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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
April 23, 2017
The Glory and Majesty of God, Pt 6
Responding with Reverent Worship
Selected Scriptures
Introduction
My original plan for a very brief two week series on the glory and majesty of God as a means to enhance our reverence in our worship of Him has ended up being six weeks, and even with that, I believe I have only scratched the surface. I have found that every problem we face as humans is ultimately theological in its foundation, and the irreverence that has become common among people who claim to be Christians is due to ignorance of and wrong ideas about God. Biblical ignorance abounds allowing theological aberrations and heresy to become widespread. I believe that the greater your understanding of the true nature and character of God along with what He has done should result in humble and reverent worship of Him.
Majesty refers to that which is impressive in beauty, scale or dignity. Glory refers to high renown or honor won by notable achievements and that which is magnificent or of great beauty. Both terms apply to God in every dimension for He is infinite with respect to beauty, scale and dignity, and His works are beyond the comprehension of mortal man. We have only briefly examined some of His attributes and mentioned a few of His works, and yet even those strip away man’s pride as they expose our limitations and insignificance before our creator.
Proper worship begins with recognizing that God is your creator. The invitation to worship in Psalm 100 is based on this idea. 1 “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. 3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” A primary reason for Satan’s lies in this area is to get you to reject God if possible, or at least cause confusion so that the veracity or ability of God is questioned. This perverts beliefs about God and so diminishes the worship of the Lord. (See: The Glory and Majesty of God, Part 1 – The Creator)
Paul is direct in Romans 1:19-20 that God has reveled Himself to man both internally in man’s conscience and externally in the Creation so that man is without excuse in knowing and worshiping Him. But man willingly suppresses the truth in unrighteousness to believe lies about God, what He has done, and man’s actual position in the universe. Man seeks to explain away both his conscience and the evidence of Creation in order to pursue his own desires. (See: The Glory and Majesty of God, Part 2 – Creation)
I cannot look at anything in creation whether great or small without being pushed to marvel at the glory and majesty of God revealed in them. There is our solar system and the galaxies beyond it, the weather phenomena in our atmosphere, the various aspects of geology, the variety and complexity of living creatures from whales to microbes, the vastness of the oceans and all contained in them. God pointed out some of these things in Job 38-41 in proclaiming Himself to Job. Yet, the person next to me at a vista, in a museum or looking through the same telescope or microscope will instead marvel at time and chance overcoming the laws of physics to produce what exits. His philosophy overwhelms his claim to objectivity and blinds him to the obvious. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “. . . the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Theology is critical not only to the proper worship of God, but even being able to objectively discern truth and error, what fits the facts and what fits the preferred fabricated story. (See; The Glory and Majesty of God, Part 3 – Creation & Attributes)
Over the past few weeks we have briefly examined some of God’s attributes. He is infinite in every dimension and respect and therefore set apart by His very attributes as different from what He has created. Our term to describe that is holy. He is eternal – infinite with respect to time. He is omnipresent – infinite with respect to space. He is omniscient – infinite with respect to knowledge and wisdom. He is omnipotent – infinite with respect to power. All of these also make Him sovereign – the supreme authority in the universe. (See; The Glory and Majesty of God, Part 4 – His Attributes)
Last week I concentrated on those attributes of God that meet together in Jesus’ atonement at the cross of calvary to provide redemption for mankind. God is righteous from which flows His laws and decrees which set the standards of morality for all creation. God is also just and applies His standard to creation with the result that man is separated from God because man is sinful and does not meet those standards. Even worse for man, God is the only God and therefor properly jealous to be both intolerant of any usurpation or rivalry of His position and vigilant to guard what belongs to Him including the honor of His name, worship and fealty of His creatures. Violations of His laws will therefore provoke Him to anger and wrath. All of these result in man’s condemnation. However, God has many other attributes which direct His righteousness, justice, jealousy and wrath to means by which to provide redemption and hope for man.
