Lament in Worship

Worshiper Series – Part 6

“1  How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?

2  How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3  Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,4  and my enemy will say, “I have overcome
    him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5  But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6  I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me. “

-Psalm 13:1-6

Offering Unacceptable Worship

Worshiper Series – Part 5

“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD."  2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.  3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground,  4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering,  5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.  6 The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?  7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."  8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.  9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"  10 And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.  11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.  12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."  13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.  14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."  15 Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.  16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” 

- Genesis 4:1-16

Everyday, Everywhere Worship

Worshiper Series – Part 4

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

- Romans 12:1-2

Becoming What We Worship

Worshiper Series – Part 3

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! 2 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" 3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. 12 The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; 13 he will bless those who fear the LORD, both the small and the great.”

- Psalm 115:1-13

Worshiping Created Things

Worshiper Series – Part 2

 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"  7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?”

- Galatians 4:4-9

The True Worshiper

Worshiper Series - Part 1

“And [Jesus] had to pass through Samaria.  5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.  7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."  8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)  9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" ( For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)  10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."  11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?  12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock."  13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,  14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water."  16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband';  18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true."  19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.  20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship."  21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.  22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  23 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.  24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."  25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things."  26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

- John 4:4-26

Everyone Needs Community

Stand Alone Message

“Then the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.  2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.  5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.  6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.”
- Acts 2:1-6 

“So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.  42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.  46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,  47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
- Acts 2:41-47

Beyond This Life

Abraham Series - Part 13

“Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.  2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.  3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,  4 "I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight…. 19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Mach-pelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.  20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites."
- Genesis 23:1-4, 19-20 

“Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.  6 But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.  7 These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years.  8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.  9 Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre,  10 the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.”
- Genesis 25:5-10  

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
- Hebrews 11:13-16