April 14, 2024 New Hope Aptos

in the midle of the an my soul you alone the Anor yourrs me in thee of [Music] [Music] St the Lord is my sheer I have all that I need through Valley will not AF for not EXP [Music] [Music] alive [Music] [Music] res [Music] alive [Music] [Music] ground [Music] surely a liive a God's not deive all right New Hope let's all stand up this morning get ready for worship [Music] here how we doing this morning [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right let's all sing this out nothing can separate even if I ran away cuz your love never [Music] fails I know I still make mistakes but you have new mercies for me every day cuz your love never fa sing you stay you stay the same Through the Ages your love never changes and may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning and when the oceans rage I don't have to be afraid because I know that you love me you're love never [Music] fa your love never the wind is [Music] strong the wind is strong and the water's deep but I'm not alone here in these Open Seas cuz your love never fails [Music] the chasm is far too wide I never thought I'd reach the other side cuz your love never fails oh no you stay the same Through the Ages your love never changes there may be pain in the night the joy comes in the morning and when the oce r i don't have to be afraid because I know that you love me your love never [Music] fails your love never fa [Music] sing you make all things you make all things work together for my God yes you make all things work together for my yes you make all things work together for my sing that one more time yes you make all things work together for my good here we go you stay the same Through the Ages your love never changes there may be pain in the night the joy comes in the morning and when the ocean r i don't have to be afraid because I know that you love me your love never [Music] F Your Love Never [Music] Fails all right give the Lord Praise this morning we're going to slow it down just a little bit to ask the Holy Spirit to come rest on us [Music] today as the spirit was moving over the water spirit come move over us come rest on us come rest on us as the spirit was moving over the water spirit come move over us come rest on us come rest on us so come down Spirit would you move you make my heart bound when you feel the room you're here and I know you are moving I'm here and I know you will feel me calm down Spirit would you move you make my heart dark down when you feel the room you're here and I know you are moving I'm here and I know you will feel me I know you will feel sing as the spirit as the spirit was moving over the wat Spirit come move over us come rest on us come rest on us as the spirit was moving over the waters here we come move over us come rest on us sing fire and wind fire and wind come do it again open up the gates let Heaven on come rest on Oh Come rest on us fire fire and wind come and do it again open up the gates let Heaven on come rest on us come rest on us Cal down Spirit would you move you make my heart B when you feel the room you're hearing I know you I'm moving I'm hearing I know you feel make Cal down Spirit would you move you make my heart down when you feel the room I'm here and I know you I'm moving I'm here and I know you will feel [Music] me know you will feel me sing Holy Spirit let's live inviting here and holy spirit calm rest oness you're all we want you're all we want and Holy Spirit Come rest on us you're all we want you're all we want see it and Holy Spirit Come you only one let's keep singing that Holy Spirit Holy Spirit Come rest on Earth you all we want be good you all we want come down so come down Spirit would you move you make my heart down when you feel the room you're here and I know you I'm moving I'm here and I know you feel me come back Spirit you you make my heart B when you feel the room you're here I know you I'm moving I'm here and I know you will feel me [Music] let's sing that chorus with just the voices So Cal down Spirit would you move you make my heart pound when you feel the room you're here and I know you I'm moving I'm here and I know you will feel me calm down lift it up would you make my heart when you feel the room you're here and I know you are moving I'm here and I know you you will fil me thank you Lord for being here on my words fall short I got nothing new how could I express all my gratitude I could sing these song as I often do but every song must end and you never do just's lift it up so I thought my hands and praise you again and again cuz all that I have is a Hallelujah hallu I know it's not much got nothing else fit for King except for heart singing [Music] hu [Music] Hallelujah I got one respond I got just one move with my arms with my my arm stretch you wide I will worship you so I throw up my head and praise you again and again cuz all that I have is a [Music] hallelujah hallelujah I know it's not much got nothing else for King except for our singing Hallelujah [Music] Hallelujah oh let's worship Him Church come on my soul Oh Come My Soul oh don't you get sh me lift up your song cuz you got a Lon inside with those lungs give up and praise the Lord Oh Come My Soul oh don't you get shout me lift up your song cuz you got ly inside with those Lawns get a and praise the Lord oh upon my song Oh don't you get sh me lift up your song cuz you got a Lon inide those long give him and praise the Lord come on my soul come on my soul oh don't you give Shout me lift up your song cuz you got l in salor long and get him and praise the Lord so I B my head and praise you again and again cuz all that I have is hallelujah Hal Hallelujah and I know it's not much got nothing else fit for King except for our singing [Music] hu hallelujah oh we worship you Lord oh we worship you Lord just worshiping this church this morning oh oh sing oh oh let's worship Him worship Him oh oh let's worship him oh oh so come on my soul come on my soul oh don't you give shout me lift of your song cuz you got lying and S those LS get up and praise the Lord oh calm my soul oh don't you get shout me lift of your song cuz you got lying inside with those