Introduction
Here's a definition of dynamic worship for a growing church: 'The criterion which demonstrably separates growing churches from stagnant and declining ones is the worship experience as an inspiring experience for the participants. Inspired services typically indicate that going to church is fun' (Christian A. Schwarz, Natural Church Development, Carol Stream, Il: ChurchSmart Resources, 1996, 31).
Inspiring worship experiences indicate that going to church is fun.
(Read Isaiah 6:1-8.)
Why did you come to church today?
Some just are in the habit of coming. Some attend out of pressure; somebody finagled you to come, or you promised somebody you'd come. Some of you are here seeking fellowship. Or maybe you are hurting. Sometimes it's the death of a loved one. Sometimes it's the end of a marriage or rebellion on the part of a child. Maybe you've come today to be entertained.
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On the way home after church a father was complaining about the church service. The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The pews were too hard. The son, observing this, spoke up in the back seat, "Dad, I thought it was a pretty good show for a dollar!"
We strive to offer inspiring worship. I want to make sure today you understand what I mean by that. What should inspiring worship do?
I. Inspiring worship will honor God
When Isaiah comes into the presence of the Lord, it is obvious how he feels about the Lord. He saw the Lord high and lifted up and his response was one of absolute conviction and a sense of the awesomeness of God. The angelic beings in verse 3 were saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts." It's clear in the Bible that the primary reason we come together is to worship God.
We're here today to experience the presence of God.
We're here to acknowledge the authority of God.
We're here to renew our commitment to obedience to His word and to His ways.
When people come to church, they expect to experience God. They expect to encounter the living God.
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Anne Sullivan was Helen Keller's teacher. You remember Helen Keller was both blind and deaf. Anne Sullivan would spell out words in her hand. One day Anne Sullivan spelled out in Helen Keller's hand, "Today I'm going to teach you about God." Helen Keller spelled back in Anne Sullivan's hand: "Good, I've been thinking about Him for a long time." Nobody had ever told her about God, but in her heart of hearts she had been thinking about God for a long time. Why? I believe God has created us with a God shaped vacuum in our heart.
He has created us with a desire to praise Him, to worship Him. In fact, that is the meaning of the word worship. The word literally means "to attribute worth to, worth-ship." We're here to worship God, to attribute worth to Him.
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When the University of Tennessee won the national championship in 1998, they celebrated, and something that happens so infrequently ought to be celebrated! Fans gathered at Neyland Stadium, and they cheered enthusiastically. The players appeared, and there were banners. There was a sea of orange, and the fans were yelling. Why were they there? Those fans didn't walk away saying, "You know that was kind of a dud. I didn't enjoy that. It didn't mean anything to me, didn't do anything for me."
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The event was a success not because the performance was great. There was no game. The players may have made speeches, but I doubt they were that eloquent. Those people left happy because they understood the reason they came. They didn't come to be entertained; they came to honor that football team. They came to honor those coaches, and they left saying, "I hope the team knows how much we appreciate them. I hope they know how much we care about them."
We should leave here saying, "I hope God receives the worship of my heart. I hope He understands how much I love Him, how committed I am to Him." Many of us miss that about worship.
II. Inspiring worship will lead to feeling of awe
When you read Isaiah's experience, you know there was a great sense of awe. Isaiah indicated that he went into the temple, and God was there. Now I know God is everywhere, but I know the Bible says that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is among us. There is something special about coming together and worshiping God. He's here in a special, special way.
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If you were in the presence of the president of the United States today, you wouldn't say, "Hi George. How're you doing?" We would feel a bit intimidated; we would feel certainly a sense of wonderment. The Bible indicates that's the way we ought to feel about worshiping God. In Revelation 1, when John was in the presence of Jesus, the Bible says he fell at His feet as dead. Amazing!
(Read Psalm 8:3-9.)
III. Inspiring worship will bring an awareness of sin (vs. 5)
Read Isaiah 6:5.The closer you get to God, the more unworthy you feel. Many people have said to me, "I'm trying to live a Christian life, but it just seems like I'm not getting anywhere." Listen, the closer you get to God, the more you see your filth. Here's Isaiah, a great prophet of God, but he came into the presence of God, and the first thing he responded was, "God, I'm ruined - unclean."
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Paul Eschelman is a man whose name you may have heard. He's responsible for most of the Jesus films being sent around the world. He's sent millions of them. He was talking one time about the Jesus film being shown at a refuge camp in Mozambique, Africa. He said most of those folks had never heard of Jesus, never heard anything about the Bible. They just fell in love with Jesus through the Jesus film; but when Jesus was arrested, beaten, and led away to be crucified, they began to weep and wail and rush to the screen. They created such a stir, such noise, and such dust that they had to stop the film.
He said, "The sense of God's presence - His power and His holiness - was so great that no one could do anything but confess sins." When we worship God, we should have such an awesome awareness of Him and of who we are that we confess our sin.
IV. Inspiring worship will bring a sense of joy
We have trouble in worship balancing awe and joy. When Isaiah came into the presence of God He felt a great sense of his sin. Then one of the seraphim flew to him, took one of the coals off the fire, and touched his lips with it. It says that with this act his iniquity was taken away. His sin was purged. Worship motivates us to confess our sin, but it doesn't leave us there. It also motivates us to understand that when we submit to God and call on Him to forgive us, He forgives our sin, and we leave rejoicing because we've come to know the God of grace and mercy and He has forgiven us.
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Eschelman went on to say, "Finally things settled down, and they could start the film again. Then they realized that the crucifixion wasn't the end of the story." When Jesus was resurrected, "The crowd exploded as if a dam had burst. Everyone began cheering and dancing and hugging one another and jumping up and down." The invitation was given, and more than 500 people, almost everybody in the crowd, came forward. The next day that 40-member Mozambique refuge church had 500 new members who had come to be a part of the worship service (Paul Eschelman, The Touch of Jesus, Orlando, Fla., New Life Pub., 1996).
Once we recognize that we are in a sinful state and we're reminded of God's grace and forgiveness and that Jesus paid the price for our sin, it's a time for rejoicing and happiness. Read Psalm 100:1-3.
V. Inspiring worship will call people to serve God (v. 8)
Look at what happened to Isaiah. Read Isaiah 6:8. If you've really worshiped, if you leave with an attitude of submission to God, you will be willing to do whatever God wants you to do. There's something inspirational about singing, something reinforcing about hearing the truth.
VI. Inspiring worship will be a testimony to the lost
Genuine worship attracts people to the Lord. When those who are not Christians see you genuinely worshiping God, they think you must really love God. Read Acts 2:47 and John 12:32.