in the airport looking a little glum and sad, I don’t know about this, his face and countenance, you could clearly see what he was thinking. However, he saw this beautiful, beautiful woman come through the door. He saw the individual walking with her. And all of a sudden that glum face started to smile. She’s beautiful. And all of a sudden his glum, sour face started to have a little bit of a pep and a little kick in it when he realized what a wonderful, beautiful person she is.
Now sometimes, does that ever feel like serving God just feels more of, like an obligation or just to check things off. Oh, I wake up. Okay, I know I gotta pray. I should maybe sing a little bit maybe, you know, how can I worship God? Because I want to be a faithful believer of Jesus and I gotta get to know God. But maybe you also wake up a little late. And so what’s more important? Getting to work on time? Getting kids to school? Making sure they’re fed? Or do I want to have some time for worship? I’ll be honest, I mean, you know, I’ve been a believer of Jesus for a long time. There have been times where it felt like worship felt more like a checklist. Even sometimes in the last few months it’s like, oh, okay, I forgot to pray. And so as I’m heading to the office or whatever, I gotta pray. I gotta go through my checklist of people I have to pray. And sometimes it feels so insincere because I’m just going through the ropes.
What does it mean to have authentic worship? What does it mean to have passion, to serve God? Just like the young man, when he saw his soon to be wife, there was joy in his heart. When we go and worship God, is there joy in our hearts? Seeing God, knowing God, communing with God should bring joy and a smile to our hearts.
Now, I have some scripture here. I don’t know that we’re going to get to all of it. We’ll do the best that we can, but here’s a few things that I’d like to look at. Okay? One of the things that I want to stress and remember this day moving forward is that worship… To worship is to serve and adore God. To worship is to serve and adore God. There’s a feeling to it, but there’s also an imperative in action. Okay, to serve and adore God.
Well, what does it mean then, to worship? Well, it’s to commune and to draw closer to God. I want to go to. Let’s go to Luke chapter five, verse 16. Luke, chapter five, verse 16. All right, we all there. My ability to find scripture is slowing down. Luke 5:16 says, But Jesus withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Jesus withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Notice where it said. It didn’t say lonely place, it said lonely places. Emphasis places, plural. At times, Jesus would have to withdraw. In fact, every gospel account points out that Jesus often went onto a mountainside. And Matthew, he actually tells his disciples, let’s get in the boat so I can get away from everybody. All right? Can you imagine being Jesus, being constantly sought after, being asked, hey, can you help me? Can you listen to me? Can you do this? Can you do that? Serve, serve, serve, serve, serve. And you wonder, how could Jesus handle all of that? Sometimes he would just have to withdraw. And when he would withdraw, he would commune with God.
Now you also can’t get to know somebody without spending time with them. Amen. When you first found your person, did you just meet them? Did you want to actually get to know them? Did you have questions? Did you want to share the most important things in your life with that person because you cared and you wanted them to know what you were passionate about? Worship is also to earnestly seek God and share earnestly and honestly with God. You ever have a bad day? Okay, who do you go to to talk about that? Oh, that’s a dangerous question, right? Because we wish we could all have somebody to go to with complete trust. Amen. But does everybody have your trust? Not always. Because you want to go to somebody who will listen and understand and be compassionate, empathize with you. Hebrews says, Jesus knows all of our afflictions. He understands what we have gone through. Hopefully, the person you can talk to is your spouse. But God is somebody that we can go to and we can share earnestly. What is the best thing that you’ve had happen to you in the last week? Or what’s the most challenging thing that you’ve experienced in the last year? God knows. So when you worship and as you pray, go to God. In fact, also Matthew 6 talks about when you pray, go and go to a quiet place and Pray by yourself doesn’t mean that you only have to pray by yourself, because there’s times for corporate prayer like we do. But to know God is to also spend time with God and honestly earnestly share with God.
