Relate Community Church
Relate Community Church
Real Ones | Week 2 | Worship is a Weapon
Worship is a Weapon
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. John 4:23
Jesus isn’t interested in a casual relationship with you
One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most-High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her. Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.” A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
Acts 16:16-34
1. Life is Not Fair .
For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. Matthew 5:45
Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off. Acts 16:16-34
2. Look Up .
The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Acts 16:16-34
3. There is an assignment in the Pit.
Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. Acts 16:16-3
4. Worship Moves the Immovable .
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8
When the praise Goes Up - Your God Shows Up .
Discussion Questions:
What’s one idea from the message that really stood out to you? Why did this idea grab your attention?
Can you think of a time in Scripture when worship shifted the atmosphere or changed the outcome of a battle?
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All right, everybody, welcome to church. I'm glad you're here. We're going to bring the house lights up and I'm just going to encourage, slash, challenge everybody, if you are in the house, to pull out your notes we are note-taking church. Come on somebody who's ready to take notes this morning? This morning, the reason we take notes is because it sticks. It makes it more sticky, makes the word of God stick to our hearts, stick to our minds, stick to us this week as we go out. Studies show that you're more likely four times more likely to remember if you write it down because it's going in a different place in your brain. So pull out your notes and let's dig in.
Speaker 1:21 days of prayer is awesome. I love 21 days of prayer. In January we get 21 days of prayer and fasting, so you get to avoid the fasting part. Some of you I have heard that several of you are fasting right now and that is awesome. It's a great time to push in, press in and dedicate the rest of the year, dedicate our, realign ourselves with God's will and God's word.
Speaker 1:The middle of this week we're kicking off week number two of three and the prayer service this week is going to be awesome. How many of you guys were here on Wednesday night. We got to see some people get baptized, we got to see the presence of God fall. Really I think we stayed later than we ever have on a Wednesday night, which is awesome, but almost two hours, I feel like we were here for almost, maybe a little bit longer, just praying and worshiping. And this Wednesday night the prayer service will only be everybody say, one hour. So our prayer service because it's not, it's not prayer service and first Wednesday service combined, so we'll be just doing prayer service. So we'll come together and pray, spend some time. Everybody prays a little bit differently and all of those ways are invited. So we don't ask you to do what the guy next to you is doing. You just do what you do and we'll all do it together and worship and praise and pray.
Speaker 1:So, real quick, before we dive in in, because I feel like this message is going to challenge a few people, I want to remind you and ask you do you remember what our word of the year is? We started in January with stretch and it's been a real stretch, it's been a real challenge, it's been a real effort, a journey that we've been going on, and how many of you know, it's not submission until you have to submit, it's not a stretch. Until you have to stretch, we can say stretch. We can say I submit. We can say I'm on this path that God wants me to be on. But until we get, until we actually take steps, until we actually stretch, we're not. We're not where he wants to be. So we're pressing in for the for the rest of August, for the rest of these 21 days, we're not where he wants to be. So we're pressing in for the rest of August. For the rest of these 21 days, we're looking for what God wants to do in our hearts and in our minds, and I think this series is no exception. It's actually we're amping up, we're shifting gears forward just a little bit.
Speaker 1:And so, with that said, I also want to take just one second and greet all of you who are maybe you're new to Relate, maybe you are a guest this morning. We are so glad that you came. You chose to join us, whether you're right here in this room or I'll look at the camera for just a second and say welcome. We're glad that you chose to click that box or that link or whatever you brought it, whatever brought you to us this morning. We're glad that you're joining us, and so it means the world to us. I know that there are so many great options out there, but I am truly excited about what God's doing right here in our midst. So here we go Real Ones week two.
Speaker 1:The point of this message, the heart of this message, is that God is looking for worshipers In fact, that's what our key scripture is we're going to read it in a moment but God's looking for worshipers real, true worshipers. And that's where we get this idea that maybe you're sitting here this morning and you are one of those real ones, and maybe you're sitting here. You might think you are, but you're not, or you've never even considered whether or not you are a true or. Last week we talked about, like, the difference between true and false faith, the difference between true and false doctrine, the difference between real and a counterfeit worship, and so we started with this idea last week week one of three that worship is a lifestyle. Worship is not just an experience. You can have a worship experience. There's lots of different ways you can have a worship experience, but real and true worship is, it's a lifestyle, it's something that we live every day. It's not like a Sunday morning between 9 and 10, 15 or so. No, it's from the time you wake up on Monday morning to the time you go back to sleep and maybe dreams, dreams and maybe visions, and maybe Tuesday morning you wake up with the word of the Lord on your mind and your heart of worship to serve God. Today. That's the kind of worshiper that God's looking for. So today we're gonna take it to another level and look at a little bit deeper.