long get up and praise the Lord call on my soul oh come on my soul oh don't you get shout me lift up your song cuz you got a line inside with those long get up and praise the [Music] Lord so I throw up my hands and praise you again and again cuz all that I have is the [Music] hallelujah hallelujah and I know it's not much got nothing else fit for King except for heart singing Hallelujah Hallelujah [Applause] [Music] father God we give you our gratitude this morning can we church can we give them our thanks this morning God we we lift up this moment this opportunity just to to be able to receive what you have for us this morning we give you thanks in advance God you know every heart that's in this place God that's walked through these doors God those who aren't able to be with us today you you you know us God you've called us here it's not by accident we're standing in the spot we are today we believe God that you have something special and purposeful for us this morning we do we throw up our hands and we lift and we sing out inside of the our lungs God we just we just thank you we're up and we're praising you this morning God as you inhabit the Praises of your people we know that you're here we're gathered in your name we're excited for what you're going to do this morning God we love you thank you so much for loving us first it's in your son Jesus name we pray amen amen amen uh before you have a seat go ahead and shake the hand of somebody around you meet some people around the room say hi and we'll continue on our service sh okay you greeting crazy greeting people find a seat how cool is it to be in the house of the Lord this morning y'all good y'all good come on thank you Arlon and Nathan great worship this morning how do you guys like that what a great time huh wo so good well welcome welcome to New Hope so glad you're here if you're a guest we're glad you're here with us this morning it's a gonna be a great morning and feel feel welcome um you can check out coming things and all that happenings in our website there's a QR code here you can do giving there giving in the back of the church as well if that's something that you're into we all should be into that if that's another sermon for later but um anyway check out check out the website I the things you know you know what I use this for mostly I use it for giving we I give on there but the other thing I do is for links like links to pass messages and things like that that's the number one thing that I use that for so anyway that's all on there stuff too so a quick quick um Vision a quick time of sharing about um something we have small groups starting next month and I'm super super excited about that you know groups are kind of part of the core of what we're about as a church it really is you know as a pastor Eric could probably attest to this Pastor Ed as well and Cisco the number one question I get you know as a pastor the number one question is you know Pastor like how is it how can I draw closer to God you know how is it that I can get in how can I grow my faith how can I become stronger in all that I'm about you know that's the and you know honestly that's why you're sitting here today because that's your heart right that's our heart how do we grow closer to God the deal is um the answer is found in in in design in the way God created us God created you created me for Community he created us Lord God to be together to share two kinds of community we share one is this kind of community and this is wonderful but it's mostly one way maybe you've noticed that you know this kind of community is mostly one way you you you you you listen and and I talk or somebody talks at you right and that's good and and we need that we need to grow and that helps our faith and we get encouraged and we get strengthened and stuff like that but but my experience is that that isn't that's not enough you know for my faith I had a small group going personally that I have either been a part of and mostly LED for nearly 20 years straight I've been a part of one dur during Co you know it was hard to get a group so I started for the very first time I started a an online group who knew I didn't know thank you co I mean I I didn't know but I started an online group about 10 guys you know just friends and some from here some from other places and and we you know met up until last October every single Thursday night um and we would go year round too but but the deal is you know we're starting groups again next month and um and and I want you to be a part of that so we've got a couple groups started right now you know the idea of small groups of getting together with this is really about friendship it's about creating a community of people that you get to know and that know you back a place that you can share your life you can share your your heart and your wants and your dreams and your passions and your questions and your concerns and your doubts and all the stuff in life that that that that happen all the time that's what that's what happens in a group that you know you really can't do here right so so we we're opening up another season and I love the way we do it here we do it like in Little Seasons little little pockets along the year we usually do three or four of them a year and it's great because it gives us air in our lives you know to live and yet gives us opportunity to to be one anothering one another which is what what really groups are all about that we get to to make friends and get to know people it's hard to get to know people here on Sunday morning you shake a hand but you don't really get to know them that well so beginning next month we starting groups I want you to be a part we have several groups starting already that we've already got in the books you know kind of like checked you know I know Marcy starting a uh she's starting a a women's group is that Thursday mornings Amy said Friday mornings Friday evenings anyway I think they're going to do the Book of Ruth it's going to be fun it's going to be real cool place ladies can just come to that and that's all set and we'll have information you can talk to Marc you can talk to um the hosts in the