 I want to talk today about worship and it's the subject that maybe directly we didn't speak for quite some time in our church and I think it's a very very important subject and I called it why worship and we're just gonna kind of lay groundwork and talk a little bit about it and as the days will go on we'll talk more and more about it because I believe worship is very very important aspect of a Christian life. But before I start I came across this joke and I was dying to share with you and so there was this pastor was baptizing a new believer and he was he's been passionate he's saying now in Christ you're all things has passed away you are a new creation and therefore as I baptize you you're gonna be buried with Christ and resurrected as a new creation with Christ. So in his name was John he said now your name no longer been John it will be Paul and I baptize you in the name of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit baptizing he was he got it back up rejoicing he goes back home and he goes at grubs is Budweiser and he says Budweiser I baptize in the name of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit into this water and from now on you no longer be at Budweiser but you're gonna be orange juice I thought was funny and so you know that's don't baptize your alcohol because it won't turn into it won't turn into juice but coming back to the topic that I want to cover today I want to talk about why worship why worship and maybe if you grew up in church if you grew up in church to you it seems almost like a no dot subject it's like well yeah we worship God because he's God and we worship him but I know there's there's some of us here that we've we've come to the Lord recently and sometimes you know you maybe even your first impression and we hear that often you come here and you think like well these guys have a rock concert that's awesome that sounds good you know I like their music you know and then you get done through the fast songs through the jumping songs excitement songs and then you hear some songs of worship like you know sloppy wet kids and a tree and you're like what are they saying to the girlfriend or their wife I mean who am I supposed to sing those things like like this so romantic and things like that and so you might find yourself in a place trying to figure out what exactly going on during during the worship but hopefully I can I can explain few things and you can get understanding and I think also for those of us that already been Christian for some time and been serving God it's gonna be a good reminder once again to understand the act of worship what is really mean to worship and to go deeper in it how many you say I want to go deeper in worship come on if you can open with me or if you don't have anything to open with you can look at the screen for John chapter four verse 23 your battery is low yet a time is coming and has now come when a true worshipers will worship the father in the spirit and in truth for they are the kind of worshipers that father is seeking that's from an IV version it is the kind of worshipers that father is seeking you know praise in worship is really universal you probably will not find any explorer that explored and came upon some culture came upon some tribe came upon some people and did not find that culture and tribe that nation worshiping some sort of a God because inside of us we have this void we have this mechanism built in us that looks to adore something looks to worship six for divinity six for divine entity and we are wired in such a way to give our attention to give our adoration to imitate and to worship somebody something and throughout the history throughout different cultures we see that people are seeking things they make things with their own hands they make different kinds of idols objects they would set aside certain places so they can come to worship so they can come and worship those things worship is in our DNA worship is built within us the question is now who do we worship who do we give our focus our attention who do we admire in this scripture we read if you can put the scripture back up God says Jesus says that father that we need to worship God the father in spirit and truth and he said such a worshippers he is seeking such a worshippers he's seeking seem for all of the humanity in different religions in different parts of the world people are seeking to worship God people are seeking to to give their adoration to somebody to something to some divinity but God says that I am seeking the worshippers you know there is a place where as Christians you know we're we have they had this common phrase and it's we say you know I'm seeking God I'm seeking God and we can do that in our prayers we can do that through our different things different different activities in in the Christiana different things in our Christian walk we can do to see God and Bible says to see God to search for him but there is one thing that you can do there's one position that you can place yourself in what you don't have to see God but God actually seeks you and it's the position it's the place of worship let's let's look at what what worship is in Web Strictionary the word worship is actually a verb and it's a noun and it as a verb in closed synonymous like extreme exalt glorify respect as a noun it it has a meaning of adoration devotion supplication invocation and but in actual definition if you put it all together it means reverence honor and homepage paid to God ceremonial service expressing reverence so that's what worship worship really means if we look in the Bible if we look in the Bible and we see in Romans is our screen not working okay in Romans if you can write the scripture down