Speaker 1:But I wanna kinda address a topic, an idea as we get started, and that is that, whether you're new to church, of address a topic, an idea as we get started, and that is that whether you're new to church, new to God, or whether you've been around for a long time, there often comes, inevitably there will come, a moment of decision where you decide I kind of like what we've done so far, but I don't know if I can get with that. I don't know this new thing that I've seen, this new thing that I'm experiencing, this new moment, this new dimension of my faith. I just don't know if I can handle that. And so I think, thinking back, I've been in church for as long as I can remember and I thought of many different times where I just thought that might be a little bit too far. So I'll share a few of them with you.
Speaker 1:The first one that I that I remembered right off the top of my head when I was a teenager, they used to pack us all up and take us to what they called haunted Halloween hell house at the church. So how many of you guys have experienced that before? There's something about that, that maybe you go to church on Sunday morning and it's like, wow, that was awesome. Then you get to the Halloween hell house and you're like, oh no, I don't know about this. This is this may be a bridge too far. This might be a little bit too much. The next one I remembered was it was very popular and common whenever I was a teenager and even a young adult for someone to just hear from God and then just go up and tell someone they just met. You know what God told me that you're my spouse. If you've ever experienced that, then you know, hey, I love this church, I love these people, but I can't get with that, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:The last idea that kind of fits into that category, before you really dive into the scripture is this that there are some things that the church world does. I thought about a million things that the church world says that I just we could leave it behind. But the deeper I got I thought there's the pinnacle of things that church people say, and one of them is whenever we take, like pop music and we turn it into a Christian song, thinking, hey, we've just redeemed this song and I actually how many of you know that there's a song called Crank, that Church Boy I thought you know what? That's enough, we don't need that, we've got enough worship. And so I thought I had heard them all until watch this.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, becky, look at her Bible. It is so huge. She looks like one of those preacher guys' girlfriends. But who understands those preacher guys? Anyway, they only talk to her because she looks like Mother Teresa. Okay, I mean, look at it, it's just huge, it's gross. She just looks sorighteous.
Speaker 3:I like big bottles and I cannot lie. You Christian brothers can't deny that when a girl walks in with a KJV and a bookmark in Proverbs you get stoked, got a name engraved so you know this girl is saved. It looks like one of those large ones with plenty of space in the margins. Oh baby, I wanna read with ya because your Bible's got pictures. My minister tried to console me, but that book you got makes me so holy, oh mama mia, you say you want koinonia.
Speaker 2:Well, bless me, bless me and teach me about John. Cut, cut, cut.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you. There's some things you think that's a lot, but I'm telling you on a a daily basis. We reach a point in church and our faith and relationships, christian television, christian music where we just say you know what? We never should have gone there, that was too far. And it's not just the pop culture references, In fact. There's a moment in Jesus' ministry whenever he tells them they like the healing, they like being fed. Wow, you just multiplied the food. You multiplied, you did miracles, you healed people, bringing people back from the dead.
Speaker 1:But when Jesus starts to talk about what it really costs to worship and to follow him in John chapter 6, get this John 6, 66. In John chapter 6, get this John 6, 66, it says that when he began to tell them that they had to eat his flesh and drink his blood, it says many left on that day Because they just couldn't go that far. There was like this line where they I'm in for all this, this all feels good, it looks good, this is making my life better. And then the moment it comes down to what Jesus tells them you like all these things, they're all great. But now that we get to what this is really about, what it really means to follow Jesus. A lot of people say I don't know about that, it's too much, too far, too heavy, the cost is too great. So can I just start this message with write this down Jesus is not interested in a casual relationship with you. Jesus is not interested in a casual relationship with you. He wants a real full-time worship is a lifestyle type relationship where you're in it and you're not going to step out of it. Our relationship is compared to marriage that there's no. There's no breaking it apart, not like, ah, I'll do it as long we'll just see where this goes. Jesus, no, that's not what he wants from us. That doesn't work. In fact, I've had people tell me well, I tried church, I tried this, I tried that, I've read, I tried reading my Bible. Just, you know, here's the thing Part-time Christianity doesn't work. A part-time relationship with Jesus, a part-time following Jesus, it's not the real thing, so it doesn't work. So here's our theme.