God is compassionate having pity on the sad condition of His sinful creatures. This results in Him being merciful in withholding the deserved punishment and also lovingkind by which He sets His love upon those He chooses and then extends grace to grant undeserved blessings. God is also faithful to keep all of His promises including those to forgive sin in harmony with all His other attributes. These all come together by Jesus becoming a man who met all the standards of righteousness and then satisfying God’s justice and wrath by paying the price of redemption Himself by His own blood in His death at calvary. God’s jealousy for His own name was upheld by providing a means by which sinners could become saints who honor Him. Jesus is the promised Savior who by the power of the Holy Spirit transforms all that will believe in Him and grants them the right to become children of God. All of God’s attributes met and were harmonized when Jesus was crucified for man’s sin at Calvary. Jesus’ claims about Himself and all His promises for the future were proven true by His resurrection. (See: The Glory and Majesty of God, Part 5 – Attributes of Redemption)
All of these things should produce within you the desire to worship the God who not only created you, but provides redemption from sin and the promise of eternal life in the future and the blessings of walking with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit in the present. If they do not, then there is something seriously wrong in your understanding of both God and yourself. He is too small in your eyes and you are too large in your pride. As both James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 state, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” so humble yourself before Him with a contrite heart.
For the rest of this morning I want to focus on responding to the glory and majesty of God with reverent worship of the Lord. I have preached on worship in some detail in the past, including an eleven part series last year, so I only want to stress some general principles this morning and challenge you to apply what you have learned about God in your own worship of Him, and especially in corporate worship. I do not expect you to follow all the specifics of what I am going to say or suggest, but I do expect you to think seriously about it and to change your life because of it. There are many who seek to worship God and think they are doing great at it, but because they are either ignorant of what God desires in worship or simply want to do it their own way, their worship remains irreverent. That was true in ancient Israel and it is still true today. It should not be true of you.
To revere God is to have proper fear and awe of God resulting in giving Him proper respect including obedience to His commands. The motivation for many commands in the Mosaic Law including honoring parents and the aged and not charging usury in loans was “to revere your God” (Leviticus 19:3, 32, 25:36). Reverent worship begins with a correct understanding of God and what He desires, and from that should flow a proper attitude in your approach to God. Your attitude is important because not only does God look at your heart and motives according to 1 Samuel 16:7 and Proverbs 16:2, but your attitude will have a direct influence on your actions.
Attitude
Let me begin by stating that having a proper attitude in corporate worship begins by having a proper attitude in private worship. As humans, we are inherently self-centered, and that quickly shows up in the worship of God including even finding time to worship Him.
Priority: When it comes to private worship, I recognize that modern life is extremely busy, and especially so for those of you who have long commutes to work. Frankly, I think a lot of the busyness in our society is part of Satan’s plan to distract us from what is actually important. You must fight to keep your priorities in order otherwise peer pressure, the tyranny of the urgent, laziness and bad habits will quickly overwhelm you. My first challenge to you is to carefully consider whether the things that occupy your time match what is important to God? The command in Ephesians 5:16 is to redeem or “make the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
Perhaps there are things that squander your time that are not even good. There are certainly plenty of blatant time wasters such as many TV shows, computer games and supermarket tabloids. Those are the obvious things to cut out in order to fulfill priorities. But there are also a lot of things that are good, but may not be the better or best thing to do with your time. Those are harder because they are more individual and require careful evaluation about what is actually helping you to progress toward the goals in life that are according to God’s word and that He has put on your heart. You must know your priorities in order to keep them, so carefully evaluate them and then list them out – even post them where you will see them often as a reminder to diligently pursue them and avoid time wasters.
The direct relationship between this and worship is where does it fit within your priorities. Is time with God a priority in your life or does He get whatever is left? While I recognize that time is especially short for those of you who commute and therefore advocate that you be innovative to make that time productive such as listening to audio recordings or reading and studying if you take the train, you still must make God a priority for it to happen. If you allow everything else to come first, God ends up getting a few minutes when your mind and body are tired. Perhaps you even fall asleep. And while Mark 1:35 states that Jesus got up early in the morning to pray, I recognize that may not work well for those of you that take an hour to wake up after physically getting out of bed. The point is that if God is your priority, you must find a way to give him your attention when you are alert.
