Have You Sacrificed Today?

Jesus put an end to God's requirement for sacrifices to cover sin which were seen in the Old Testament.  He offered one sacrifice for sins forever and put an end to the daily sacrifices at the temple.  However, the New Testament teaches us that God still expects us to offer sacrifices that please Him in New Testament worship.  He gives us some specific sacrifices to demonstrate His glory to the world.

First is Body Sacrifice - "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (worship)" (Romans 12:1).  How and when do we sacrifice our bodies to the Lord?  We do it daily as we take up our cross, die to self and choose to follow Jesus.  We can do it with a simple prayer daily and it happens wherever we take the temple.

Second is Praise Sacrifice -  "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name, . . . for with such sacrifices God is well pleased"     (Hebrews 13:15,16b).  The sacrifice of praise is a continuous offering of both prayer and song involving the confession of God's name and glory to show forth our thankfulness to Him.  We can pray and sing our praise anywhere, anytime, and yet when we gather as the body of Christ in public worship, we are encouraged in the faith as we bring our sacrifices of praise together.

Third is Koinonia Sacrifice - "But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:16).  The word "koinonia" literally means to share.  This was demonstrated in the early church.  They were a very giving fellowship.  They provided support for one another and built unity and fellowship in the church.  Koinonia Sacrifice replaced the Old Testament sacrificial system of bringing physical and material goods for worship.  Instead, the New Testament Christian is to worship by giving to the needs of others. We are challenged to see needs and meet needs as an act of worship.  We give tithes and offerings as a part of this meeting needs of others and meeting the needs of mission and ministry to those in need. 

We can not worship God effectively apart from sacrifice.  Someone has said, "This is the work of worship".  What have you sacrificed today?  mjm

The Temple of Worship

No, it is not the beautiful worship buildings that we build.  It is described in I Corinthians 3: 16-17: "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.  for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."

First of all, we need to be fully aware that the word you in the original Greek language is plural.  It is talking about those who are a part of the body of Christ.

Paul is wanting the Corinthians to understand that they are a unified assembly of believers.  They were not to look at themselves as a collection of competing interests, personal preferences, or independent individuals.  Those who make up the temple of God are to be interdependent, not independent.  Paul is reminding us of the intent of Jesus' prayer in John 17: 21-13 that believers are unified in our Lord.

When we gather together at the church building we are not coming to the temple.  We are bringing the temple where God dwells to the building where we join in unity in praise, honor, and the glory of His name through worship.  This is where God dwells.

At the beginning of this chapter it talks about divisions in the church.  In this passage, Paul warns that anyone who sets out to destroy the union of God's dwelling will be destroyed by God.  Why?  Because God's temple (body of Christ) is holy, and you all are the temple.  Those are strong words.  May we be committed to keeping God's temple holy and one in Him.  mjm

"The Word became . . . and We Worship"

"The Word became flesh". . . and we worship Him!  A. W. Tozer, 20th century Pastor and Theologian once said, "The whole import and substance of the Bible teaches us that the God who does not need any thing nevertheless desires the adoration and worship of His created children."  We have passed through a time in our own lives where there has been a lot of talk about the "battle for the Bible" or talk of the Word being supreme, etc.  I have no argument with any of that as long as we don't begin to perceive that the Word of God is strictly a rule book and guide for life only.  Is it those things? Of course, but we must never forget that the Word of God is living, breathing, . . . God of the universe speaking truth to our hearts every time we pick it up.  It isn't just a book.  It is the Word of God speaking directly to us.  And, as our Pastor showed us today, it is trustworthy. 

Now, I have actually heard some say, "Well, the Bible really doesn't say all that much about worship."  Are you kidding, it is all about worship.  As Tozer said, the whole import and substance of the Bible is instructive and inspiring us to worship Him.  As we are called to worship Him we see the following in His Word:

We find the person of God revealed, the presence of God revealed, the power of God revealed, the plan of God revealed and the purpose of God revealed illustrating to us that man's main, single purpose is to glorify God.  Our chief end is His glory!  He speaks it so in His Word to us.  We don't just worship a book, we worship the Living Word.  "Letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly . . . ".  May we ever have a listening ear as the Spirit of God leads us through scripture, breathing out God's truth, enriching and changing our lives for His glory.  Knowing Him through His Word to us is foundational to our worship.  "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy Name." mjm

Psalm 138

Besides reading through the Bible every year, I read through the Psalms and Proverbs every month in a different translation each month.  I was reading Psalm 138 this morning and it spoke to me in an unusual way and I was prompted to share it in the blog today.  (Scripture quotes are from the ESV.)

"I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.  On Thee I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased."

