A focus on my timeliness has reminded me that God does not work on my timetable. Sometimes, I am awed by how He has planned things out long before I even knew there was going to be something to plan. My on-time mentality has a great respect for those events. Sometimes, God works things out just in time. I am always impressed by such events because I would find it so difficult to live a just-in-time life. But then, sometimes, God is late - well, late according to my timetable. And it's in those circumstances that I wrestle the most with God.

He is never late. He never oversleeps. He is always working at just the right time (Romans 5:6). If I am impatient or frustrated with God because of His apparent tardiness, that is a sign of my own weak faith - not a sign of any lack of strength, ability, or character on His part. I dread this prayer, but, Lord, give me patience.

I've had people come to me concerned in various ways about their spiritual growth. I've come to wonder what measurement is being used - accumulation or snowfall. God's glory and truth fall on us from morning to evening and back to morning again. Does the lack of accumulation mean that any less of it fell? Is it possible that during the times where there is less accumulation in our lives that God is using that time to let it all soak into us? And how do we measure the difference between the 'heavy' grace and truth moments compared to the 'light' grace and truth moments?

Our fascination with 'MORE' - even for signs of God's glory and truth - can be a detriment to us if by 'MORE' we aren't looking for more of God. So how do we measure spiritual growth?       

I wonder how often that happens with our faith experiences. When necessary we can recall the events in our past where God was clearly at work. These experiences, perhaps over time, become like that hand stamp - our ticket in to our church, our ministry, our walk with the Lord. I don't want in any way to discredit what God has done in our lives in the past - in fact, God often says its good to be reminded of what He has done. But often those reminders are for the sake of seeing what He is doing today. What is He doing today?

And yet, the leaves are changing color because they are dying. Death, we are told in Scripture, is the curse of sin (1 Corinthians 15:56) and sin is not the way things are supposed to be. But even in death, the glory of God can be displayed - in no greater way, of course, than in the death of Jesus (John 17:4-5). At the cross, God took the repulsiveness of death and turned it into a vehicle to glorify Himself while bringing us great hope through faith in Jesus.

The leaves falling off the trees are just a picture of this truth...

A thankful perspective causes us to recognize how ultimately we are to thank God for all things. He has qualified us to have an inheritance in His kingdom-part of that inheritance are all the blessings that we graciously receive and become the basis of our thankfulness. As we recognize more and more of God's hand in our lives, our thanks will begin to overflow like a creek overflowing its banks. But unlike an overflowing creek, our overflowing thankfulness is not destructive.rather it brings peace between us and God as well as us and others. This causes us to be watchful for what God is doing and to offer to Him thanks through prayer.

And as we act in accordance with God we will find that we not only are thankful towards God, but that we are thankful towards others. That's what Paul says in 1:3-4-he is thankful first and foremost to God because all ultimate thanks rests in Him-but Paul is also thankful for the Colossians and specifically for their faith and love.

A thankful perspective also causes us to thank others. Paul specifically thanked the Colossians for their faith in Christ and love for others which gave him great hope and encouragement.

This perspective of thankfulness is a lost art amongst Christians. It's EASY to figure out what's wrong. Scripture tells us over and over again that we live in a world where things are broken, where things aren't the way they are supposed to be. We should expect that things are wrong. But when we find something to be thankful for-it is something to be celebrated when despite the brokenness and things not being the way they are supposed to be that we are still able to see the hand of God at work. Are you characterized as a person who is thankful for the good things you see happening in the lives of others and-ultimately-done through the power of God?

You see a thankful perspective will change our attitudes. Without a thankful perspective we will become prideful thinking either too much or too little of ourselves. When we have a thankful perspective we will become humble-we will come to see ourselves as we truly are. Without a thankful perspective we will become self-reliant-autonomous-thinking that in some way we really don't need anyone other than ourselves. When we have a thankful perspective we will be dependent because we will realize that we can't possibly live life on our own. Without a thankful perspective, we will end our lives in a morose grief-saddened that nothing has turned out the way we had anticipated. When we have a thankful perspective we will have joy because we recognize our lives overflowing with the blessings of God. Without a thankful perspective we will become self-focused and ultimately empty because we are always focused on what God isn't doing instead of what God is doing. A thankful perspective will focus us on how God is using people to transform and renew our lives, our church, and our world.