Speaker 1:Scripture John 4.23 says this but the time is coming, indeed, it's here, now when what True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. In other words, there is a right way to do it. There is a deep and meaningful true way to worship, path to worship, relationship of lifestyle of worship. The Father's looking for those who will worship him in that way. So we use the word fully engaged a lot. That's where we have to be. I believe that's what we have to be pursuing. That has to be in our vision that, okay, every week, every day, worship is a realignment with. Okay, I'm going to line up my life with the way he wants me to follow him, not just reminding myself with a cross around my necklace or a t-shirt that says something about Jesus. I don't need just casual common reminders around. I don't need post-it notes around my life. I need something that's written in my heart, that's part of my DNA, that says I'm going to follow him, no matter what it costs me, no matter who it puts me with or takes me away from, or wherever it takes me, I'm going. That's what worship is. So today we're going to unpack this.
Speaker 1:In Acts, chapter 16, there's a story of Paul and Silas, and I want us to, over the next 25 minutes or so, I want us to unpack this and we're going to start and we're going to read verse 16 through 34, a little bit, a few chunks at a time, but here we go. One day, as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. I wish I could talk about this for more time than we have, but it's where we're starting. It says she earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting these men are servants of the most high God. Sounds good. Sounds like she's proclaiming who God is and who they are, and they have come to tell you how to be saved. This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned. So there is more to meet, more than meets the eye with this situation that this girl's following them. He turned and said to the demon within her I command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her and instantly it left.
Speaker 1:So here's something that you need to be aware of and think about in your own life that sometimes things look right Things. They can look like worship, they can look like a proclamation of the goodness of God and what God's doing, and they can look like they're on track or on purpose with the vision that God's given. They can look like they are of God, but they are absolutely not of God. In fact, the Bible tells us that our enemy, the devil, he robes himself or he wraps himself in light, clothes himself in light as an angel of light, but he's not. He only comes to steal, kill and destroy, destroy and off this. What I want to draw attention to is sometimes there's it seems like they're the same thing, but some part of us has to discern, some part of us has. The bible says that Paul was so exasperated that he turned and cast the demon out of her. But sometimes a demon can feel like it. It's I's saying exactly what we're doing. It's right on track with us. It's part of us.
Speaker 1:Maybe we can be fooled so easily because the enemy uses partial truth to obscure the lie. In fact, she tells 90% the truth. They're of the most high God and they will tell you how to be saved. And yet she's not there to help them. She's there to take away from them, to distract them, to obscure the truth and to she has her own agenda, that they're trying to make money. They're trying to get rid of these guys actually, and the enemy uses truth. Sometimes it's just enough truth to distract you from God wants you here, but you think, well, this is a good thing, I'll go this way. Do you think that the devil will put a million dollars in your hand? And you think, well, that's God Must be God, he's blessing me, right? Well, sometimes what looks like a blessing can be the very thing that takes you out of where God wants you to be.
Speaker 1:So, as followers, as true worshipers, we have to be people who are able to discern. Not just because something is a good thing means it's a God thing. And on this, before we leave this subject, a couple more things that really stand out in this. Even even if she's well-meaning in the moment, she's not helping their cause. There's some people in your life who are very well-meaning, who can take you right away from where god wants you to be. You and I have to be the ones who are willing to look at the people in my. There's somebody in your life, probably right now, that the Holy Spirit would just drop in your mind and show you.
Speaker 1:You need to distance yourself from this situation. You need to distance yourself from this voice, because this voice is not bringing you closer to the Lord. In fact, the biggest danger, I think happens all the time in church. It happens all the time on the stage. It's probably the one thing that we have to protect against as it relates to the worshipers, the people who serve with microphones and stand in front of the spotlight is. It can't be about me. And what does she come in? She says she points at the men and how great they are and what they can do to help you. She's putting the attention on them. It'd be really easy for anyone to just stand up and say, yeah, yeah, I can help you.
Speaker 1:So today's message last week, we talked about how worship is a lifestyle. Today, I want us to write this in your notes, if it's not already there, and that is today, we're looking at the idea that worship is a weapon. Worship is a weapon, and I'll just warn you that this one, it comes with a warning, and that is that, although worship is a weapon, the problem with us is that we'll use that weapon for ourselves. It can't be a weapon that I use for myself. It can't be a weapon that I use to make me better.
