Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - True Worshipers, Part 1: True Worshipers

Episode Date: September 3, 2017

We all worship something. A job, team, celebrity, a number in a bank account—what’s truly worthy of your devotion? Join us as we learn what it means to be True Worshipers. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, thanks for hanging out with us here at Life Church, where we are one church meeting in multiple locations and reaching around the world thanks to what God is doing at Church online. If you ever have any questions or you want to learn more about us as a church, you can always check us out online simply by going to life.church. Or we'd love you to stay connected throughout your week and everywhere you go with the Life Church app. It's free and available wherever you download your apps from. Today's message helps us see and understand that all of us worship something, whether

it's a person, a celebrity, a job, or maybe even a number in our bank account. But are those things truly worthy of our life's devotion? Well, today our senior pastor, Craig Rochelle, will help us see and deeply understand that Christ truly is the only one worthy of giving our lives to. And a message we're calling true worshippers. Hey, welcome today to all of our life churches, all of our network churches, our church online family all over the world. Let me tell you what we're going to do next week. Next week, we're starting a brand new message. series, and I hate to tell you, but you need it. It's called my big fat mouth. The words that we speak are incredibly important out of the abundance of our heart. The mouth speaks. We're going to

talk about complaining. We're going to talk about lying. We're going to talk about gossiping, and we're going to talk about criticizing. It will help our relationships with other people. It will strengthen our relationship with God. It starts next week. It's called my big fat mouth. Today, I want to do something a little bit different, and I want to talk to you about one of the biggest burdens on my heart and something that I believe absolutely and completely reflects the heart of God. I believe that in our church, one of the greatest areas that we can improve is how we express our worship, our devotion, and our love for God. So here's what we're going to do today. What I want to do is I want to share a few thoughts with you from Scripture.

Then I'm going to invite your pastor to come and to share three different qualities of how we are to worship God. Then at the end of our time together, I'm going to give us all a chance once again to worship, to honor, and to celebrate the goodness of our God. I want to start today with the words of Jesus from John chapter 4, verse 23. Jesus said this, he said, yet a time is coming and has now come when true. worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Jesus said the time has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father. If there's such thing as true worshippers, then you have to agree there's probably false worshippers. Jesus says, for they, the true worshippers are the kind of worshippers that the Father seeks. Notice, the Father is actually seeking worshippers.

What was the Father not seeking? The Father was not seeking. The Father was not. seeking the best communicators, the most charismatic leaders, the best of the best, the richest of the rich, those who have the most Instagram followers, but instead the father is searching for true worshippers. Now, you may say, well, I'm a follower of Jesus, but you know, I may not be an amazing worshipper. And I would say, no, you are an amazing worshipper. We are all worshippers. Worshipping is simply showing what we value, showing what is worth something to us. For example, if you ever go to a sporting event and you love the team, what do you do? You celebrate and you worship. If you go to a concert and you love whoever's at the concert, what do you do? You celebrate and you worship

what's going on. If you won the lottery, you would probably express some worship for something you're really, really excited about. In fact, I want to show you some images of people worshiping, passion, enthusiasm, worship, love, admiration. And notice in all of these pictures, what do we see? We see good worship. That's what it is. I mean, just call it what it is. That's really good worship.

The problem is it's a bad God. Think about it. And I don't want to pick at any artist or any sports team or any athlete calling them bad, but the reality is these are not good God. What do we have? We've got good worship of a bad God. The challenge is sometimes in the church we have the opposite. In the world, we may be good at worshiping a bad God, but sometimes in the church world, we have bad worship of a good God. Bad worship of a good God. For example, we had some time to worship today about 20 minutes when you came in, I'd ask you, did you experience the presence of God

during that time? Did you worship him for who he is, to thank him for what he's done, to express the deepest part of your heart and love for God, or honestly, did you show up a little bit late and watch the band sing some songs? Jesus talked about this problem. He actually even quoted an Old Testament prophet Isaiah, and Jesus said this in Matthew 15, verses 8 and 9. He was talking about the hypocrites, and he said, these people honor me with their lips. They give me lip service, but their hearts are far from me. Then Jesus said this. He said, their worship is a farce. What I want to do is I want to help you prepare your heart to again today express worship to our God. And before I invite your pastor to come and share some from Scripture with you.

