In the Act of Worship

We run the risk in the church of the 21st century of making the focus of worship OURSELVES rather than GOD.

Text:  Look to the source
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord , who made heaven and earth.
Psalms 121:1-2 ESV


The simplicity of the Kingdom:
One of the reasons why we cannot understand the Kingdom.... it's too simple
Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, for the Kingdom belongs to them."

Worship is borne out of experiencing The greatness of Jesus.
One of the most classic hymns...How Great thou art

Before Jesus was born The angel said this about Jesus to Mary:
The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David (Luke 1:30-32).

Jesus said this about himself
"ONE greater than Solomon is here."

We can truly worship God when we acknowledge His greatness.


I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ... is a declaration of open and transparent worship.
Buildings...churches, temples mosques and synagogues are called places of worship... but we the people of God are the true places of worship...Because we are the temple of the Holy Ghost.
The Samaritan women at the well had a conversation with Jesus about worship.
The Jews say... this
The Samaritan father's say...that
But Jesus said,
Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
John 4:21-24 ESV


...there is a phenomenon  called " Fake Worship"
Fake worship is only concerned with the outward display of worship. It is just an act.



Matt Redman said this about the song:
The Heart of Worship.
"It's such a biblical posture in worship that speaks of reverence. If you look through the Bible, there's a whole host of people who faced up to the glory of God and found themselves facedown in worship. So the album weaves through a theme of reverence, wonder, and mystery in worship, things I feel we really need to grasp more of in our worship l. I know that I do!"

Here's the story behind the inspiration for that song. 

The song dates back to the late 1990s, born from a period of apathy within Matt's home church, Soul Survivor, in Watford, England. Despite the country's overall contribution to the current worship revival, Redman's congregation was struggling to find meaning in its musical outpouring at the time.

"There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing," he recalls. "He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we'd lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away."

Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, "When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?"

Matt says the question initially led to some embarrassing silence, but eventually people broke into a cappella songs and heartfelt prayers, encountering God in a fresh way.

"Before long, we reintroduced the musicians and sound system, as we'd gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus, and He commands a response in the depths of our souls no matter what the circumstance and setting. 'The Heart of Worship' simply describes what occurred."

When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come / Longing just to bring something that's of worth that will bless your heart... / I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You, Jesus

7 Hebrew Words for praise. We are going to look at one.
A) Yadah ... shooting up of the hands.
( like Arrows )
Psalm 63:1 says that "I will lift up my hands in thy name."

How many of you know that when we lift our hands to God that signifies two things. One, that we love God, and that we're unashamed to worship Him. Two, it is a sign of our surrender to Him as Lord of our lives. When we lift our hands in praise, we're affirming that we're not ashamed of God nor to admit that we love Him, and we're also confirming that we are surrendered to His Lordship over our lives.

Continue to worship God in spirit and in truth.