The parallel of this in corporate worship is making it to church and making it to church on time. If you can make it to a game, a concert or work on time, then you can do the same for worship services. I certainly recognize that the best laid plans can be thwarted by a flat tire, a sudden emergency or the baby having to have a diaper change as you were about to walk out the door. But those things should be the exception, not the rule. And just to be clear, it is certainly better for you to come late than not at all. The issue here is attitude, not success in carrying out a plan. If God is important to you, then you will plan accordingly to be here for the entire time of corporate worship with a heart prepared for it.
Here are some practical suggestions. First, prepare in advance. For a Sunday morning service, start by picking out Saturday night what you (and the children) will wear on Sunday and go to bed early enough to be well rested when you get up. Second, get up early enough to complete your morning tasks in a pleasant manner. Third, leave early enough so that you can enjoy the journey instead of being in a rush, and so that you can find a seat before the service starts. All of these things make it easier to prepare your heart and focus your mind before the worship service begins. This will help you and the others that have gathered. Not only does it avoid disturbing others by coming in late, your attitude in making God the priority can quickly transfer to those around you so that they are also better prepared for worship.
Focus & Humility: The next area of attitude is focus. True worship is centered on God and not on self. This requires humility. In both private and corporate worship it means your goal is to give God honor, praise and glory while seeking to know Him, His calling and His will. The result of those things will be service.
Isaiah 6 records the vision the prophet was given. The first four verses describe God in His glory in heaven. 1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Verse 5 records Isaiah’s reaction, 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” He is humbled and recognizes his sinfulness before a holy God. In verses 6-7 the Lord has a Seraphim cleanse him and pronounce he was forgiven. Then verse 8 records Isaiah’s reaction to the Lord’s question, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah’s vision of God resulted in humble worship and commitment to serve Him.
Worship is about giving honor and glory to God whether individually or when gathered with others. The root meaning of worship in both Hebrew and Greek is to bow down. That is expressed with multiple terms in Psalm 95:6-7, “Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.” It is to be humble before Him and acknowledging His worth and superiority. It is accomplished by giving praise for who He is, thanksgiving for what He has done, telling others about Him in word and in song, confession of sin, prayer, study of the scriptures, and living according to His commands. Worship is about God. In corporate worship He is the audience and you are the performers.
If you are here trying to experience some particular emotion, then you are not here to worship. If you are evaluating the service by the quality of the music or by how well it fits your preferences, then you are not here to worship. If you assess the preaching by the oratory skills displayed, the illustrations used, or the demeanor of the speaker instead of the Biblical content of the message, then you are not here to worship. And while I hope you have many friends here, if you are here simply because of that, then you are not here to worship. On the other side of that, if you stay away because someone hurt you, then your interest was not on worship and remains that way.
Worship demands that you set aside your selfishness and focus on God. Corporate worship demands that even more since there are so many more things to distract you from your focus on God. Emotions in worship are wide ranging and include those we consider negative such as fear, sadness and conviction. Beautiful music is appreciated, but if the best that day was a joyful noise raised by true hearts, then it was true worship. Regardless of the preacher’s speaking skills, the sermon is worshipful if is Biblically true, increases your understanding of God and challenges you to live accordingly. True worship not only empowers godly friendships, but it also enables conflict resolution so far as it depends on you.
Colin told me the other day that in their evangelism efforts they have recently been talking with quite a few people that profess to be Christians but do not attend any church. That is both sad and contrary to the commands of Scripture. It is sad that they have either suffered something in a church that has driven them away, or that they are so selfish they don’t value being with other Christians. Jesus’ command in John 13:34-35 is “to love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another us, By this all men will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.” That can be difficult within the church because there are many that are immature and there are tares among the wheat, but the difficulty is why such love demonstrates an individual is a follower of Christ. If it was easy you would not need the Holy Spirit to be able to do it. Those who neglect involvement in a church cannot do this because they are removed from the relationships in which such loving commitment can be demonstrated. Let me quickly add that Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 12 that every person who is genuinely saved is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, which is the church, and given spiritual gifts by which they are to serve the Lord within the church. Corporate worship is part of that.