I want to set the tone from David's words in Psalm 100, and this will hopefully prepare your heart. This is what David said. He said, shout with joy to the Lord all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us.

We are His. We are His people, the sheep of his pastor. What do we do? We enter his gates with thanksgiving. We go into his courts with praise. We give thanks to him and praise his name for the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever and his faithfulness continues to each generation. Would you put your hands together help welcome your pastor and express your love for our good God?

So good to see you, church. if we've not met, my name's Chris Beal, and I'm the pastor here at Life Church, Oklahoma City. And I got to say, when Craig asked me to help him teach on the topic of worship, I'm humbled, I'm excited for a couple reasons. One, in 26 years of being a Christian, the lifestyle, now mark that term, the lifestyle of worship has had the biggest impact on my pursuit of being fully devour. devoted to Jesus, more than any other spiritual discipline. Secondly, I'm pumped because I genuinely believe that the reason you exist is singular.

That's it. One purpose. And that is to worship the living God. The reason God gave you breath in your lungs and a heartbeat this morning, there's no other reason than to worship the one who made you. And so there is nothing more important that we could talk about today. So before, as we prepare to worship God some more, I want to challenge you with three things that I believe are evident in everyone that, as Craig said, is a true worshipper of God. So if you're taking notes, write a few of these thoughts down.

The first thing is this. True worshippers worship with awe. Would you write that down? They worship with A-W-E-A-A-A-A. Scripture says in Hebrews 12, this is the author to the Hebrews. He said, therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. I love that. No matter what is in your past, no matter what is in your future, what Jesus died and

rose from the grave to give you cannot be shaken. Since we have received a king that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. Gratitude is the bridge, the gateway to great worship. let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and say it with me and with awe with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire now when I said that we are to worship God with awe for most of us that word and that phrase means nothing

our culture has it not completely diluted that word, I will prove it to you. Hey, Brian, how were those tacos that you had the other day? Oh, they were awesome. Tacos are awesome, right? Hey, Chris, how is that Texas Longhorn Football game today? It was not awesome. But that's a whole separate sermon. How, hey, have you watched that new Netflix series? Yeah, it was awesome. Honey, how did these new jeans make me look? Gentlemen, this is a test. This is a test. This is a. is a test. You have to pass it. Babe, you look awesome. And we use this word to describe all these things that are by very nature not awesome. They're just normal things. And so when we talk

about worshiping God with awe, what does that even mean? The Greek word for this is phobos. It's where we get the word phobia from. And it literally means like a reverential fear of the power and the holiness of God. God is the only one church who is awesome, period. There's nothing else in all of creation that is worthy of awe, but our God, we get glimpses of awe. Maybe you've seen the Grand Canyon, and it's like, wow, that's incredible. You're starting to get a glimpse of awe.

Or maybe the first time you saw a sunset across the ocean. I'm getting a glimpse of all. Or maybe parents, the first time you saw a child born, I'm getting a glimpse of awe. But if I have a sense of awe in things that were created, how much more awe should I have in the one who breathed that into being? The one who spoke that into existence. We are to worship God with awe. So how do we do it? If we were to worship God, how do we do it?

The psalmist in Psalm 95 wrote this. He said, let us bow down in worship. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. There is a position that should be extremely common for anyone who is a follower of Jesus. And this may be an uncomfortable moment for you. But there are times in the presence of God that lowering myself is symbolic of elevating him in me. Now, he doesn't need me to elevate him. He is already at the highest place of all creation.