back talk to Amy or any of us pastors and we can give you information about that but it's starting in about 3 or four weeks um I know there's a men's group that's still meeting at Honey Lux every Wednesday mornings and that's I think ongoing and and that's going to be great now we it's meeting here now meeting here now meeting here at the church now wednes on Wednesday mornings but um that's really great but if you want to be a part of any of those groups that's great now here's the other thing you can start a group I it's not difficult we we have resources we can have things we can help you with to to to help you out get you going but um you know maybe it's just you and your family I did we did that for years you know off and on you know just just two or three it just takes two or three people invite a few other people meet at Starbucks talk about life you know read one little verse together you got a group you know we can help you with ideas and thoughts you know it's a way to get to know people share your faith be intentional about your faith on a regular basis and it just grows your faith in a way you know you want to get closer to God that's why you're here this is a another way a might I say a not better a just as good way another way it really need both in your lives because you got to have friends who are who are believers so anyway that's it I encourage you all come find me afterwards if you want to talk more about groups I'd love to help you all right does that sound good no more questions I know I answered way more questions you probably even knew you had answers or four right yeah all right give it a give it up Pastor Eric come on up and and give us the word today give it up for him as he comes ready amen glory to God praise the Lord today praise the lord it's a good day to be alive God's in a good mood small groups small groups important important way to grow in the Lord thank you for saying that Pastor Peter uh for our KY Alfa students you see we're not the only ones who say that it's true it's true everywhere um so it's a good day today I want to talk about the posture of worship uh and um worship is one of my favorite activities one of my favorite ways to connect with the Lord and so I'm really passionate about this topic I'm really passionate about uh what it means for us as a people of God to be a people uh of worship people of exuberant worship a people who really really love the presence of God you know the psalm says that God Yahweh the Lord he he dwells in the Praises of the people that he takes up his residence he literally lives in the presence of the people and that's why we have this dichotomy that that is between the presence and worship is because when when we gather together and we gather together in his name as a worshiping people people he's there with us in the midst so if you've ever heard the presence of God being equated to worship that's the reason that's rooted in scripture is that when we worship him he comes when we worship Him greater measures of him is there you know he's he's omnipotent right he's everywhere but what Moses discovered and and what he Le led us into in Exodus chapter 33 is that there's the omnience but then there's the Manifest presence and and the ma the Omni presence is everywhere right his his presence is everywhere he sees all things he knows all things the psalmist says if I make my bed even in sh even in the place of the Dead In The Grave I cannot hide from him he's everywhere but there's this manifest presence that comes where he is adored and where he's in charge where there is a people who would surrender themselves sacrificially before him and allow him to be the one who's edified and and Jesus said that if I'm edified if I'm lifting up lifted up from the earth there's there's a dual meaning to what he was saying there right obviously when he's lifted up on the cross that was the moment of his greatest Victory um but it was also the moment where he also used the dichotomy that says if he if he's exalted if his name be lifted high that he would draw all people unto him and that's why it's so necessary for us to learn and to give ourselves over to learning what it looks like to be a people of worship Psalm 100 is uh an important Psalm and it just talks about our foundations of being a people of worship um there's this there's this call of exuberant praise that we all have and when we read this um I just want you to hear all of the sounds that are being communicated and all of the the heart postures that are being spoken as we read Psalm 100 it says shout for Joy To The Lord all the Earth shout for Joy it starts off shout for Joy these exuberant shouts of praise and of adoration and and and and I'm I'm a drummer so I'm I'm also partial to this but I just think worship is supposed to be a little loud sometimes I think it's supposed to be a little loud there's there's there's there's this moment in Nehemiah where where it says literally that when the people came together and when they worshiped Jesus that uh that Jerusalem was shaken and that the worship of God Was Heard throughout all of the land that means from Miles and Miles Away people could hear the worship of God they could hear the people excited and what happens is when you see someone who's passionate about something it actually draws your curiosity to wonder if they're this excited about their God perhaps I ought I ought get to know him perhaps I ought give myself over to understanding why they are so passionate Worship the Lord with gladness come before him with joy joyful songs there is joy in the presence of God in his presence there is fullness of joy at his right hand there is Pleasures ever more sometimes people get a little offended when I say God's in a good mood and they're like how could you know that and I'm like from scripture it's a pretty good guess we've got a high probability that we could pretty much guess that God's in a good mood sometimes he gets angry but the psalmist at 27 says that his anger endures only but a moment but his favor is in life weeping it might endure for a more night but joy cometh in the morning I think that worship is supposed to