It is from those basic principles that the practices of true worship of God in reverence will form. God is the priority, so He gets primary attention in your time management. God is the focus, so you must be humble and be diligent to set aside your selfishness in order to give honor, praise and glory to Him. Please understand that proper reverent personal worship changes your whole focus of life because everything you do becomes related to giving God praise and glory just as commanded in 1 Corinthians 10:31. That includes how you treat others because you want them to see Christ living in you as Paul describes in Galatians 2:20. It includes how you work because you do it now as for the Lord rather than for men as commanded in Colossians 3:22. It includes having a positive outlook in life because you are giving thanks in everything knowing that is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
Jesus commanded us to love one another as He has loved us and demonstrate that we are His disciples. Reverence for God and love for others results in thoughtfulness in a worship service in striving to enhance the worship of others instead of being a detriment to them. For the rest of our time this morning I want to expand on some practical actions that will do that within corporate worship.
Actions of Reverent Corporate Worship
Seating: I have already mentioned arriving on time as part of making God the priority. That allows you to avoid rushing and arrive calm and able to prepare your heart and mind for corporate worship. It also keeps you from distracting others by coming in late. If you do arrive late, we strive to minimize the distraction by allowing you to find a seat only during the announcements and the singing. We ask you to remain in the foyer or stand in the back during the times Scripture reading, prayer, and presentations.
Related to this is remaining at your seat throughout the worship service. Certainly there are emergencies that occur in which you need to leave your place, but such should be the exception. There are very few legitimate reasons for anyone to have to leave the worship service once it has started. Get a drink of water and use the restroom facilities before you come in. If you cannot last the hour and a half length of our service, you need to see a doctor about what can be done to help your medical condition. If you have hypoglycemia, then come prepared with what you need if your sugar level drops. If you have a bad back, find one of the lumbar support chairs which may help, or sit in the back so that you can stand up without disturbing others when the pain becomes too much from sitting. If you let us know in advance, we may be able to find a better chair for you.
If you must leave, then please do so at a time and in a manner in which you create the least disturbance such as when we stand to sing or the children are being dismissed for Children’s Church. If you know in advance you will need to leave early, then please sit in the back and at the end of a row so that you can leave quickly and quietly without causing others to lose their focus.
Talking: If care is taken when speaking to others during the service, this is not much of a problem, but it can be a serious problem if thoughtfulness to others is not shown. Whispering in someone’s ear to find out a Scripture reference or clarify what was said only disturbs one other person and may be helpful in your own focus of worship. But discussing matters can wait until after the service and talking out loud will disturb multiple people around you. Most things that must be communicated can be done silently with a written note, but those should be few and short. Again, anything requiring a discussion can wait until after the service is over. Reverent worship seeks to enhance that for others instead of causing a distraction.
Saying “Amen,” “hallelujah,” “glory to God,” and similar things are the appropriate responses to what is presented in a service. They are much better than applause since clapping in our society is generally a sign of approval of the performer and our focus is to be on giving glory to God. They can also be used to express agreement with points made during a sermon.
Young Children: We love children and are glad they are here. It is our desire for them to learn and grow into true worshipers of God, so it is important for them to observe and participate to the best of their ability in our worship service. That is why our children’s church does not start until the preaching begins instead of at the beginning of the worship service. Having said that, there also needs to be thoughtfulness on the part of parents in training their children to be able to be part of our worship service. The child may be cute in making faces, gestures and babbling to the people around them, but that is also distracting others from their focus on the worship of God.
We have a nursery ministry for children who are not mature enough to keep from distracting others. We recognize that nursing mothers may not want to be separated from their child, so we have provided a room for them adjacent to the nursery where they can see and hear the service while being with their baby. The nursery allows the parents to focus on worship while their child is in a safe place. Our children’s church provides both a place for children to worship at a level they can understand and for parents to be able to focus on worship without being disturbed. If your child can sit through the whole service without disturbing others, then you are welcome to have them with you during the whole service, but if not, please be thoughtful of others and use our nursery and children’s church ministries.