But this is an act of me elevating him in my own life. And so maybe there are times in worship where there's no other reasonable response but just to bow before God. And even if it's not here, I pray that in some point along your week, there is a place in your house where you can just get on your knees and just be grateful for who God is and what he has done in your life. The wise men came to Bethlehem. What did they do? They bowed before the Christ child. Peter is called by Jesus. What does he do?

He bows before the rabbi, before the Messiah. scripture says that every knee will bow everyone whether you believe or don't believe one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord sooner or later every knee will bow if we're going to do it in heaven we might as well start now amen we worship God with all a couple months ago I went I took my family to a worship concert I guess you would call it downtown many of you were probably there. Bethel Church is a church in Reading, California. We sing a lot of their songs. We're really good ministry friends. And so I took my family down there and just a powerful time of worship. About an hour in, I'm just overcome by just the power of God's presence. And I look to my left and my three sons, 18, 15, and 13. We're standing together with their arms around one another, praying over each other, and singing to their God.

And I just had to fall. I had no other response to that moment, but just to get low. How is this my life? That I get to experience you, God, in your power, and in your purity, and in your presence. And I get to see my sons, not because they're pastor's kids, but because they are followers of Jesus experienced the power of God's presence. We are to worship Him with awe. Can I just ask you honestly, when was the last time you were shaken by His presence?

This is the life of a believer. And I pray that this time today is going to be a catalyst for you to go maybe a step deeper into God's power. The first thing we worship with awe. Secondly, write this down. We worship with abandon. What does that mean? That means we're going to have some fun. That means we're going to get a little excited.

Worshiping with abandoned means other people that don't really understand might think I look like an idiot for how I am acting when I am singing or shouting or clapping to my God. We worship with abandon. 2. Samuel 6.14, David danced before the Lord. with all his might. Why was he dancing? David was the king of Israel, and God had blessed this guy.

He was a man after God's heart. And there was this ark, so this chest, this holy chest that God called Moses and the Israelites to construct. It's super ornate. If you watched movies in the 80s, you know all about it. So you got this big chest, and in the chest were three things. There was a jar of manna from their time in the wilderness. There was the broken pieces of Moses's tablets where the Ten Commandments were written. And there was Aaron's staff.

And at this point in history, the Ark of God was the central point of the power of God on planet Earth. Nowhere else, but wherever the Ark was. You take that Ark into battles, you decimate your enemy. It was the power of the presence of God. So David retook Jerusalem and he conquered the Philistines. And finally, one of his life purposes was to bring the Ark of God back into the holy city and into the temple. And this is what's happening.

The Ark is coming back into Jerusalem. And David is dancing like a madman. He is celebrating and worshiping and getting his groove on in front of a Holy God. and his wife says, you are embarrassing me. She literally says, you are humiliating yourself, you're the king of Israel. And look at what David says to Michael. David says, I was dancing before the Lord, yes. And I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes.

Worshippers, true worshippers, we let loose a little bit. We're not ashamed or embarrassed to tell God how thankful we are for his goodness. Now, here's the problem. The problem is that when you walk into most American church auditoriums, the architecture of this room that we're in sends a very weird message about who the audience is. Think about it. You walk in the back, the first thing you see is a big stage. On that stage are people.

Those people must be important because they're up on the stage. Lights are shining on the people and we are singing and playing and doing all of our stuff and we're facing all of you. So if you had no context for church, you would just assume that we are here for who? For y'all. This is not for you. You are not the audience. There is an audience, but it is not and will never be you.

Every person in this room who are followers of Jesus are a part of a holy choir, a chorus, an assembly of God's people, and our audience is singular. It is the almighty God. And so when we come into this place, it is not about, hey, I don't like this song or I wish they played that song. It's not for you. It is for the king. That is what we are here for to collectively lift up the name of our soul. Savior and our Creator. We worship God with abandon. So if you are struggling, you may be like, you know what, I get embarrassed. Sometimes I want to lift my hands. Sometimes I want to clap.