What are you thankful for?

We looked at the picture of Adam and Eve, standing there in the garden, hopeless, accused and ashamed of their sin. But God does not leave them this way-He provides for them skins from animals, animals that they themselves may have cared for in the garden. God initiates the sacrifice that we need for sin.

We looked at the picture of Abraham leading his most precious son Isaac up that mountain to make a sacrifice How much must Abraham have been praying for God's provision while he tied his son to that altar and raised the knife to kill his one and only son. And God did provide a ram for the burnt offering. God provides the sacrifice that we need for sin.

We looked at the picture of the temple and each of its articles. God had stringent requirements for all those who would approach Him - it could not be just anyone and it could not be in just any fashion. There was only one way to approach God. God makes a way for the sacrifice that we need for sin.

We looked at the picture of the various sacrifices that were commanded by God and we saw that there were several barriers blocking our access into the presence of God. These barriers kept us from the presence of God. God overcomes the barriers for the sacrifice that we need for sin.

We looked at the picture of Aaron running out into the midst of the plague of God's judgment on Israel. Running out into the midst of the people so that he might stand between life and death to make atonement for the people of God. The cost of sin is death. God pays the price for the sacrifice that we need for our sin.

We looked at the picture of Moses with the grumbling, miserable people who lacked trust in what God had promised them. In the midst of a plague of venomous snakes Moses is commanded to place a bronze snake on a pole in their midst. The picture of their own death on a pole so that all who looked in faith at that pole would be saved from death. God requires nothing more than faith for the sacrifice that we need for our sin.

We looked at the picture of the Passover lamb. Its body broken and eaten. Its blood, when applied to the doorposts of one's house, a protection against death itself. God brings life out of the sacrifice that we need for our sin.

We looked at the picture of the cross and saw that in the cross all the other pictures of sacrifice come together. This God-initiated, God-provided sacrifice, overcomes the barriers between us and God and pays the price for sin. Through faith, the cross provides the one way to eternal life with God.

It's interesting how many passages of Scripture carry these themes. On Easter we focused on Romans 5:1-11 and saw how in the empty tomb is peace, grace, hope, love, salvation, and joy because Jesus is risen! But notice how that the empty tomb is: God-initiated (v. 8); God-provided (v. 6, 8); the only way (v. 2, 10, 11); overcomes the barriers between us and God (v. 1, 10); pays the price for sin (v. 9); is only through faith (v. 1); requires blood application (v. 9).

Our salvation in Jesus is in one sense so simple that we can effectively communicate it even to little children. And yet, as we mature and grow in our understanding of salvation and our knowledge of God, we find that our salvation is far more complex, extensive, and comprehensive than we ever imagined.

Praise God because Jesus is risen!!

Sin is costly. It offers you your desires for a small price now-but it places you in debt. And someday, that debt all comes crashing down in the form of death. God seems harsh in His punishment of sin only for those for whom sin is cheap. Sin is costly.

The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of the picture of Moses and Aaron in Numbers 16. We have rebelled against Him, we have tried to take over His place in this universe, we have wanted to set up ourselves over Him. We deserve death for our rebellions against God-that is the debt we owe. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus with focused purpose presents His prayers and the sacrifice of Himself to God as an appeasement of the punishment that we deserve for our debt. He bought us! Jesus stands between life and death making atonement for us!

Below is a definition of sin from Cornelius Plantinga ( Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995):

In Biblical thinking, we can understand neither shalom nor sin apart from reference to God. Sin is a religious concept, not just a moral one. For example, when we are thinking religiously, we view a shopkeeper's defrauding of a customer not merely as an instance of lawlessness but also of faithlessness, and we think of the fraud as faithless not only to the customer but also to God. Criminal and moral misadventures qualify as sin because they offend and betray God. Sin is not only the breaking of law but also the breaking of covenant with one's savior. Sin is the smearing of a relationship, the grieving of one's divine parent and benefactor, a betrayal of the partner to whom one is joined by a holy bond.