be joyful I think it's supposed to be exciting and it's supposed to be exuberant and there's supposed to be joy in the house of the Lord and I wonder why we are okay with people crying in the presence of the Lord but we get a little uncomfortable when there's laughter and joy and shouts of Praise when it's all worship to our god you okay New Hope you with me all right know that the Lord is God it is he who made us and we are his we are his people the Sheep of his pasture I want you to pay close attention to verse four it says enter his gates with Thanksgiving and in his courts with praise give thanks to him and praise His name I'm going read that one more time for someone who missed it enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his court with praise what are gates gates are access points right they are places where you transition from one state of being into another state of being there are transitional places where we come out of our own being and we enter into his place of being into his kingdom and so what the psalmist is telling us is that when we praise Thanksgiving it actually gives us access to the greater places of God his courts into his house it's that we enter those places we have access to those places not because he's like an egotist and he wants it's like he's a bouncer at the door like you got you can't get in here unless you got some praise it's like that's that's not the attitude right the attitude is that praise and thanksgiving it actually shifts our perspective so that we are not just focused on our own problems and our own circumstances in the life that continually beats us down but when we enter into his court with Thanksgiving we Act we we command ourselves to realize that there is nothing more bad than he is good and my soul will make its boast in the Lord no matter what's going on and no matter what life is doing to me and when we change our perspective we actually gain access to the greater places of his presence it's his Gates it's his courts we actually we actually realize we our our perspective shifts enough that we realize that he was there all along that he was there all along and when I just turn my heart towards him when I turn my affections towards him when I when I Surrender the things that I don't understand to him they actually lose their influence over my mood and over my life and suddenly nothing's more important than me giv my whole heart and my whole Focus to the one who rescued me from my own Sin from the one who saw me as worthy of dying there's something that comes inside of me that comes upon me that that commands attention to him and magnifies him as the psalmist says magnify the Lord with me what does that mean that means can God get any bigger than he already is no right God's he he's pretty big he feels the he he created the univer he he's pretty big so what does it mean magnify to to to make him bigger well it means to make him bigger in your heart and to crowd out all the things that are trying to take his place a lot of times we we as the people of God we we we don't have a problem hearing God's voice we have a problem hearing too many other voices that are trying to crowd out the voice of God but worship is the weapon that actually magnifies his presence in our lives and begins to push out all the other voices that are trying to get us to be distracted away from his voice the enemy can never overpower you but he'll try to distract you away from seizing the promises through faith and patience that God has for us and so it's so necessary that we realize that the greatest weapon of our Warfare is not our attitudes it's not our Authority it's not even our identity and I know that all those things are important your greatest aspect of spiritual warfare is your worship your worship and and and this is biblical because if you read throughout the Book of Judges whenever the people of Israel would come and they would say God who do we send forth into battle he would say send Judah first into battle what does Judah represent the name Judah actually represents praise so he says if you will go with praise leading you into battle then you will have Victory there is Victory on the other side of us consuming ourselves with praise consuming ourselves with worship and then going into spiritual warfare in that way we don't need to Shout at the Devil what we need to do is keep our focus on God until the devil loses his voice that's what true spiritual warfare is about and and and I know that there's a lot of like yelling and casting out demons and and and all those things and I don't mind it I like it I'm here for it but but that's not their place of power that's not our place of strength our place of strength is actually when we keep the focus on God and we allow God to come and fight our battles is that all right because the enemy can't stand your worship which is why so many of his Temptations are an attempt to actually undermine our place of worship what does what how does how does the enemy tempt the woman he says you won't surely die but God knows that if you eat of this fruit you will be like God you will have elevated yourself to God's status there's this there's this place where if we allow the enemy to speak his lies into us how does he how does he try to tempt Jesus he says I'll give you everything that you see before you if you Bow Down and Worship me he the enemy is after your worship because he knows that your worship is your place of power when you set yourself in the background and allow Jesus to take the Forefront it actually creates space for Jesus to come now and fight your battles and there's not a battle that Jesus has ever lost and he doesn't intend to start and so worship creates him as the focal point and the enemy he's not trying to get you to worship him but his goal is to undermine your worship by trying to get you to worship yourself like he does and if the enemy cannot get your worship he will settle for your attention keeping you distracted by the issues of Life keeping you discouraged from actually being able to enter into his gates with praise and into his courts with Thanksgiving and so it's so necessary that we