Romans chapter 12 verse 1 says this therefore I urge you brothers in the view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship I want to just kind of listen to as I kind of describe what and how Bible describes worship this is just kind of list of things taken from many different parts of the Bible both worship involves physical expression founded upon these biblical guidelines there are neither ritual or profanctions of action or the service of emotions to one cell for once sake self so it means worship is not for you to feel good worship is not for you to feel goosebumps for not is on is not for your own sake but worship is physical expression of worship found in scriptures are kneeling clapping hands raising hands verbal praise singing hymns and psalms weeping laughing bearing witness allowed like saying amen reading the word aloud prostrating before the Lord speaking in tongues dancing before the Lord giving public testimony standing in silence and and singing a spiritual song all of those things that I described are mentioned in the Bible and says in the Bible that this way we can worship God with dancing with clapping with singing with singing in spiritual language singing in tongues all of those things are acts of worship and Bible says in Romans like we read that we need to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice that means we need to clap we need to dance Bible encourages to do that all of those things this is an act of worship I want us to I want us to remember one thing as we read the scripture that God seeks such those those kind of worship them ask yourself and examine yourself and you'll find that you love to be around people that praise you you love to be around people that make you feel good you love to be around people that recognize you that acknowledge you you love to be around people that respect you and praise you I mean we run away from the people that complainers that constantly whine that put us down we don't like to be around those people and now examine yourself when every time that you come into the presence of God every time that you come to church every time that you begin your prayer what is coming out of your mouth what do you bring to God what do you say to God sometimes we complain you know in and say that I don't feel the presence of God or you know it's been a while that I felt the touch of God the question you should ask yourself have I prepared a place for God to come how am I made it comfortable for God to be around me have I prepared a room for him where he would be glad to come you know many times in my life when I begin to pray or when I when I see God in my life and and I find myself in a place where it's hard to pray where it's hard to see God where it seems like the heavens are shut and closed I turn to worship I turn to praise I turn my attention to God I begin to speak nice things to him I begin to adore him I begin to glorify him because I know that automatically opens his ear opens his heart to come into the place and have communion and fellowship with him because I like being around people that like me God created me in his image in his likeness God loves when his people adore him when they worship him every time we come together as a church you have to remember that worship is not about you it's about God sometimes we come with an attitude like I don't like this song you know these guys are off key today and I tell you one thing as a worship leader and as a musician for me it's extremely difficult when things don't go the way they're supposed to go the way I think it is supposed to go for me it's extremely difficult sometimes to disconnect from the logistics of worship how it's supposed to sound or how I think it's supposed to sound and say God it's not about how I feel today it's not the fact that I'm tired in my body I had a long day it's not that I'm weighed down by all these thoughts and emotions because I had a difficult week and I got finals coming up I got these projects that are due God it's about you it's about what you like it's not how I feel it's how I want to make you feel in this moment in this presence I promise you one thing when you come with that kind of attitude you will experience the presence of God you will experience the touch of God you will leave this place different every time we get together every time you go into prayer every time you begin to address God remember it's not how you feel it's about how you gonna make him feel in your presence it's not about what you like it's not all worship team is just not on point today the songs they picked it's just I don't you know I don't like those songs it's not about the songs you like it's about what those songs stand for what the meaning of those songs and to take those songs and making your own make it come from your own heart and worship the king of kings and the Lord of lords amen somebody said this the true worship is a fresh is seen afresh the tremendous worth of God and in response giving him the best that you have God is not asking you for something you don't have he's asking you for what you have and he's asking you for all of it he says I will share my glory with no one so that means he wants all of you when you come and we begin to worship on Wednesday on Sunday on Friday night or any other time that we get together when you come into God's presence God expects all of you he wants all of your emotions all of your focus and attention he doesn't want you giving him a lip service and you shopping with your head in the mall or you trying to figure out how you're gonna go about it when you leave the prayer time he wants all of you worship is an attitude and it's an action worship is an attitude of adoration and