Hence in the most famous of the penitential psalms, traditionally ascribed to David after his adultery with Bathsheba, the author views his sin primarily, perhaps exclusively, as a sin against God (Psalm 51:1-4). All sin has first and finally a Godward force. Let us say that a sin is any act-any thought, desire, emotion, word, or deed-or its particular absence, that displeases God and deserves blame. Let us add that the disposition to commit sins also displeases God and deserves blame, and let us therefore use the word sin to refer to such instances of both act and disposition. Sin is a culpable and personal affront to a personal God.

But once we possess the concept of shalom [which Plantinga defines as "universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight-a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom He delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be."] we are in a position to enlarge and specify this understanding of sin. God is, after all, not arbitrarily offended. God hates sin not just because it violates His law but, more substantively, because it violates, shalom, because it breaks the peace, because it interferes with the way things are supposed to be. (Indeed, that is why God has laws against a good deal of sin.) God is for shalom and therefore against sin. In fact, we may safely describe evil as any spoiling of shalom, whether physically (e.g. by disease), morally, spiritually, or otherwise. Moral and spiritual evil are agential evil-that is, evil, that, roughly speaking, only persons can do or have. Agential evil thus comprises evil acts and dispositions. Sin, then, is any agential evil for which some person (or group of persons) is to blame. In short, sin is culpable shalom-breaking.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone trying to get a better and more biblical understanding of sin. Plantinga is a college professor so some of his material can get, as you can see, a little heady. But his overall treatment of sin is a must-read for anyone seeking a biblical understanding.

However, Hebrews 9 declares that if these means of approaching God actually did what they illustrated, then there would be no need to continually repeat them and yet that is exactly what the temple worship centered around-continual repetition of God-ordained ritual. The writer of Hebrews shows that all that the temple was intended to do was point people to Jesus as the fulfillment of everything that the temple represented.

Jesus declared this about Himself-He said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.' Jesus is the way to God. If you try to make yourself clean through any other means, then death awaits you. If you seek forgiveness through any other sacrifice, then death awaits you. If your prayers are sprinkled with the blood of anything else, then death awaits you. If you try to see with light from any other source, then death awaits you. If you seek sustenance and protection through any other means, then death awaits you. If you enter the presence of God without Jesus, then death awaits you.

When you come into the presence of God, there is but one way-every aspect of entering the presence of God must be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life-no one comes to the Father, except through Him.

Here is a link to a site that takes you through just about every aspect you could ever want to know about the temple (Herod's). It is written from a Jewish perspective, so much of what the temple was intended to illustrate in Jesus is lost. But I still found this to be a helpful tool to understanding the temple and its environment better. Obviously, for this past Sunday's sermon, I focused on the inner courts of the temple. However, if you want a very detailed and visual description of the temple and all its grounds, I couldn't find a better tool.

· Expectation of meeting God

· Joy, gladness, thanksgiving, and praise

· Brokenness and contriteness

· Prayers and intercession

· Offerings

· Teachableness

· Belief

When these attitudes are a part of the offering that we offer to God, then there are blessings that we receive in the midst of our worship. When we approach God with an attitude of:

· Expectation of meeting God, then we can expect the joyful reality of His presence (Matthew 18:20).

· Joy, gladness, thanksgiving, and praise, then we can expect a deeper sense of His glory and an enhanced understanding of who He is (Psalm 100).

· Brokenness and contriteness, then we can expect the assurance of His pardoning mercy (Psalm 51:16-17).

· Prayers and intercession, then we can expect to be heard in Heaven (1 John 5:14-15).

· Offerings, then we can expect that He will meet our needs (2 Corinthians 9:6-11).

· Teachableness, then we can expect that our souls will grow in maturity (1 Peter 2:1-2).

· Belief, then we can expect to see and understand Christ through Scripture (Luke 24:25-27).