In the first three verses of this Psalm, David again talks about the whole heart, everything we are giving praise and thanks to God with, the posture of worship being kneeling down or bowing down.  Both important principles in our worship.  He declares also the importance of the Lord's Name and the Lord's Word.  In all of our worship, we must always emphasize the Name of the Lord and the Word of the Lord supreme.  Then again we see prayer - calling out to the Lord, a part of worship seeing that God intervenes and strengthens us in Him.

"All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.  For though the Lord is high He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar."

David says in vv. 4-6 that when the kings of the earth hear what God has to say, they will say, "thank you."  They will sing about what He has done.  Our singing is always a testimony of what God has done and is doing.  And we see in this part of the passage that the "glory of God" is shown to be great in our singing.  Why? - because even though God is high above, He sees far below and knows everything about us.  Praise be to Him!

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life: you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.  Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands."

We see in the last verses of this Psalm that even when we walk into the thick of trouble, that He is with us in the turmoil.  And basically, David says, "Lord, please finish what you started in me; your faithfulness and your love are eternal - please don't quit on me now."  These words should be our prayer also.  mjm

Feast of Trumpets

"But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."  (Ezekiel 33:6)

The shofar, horns, trumpets are all through the Old Testament and Jewish tradition.  Today happens to be Rosh Hoshanah, a Jewish holy day referred to by Biblical Christians as the Feast of Trumpets.

We see the trumpet being used as a warning of judgement.  We see it used to call the people to worship in the Old Testament.  We are commanded in scripture to praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. We see it used as announcing a new year.  We see it announcing a coming suffering servant.  And one day, at the last trumpet sound, the Conquering King will return.  

The fall feasts usher in the coming Kingdom Messiah.  The Feast of Trumpets is the first of those fall feasts.  God's kingdom is announced with the blowing of the trumpets.  It is always an announcement of something to come.

So, the sound of the trumpet should stir our hearts into expectation and anticipation that God is moving and about to do something. He is fulfilling His kingdom purpose.  We should desire to be a part of fulfilling His kingdom in and through our worship when we gather to worship Him.

Sound the trumpet, the Lord is here and accomplishing all He purposes. Glory to God! We are so thankful for those who come and use their gifts in our orchestra to enhance worship and glorify God as we worship together.  

Just a small side note...I get so amused sometimes.  With all of God's plan involving the trumpet in so many different ways in scripture and worship, I sometimes get amused at those who complain about how loud the instruments are.  Can you even imagine the trumpeters and singers who will announce the Lord God in our perfect praise in heaven?  I sometimes chuckle thinking I sure hope that person goes to heaven without ears.  Oh, well - even the trumpet - is about Him!  Yes, in our worship it is always about Him!  Hallelujah, what a Savior!  mjm

The Great War

There is a battle for the souls of men and the glory of God.  This war started before creation.  It is a spiritual war and difficult for us to understand.  Scripture shows us glimpses of this war and scripture also says, "My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)  Many believers and church families are vulnerable because of their lack of awareness that we are in spiritual warfare.  Now, we should not ever get out of balance with this subject to where we are over emphasizing satan and his demons. We know the Victor and the Victory is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Hallelujah!

Worship is the point at which this great battle began.  The worship theme continues throughout all of Scripture and according to Revelation 5:11-14 is the culmination of God's great work throughout all history.  All of history will end in Worship!

The issue of worship is the great battle between good and evil being waged,  because worship is all about giving God the glory and honor due His name.  We read in the Word that satan has always been jealous of God being worshipped.  He felt he deserved to be worshipped even as God.  Satan became so self-deceived that he decided to wage war against God's glory.  

The prophet Isaiah speaks of the reasons behind satan's ejection from heaven:  "You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High'".  (Isaiah 14:13-14)  He even went so far as to ask Jesus to bow down and worship him in Matthew 4.  This is why God hates pride.  It is the ultimate arrogance that he demanded the Son of God to worship him.  

With lies and deceptions, false gods and idols, satan will lead people to worship any and everything except the Most High God. 

We must exalt God and proclaim the truth.  We are on offense, not defense.  We don't need to pursue some mystical experience, we just need to stand on the truth.  I Cor. 10: 4-5 states, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strong-holds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

When we pray for our church's worship and when we come together and praise and exalt His name we are in complete offense against satan.  Therefore, don't be surprised when he seeks to do everything he can to keep us from praying and praising.  

I love the way the Message puts Luke 11:23, "This is war, and there is no neutral ground.  If you're not on My side, you're the enemy;  if you're not helping, you're making things worse."  JESUS  mjm

Worship Leader Commitment

When Jesus calls us to follow Him and serve Him, He makes it very clear that we are to be fully committed to Him.  Now, I know that word, "committed", is not a popular word in the 21st century, but Jesus' expectation hasn't changed.  I literally sometimes get amused at people who have committed to serve by leading worship as they say, "Well, too much is expected of us".  Sometimes, I kind of smile inside and think; "What is too much?".  For the same people, what the civic club, the band boosters,  or the sports teams demand or expect is not too much. It is amazing how quickly we can become more committed to other things which will pass, as opposed to serving in the kingdom, which will not pass.