it's also an action some people say I've talked to a couple weeks ago I talked to the person you know the came said you know I don't like that you guys ask people to and have this music I grew up in a more traditional church I don't like that you know the fast that's fast songs you know you kind of encouraging people to dance and I kind of feel awkward so I like to come a little more towards the end of the worship where it's more like my style and I you know and this this person you just genuinely asking more information so I begin to explain to him that worship is not about us it's about God I begin to bring different scriptures about praise about dancing about clapping and he left saying wow I've never seen it that way I'm gonna put it to practice and from that moment on every single time you see before service and worshiping and giving God the praise even though it's out of his comfort zone and he says you know what I'm feeling much different than I used to feel before because worship is never about our style worship is always about his style which is giving everything about us worship is an attitude and an action you have to have action behind it yes some people say well I worship God in my heart that's awesome it's great that's where it starts it's about the heart but God wants God wants your emotions God wants to sustain God wants you to clap he wants you to get emotionally involved you know there's I remember this particular moment in my life about a year and a half ago about a year ago and I just I remember this is a lot of things that came up at this season of my life I was I was trying to take on this project there's a lot of money involved and and kind of the things were not falling into place the deadlines were missed and and the pressure of trying to finance that project and many other things that were going on in my life at that time Ileana was born and there's just a lot of things going on I remember like for a few days three four days I've been trying to pray and even took a day of fasting and just it just was not going anywhere my mind was just way down it was I was even having a hard time I was a little I was having a hard time sleeping and even when I would sleep those three four hours in a day I would wake up restless and I would wake up tired because you know yourself sometimes sleep doesn't mean rest only God really gives us rest and I remember I just was praying here and usually I would get done run nine o'clock prayer and I was done with prayer when you're sitting I'm like God I'm running dry I'm exhausted I'm tired I I can't find rest for my soul I can't all of these things I can't do it and I don't know where you're at I I've been trying to kind of worship you I've been trying to pray I've been trying to repent of all the sins I could think of it just nothing is working and I felt like this still small boy said you know start praising God like looked around nobody was here it's like okay I guess I could do that and I went back then turned on some fast pray songs you know break the shackles off my feet you know those all these goodies and some Kirk Franken stuff and I just honestly started just just jumping up and down and going wild and praising God and right at that moment I felt like something just broke off of me that weight that that that that anxiety that those worries all those things nothing changed during that time I didn't get this amazing break through anything but I was elevated out of my mess into the presence of my master I was completely freed on inside and over the time things were got worked out things got selling its place but if I would have gonna continue to carry that load I would have been broken down and I was out of quit and was not able to see things through that God had me complete and accomplished worship is very powerful and I strongly believe that worship is directly tied to miracles that's what I wonder sometimes you know in a some some modern churches today we kind of caught worship short and I wonder if if that has any correlation with seeing less and less of supernatural miracles in our midst because if I look going back to Jericho when people begin to shout and give praise to God the walls were brought down and God gave victory when I look at David a man after God's own heart he was the greatest worshipper that we've seen the Bible when I look at Solomon Solomon brought as a sacrifice of worship thousand bulls sacrifice and we see that the presence of God fill the temple so strongly that priests couldn't stand in the presence of God we look go forward in a new testament we see that a daughter that a mother that had a daughter that was demon possessed was was trying and begging Jesus to help him and Jesus said I can't help you so the only thing that she couldn't do the last thing that she could do is run in front of Jesus and bow and worship before him and Jesus could not step over worship even though it was not his response but responsibility and it was not his task to help that woman he clearly made that statement but he couldn't step over worship worship has a direct correlation to miracle because what happens in worship you begin to praise God and worship God ahead of time by faith you begin to worship God and exalt them for who he is before even he does anything in your life and God says you know what I can't pass a worshipper I gotta do something in her life let's let me read you a scripture from Isaiah chapter 6 and I'll give you just click three points well what happens when we get into the worship and the atmosphere of worship and I'm gonna read from message translation as a chapter 6 verse 1 through 8 in a in a year that King Uzziah died I saw a master sitting on the throne high and exalted