There are, obviously, more than just these. And as we noted in the sermon, as soon as we come for the purpose of receiving the blessings, we are no longer worshipping. But notice how these particular attitudes mirror the components of our worship services. As we bring these attitudes, God blesses our offering and provides us with blessings that can be used during and through the worship service and prepares us for future worship.

We've spent the last five weeks focusing our sermons on the topic of worship. Before we conclude our series today, I'd like to take some time and summarize what God has shown us through scripture so far.

We started by looking at the descriptions of worship that have been given to us. We identified from Scripture three characteristics of true worship. First, all true worship is God focused. Worship is a glorification of God through Jesus by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Our worship can be directed towards other than God, but this only ends up being false worship. True worship must be directed towards God. Second, true worship is edifying to its participants. There is a blessing that comes to the worshipper when they truly worship God. Worship is no longer true worship when we worship just to receive the blessing, but the blessing we receive in worship is no less real. And third, true worship is Gospel-proclaiming. When true worship occurs, people are confronted with the presence of God and their need for a Savior is clear to them.

Next we turned our attention to the instruments used in worship. We saw that under the new covenant in Jesus, that all good things are able to be used in worship to God-that the limitations that were set in the old covenant under Moses have been lifted. So all musical instruments used in the hands of people worshipping God are sacred because ultimately, you and I are the real instruments of worship…the musical instruments we use are just tools to help us accomplish worship that comes through us.

We then saw from scripture that the style of worship that pleases God is one that combines reverence and joy. However, it is impossible for us to know what combination of reverence and joy will bring the greatest glory to God which is why we should never allow our personal preferences to dictate the style of worship. But we do trust that God knows the combination of reverence and joy that will please Him. So we trust that He provides people with skills, abilities, and gifts which when all are combined together create worship that is pleasing to Him.

Our next study was on the words of worship. Ephesians 5 tells us that we should speak to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We saw that these can be used as a guide to knowing what words should be used in worship. The words of worship should be Biblical. This doesn't mean that they must-by necessity-be direct quotes of scripture. But our words in worship should carry the meaning of scripture if they are to be appropriate. We also saw that our words should be uplifting and praising God-that's what the pagan hymns of Paul's day did to the pagan gods. Paul says we should do the same thing in our worship to the true God. Finally, like the spiritual songs that Paul speaks of, we saw that our words ought to be worshipful-they ought to be properly reverent and joyful-they ought to fit the context of worship-they ought to be appropriate and participatory.

And then last week we saw from Scripture that worship is an interaction between God and His worshippers. He reveals Himself through the various components of the worship service and we respond to that revelation through those same components. And so worship isn't intended to be a one-sided conversation-neither where God only speaks to us and we listen nor where we simply bring our praise to God. Our time of worship is developed out of the relationship we have with God through Jesus where He reveals Himself through His Spirit and we respond to that revelation.

Its quite a journey we've been on over the last several weeks. But then as we come to a conclusion on the series today, we stumble over Exodus 34:20-No one is to appear before the Lord God empty-handed. What have you brought to worship God today?

Your body is here obviously. But have you brought your mind or are you even now considering all the other things that need to be done when you leave here?

Have you brought your 10%? Have you apportioned out your time and efforts and blessings and given God what He demands so that you can now sit back and say you've done your part? Do you leave here with 90% thinking its yours to do with as you please?

Have you brought a desire to glorify God?-well…so long as the service sounds the way you want it to sound and has the elements that you want it to have and the sermon says what you want it to say.

And don't for a moment believe that I'm picking on anyone here-those are just some of the things I've wrestled with over the years in approaching worship.

What will you leave here with after you are done worshipping?

It's amazing how often as a pastor we come across statements like this. "I really didn't get anything out of the sermon." "That music doesn't really do anything for me." "I'm not being fed."

We've flubbered worship all up. We come with empty hands expecting God to fill them by the time we leave. That's not worship, that's consumerism. Go to your local food store empty handed and you come out with your arms full of goodies. And we come to church expecting the same thing. That's not worship! We shouldn't be consumers of worship-we should be producers of worship. No one is to appear before the Lord God empty handed.