Singing: If you have a nice voice, then please sing out and it will help others to sing along. If your voice is not so good, then sing out anyway because many Psalms instruct us to “make a joyful noise unto God.” The focus is on the worship of God, not on what impression you are making on others. If you want to lift your hands, there are quite a few Psalms that encourage that, but do be careful about blocking others from seeing the words on the screen.
Electronic Devices: I have come to grips with the fact that this is the age of hand held computers and that many of you use a Bible that is loaded on such a device. A glow on your face may mean you are trying to keep up with the text I am preaching on. However, please silence your phones and computing devices. In addition, it should be used only for enhancing worship and not distracting from it. If you are playing games, checking email, sports scores, weather or anything else, not only are you not worshiping the Lord, but you are also causing a distraction to others even if it is just the person next to you.
Eating & Drinking: There are many occasions in which eating and drinking are part of the worship of the Lord. That was true in the sacrificial system and also occurs in modern worship. It is part of every communion service, and special feasts unto the Lord.
However, this is not a theater and we are not here to entertain you. This is a setting of formal worship of the Lord God and therefore snacks and drinks are not appropriate. You may have noticed a new sign we have posted asking that in the effort to enhance reverence for God, please refrain from eating and drinking during worship. The exception would be a medical need or cough drops or water used to keep you from coughing and distracting others in their worship.
Apparel: We do not have a dress code here other than modesty which is commanded in 1 Timothy 2:9 (Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments). I have included our handouts that explain that in practical terms for both men and women in the bulletin this week. However, there are two Psalms that give us an additional precept about the kinds of clothes that should be worn when coming to worship God with others. Psalm 29:1-2 states, 1 “Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy array.” Psalm 96:9 includes the instruction to “Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.”
The words “array” and “attire” are the same Hebrew word which has a root which refers to respect and is joined here with the idea of ornament or splendor. Both words are combined with the adjective holy. The ESV translates this as “the splendor of holiness” and the NKJV as “the beauty of holiness.” The Psalmist is calling on the people to come to worship God showing Him respect even in what clothes they wore when they came to the Tabernacle or the Temple.
The Biblical dress code for worship transcends all cultures because it relates it to the purpose rather than specific clothing descriptions. That means it is not the particular style that is important, but rather your reason for wearing it. First, what you wear should be modest, that is, you are not trying to call attention to yourself. You do not dress up to show off your wealth or body for both of those would be immodest. Second, you should show respect. Wear clothing appropriate to what you would wear if you were going to meet someone who is in an important position over you or someone that you respect very much. Do not dress down because you prefer it and it is more comfortable. Those two principles reject both extremes that cause problems.
Conclusion
The greater your understanding of the majesty and glory of God, the more reverent will be your worship of Him. If there is a lack of reverence in your worship, then there is a lack in your understanding of God.
The vision the apostle John was given of God seated on His throne is recorded in Revelation 4. Starting in verse 2 we read, 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. 5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. 7 The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” 9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
That is the glory and majesty of our God. Your response of worship should be like that of the Seraphim and the twenty-four elders. One day it will be when you see Him in the fullness of His glory. Until then, you will need to work at keeping Him the priority, being humble, maintaining your focus, and responding with reverent worship.
Sermon Notes – 4/23/2017
The Glory and Majesty of God, Part 6 – Responding with Reverent Worship – Selected Scriptures
Introduction
Reverent Worship is the ________________ to understanding the majesty and glory of God
Proper worship begins with recognizing that God is your _____________ (Psalm 100)
Creation leaves man without excuse, but he willingly _______________the truth to pursue his own desires
Being blinded by the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4), man ______the obvious to believe implausible philosophy
God is ______in every dimension & respect: eternal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, Holy, sovereign
God is righteous, just and jealous resulting in His wrath and condemnation of ___________ mankind
God’s compassion, mercy, love, grace & faithfulness ____________ with His other attributes at Calvary
God is to be worshiped because He is both Creator and Redeemer – failure to do so is due to foolish ______
Many think they worship God, but they are ________________ due to ignorance and / or selfishness
To revere God is to have _________________& awe of Him God resulting in proper respect and obedience
Attitude – Priority – you must _________to keep your priorities in order or other things will quickly replace them
Does your use of ___________ reflect the order of priorities you want to keep?