and the train of his robe filled the temple engine angel Seraph Howard Seraph's Howard above him each with six winds with two winds they cover their face with two they covered their feet with two winds they flew and they called back and forth to one another holy holy holy is God of angel armies his bright glory fills the whole earth the foundation scrambled and the sound of the end at the sound of the angels voice and then the whole house was filled with smoke and I said doom it is doom's day I am good as dead every word I have ever spoken is tainted blasphemous even and the people I live with talk the same way using words that are corrupt and disgrace and and here I've looked God in in the face the king God of angel armies then one of the angels flew to me he held a live call that he had taken with the tons from the altar he touched my mouth with the call and said look the call has touched your lips gone your guilt your sin wiped out and then I heard the voice of the master whom shall I send who will go for us and I spoke up I I'll go send me Isaiah finds himself in the atmosphere of worship he finds himself at the throne of God in God's presence I want you to see what's what's going on run God's presence is worship that serves as a clue that if we want God's presence to be in our lives if we want God's presence God's anointed to be in our midst in our services we gotta create an atmosphere of worship first thing that worship does worship makes you look upward he says I saw him on the throne worship takes your eyes of a where you're at of who you are what you've done or left and done and it puts your eyes on the king of kings Lord of Lords you begin to see God in his beauty you're gonna begin to see God in his greatness you begin to see God for who he is worship helps you to shift your focus and put your focus in the right place it's like what worship does it elevates you from where you're in it makes God look big and everything else looks small it's it's like when you get into the airplane and when you begin to take off and you begin to see buildings people cars and everything has become smaller smaller and smaller it's not that they've actually changed size it's not that they actually become smaller it's that your perspective has changed what happens when you get into God's presence your perspective begins to change you begin to see God for who he is and you begin to see the problems for who for what they are you begin to see God great you begin to see God on the throne all powerful almighty and you begin to see everything else is small everything else possible everything else is achievable because who he who are in Christ all things everything impossible to them when you worship God everything else you'll be able to overcome all other things in your life you'll be able to overcome hard things in your life because when you are going through hardship in your life through a valley of shadow of death in your life and the only thing is you see death and and shadows around you the only thing that you see is is misery and mess you can drown in it but when you see God when you worship it elevates you you know in my life I when I look back through all the difficulties in my life that I've gone through and challenges I look back and I see that it was through worship that I found my way out it's through worship that where I found my strength I show you the funny story but it wasn't funny to me at that time I've rather me can attest to it when I'm when I was about I don't know I want to say about 1617 and I was pursuing which now is my wife Mariana but at that time she wasn't my wife I wanted her to be my wife but we were in high school and so she just came to church and we kind of I showed my interest in her and she sort of showed it one time her interest but then the other time not and then it was all confusing and kind of weird and so and but nonetheless I was pursuing her and so there was came a time for for homecoming and what happened was I wanted to ask her to go to homecoming but I was just like I didn't didn't feel like yeah anyway I didn't ask her to go homecoming so I missed my opportunity and somebody from high school her friend asked her to go homecoming so this was like I can't believe she said yes to him and it was like a stab in my heart and I was crying before God I thought the world was over you know teenage stuff it's I thought that's it you know it's it's done it's over and you know one one thing I always you know while other people would you know when they face difficult situations their life they would run to the bottle they'd run to different things they would run to sometimes even things like food and and sleeping and and depression in my life with those difficult situation I always ran to God even though the situation is funny but in my life that's how I overcame each obstacle and each in I poured out my heart so I remember you know I came while she went to homecoming I came here it was like right here I had my piano and I was singing crying ball my eyes out water me sneak thing is like dude what's going on and so here's make the things the story we find here are worse for me at that time she comes to church with her date say hey I just want to say hello and I'm here like balling my eyes out before Jesus poured my heart out because of this situation those of you that been in those days you know you know what I'm talking about but the you know as funny as the story is but from the young age I've learned to run to God and in the midst of even storms and the midst of hardship to worship God and to process things with him and the way you process with him is God elevates you says you know what that problem is actually not that big I'm bigger