Worship is also to seek wisdom and direction. Have you ever wondered, what should I do with my life, God? What’s the path you have for me in my life? And as you commune and as you worship, as you pray, as you spend time with God, God will reveal and give you wisdom. Maybe you have a problem at work. There’s that one colleague who just. You just don’t get. Sometimes. Sometimes you just scratch your head. How are you still employed? Or how the words that came out of your mouth, did it go through any filter through your brain, right? Seek wisdom, how to deal with difficult situations.
But also worship is a time where you can remove yourself from distractions and reflect. Mark 1:35. Like I mentioned earlier, it says very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, he left the house and went to a solitary place and he prayed. I was listening to a podcast earlier this week, and the individual on the podcast, he had bought some land. And what did he wanted to do? He wanted to be a farmer. Didn’t know much about farming, but what he learned in the last couple of years in the process is there is just something so very therapeutic about working with dirt. How many of you remember as a kid playing and working with dirt, okay, taking a hammer or a little spade, pulling it up. There’s just something so awesome about touching and playing with dirt, especially if you didn’t have shoes on, right? Or maybe you walk through the grass early in the morning and there’s dew on the ground and it’s a little cold at first, but sometimes that’s just the best feeling in the world. Or maybe being in the mountains, being in a forest and having trees overlooking you, in a sense, kind of protecting you. Sometimes there’s just something very therapeutic about being in nature, working in nature, just working the ground. I think we sometimes lose that because what do you see around us? You see boulevards, you see sidewalks. You maybe have a patch of grass in your backyard. But it’s not the same as going out into a field, putting your toes in the river, working a field, seeing rocks and little worms, plants, silence, quietness in the nature, there is quietness. Time to reflect, a time to hear, a time to listen. When’s the last time you turned your phone off? And when you turned your phone off, did you already have withdrawals? The Fear of missing out, a text, a call. I’m so important, I need to be reached at all times. When’s the last time you got in your car and just drove without the radio on? The only thing you maybe hear is turn left in one mile. Silence. And maybe sometimes, if we’re being honest, we don’t like silence. Because when it’s quiet, we go back to the thoughts that we don’t want to hear, the things that are coming up, things we know we need to do. Sometimes just the best thing we love to do is just turn the music on. Or maybe a good podcast. Get engrossed in a story in a book and just tune everything out and distract ourselves from our problems in the world. How many of you there? Sometimes I just love to turn music on. But sometimes it’s important that we just stop and we just be quiet and be still and be with God. So I encourage you to remove distractions at times. Maybe, maybe it’s just sitting in your favorite chair. Maybe you got that La Z Boy. It’s got that perfect spot. You’ve been sitting it for many years and it’s already. Your frame is already indented into the La Z Boy, right? Okay, maybe it’s a couch. Maybe it’s a closet. Whatever it may be, the upstairs attic. Find that place and take time. So take time. Because our ears and our minds are being bombarded. Everybody wants a piece of us. Take time. Stop. Something that I think we sometimes forget too is that worship is also service.
Worship is also service. Let’s go to Romans, chapter 12. Want to go to Romans, chapter 12. And I want to read verses one and two. And Paul is writing to the Romans. You see, Romans have had a hard time getting along with each other. You have the Jewish Christians and then the newer believers who had not grown up Jewish. And they’re all having to come together and worship in the same house. The Jewish Christians had come back. They weren’t happy that their house had been taken over by somebody else. And Paul is trying to get them together and say, you need to be united. Okay, okay. Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. And it says, therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as what a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and property worship. Don’t conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is. His good and pleasing and perfect will. When it says a living sacrifice. What does that mean?