Where does God ___in your order of priorities of time? Do you give Him your attention while you are alert?
In corporate worship, do you make it to church and do you make it in time to ___________for worship?
Suggestions: 1) Prepare in ________on Saturday night. 2) Get up _____enough to get ready without rushing
3) Leave early enough to enjoy the journey and arrive in time to ______your heart and mind for worship
Attitude – Focus & Humility – true worship is focused on God, not self, and that requires _______________
Isaiah 6:1-8 ____________________________________________________________________________
Worship is about ___________honor and glory to God, to be humble before Him acknowledging His worth
In corporate worship, ___________ is the audience and you are the performers
Worship demands you set aside ____________to focus on God – it is about what you give, not what you get
John 13:34–35 – Jesus commands us to ________each other – that requires commitment and the Holy Spirit
Proper worship results in ______________becoming about God’s glory (1 Cor. 10:31; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:22)
Reverence for God and love for others results in ________________in striving to enhance the worship of all
Actions of Reverent Corporate Worship
Seating: Arrive on time to ______________your heart and mind for worship and avoid disturbing others
Prepare before you find a seat, then _____________in place unless there is an emergency
If you must leave, do so with as little _________________of others as possible
Talking: This can be a serious distraction unless care is taken to be ____________________of others
Whisper, use short notes when necessary, but discussions _______________until the service is over
Saying “Amen” or “hallelujah” focus on giving _________glory and so are better than applause
Young Children: We love children to be in the service, but _______them to worship and not disturb others
The _____________ministry and mother’s room allow a baby to be cared for without disturbing others
Children’s church provides a place for them to worship at their level, and parents to worship ____________
Singing: The Psalms instruct us to “make a joyful noise unto God.” Give Him your ________whatever it is
Quite a few verses speak about lifting _______to God – but please do not block others from seeing the words
Electronic Devices: Using them for ______________along in the sermon is fine.
Please _________them and avoid using them to do anything that does not enhance your worship of the Lord
Eating & Drinking: This can be part of worship such as _______________and special feasts unto the Lord
We are not here to be entertained. Snacks & drinks are not appropriate for ___________worship
Apparel: Our only dress code here is ___________which is commanded in 1 Timothy 2:9
Psalm 29:1-2 & 96:9 – “array” & “attire” are the same word referring to _________and ornaments, splendor
The Biblical dress code for worship _________culture because it is about respect for God, not specific attire
Modesty avoids calling attention to ______________- we do dress up to show off our wealth or our bodies
Respect requires clothing _____________to what you would wear in meeting someone of great importance
Do not dress down because you prefer it and it is more _________________
Conclusion
The greater your understanding of the majesty & glory of God, the more ____________will be your worship
Revelation 4:2-11 ________________________________________________________________________
You must _______to keep God the priority, be humble, maintain your focus, and give Him reverent worship
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Count how many times the word “worship” is mentioned. 2) Discuss with your parents how to be reverent in the worship of God.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. Summarize what you have learned about the glory and majesty of God. What effect has that had on your worship of Him? How do the many attributes of God meet and harmonize at Jesus’ atonement at Calvary? What did His resurrection prove? What does it mean to revere God? Why is such reverence often missing? What is a priority? What are your priorities in life? How do you keep them from being compromised? Where does God fit in with your priorities? Is that demonstrated in your use of time? What are some practical ways that you can help you keep God as the priority in your life? What was the response of Isaiah to seeing the Lord in glory? What is the meaning of worship? Why does worship require you to set aside your selfishness? How is selfishness exposed in a worship service? How should loving others as Christ loved them affect your practices of corporate worship? What are some practical ways you can enhance the worship of others and avoid disturbing them in a corporate worship service in the following areas: Timing of arrival at church? Remaining at your seat? Talking during a service? Young children? Singing? Use of electronic devices? Eating and drinking? Apparel? Serving? Why will it be necessary to work at keeping Him the priority, being humble, maintaining your focus, and responding with reverent worship.
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