as the people of God that we guard and we protect the place of true worship and here's what I need you to understand is that it's a Pity um it's a grieving thing when the people of God reduce worship to the place of just the thing that we do when we sing right it's a Grievious thing because worship is not just how you sing as a matter of fact uh we don't actually see worship being equated with singing and dancing and and and music until until later when David comes on the sing the actual first time that we see worship It's associated with sacrifice it's at Genesis chapter 22 verse 5 it's the story of Abraham where he says that me and the boy me me and uh Isaac we will go up to the mountain and we will worship together he was intending to sacrifice before the Lord and so it's so necessary that you and I gain a definition and an understanding of worship that isn't just connected to music but it's connected to a heart that says God I'll pay any price I'll give anything away to communicate your worth which is the pure definition of worship worship says you are worthy there is an association of Worth to the thing that we worship and that's why we it's so necessary that we re realize that not everything is worthy of worship not everything is worthy of worship and we've got to disassociate worship from only singing it is singing it is also singing we're going to talk a little bit about why that's important but but it's so much bigger than just the few minutes on Sunday when we come together and sing that's corporate worship and that's beautiful and that's necessary but Worship in the individual lifestyle is the heart posture that says God I am so thankful for who you are that there is nothing that I will ever withhold from you there's nothing that I will ever withhold for you if you want my life if you want my job if you want my career if you want my money like whatever it is that I can provide to you Abraham going up the mountain to sacrifice his promise his very only first son that he had in his old age that God provided for him going up with a Heart Like Flint prepared to sacrifice his son this is the first time that we hear of an association with worship this is the heart posture and so when we sing songs like I lift up my hands and I praise you again and again do you know that the uplifted hands is communicating God's surrender and therefore it's so necessary and important that we don't just think of that as just a fun movement that we get to do in worship but we realize what we're actually communicating to God when we lift our hands is that you have won me you have captured me and I surrender to you and there therefore everything about me belongs to you everything that I am it is yours and so it's so necessary that we don't become people who sing songs lyrics to songs that never show up in a lifestyle of surrender when we sing songs that never actually show up in our life then we actually train our own minds and our hearts to embrace a hypocritical attitude towards how I actually approach The Sovereign worship is a gift of a heart of a of a life laid down present your bodies as a Living Sacrifice holy and acceptable that means that if there's anything in your life that is not worshiped then you ought to stop doing that do all things for the glory of the Lord says Colossians everything that you do has the opportunity to glorify God you actually can be a school teacher in the name of Jesus and that be your act of worship every single time that you go and bless those babies in the name of Jesus I don't know what it is that you do I don't know what your vocation is but you can turn that thing into worship and it will actually change the dynamic of how you do it and how you approach it because it's all unto him it's all in the name of Jesus I don't know what you do but I guarantee you you were called to do what you do just as much as I was called to preach this holy gospel why because we were all called to a thing but we were created to worship and when we realiz when we're cons consistently tapped into what we were created to do the things that we are called to do become easy because it's all our love offering it's all our love gift to him is this making sense are you are you tracking with me so that's what it looks like to be a Living Sacrifice doing all things unto the Lord and it's so easy to actually live a life that is yielded and and Holiness just simply looks like this if you come upon anything in your life that actually takes the worship away from you that it that you have to let go of worship in order to engage that thing don't engage that thing it's it's it's like we we try to complicate it with the laws and with all the things and and and Jesus he fulfilled the law but he didn't abolish it so so there's there's there's fruit in the law but how many of you know that people who are faithful to the prom who are faithful to just listening to the Holy Spirit are better at obeying the law than people who are working hard to obey the law worshippers always get more work done than workers and so if we become laid down lovers before Jesus then the all the things that we have that that we try to stress about beating our flesh down to make it Obed like all those things actually come natural to the worshipper because we're so in love with Jesus that we refuse to engage anything that actually isn't like him and doesn't bear his nature so worship becomes the place that actually becomes our litmus test to how we actually navigate and live life so worship is associated with sacrifice but it's also associated with music and with exuberant singing and and in David's case with dancing are you familiar with the story where the Ark of Israel is taken away from Israel for a season and David he's finding ways to try to bring the ark back to Israel so they defeat the Philistines and they they they had the ark well actually God defeats the Philistines because you know they bring the ark and the Ark is like wrecking Havoc um which is what it's a beautiful picture of what what happens when we when we have the presence of God without reverence for God right is that it will wreck havoc in your life um but that's