So what do we bring to Him? To answer that, turn with me to 1 Peter 2:4-5. Peter tells us that worship can only happen as we come to Him, the Living Stone, to Jesus. Many can have a form of worship but any worship that does not have Jesus as its focus is meaningless worship.

Because Jesus is the place of worship. In the OT, the temple was the means through which one was able to approach God. If you wanted to go into the presence of God, you went into the temple. But Jesus, in John 2, declares that if you destroy the temple He will rebuild it in three days. And then John comments on what Jesus said and notes that Jesus was talking about Himself. Jesus was saying that the physical temple of Jerusalem was being replaced and fulfilled-and He was the replacement and He was the fulfillment. If you want to approach God, you must be in Jesus-He is the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

Any worship that does not have Jesus as its focus is meaningless worship because Jesus is the minister of worship. In the OT, individuals could not approach God on their own. They always required a mediator, a priest who would go in to intercede on behalf of himself and the person whom he was representing. But in Hebrews 9 we read that Jesus is the Great High Priest-He is the one who ushers us into the presence of God. He is the one who mediates our worship of God.

Any worship that does not have Jesus as its focus is meaningless worship because Jesus is the offering of worship. In the OT, a sacrifice was necessary in order to worship God. People would bring calves and rams, and oil to offer to God. But the blood of animals or oil doesn't really cover sin-it was God being gracious and patient with people until the True Sacrifice came-Jesus. In Romans 3 Paul tells us that Jesus is our sacrifice who is holy and pleasing to God.

This is kind of what we would expect to hear about Jesus. But then Peter goes on and makes three astonishing statements. First, he says that we are living stones that are being built into a spiritual house. Worship is no longer fixed to a specific location. Each of us are living stones that individually - and especially as we gather together as a family of believers - become the place of worship. That's why worship doesn't need to happen in this room or this building or this property. Worship of God can happen anywhere that His children gather because you are the place of worship.

And his second statement is no less astonishing. You are the minister of worship-you are a holy priesthood. You can enter the presence of God both on your behalf and on behalf of others because you are becoming a holy priesthood to God. When you worship God, you ought to be interceding on behalf of those who are represented by your life.

We make this place a place of worship simply by gathering together. We are the priests that administer the worship. And you'll remember that we said that worship means getting on our knees and bowing with our face to the ground before God.

And what sacrifice do we bring? Micah the prophet asks the same question-with what shall I come before the Lord. With a calve? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams and rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgressions, for the sin of my soul? He has shown you what He requires of you-act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. God is not pleased with sacrifices and burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart will never be despised by God.

You are the offering or worship not because you are so special or so perfect-we are blemished sacrifices in ourselves. But remember we've said that we become like that which we worship. We are the place of worship because Jesus is the place of worship and we are in Him. We are the ministers of worship because Jesus is the minister of worship and we are in Him. We are the offerings of worship because Jesus is the offering of worship and we are in Him. God wants our hearts, our soul, our mind, and our strength-it is the only acceptable offering for us to bring to Him in Jesus.

Do you want to worship God? I mean, truly worship God? Then do this. The moment we speak the last blessing in our service today-even while you're talking to the people in the church here, as you leave this building, as you drive home and eat, throughout today, tomorrow as you go to work, as you spend time with family, participate in recreational activity, all throughout the whole week - be gathering.

When you come across something to praise God for, gather that up. And when you see the blessings that are yours through Jesus, pick that up to. And when you are burdened by something that saddens you, carry that also. And when you stumble over temptation and sin in your life, go back and pick it up and bring it with you.

And next week, when you come to worship God, don't come empty-handed. Bring all those things that you've been gathering throughout the week and place them before the Lord as an offering to Him. When we pray in our service, you give some of what you've brought to Him. And when we sing, you give some more of it to Him. And when we take our offering, you give still more. And when we study God's Word together, you give all the more.