Speaker 1:And so you might be thinking, too, that oh, you know, pastor Sean, reading the future and witchcraft and all of those things. They don't really exist today. They're more you know a Bible reading, the future and witchcraft and all of those things. They don't really exist today. They're more you know a Bible thing. That's not true. There are so many influences of witchcraft, occult and paganism in our culture today. If you're not watching, you'll be carrying all kinds of things and mixing them up with who God is and what he wants you to do, and we'll get confused and we'll be thinking oh well, god can tell me my future by palm reading, god can tell me my future by tarot cards and God can tell me my future by numerology. Because I've got it all figured out now. God showed me, wait a second.
Speaker 1:So I made a list, a very shallow list, of all the things Crystals, horoscopes, numerology, Ouija boards, mediums, automatic writing, transcendental meditation, grounding, energy cleansing, astral projection, psychedelic drugs, chanting mantras, all which. There's lots of things. This list could just go on and on and on. Of all the things, here's the. The bottom line is this that God gives us access to the spirit world. There's a, there's a spirit world and there is a physical flesh world. There's a spirit world and there is a physical flesh world. There's the seen and there's the unseen, there's the eternal and the temporal, and God gives us access to the eternal. God gives us access to the spirit world, but the enemy says I can get you to the spirit world. The enemy says I can give you all these different channels or access if you'll just do this, or go talk to a medium, or go, if you'll pay $9.99 a month, you can call Miss Cleo and she'll tell you everything. We're going to keep reading.
Speaker 1:It says her master's hopes of wealth were now shattered when he cast the demon out. It says so they grabbed Paul and Silas, dragged them before the authorities of the marketplace. The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews. They shouted to the city officials they are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice. Now there's a little bit of a lie in here. I think they're influencing the officials to believe that they're not Roman citizens, so they get treated like outsiders. It says a mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. Now, as Roman citizens, this was not allowed to happen, but it did happen because the crowd was whipped into a frenzy and this mob was formed and then they were beaten and stripped and thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon. Now they're taken, not just, they're not just put in jail to hold them, now they're put into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in stocks. So now they're put into basically torture devices to sit naked, beaten, broken. No trial, no, they don't get to tell their story. They have been brought by a mob and thrown in.
Speaker 1:And that brings me to our first, the starting point for why worship is a lifestyle and why we need to also recognize that worship is a weapon. The starting point is number one life is not fair. Can you say that out loud? Life is not fair, life's not fair. If you've been alive for five seconds, you know that life's not fair. Life's painful. We don't get what we deserve. Often Life is not fair. And so Paul and Silas, on this day're having a very unfair, very tough day naked, beaten, in stocks. They're in pain. They probably are saying something, like you know.
Speaker 1:I think I'm supposed to get a phone call, or can you let me reach out? Can you let me send a letter? Can you let me send a messenger? Can I talk to someone who's in charge and no, they're saying, nope, you're in jail, inner dungeon with you. And for what? For doing the right thing.
Speaker 1:How often have we gotten ourselves in trouble and we realize, yeah, I probably deserve this. I'm paying for the decisions I made yesterday. If your marriage is broken, you can turn around and look around and oftentimes you think I've had. You can turn around and look around and oftentimes you think I've had so many people come and tell me Pastor Sean, we're struggling, I think I'm gonna lose my marriage, and it's basically my own fault. I've done it to myself. You can look at your marriage and say, yeah, I was kind of a jerk, I probably deserve to be exactly where I am.
Speaker 1:But Paul and Silas, they didn't deserve any of it. In fact, as Roman citizens, it never should have happened to them and they were in an unfair situation. And what happens so often is that the enemy will speak to us in our ear that this is not fair, you shouldn't even have to deal with this and we are tempted to fall into a victim mentality. That just I can't believe. I have to deal with this, god, why'd you let this happen to me?
Speaker 1:Paul and Silas could have sat there in that jail and said God, what are you doing? We were doing the. We were preaching for you. We were doing what you told us to. And now look at us. I thought you said. I thought you said you'd take care of us. I thought you said that this would never happen. No, in fact, it doesn't.
Speaker 1:Jesus said in this world, you will have trouble. He said in this world, you're going to have trouble, but take heart. That's the opposite of the Christianity or the worship lifestyle that most of us want. We want the worship lifestyle that says if I'll follow Jesus, everything will be good. We want that little picture that we all see on Facebook where we're sitting there with our coffee in the morning and our Bible's open, and then the clouds are pulling back and the sun is rising and the birds are chirping. And that's the worship lifestyle that I want.