that's an entirely different sermon maybe Pastor Ed will preach that one um but but when we when it completely wrecks havoc in in the Philistines and so they're like get this thing out of here we we don't want this thing send it back to the Israelites and so David um he goes and he recovers the ark but but the first time things happen there were mishaps and someone touches the ark and he dies and David's like this probably isn't a blessed Journey because people shouldn't be dying right and so but but he he goes back to recover the ark but this time he does it right this time he brings the priests and the priests they carry the presence of God on shoulders the first time they put it on the cart which is representative of the fact that we can't put God on man-made instruments God was meant to rest on people not on stuff right and so the people the the priests this time they go and carry the Arc of the Covenant back to Israel and and something powerful happens they they're sacrificing animals they're communicating the sacrifice of the Lord but but then David takes his place as probably our father of modern worship when he gets before the Ark of the Lord and he dances so passionately and powerfully that his clothes are falling off and and we all just hope he had on underwear but but we the Bible is unclear about it but but he's he's so passionate and exuberant in his praise why because he has experienced life without the glory and now that the glory is returning he can't keep himself from giving God the worship that is worthy to his name and his wife actually stares out of the window and she despises his worship and she and she's like all all of the servants got to look at you completely humiliating yourself making a fool of yourself before God and and David's response is perfect he's like I have you haven't seen anything yet I will be even more undignified than you've seen today you just keep watching you just keep looking you just you just because my God is so worthy that that I can't worry about my image when when it comes to communicating his worth because we can't exaggerate we can't exaggerate his goodness worship is meant to be intimate it's meant to be you and the love of your life there's this story at Luke chapter 7 and I'm going to read it and and we'll we'll we'll land the plane here this woman didn't sing a song she didn't dance a dance but she in all of chrisom has become associated with intimate worship at Luke 7:36 it says one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him and he went into the Pharisees house and he reclined at table and behold a woman of the city who was a sinner when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisees house brought an alabas Master flask of ointment and standing behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment now when the Pharisees who had invited him saw this he said to himself if this man were a prophet he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him for she is is a sinner wonder how he knew that another message for Pastor Ed Jesus answering said to him Simon I have something to say to you and he answered say it teacher certain money lender had two debtors one owed 500 daer and the other 50 when they could not pay he canceled the debt of both of them now which one one of them will love him more Simon answered the one I suppose for whom he canceled the larger debt and he said to him you have judged rightly then turning toward the woman he said to Simon do you see this woman I entered your house you gave me no water for my feet but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair you gave me no kiss but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet you did not anoint my head with oil but she has anointed my feet with ointment therefore I tell you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but he who is Forgiven little loves little he said to her your sins are forgiven then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves who is this who even forgive sins and he said to the woman your faith has saved you go therefore in peace you see family of God if we look closely at this story This Is A Tale of Two priorities this is a tale of two priorities you see because Simon the Pharisee was just happy to have Jesus in the room he was just happy to have Jesus in the room and my concern is that too often this is a picture of Sunday morning where we where we say things in the name of Jesus and where we just get Jesus in the room we don't anoint his head we don't wash his feet we don't make make him the center of our attention we throw Dusty and unoiled Jesus into the corner and say well as long as he's here now we can carry on now I can I can I can show look at me how I've I've got Jesus I've got all these guests and I now be take Center Stage because my gifts are the most important my priorities are the most important it it's almost as if to say Jesus you're here to just exalt me and liftt me up so that people can see me so that people can see that I've got the best guest that I throw the best dinner parties that I tell the best jokes and so you're here but I'm Center Stage we get Jesus in the room and just a week can say he's there and just like Samson sometimes I just feel like if the Holy Spirit were to lift off of us would we even realize it scripture says that the spirit of God left Samson and he didn't even know it and I wonder if our Spirits are so disconnected from from the real Jesus that even if his holy spirit were to lift off of us we wouldn't even realize it because we just get them in the room we don't submit we don't surrender we don't honor just throw him in the corner just happy he's here because the priority is image the priority is me look at me look look at how look at my outfit look at how well I play my instrument look at how well I preach look at how well I I I I hug and I greet and I all of the things and I wonder if the Holy Spirit were lift off of it would we know it when our priority is just our image but a worshipper will not allow Jesus to just be put in the corner you see this woman communicates the the priority of a worshipper it's not about image it's about