Now, just as an aside, if you approach Jesus this way, I must give you a warning. The Sunday will come-maybe not next week or the next but eventually - where you sense Jesus saying to you, 'Hey Russell, what's that in your pocket?' 'This? Why this is nothing, it's a trifle, it's just a trinket, a hobby, a recreational activity, it's just something I own-it's really nothing-hardly worth anything…' And Jesus will say to you, 'Russell, I want you to give that to me also.' 'This? Well, I thought that I could keep this maybe just hold onto it for a bit….but if you want it…' This too must be thrown in with everything else that you've brought.

If we only had the eyes to see-to be able to see the sacrifices of God's people laid before His throne each week in worship-this immense pile of life-your life and my life-given to Him as an offering of worship.

When you come to worship God, bring everything with you-your heart, mind, soul, and strength - and when you leave here, you should leave here spent-emptied because you've given God everything of yourself and there is no more that can possibly be given. When you leave here empty, you are ready for God to fill you in the coming week with the experiences and circumstances that you will need to bring to Him the following week so that you might worship Him again.

No one is to approach the Lord God empty-handed. What will you bring to worship next week?

Instead, we ought to be trusting that God has purposely placed the people we have in our church. We should trust that He has created each person in unique ways to worship Him because He knows better than we do what our worship should look like. And so our worship ought to be driven less by our personal preference for worship and more driven by the gifts and abilities that God has placed in a church. Such an approach results in a unique presentation of worship to God in a style that pleases Him because He is the one who has put it together.

We stated that so long as a person is willing to be a living sacrifice-is willing to serve - we will seek to transform any ability, skill, or gift to be used to worship God.

I was discussing this with a guy in one of my ministries once and said the same thing to him. He responded, "You wouldn't put cheerleaders in the worship service, would you? If not, then you wouldn't use ANY ability or skill-you're just using the people that align with your own worship preferences." He brought up two good points.

First, it is always important for a pastor to watch the motivations as he prepares the worship service. This guy was right-pastors are human and can allow our own biases to direct our choices instead of allowing God to direct us. However, that's exactly where I believe this gifts-based approach to worship brings us back to the throne of God. If it can be shown that gifted people within the congregation are not consistently being used in worship or purposely being excluded, then the pastor should be approached with that issue. Might I just say, however, on behalf of all my fellow pastors, that 'consistently' does not necessarily mean 'every week.'

There is a second point that was accurate-I would not use a cheerleader in the worship service..well, at least, not the same way that the world does. Psalm 27:6 speaks about how part of worship to God is shouting. I realize that we don't make this a part of our worship service very often-but there it is. And in case we think that the Psalms deal too heavily in imagery and allegory and so this shouting must mean something else, we can also go to Ezra 3:11-13 (or over 20 other verses that directly link shouting to the worship of God) where the shouting to God is in worship to Him and is extended-not just a simple 'Amen!' in the midst of a sermon.

I was convicted of this again last night. I went to bed after the SuperBowl and my throat hurt because of all the shouting I did during the game. I get excited about football and so I cheer for it. It may not be football for you but everyone has interests in their life that gets them really excited. Why don't I get that way about God who I KNOW is so much greater than any other interest in my life?

So, would I use a cheerleader in our worship service? No-not the way the world does. However, if God were to bring someone to our congregation that had the ability to get people excited about God to the point where they are shouting to the Lord in a way that mirrored what we read about in Scripture-well, then I'd have a hard time not using that person in our worship. Our worship of God will never be complete until everyone in the church becomes living sacrifices that take every aspect of our life and use it in worship to God.

And since I promised you cows in the title, enjoy this humorous illustration of how much our worship choices are based on personal preferences and perceptions.

Joe, a farmer, went to visit some family members in the next state over. While there, he went with them to a contemporary worship service. When he returned, his wife Martha wanted to know how it was.

"Well," said Joe, "it was good, but different. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns."

"What are those?" asked his curious wife.

"Oh, they are sort of like hymns, only different. Well, if I were to say to you, 'Martha, the cows are in the corn'-well, that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

"Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn , are in the corn, are in the corn, the CORN, CORN, CORN."

"Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing five or six times, well, that would be a praise chorus."