Something, in a sense, at that time, could mean a burning, maybe incense or whatever. Now, here I have this candle. And as it burns, imagine this is a candle from Bed, Bath and Beyond. Okay? The fancy candles, the aromatic candles. My wife would sometimes go to Bed Bath and Beyond and she’d get these really awesome smelling candles. And the candles would emote. What a smell. Usually it’s a beautiful smell, right? My favorite smell is this candle that’s made of. To reflect surf wax. And those of, you know, I love to surf. That, to me, is my favorite candle in the world. But the candle emits an odor, that which is pleasing. Smells good. Okay. It warms up and brightens the room. Of course, if I was to blow on it, the smoke. Now imagine this was a good smoke. And imagine, God, this is a pleasing smell. I’m not gonna lie. I love smoke. Good smoke. Not smoking, smoking. Never smoked a day in my life. Okay. All right. But this candle emitted smoke. I love a good barbecue smell. That’s a good kind of smoke. And it’s pleasing. It smells good. It brings out a positive emotion. When we worship and we serve others, that is a form of worship. God says to love God with everything. Our heart, soul, mind and strength. Right? And to love our neighbors as ourselves. To love our neighbors is to serve one another. It brings God pleasure. When we serve, it’s like a. It’s holy and pleasing to God. So serving others is also a form of worship.
Now, G.K. Beale wrote an article some time ago where, when his daughters were 2 and 3, I think their names are Hannah and Nancy. When they were two and three years old, he was observing that they watched their parents do everything. Cooking, feeding, and sometimes the occasional discipline. What was interesting is when they would be playing with their dolls, they would mimic everything that he and his wife would do. They acted just like their mom when they imitated feeding their animals, playing with their animals, when they gave their dolls medicine, they acted just like their mom when they played with their stuffed dolls, when they prayed with them, they sounded just like their mom, who’s from Texas. So she had that Texas drawl when she would talk to somebody on the phone, they would mimic everything when they talked to their toys. Now, those of you, I’m sure those of you who have children realize that your kids don’t necessarily listen to what you say to tell them to do, but what you actually do, right? Children imitate those that they love and are surrounded with. We imitate. So when you think back, also, maybe going to junior high, high school, or college, who did you also imitate? Perhaps even your peer group. And even as adults, we reflect and we look around. We reflect things in our culture and also our society. What is important to us? What do we make as a priority? Oftentimes we take those things and we imitate them. Are those good things? Are those things that are beneficial, or are they things that could be potentially harmful? We share on to the younger children what we truly believe, not by what we say, but what we do. Now as parents, is it also important that you also worship as a family? Absolutely. Okay.
Family worship is the opportunity to strengthen bonds and grow together in Christ by singing, praying, reading scripture, exploring nature, and ultimately, as you worship together, be creative. Some of you are thinking, well, I don’t know how to play the piano. I don’t know how to play guitar. You have a phone, you have a tablet. You got the YouTube, right? YouTube, children’s worship songs. Sing along with them. Maybe, you know, take turns praying. And it doesn’t have to be a long prayer, but teach them how to pray. At the very least, use. You have an example in Matthew 6, the Lord’s Prayer. Read it every day, okay? Pray it every day. Take time to remember scripture. Read scripture, but don’t just limit it to just something that we do every day. Take an adventure as a family. Go to the beach, go for a walk in the park, go into the mountains. Be creative and worship God in nature, okay? Don’t limit it to just one or two things. In fact, there’s a list here that I’m going to share with you, things that you can do. So take turns having short prayers. Draw a Bible story with chalk outside. Go to target. Get some chalk. Or we have some chalk here, too, I wouldn’t mind giving to you because we barely use it. Turn your driveway into a chalk artist dream. Build out or act a Bible story. Do Bible charades. Fill out an illustrated book. Okay? Have you ever played Bible freeze tag? You have to say a Bible verse from memory before you can get unfrozen. All right? Pray for somebody who doesn’t know Jesus yet, okay? Maybe pray for one of their classmates. Bible charades, Bible trivia. There’s Bible games and moms, dads. Give your kids the opportunity to lead. Have them read something. Have them lead to something. Have them pick the songs that they want to sing that day. Give them ownership. What are some of the things that you’re very happy that God has done in your life? What are some of the wins? What are some of the losses that they’ve experienced. Teach them to pray about these things from a very early age. Maybe, maybe you need to ask, who do we need to forgive this week? Who do we need to ask for forgiveness? Remember, read stories, Basic famous stories. Okay, so these are just some examples. If you want more, I’d be happy to share them. Okay, find a book. There’s plenty of books, devotional books that you could read. I remember growing up we would always sing a few songs. My mom was a pianist. And then there was usually read Chicken Soup for the Soul. Okay. Cause that was popular back then. But there’s plenty of books and devotionals that we could all read. Especially if your kids are older, get them involved. Now all of this is important, but if you don’t actually prioritize and schedule, it’s all for now.
