Worship - 5

Concerns (Abuses)

About Worship

Unauthorized Worship• We must respect God’s pattern

•Gen. 4:3-7Lev. 10:1-32 Chronicles 26:16-21

• Under New Law, God has been equally clear

• Today, many innovations have been introduced

Emotion Driven Worship• The popular appeal today• "No longer can we afford the luxury of

thinking that the people who are sitting in our pews are going to be there every Sunday. We have to arrest their attention. We have to use every device possible to reach them and to teach them and we need not be so apologetic about entertaining them. …" Max Lucado, Preaching Magazine, July-August 2005

Emotion Driven Worship• “…I mean, they have been

entertained all week long, every time they turn around. l have no apology for putting a good singer in front of them to entertain them if they're not Christians. You've got to do something to reach them ... " Max Lucado, Preaching Magazine, July-August 2005

Emotion Driven Worship

• Proper worship will move the Spirit cf. Acts 2:37

• But, proper worship appeals to reason – Acts 8:30, 26:25; cf. Isaiah 1:18•Psalm 19:14

Emotionless Worship• As great of a concern• Without heart, without spirit.

RitualisticGoing through motions

•Malachi 1:12-13 (6-14)•Matt. 15:8-9• Every act of worship involves our

hearts – John 4:24• Preparation helps us avoid this

Casualness toward Worship• In our casual society, many

approach worship with a casual attitude

• Coming in habitually late• Our appearance - while no dress

code is given in the Bible, often it is a reflection of the heart!

• Are we clean and neat? Are we “dressing down”? Is it a part of a desire to make our worship more casual or “comfortable”?

Casualness toward Worship

• Are we giving God our best?(cf. Col. 3:23-24)

• Do we reflect the reverence of the occasion?Cf. 1 Cor. 11:27-29, Heb. 12:28, etc.

Sinful Lives

• Is our assembly part of a life wholly devoted to Him? Or are we simply keeping up appearances?

• Are we lukewarm?Rev. 3:15-16•James 4:8

What does He Require?• “With what shall I come before the

LORD, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:6–8

What does He Require?

• ““So Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”

1 Samuel 15:22

What does He Require?

•“For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:16–17

What does He Require?

•“For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6, cf. Matt. 9:13, 12:7

What does He Require?

•“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

Is God pleased with the way I worship Him?