Sometimes I want to dance or get on my knees. What would the person next to me think? What would my parents think? What would my spouse think? They are not your audience. God is. Who cares? Who cares? There is going to be a moment. If people aren't saying you look a little odd, you're probably not giving God the worship that he's due. We worship him with awe, and we worship our God with abandoned. You just, sometimes you just got to let loose a little bit in church. Somebody. You just have to get excited, realize that Jesus paid for your sin,

and just say thank you with your face and with your hands and with your voice. and like genuinely be excited that the God of creation cares about you. That's what I'm talking about. Like when we really understand what that means, it'll make you get your groove on. I'm just telling you, it will. Thirdly, write this down. We worship with intimacy.

We worship our God with intimacy. Psalm 27, verse 4. One thing I ask. This is the king of Israel, David. One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek. David is a man after God's heart. He could ask God for anything he wanted. Could he not?

And most likely God's answer would be yes. But David says, Just one thing, God. One thing I ask of you, this is the only thing I'm seeking, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his holy temple. That's my one desire. And my one desire for you is that you would have that one desire.

My one prayer for you is you would have that one desire. for you is you would have that one desire. It's kind of like my wife, Cindy, this January will be married for 25 years. Blissful, problem-free years, liar. And there is so much that I love about this girl. I love how she puts her hair behind her ears when she's reading a book. I love how she prays over her boys. I love how on the front road during worship she gets.

gets excited. So you have to give her two chairs of space because she gets her little white girl groove on. She loves it. You just have to give her her space to do her thing. I love how she laughs when she starts laughing really hard. She'll snort. And I love how she's not here to hear me tell you about how she laughs and then snorts. I love that like right now she's not here because she's in Texas serving her mom. And she always puts other people first. I love how when she's in the lobby and you come up to her, it's like there's no one else in the church but you. She, she, you, she, you, you You have her full undivided attention in that moment. And I love all these things, not because I know things about her,

because I know her intimately, intimately. I know her heart. I know her pet peeves. I know what makes her tick. And this is what God wants for you. Do you realize God knows you in that way? And what he's longing for is for you to know him in that way. that you would not just know about him, but you would know him personally.

And it's just, it's born out of hours in his presence. That's where the intimacy comes from. Time on my knees. Time lifting up the name of Jesus. Time just, just simmering in your word. And I become intimately acquainted with him. Not about him, but I know him. And some of you're like, Chris, that's awesome.

I love to be worship with awe, and I love to worship with abandon. I love to have that intimacy. I just don't feel it. Have you ever thought that? Like you look at somebody like, I don't feel that way. When I feel that, then I may do that. Feelings never follow obedience. They always follow obedience.

They never proceed it. You will never have the feeling, and then you're going to be like, okay, now I'm going to worship God. He is worthy of your worship whether you feel it or not. Do you really that? Just because he is the I am, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the obaga, he is worthy of your worship right now, whether you feel it or not. And so what do we do?

We just acknowledge, I've been worshiping, but some of what I worship is not the good God. I've been giving my good worship to other things. And when you come to this place of God, this worship, this worship, one thing do I seek, this one thing I ask, this is it, this is all I want, that I could encounter you in the power of your presence. And you do that, I promise you, you will hunger for what you are doing. You will have a thirst for the things of God because you are already walking out in obedience to him. Can we just stand for a moment? Just go ahead and stand right where you are. I want to say this. This is who we are. As your pastor, the life church, Oklahoma

City, we are going to be a worshiping church. I believe that a legitimately, authentically worshiping community of faith is the most powerful tool to reach people far from God. I don't think cool churches reach the loss for Christ. I think church is full of people that lift up God for who he truly is. That is, that, that makes people experience the power of his presence. That needs no explanation. That needs no sermon because you just sense it. And so I want to speak this verse over us. Psalm 141, 1 and 2. Accept my prayer as incense offered to you and my upraised hands as an evening offering. Lifted hands means two things. It means victory. And it means surrender.