where is Jesus so that I can give him this gift where is Jesus is the priority of the worshipper it's I will go to him and and the the beautiful thing is that we don't get to be privy to the woman the first time this woman encounters Jesus something clearly happened prior to this where this woman encountered Jesus and and and her heart broke with love for him to make make her feel like she needed to give this offering of worship intimate worship to Jesus we don't get to be privy to that moment we just get to be privy to her response and sometimes we've got to look around the room and realize that when you see someone worshiping With Tears in their eyes you don't get to be privy to the moment that Jesus touched them so don't despise their gift because you don't understand their struggle you see this woman Jesus puts it so perfectly she knows what it looks like to be forgiven and my concern is that sometimes if we are so disconnected from the sin that caused Jesus to have to die for us and when we get a little bit too perfect and when we are too impressed with our own expertise in this Christian walk and we're further and further away from Ground Zero of the moment that Jesus rescued us from a cold hard grave then we've got to realize that sometimes that affects our worship and we need people of worship around around us to continue to be commanding attention back to Jesus saying we can't keep Jesus in the corner Dusty and unoiled we've got to bring him and put him Center Stage why because he is worthy because I know what it was like to sit in my bathroom contemplating suicide and to have Jesus Come into that moment and speak to me those who are forgiven much they love much I know what it was like to not have any power to stop myself from going to the sin over and over and over until it was Jesus who broke the cycle I don't know what this woman's sin was but I can look at her worship and I can tell that Jesus rescued her probably from something that was so M it was so so harsh the the environment of that time was so harsh she was likely a prostitute working the streets man after man after man not caring about her just using her for what she could give them the pleasure that she can provide for them and here Jesus is breaking the cycle of how she sees men forever in her life and in the moment we see a worshipper who has been forgiven of everything that she's ever done with nothing to offer but a heart that says God you will have all of me forever you're looking at a man who knows what it was like to be living a double life to be preaching on Sundays and and doing all manner of wickedness all throughout the week until Jesus broke the cycle and something when when when you get forgiven and when you realize just how much you are forgiven nothing about your image nothing about what people think about you nothing about your reputation will ever stop you from giving the gift of worship because you know a worthy God and because when you are forgiven much you love much when you are forgiven much you love much when you are forgiven much your worship is the outlet for how much you love this God who would go to any length and to pay any price for your heart and have the worship team join me and I want to challenge us all to really think and consider the cross to really consider the price that was paid to really consider the fact that the despite the fact that none of us deserved it no matter despite the fact that none of us could earn it Jesus put on flesh he came down and it it was his pleasure to die for us it was his pleasure to lay everything down for us and so when we worship when we lay everything down for him there is a spiritual transaction that takes place where our love screams to the heavens that I will not let anything anybody let no one be able to say on this planet that anybody loved anything more than we love Jesus because he's worthy of that and when the people of God gets serious about creating an atmosphere of worship where we're always consistently keeping Jesus at the focal point so many of the other things that we do in our life they will begin to come easy because guess what you know what evangelism is evangelism is simply worship breaking out of the quiet place it's people who are so impressed who are so in love with God that our yes to him drowns out so loud drowns out every other voice so if you're willing and you're able would you just stand and join with me we're going to sing one last song I just want to invite you to remember to remember the fact that maybe you're perfect today but there was a time there was a time when you needed to be rescued there was a time that the sin that so easily entangled it had you bound but Jesus Jesus broke the chains I want you to remember that despite whatever it is that you go through whatever it is that you might be struggling with today when we we lift our voices in worship a a a change a transformation happens in the atmosphere and I believe healing comes when people of God worship I believe breakthrough comes I believe mental health is restored when we create an atmosphere of worship that enables the spirit of God to move Upon Us in a mighty way but it starts with this it starts with every heart in one Accord yield it to him prepared ready and willing to lay everything that we have before him and to give him everything that we have there's another moment where an allog together different woman this happens to Jesus about three or four times and something about Jesus that just draws broken people to want to give gifts of worship and this this time the disciples particularly Judas looks at the woman who broke a jar of oil and poured it on Jesus cost about it it cost about $6,000 it was three months wages for this jar Judas looks at this woman and he says why wasn't this ointment sold in and the money given to the poor and the commentary of scripture it it puts in parenthesis he said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was helping himself to the money that was in the money bag you see family of God worship will always look like waste to people who are not in love undignified worship will always look like waste to people who