I am truly thankful we have so many in our worship leading choir, worship teams, worship band, worship orchestra and our worship support team who take their commitment seriously, as to what they have been called to do.  It makes all the difference in our worship as a church. Want to share some spiritual principles from Mark Epperson's book that give guidance to our commitment. Because of space, I pray you will look up the passages.

1.  We are not singing and playing because we are good. (Eph. 2:4-10; Titus 3:5-6) It's God's goodness and grace that allows us to represent Him in spite of our imperfections.

2.  Being seen or recognized is not our goal. (John 3:30; Psalm 40:3) Our goal is for Christ to be seen.

3.  We are not the stars. (II Cor. 4:5; Col. 1:18) The star is Christ Jesus; He has first place in all of it.

4.  Confess our faults. (James 5:16)  As the sign in the choir room says, Pobody is nerfect. We don't need to make lame excuses if failing in our commitment, we ask God to give us the strength to follow through.  We need to keep one another informed when there is a problem to overcome.  We are in this together and grow in grace together.

5.  Our music doesn't determine our success.  (I John 3:23; Phil. 1:9--11) Millions of folks can produce music.  Our success is dependent on our love and commitment to Him and directing people to Him in worship.  That is servanthood.

6.  God is a God of order, not confusion.  (I Cor 14:40; John 4:24)  We should be accountable to one another in being faithful, punctual, dependable, and flexible.  Structure and order are important in our personal lives and our worship within Biblical guidelines.

7.  God deserves our best. (Matt. 5:16)  God gave His best in Christ; He deserves our best.  We should not offer Him anything that costs us nothing.  Rehearsing faithfully and joyfully in preparation for what He has called us to is a must.

8.  Our participation in this ministry makes us ministers; we will be the recipients of God's goodness, but also Satan's attacks.  ( II Cor. 4:1-6; E[he. 6:12; John 10:10)  As worship leaders - expect spiritual warfare. 

9.  Participation in the ministry of worship and music is not a substitute for Bible study, tithing, or serving as God leads in other functions of the church.  (Heb. 10:24-25)  Personal spiritual growth and service is so important to our worship leading.

10.  Support your leaders.  (I Tim 2:1-3; Heb. 13:17)  We should be faithful to pray for and support those who lead us.  When we have concerns, we should go and communicate maturely and honestly at an appropriate time.  

Thanks to those who lead worship faithfully among the First Family!  "As for me and my house . . . we will serve the Lord!"  mjm

Healthy Church

In my readings this week I came across Acts 2: 46-47 again and was reminded of some things I want to share.  The passage says, "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

We see in this passage that a healthy Christian community attracts people to Christ.  I see two passions in this passage.  In the Jerusalem church there was:
1.  A zeal for worship.
2.  A zeal for love of the Christian family.

We see that they had a zeal for gathering and remembering through both the meal of remembrance and praising God together for redemption in Christ.  It indicates they did it with glad and joyful hearts.  

We also see that they joined together in homes and fellowshipped around the table together.  

In the Jewish tradition this would have been all the family and all the people.  I think we find here that their zeal for worship and for brotherly love was contagious, intergenerational, and healthy in a way that attracted others to Christ.  

May we show a zeal for intergenerational worship, with appreciation for all generations and the ways each prefers to worship, growing together in Him.  And may we do it with brotherly love, as opposed to selfish attitudes of "only my way".  For us to approach our worship and fellowship together as all age groups is to show the world Christ-kind of love, that is contagious to others.  May we continue to learn and grow together in Him. That is a sign of a healthy church.  mjm

Obedience . . . the Essence of Worship

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.  No matter how you slice it, our love is equal only to our obedience.  To truly "take up the cross and follow Him" is to love and obey Him which is our "reasonable service of worship."  Our obedience has to do with Lordship.  Is He truly Lord?  If so, our obedience becomes the essence of our worship.  

Ultimately, Lordship is the laying of crowns at His feet which is a picture of our obedience to His Lordship.  Revelation 4:10 states, "The four and twenty elders fall down before Him who sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, . . ."

Our response to the gospel is grace-driven.  He who understands that Gospel knows that as a new creation, his nature is now in opposition to dis-obedience.  Therefore, he seeks to not just weaken sin, but to destroy it.  Out of a worshipping love for the Lord, he wants the power of sin to die.  This is different than just wanting to be better or do good.  

When God's overwhelming love takes complete control of us, it pushes out our love for self, for other gods, and for the things of this world.  It releases our new and pure love to flow back to Him in authentic worship.  Simply put, when we love God, we obey Him.  mjm