Speaker 1:I wonder if Paul and Silas were sitting in jail thinking I just wanted my morning Bible reading and we get sorry for ourselves. But what's happening is actually that the enemy is shifting our attention from God to ourselves. How could God do this to you? How could God let this happen to you? Watch this in Matthew, chapter 5, 45, it says for he gives his sunlight. God gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. In other words, god's not sitting up there to make sure everything is fair and wonderful in your life.
Speaker 1:It says that he's a fair judge, but he goes by the law, and I think there's a big lie in church, there's a big lie in Christianity, that it says if things look good, if everything's on the up and up and I got all my bills paid, then God must approve of my life. Ooh, I just got blessed. God loves me. But if my life's in trouble, if everything's not going right, what happens? We think, oh man, god disapproves of what I'm so sorry, god, if you could just start blessing me again and we start to try and get our lives right, of what I'm so sorry, god, if you could just start blessing me again and we start to try and get our lives right. We start trying to apologize and repent and go. I'll be in church every week, god, if you'll just bless me again. Wait a second. That's not what worship is.
Speaker 1:Worship is in the good times and in the bad times, when I'm in prison and when I'm standing on the mountain or the valley or wherever I am, whether I can see, whether it's dark, whether it's bright, whether it's sunrise or sunset, whether it's midnight, I'm serving God. I'm not giving up. I'm going to trust God. But the enemy's strategy is to make you feel bad and that God disapproves of you. So you'll give up and you'll start complaining and you'll start thinking about yourself again. In fact, the Bible's full of people who prove that that's not the case and that that's not how God wants it.
Speaker 1:Job, joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, beaten, thrown into prison. Why is it that we just choose? It's almost like we choose to ignore what, looking what following Jesus really should look like. It might be painful, it might get dark, it might take everything away from me. It might be painful, it might get dark, it might take everything away from me. Let's keep reading Paul, 2 Corinthians 11, 24 says five times I was given the 39 lashes by the Jews. Why 39? Because so often at 40, people were dying. So they said let's give them one less. So they stopped dying so much. Five times he was given the 39 lashes by the Jews. Three times I was whipped by the Romans and once I was stoned. I've been in three shipwrecks and once I spent 24 hours in the water. That would be enough for most of us to quit. Have you seen Jaws? Have you seen Jaws?
Speaker 1:In many of my travels, I've been in danger from floods and from robbers, and danger from my own people and from the Gentiles. That means he's been stabbed in the back, keeping his eye behind him and in front of him, because who knows who's going to betray him. There have been dangers in the city, dangers in the wild, dangers in the high seas and dangers from false friends. There have been work and toil. Often I've gone without sleep, I've been hungry and thirsty and I've often been without enough food, shelter and clothing.
Speaker 1:None of us would sign up for that if that's all there was to it. But we have to take the good with the bad and truly, truly worshiping God in spirit and truth and saying God, I'm going to worship you, I'm going to let my life be a reflection of your glory, and not just how good I feel at the moment. So if Paul could go through all of that and still survive and thrive, he must have had a secret. And so let's read what that secret is, as we continue to Acts, chapter 16, it says around midnight. Here's the real secret Paul and Silas, both in the inner dungeon, were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. And suddenly everybody say suddenly there was a massive earthquake and the prison was shaken to its foundation. All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off.
Speaker 1:So not only do we see that life's unfair life is going to put you in a dungeon at some point, but the question is what are you going to do about it? How do you choose to use that? How do you choose to use your worship as a weapon to keep you where God wants you to be? Number two for number two, not only is life unfair, but number two, you need to look up. Worship starts with just looking up. If life brings you and throws you down into the bottom of a pit, you can't keep your eyes down in the pit saying, oh my gosh, what am I going to do in this pit? It's so deep, it's so dark I can't even get out. Look up, david said. I look to the hills where my help comes from. My help comes from up here, not down here where the situation is worse and worse and getting deeper. If you're in the bottom of a pit, you need to look up, and that's exactly what Paul and Silas did when they were in the midst of the deepest, darkest inner dungeon. What did they do? They started looking up. They made their worship and their praise and their thanksgiving set the tone for what would come next.
Speaker 1:So today, I don't know where you are. I could tell you all about worship and about God's plan for your life and living and walking a lifestyle of worship, but you could be in the deepest, darkest dungeon of your life. You could be in a season where you can't see a second ahead. You can't see that. What will happen, god? How will I even make it till tomorrow? Why did I even wake up today?