So be intentional and make worship a priority by scheduling it. When you found your person. Okay, guys, when you found the most beautiful gal in the world, did you just wait or did you ask for her number? Okay, you didn’t write right away. Okay, thank you for being honest. Yeah, I didn’t either. I had to play the long game. But eventually the time that I could finally ask her out. Okay, we left. Okay, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. I’m gonna call her Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. Maybe it was Monday, I don’t know. I was gonna call her that night to ask, hey, would you like to go on a date? And we agreed to go out. I think it was a Thursday. And in my head from Tuesday to Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday. I didn’t forget because I was excited to finally go out on a date. Do you look to worship with that much enthusiasm, overtime? Probably not. But it’s important that we take time, make worship a priority. And for some of you, that might be at 5:45 in the morning. Okay, I’m not gonna lie. I’m still sleeping at 5:45. But maybe it’s 6:15 in the evening. Maybe it’s 2:00pm in your favorite chair. In the afternoon, it might be reading a couple verses. It might just be praying and thanking God for all the wonderful things God is doing in your life. It might be praying for your family. It might be. As Bill mentioned a couple weeks ago, when we talk about praying for others, remember the story of the individual at the car wash? He had his paper. Who are the people that you are praying for in the future? Your future kids, your future grandkids, your kids, future spouses, your neighbors, whatever it may be.
Worship doesn’t have to be the same Thing over and over. It can vary. It doesn’t have to be just about listening or singing, but commune with God. At the very least, have prayer in some form of scripture so you can under better understand who God is. So start with family members and sometimes maybe your family members are just not ready and willing yet. As Paul says to a wife who is married to an unbeliever, be faithful and let your example shine through. Okay? But start somewhere and start small.
So as you reflect, where in your schedule can you spend time, God personally, as a family? Okay, I want you to think right now, where can you in your life, both personally and also as a family, where can you schedule time to be with God? Some of you are thinking, pastor, that just sounds so rote. If it’s important to you, you will make time for it. Amen.
Okay, last thing I want you to schedule, you’ve thought about when you can do it, okay? I want you to schedule five to maybe 15 minutes just to start out, okay? For yourself and your family. Involve your family members and learn together. Maybe some of you are wondering, well, I don’t know anything. Guess what? You have to start somewhere, okay? Don’t make it something big. Start small, start simple. And if you don’t know the answers, guess what you should say. I don’t know. That’s okay. Then you can say, but I’ll find out. Start small and start with your family. What would this look like? Imagine our church faithfully worshiping God every day and also as a family. Do you want to have strong family bonds? One of the things that you can do is just spend time together with the Lord every day. All right? So take some time this week and I guarantee you if you do this, you’re going to have a positive reaction in your life. Let’s pray. Father in heaven. God, we come together to look at what does it mean to worship, Lord? Lord, there are always the basics. We can always sing, we can always pray, and we can always study. But Lord, worship is so much more than that. It’s also serving and loving our neighbors. It’s getting out, seeing what you have, what you have created, Lord, and basking in that beauty. May our minds not be limited. May we think creatively. Give us wisdom and give us understanding. Give us inspiration and Lord, together, personally and as a family. Grow and strengthen our families through worship. In Jesus name, Amen.
All right, we’ll see you next week. Grace and peace.