The next weekend, Joe's nephew, a young, Christian from the contemporary church came to visit his Uncle Joe and Aunt Martha. He attended their church's traditional worship service. When he went home his mother asked him how it was.

"Well, it was good, but different," he replied. "They sang hymns instead of praise choruses."

Asked to describe the difference, he said:

"If Uncle Joe were to say to Aunt Martha, 'Martha, the cows are in the corn'--well, that would be a praise chorus. If on the other hand, he were to say to her:

"Oh, Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry,
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

"For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense
Hearkenest they in God's sun or His rain
Unless for the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

"Yea, those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.

"So look to the bright shining day by and by
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animals make my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn'

"Then, if he were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well, that would be a hymn."

Weekly Devotional

Continue this week reading the Psalms of Ascent (Psalm 120-134) as ways of preparing you each day for worshipping God.

Its been said that worship is a lot like love-difficult to describe in all its complexities but when you see it you know it. And yet, much like love, pointing to a pure, tangible example is impossible-it is always tainted by.well, by us. Its that tainting by us that makes a study of worship so important.

That is what we began this past Sunday. Over the next six weeks we will be studying what scripture says about various aspects of worship. During our series we will be studying the instruments of worship, the styles of worship, the words of worship, the order of worship, and finish up with the heart of worship.

But before we get into those topics, it would be good for us to have a definition of what worship is. And that, unfortunately, is where our problems are going to start. Though worship is described on almost every page of scripture, it is never defined for us. There have been no end to the books that have been written trying to define worship and although some definitions come close, none capture it completely. And so, this morning, we will not go where scripture does not go. Instead, we will look at three characteristics of worship that help to give it shape.

We saw in John 4:23-24 that Jesus declares true worshippers as those who worship the Father in spirit and truth. If our worship of the Father is in spirit then we must have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for true worship. And throughout John's Gospel, Jesus is constantly referring to Himself as the only Truth. True worship is directed towards the Father through Jesus in the empowerment of the Spirit.

We saw how important it is to know who or what we worship because, as Psalm 115:4-8 shows us, we will become like that which we worship. We then focused on one of the characteristics of God - He invites others to worship Him. We highlighted the point that if you don't worship Him, you are not taking glory away from Him. If you choose rebellion He will be glorified in your rebellion and one day, when you are face to face with Him, you will be compelled to worship Him simply by His presence. But in the same way, you can't increase God's glory as though somehow He is going to owe you for giving Him more glory than He would have had otherwise. We must always remember that we are but dust-He is the Creator and we are the creatures. God will be fully glorified regardless of our actions. But still, He invites us to be part of worshipping and glorifying Him.

And so, like Him, we invite others to worship Him-both those who are already worshippers of God and those who are not. For those who are not, we invite them so that, as Paul described in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, he might 'be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So, he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"'

And yet, as important as community worship is in the life of a believer, we can't imagine a time of true worship that is not precipitated by worship that has already been happening all week long. Worship is a way of life and we cannot worship together as a community on Sunday if we haven't been worshipping throughout the week-well, at least you can't apart from repentance. The most deeply fulfilling worship is worship done in the midst of a community of worshippers. And yet our community of worship is insufficient if it is not an expression of the worship that goes on in our individual lives.

Let me explain this. In the Old Testament the means of approaching God was the temple and obedience to sacred ritual. Specific places, times, and things were declared sacred by God. In the New Testament, the means of approaching God is through Jesus and so there is no sacred place or time or things. Well, no.better said, all places, all times, all material blessings become sacred-your individual life, your family life, our congregational life. When I asked you earlier what you think about when you think about worship, did you think about Cheerios? Do you think of your breakfast as an act of worship? It is. Your body is the temple of the Living God and how you care for it is an expression of worship to Him. And so, even Cheerios can be an expression of worship. Corporate worship-the type of worship that we practice each Sunday morning-is only a particular expression of a life of perpetual worship that takes every part of our lives and redeems it for God's glory.