you know that things that you're facing without what the value you're going through I have a mountain where I'm taking you don't worry about it it's gonna pass don't worry everything's gonna be good it shifts your focus from your problem it shifts your focus looking at at the current situation where you in to look to God to look to where he's taking you David says that I look unto the hills where my help comes from looking into the presence of God we're beating in the presence of God so worship quick quickly makes you look upward second thing from a scripture that we see worship helps you look inward we see that he says another in others translation he says whoa to me when you get into the presence of God you begin to realize that how unworthy you are you begin to realize that if it was not if it wouldn't be for God you're no better than those people that maybe already passed away that died that overdose and drugs you begin to understand it's because of God's grace and because of his overwhelming love for you that you hear today where you're at when you get into atmosphere worship you begin to see how worthy he is and how unworthy you are you begin to appreciate God's more you begin to exalt him and understand that your life really depends on him you begin to position yourself in the right place first thing is you begin to see God in the right place as God as the Almighty a second you position yourself in the right place as in the place of dependence on him and a place of being learning for him depending on him and desire him in a place where God can actually begin to move in your life and the third thing worship empowers you to go forward he says after being in a presence of God after being in that worship atmosphere he says here I am send me he says here I am send me when you get into the presence of God when God's anointing flows when his presence is there you live in power you live in charge you say God I'm gonna go and do what you called me to do I'm gonna go and tackle on the problem that I'm supposed to tackle around I'm gonna go and take on that the project that you are you called me to take on in a presence of God when his power comes when he is anointing comes this is where you receive freedom that you become free from anxieties and worries this is where you become empowered to run your race Apostle Paul says that I put away every weight that easily ensnares me so I can run the race in the presence of God and during worship this is where you can begin to unload things that are slowing you down and you begin to be empowered to move forward to reach the destiny that God has for you you know during worship we've seen in our church where people receive freedom and deliverance when the atmosphere when everybody pitches in when everybody comes comes with this attitude of hunger of seeking God and his anointing comes we begin to see how demons begin to manifest because demons can't stand in the presence of worship you know why because Satan himself and demons they did not want to give God worship in first place and that's why they were throwing down so Satan hates worship he can't stand when we come and so if there is anything in us or anything people that come that has have have the demonic influence over the life they can't stand worship because they remind them where they used to be and now they're not we've seen people healed during worship we see people free people leaving their burdens leaving their anxieties everything that they would hold them down David says I was happy when they told me to go in the presence of to in the house of God because he knew the value of worship he knew that you know whatever I have going on if only I can get into his presence all this all these things they will take a backseat all these things in God's presence actually this is where I can be changed you can't change what you're worrying about but when you get into God's presence you let it go when you get empowered by him this is where you can actually go out and make the difference and make the change so I challenge you church I encourage you we gonna talk more about it and we're gonna discover more that the the the true value of worship and what it really means to to worship God but I challenge you every time that we get together and right now as we go up front and worship team is gonna lead us into worship I challenge you abandon yourself with God begin to worship him for who he is begin to forget about the things that's bothering you or maybe the fact that you know it's a it's already time and you're getting tired but worshiping God for who he is and every time we get together I I promise you one thing you're gonna begin to see something new in our in your life you're gonna begin to see how God's anointed will begin to come more and more in our church we're gonna begin to see where demons will begin to manifest and be be exposed and expelled in God's presence where where we'll begin to see healings happen even before we begin to pray for healings there's a reason why all the known and big men of God that God uses go from Benny in in general was of God you talk about Apostle of Vladimir Matan in Ukraine you talk about ship prophet ship of Bushir is gonna be here and all other ministers that that that God uses they use worship as a catalyst for the miracles but everyone has to come in it's not just the worship team you have to come with it with an with a hunger and with an attitude of adoration before God and when you do that miracles will begin to happen God's anointed will begin to touch yokes will be broken and God's gonna begin to do a great and mighty thing for you and people around you because worship is contagious and then did you receive something this evening