And when we worship our God, guess what? It means both. We are celebrating the fact that the tomb is empty and we have victory in Jesus Christ. And it means that to Jesus, I surrender everything. There is nothing in this world more worthy of your whole heart, your whole abandonment, all of your worship than the one true God. His name is Jesus. Can somebody get excited and celebrate his good?

goodness in this place. I want every hand up in this place. You may not even believe in Jesus. I don't care. Hands lifted to the sky. We're going to lift up the name of Jesus because he is worthy of our whole heart, of our whole worship. God, we love you. We celebrate you. God, we thank you for your mercy. We thank you for your grace. We thank you that all creation worships you. And we joined with creation. This is who we are. Because of who he is and because of what he's done, we will live our lives just as poured out offerings to the God that created us and the God that died to forgive us. And so God, in this moment, God, we repent for placing things above you in our lives, idols, things that take our focus and our attention, our thoughts, and our resources and our time.

And God, I pray in this moment, you would help us to create. what you made us for to be worshippers of the living God. In a moment of prayer, some of you may be aware that your life, you may be distracted. And God may not have your whole heart. In fact, when we talk about David's prayer, God, this one thing I seek, this one thing I ask, that I could know your presence. could worship you, God, in your holiness. And I want that desire to be my singular desire.

If that's your desire, to have that desire, I want you to lift your hand right now, just lift it up. I'm right there with you. Hands going up all over the place. Father, I thank you for a community of faith that longs to long for you more. And, God, I pray that you would help us, God, to put this as first in our lives. God, that we would be worshippers of you. God, we would bow our lives before you, not just for what you've done, but for who you are.

As we continue to pray, there are some of you that this whole thing today is bizarre. And you're trying to figure it out. You really can't figure it out. You just become aware that what I'm feeling I don't have. I believe that worship comes out of the fact that when we say yes to Christ, we become in dwelt with the Holy Spirit, meaning God lives in us. And when God lives in us, that means the God in us craves to worship God the Father. But for some of you, you're like, I just don't feel that way. Here's what I'd ask you. Do you know him? Is he first in your life really? Have you surrendered

your whole heart to him? Because the truth is, every single one of us have sinned. And that sin separates us from God. We don't have intimacy because we've sinned. So what do we do? We understand that in the bad news of my sin, God sent the good news, who is Jesus Christ, who lived a sinless life, died on a cross to pay a sin debt that he didn't know, but you and I did. And the moment you say, Jesus, I repent, I surrender my life, come into me, forgive my sin. In that moment of faith, you will be forgiven, made new, set free. And the Bible says that God's spirit will take up residence in you, and your desires will change, and your destiny will change.

And that's why some of you are here right now. You know he's not first in your life. And so if you're like, man, Chris, that's me. What do you do? Just acknowledge that you need him and say yes to the gift of God's grace. If that's you right here, just lift your hand right now. Say, God, I need to give my life to Jesus.

Just lift it up. Here on the front row, here in the back, I see you. Praise God. Just say, God, I need Jesus. I need Jesus. I need to surrender my life to you. Yep, right over here. Praise God for you.

Others of you, both of you together. man, incredible. Anyone else before we pray? God, I surrender to you today. Everyone in this room praying out loud with those saying yes to Christ. Pray this with me. Father, I need you. I've sinned.

I'm asking you to save me. Jesus, I believe you died. On a cross you didn't deserve to pay for my sin. I receive your grace. I surrender my life. Fill me now with your Holy Spirit. that I would be empowered to serve you always. In Jesus' name I pray.

Church, somebody go not celebrate his goodness. Come on. As a church, it's our honor to play even a small part in all that God is doing in and through your life. And we would love to continue with you on that journey. To find out what your next steps could be and your relationship with Christ, all you have to do is go to life.church slash next.

You know, for over 21 years, our mission statement has been the same, and it's to leave people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. That statement for 21 years has driven everything we do as a church, all because we believe whoever finds God finds life.