are not in love and so we cannot worship based on what the critics might think about your gift of worship because the critics are going to criticize and they don't criticize have you noticed that this is I'm trying not to go on too much of a tangent but isn't it interesting that the church gets accused so much of not caring for the poor by people who don't care about the poor it's really the same dichotomy and I'm not saying that we shouldn't we shouldn't care about the poor we very much should care about the poor but I'm saying that the priority of worship is that we get to give our gift to him regardless of what the critics have to say because it will always look like waste to people who don't understand what it looks like to have needed Jesus at your worst [Music] moment so don't worship based on the critics if you take care of the poor then the critics will say well well what about kids why aren't you doing more with education and you start doing stuff in education and the critics will say well well what about politics our politics are there the critics will always have something to criticize your priority cannot be pleasing the critics because if you die by their criticisms and you live by their praises then then guess what then your heart is for them but when your heart belongs to God then it doesn't matter what the critics think about your worship the priority is singular where is Jesus so that I can adore him with my whole laid down life [Music] [Music] [Music] Blessed [Music] assurance Jesus Is Mine He's been my for and in the fire Time After Time born of his Spirit washed in his blood and what he did for me on Calvary is more than enough and I trust in God My Savior the one who will never fail he will never [Music] fail and I trust in God my savior the one who will never f he will never fail perfect submiss and all it has I know the author of Tomorrow has ordered my step so this is my story and this is my song Oh prising My RIS King and savior all the day long we trust in God I trust in God my savior the one who would never fail he will never [Music] fail I trust in God my savior the one who would never fail he will never fail let's just l it all down for the Lord again this morning just begin to thank him tell him what you're thankful for and just bring it to the Lord morning I saw the Lord any heard any answer I saw the Lord any heard any answered I saw the Lord any he heard any answered that's why I trust him that's why I trust him I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered I saw the Lord and he heard and he answer that's why I trust him that's why I trust him I S the Lord and he heard and he answered I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered i s the Lord and he heard and he answer that's why I trust him that's why I trust him I S the Lord and he heard and he answered I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered i s the Lord and he heard and he answered that's why I I trust him that's why I trust in God my savior the one who will never he will never fail I trust in God my savior the one who will never fail he will never fail I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered i s the Lord and he heard and he answered i s the Lord and he heard and he answer that's why I trust him that's why I trust him I S the Lord and he heard and he answer that's saw the Lord and he heard and he answered I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered that's why I trust him that's why I trust in God my saor the one who will never [Music] fil he will never fail and I trust in God my savior the one who will never fail he will never fail I trust in God [Music] my who will never F he will never fail and I trust in God let's give him praise Church here we go um [Music] gosh can you just rest in his presence right now Worship You Lord here thank you God I had these notes in my pocket and um I just want to let everybody know that tonight um there's prayer tonight from 6:00 to 7: so you can come and and pray with with us for this church for this body get prayer for yourself get prayer for the community um whatever that turns out to look like tonight you can come back at 6: and um lift up your request to the one that never fails so you're all invited to that there's power in that prayer there's power in that community that comes together in prayer and praise and worship Lord I think that's your heart for a church for a body to come together and praise and in prayer and in in love Lord It's Always In Love so God my my prayer my I had all these things that have been going on in my life that I was going to share and it's about you Lord so I just invite you now to to come up this morning and maybe just come before the altar right now and maybe the worship team could just continue to praise and just lay [Music] down what's bugging you lay [Music] down the cares lay down the trouble or just come up and there's something about coming forward and and and praising God and just getting before him and it's not you're not bowing before the worship team we're just worshiping before the Lord and I don't want to quench that and I I just think that's what's happening today and so in in the worship you can just be healed and be free and and be empowered and whatever whatever you need I just again just come and get what you need here at church and give away what you can give away here for the people and in jesus' name we do this and in love with you this so if you need to go you you can go if you have kids like let them be a part of let them be a part of this just um let's worship together and praise His name and and lay down our cares and our lives for God's glory and for his his mercy and his grace and his love for us the price paid you are worth everything to God you're worth it in Jesus name amen Blessed [Music] assurance Jesus is [Music] mine cuz he's been my fourth man in the fire Time After Time born of his Spirit washed in his blood and

Channel: New Hope Community Church Aptos Campus

Views: 67

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Id: JoyronlQurs

Length: 81min 56sec (4916 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 15 2024