So, we start our series on worship with the shape of worship before us: True worship is always God-focused, proclaiming in word and action the glory of God in all His majesty; True worship is edifying to its participants both in their individual life and in the community of believers; True worship is a means through which we can proclaim the Gospel.

Weekly Devotional

Monday-Psalm 145

Tuesday-Psalm 146

Wednesday-Psalm 147

Thursday-Psalm 148

Friday-Psalm 149

Saturday-Psalm 150

Our message this past Sunday was about the Gospel story. We saw in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Gospel is focused on one set of events-the death, resurrection, and revelation of Jesus-that are so tightly united together that they can be described as the one Gospel.

Four truths radiate from this Gospel event: all the promises of God are fulfilled in Jesus (Romans 1:1-4); our sins are atoned for by His death which justifies us through faith in Him (Romans 1:16-17); by His resurrection we are freed from the dominion of sin (Romans 6:16-18); and He is coming again to complete the renewal of all creation and establish justice (Romans 2:16 & 8:18-25; for a more in-depth look at these four truths, see Tim Keller's article).

This Gospel must be shone into the lives of people so that they might believe in His death, resurrection, and revelation! His fulfilled promises become hope for those who have lost hope. His atonement and our justification become acquittal for those living in fearful guilt. His freedom from the dominion of sin becomes liberation for those in bondage to idolatry. His coming again becomes judgment on all evil and sin and redemption for all His children.

I'd like to spend some time this dealing with a wrong teaching that has developed recently in Christianity. Some have said that Jesus had a different Gospel than Paul and that somehow that they run contrary-or, at the very least-parallel to each other. Now this is no small thing-if Jesus has one Gospel and Paul has another Gospel then which are we to follow? Which is most important for us to focus on? Is there any way for us to know?

Well, as we'll see, there are NOT two Gospel. The so-called 'Gospel of Paul' that we looked at in Romans on Sunday is the same Gospel that Jesus speaks about throughout His ministry. The Gospel that Jesus proclaimed is also anchored in His own death, resurrection, and revelation. And the same four truths radiate out of the Gospel that Jesus proclaims. Let me show you.

In the first 16 verses of Matthew 1, Matthew gives a genealogy that we often times skip over because we don't think of it as very important. Many have pointed out that it is important at least because it proves that Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of David, thus establishing Him as the Messiah and King. But there is a deeper truth here. This past week, my son Noah and I were looking at this passage during our devotions and after reading it I asked Noah why he thought that God put all these names in the Bible. He said because God promised Abraham he'd have a lot of children, which was far more insightful than he probably realized. God had promised not only a lot of children but also that one of those children would be the blessing to all the world. Matthew is establishing here at the outset, through this genealogy that God is keeping all His promises through Jesus. Over and over in Matthew's recounting of the life of Jesus-as well as Mark, Luke, and John's-we read about how Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises.

The second truth is seen in Matthew 20:25-28. Throughout His ministry, Jesus kept telling people that His ministry would begin its pinnacle on a cross. But that cross, properly understood would point to Jesus being a ransom for many-the price that was paid for our righteousness.

And that ransom that was paid for us on that cross, Jesus taught through faith it would free us from sin. Jesus has the power to free us from sin! This is seen over and over throughout His whole ministry. A great place to see an example of this is in Matthew 8-9. Leprosy, suffering, sickness, natural disaster, demon-possession, paralysis, death, blindness, and muteness - all these calamities represent the ravages of sin. Jesus has the power to free those who will believe in Him from the bondage of sin.

And in Matthew 19:28, Jesus looks forward to the culmination of His ministry to us. When describing that time, he describes it both in terms of the renewal of all things as well as in the context of the establishment of justice over all things evil.

Jesus didn't only proclaim the same Gospel as Paul-He actually lived the Gospel because He IS the Gospel. And so we see again, that there really is only one Gospel to be proclaimed through the death, resurrection, and revelation of Jesus.

Weekly Devotional

Monday-Acts 2:14-41

Tuesday-Acts 3:11-4:22 

Wednesday-Acts 7:1-56

Thursday-Acts 10

Friday-Acts 17:16-33

Saturday-Acts 26:1-32