Speaker 1:How often do, as humans, we feel that way? Because life's hard Life gives us trouble. Life throws trouble at us and after that it throws more trouble at us. We get to an impassable obstruction where we feel trapped and broken. It could be a financial thing, it could be a health diagnosis, or a relationship that feels like it's lost, or a marriage that feels like it's broken beyond repair.
Speaker 1:And my challenge to you is to do what Paul and Silas did and look up, lift up your eyes and you don't feel like it. We don't feel like it. I'll just tell you right now I'm not. We don't lift up our eyes and we don't worship and we don't give thanks because we feel like it. We don't lift up our eyes and we don't worship and we don't give thanks because we feel like it.
Speaker 1:You know what the Bible calls a sacrifice of praise? It's when I don't feel like it. When it doesn't, the circumstances around me do not warrant this praise. The math is not mathing. This is not how things should go. This is not fair. I've been put in the worst situation and yet I'm going to thank God, I'm going to rejoice, I'm going to praise the Lord. You can't stop me from singing hymns and lifting up my eyes to the one who can save me. That's what a sacrifice of praises. We love to praise when we feel good. God, I give you thanks. This is such a good day, what a beautiful. This is the day that the Lord has made y'all. It's a good day, it's beautiful.
Speaker 1:But what happens when things go bad? In fact, how much more powerful is worship when we're doing it and we don't feel like it. Is it even worship if we're just smiling because we feel good? It's almost the same conversation of it. I can love anyone who's lovable, but what about the people who are unlovable, untouchable, unpleasant? That's different. That's a deep. That's real love is there's.
Speaker 1:There's true worship where I'm going to worship god and it transcends my circumstances. I don't want to look up, but I look up. A few weeks ago we're sitting on the porch overlooking the lake and the sunset, and my family was around on the on the uh, on the deck, and it was a beautiful night. It's very easy to look around and say God, I thank you for what you've done in my life. You're so amazing, god. But how much more potent and powerful and how much more of a weapon am I holding when everything's going badly and nothing around me reflects on what it looks like God's doing things? It doesn't look like God's working, but I know he is. That's a real and true worship and that kind of worship is very, very, very powerful.
Speaker 1:And I'll just tell you, parents in the room, those of you who bring your kids and you get them into kids church right now they're up there learning to worship. They're learning to wield the weapon of praise and worship. So they might not even understand it right now, but when they're 15, when they're 20, when they're 25 and everything seems to fall apart, when they're 30, 35, 40, 45, when you're gone from their life and they need to know where to look for help. They're learning that right now and some of us haven't learned it. Some of us are like God if you would just turn this around, I'll praise you. I might I'll go to church, I'll start, I'll start back, I might even start tithing. God, if you just fix this and we may, we want to make a deal with God that we'll start to live the lifestyle that he desires if he'll do his part. That's not worship. It might work.
Speaker 1:If you'll notice, with Paul and Silas. They did not. They praised before the doors flew open. They didn't pray for hours and hours and hours and get down and cry and bawl and complain and say, god, if you'll just save us and open up these doors, we'll praise you. No, it says. They began to sing praises and hymns, and then the earthquake, and then the real ones that we're talking about in the series. We worship first, we praise first. We pick up that weapon when we don't feel like it, we pick up our praise and we sing and we give thanks and we let our hearts turn toward gratitude, even when it doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 1:Let's keep reading in Acts 16. It says the jailer woke up to see the prison doors were wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him stop, don't kill yourself, we're all here. The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And then he brought them out and asked them sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they replied believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household. And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household.
Speaker 1:You don't know why you're in the pit. You don't know why you're in the inner dungeon. You don't know why everything's dark and you thought God was taking you somewhere. Can I tell you that you might be exactly where God wants you. You just haven't recognized number three. Write this down that there is an assignment in the pit. You're so focused on the pit, you're so focused on getting out of the pit, that you're ignoring the fact that God has you there, for he didn't create the pit, he didn't make you go to the pit. He allowed it to happen because sometimes there's an assignment, a person, a thing, something that needs to happen, a word that needs to be spoken, a life that needs to be saved. There is number three, an assignment in the pit, which also brings about this point.
Speaker 1:It really matters who's with you in the pit. Some of you need to look around your life and say, if I end up in a pit, who's going to be with me? Because for a bunch of us, the people in our lives are the ones who are just telling us man, you just need to give up on all that. Why do you go to church so much? Why are you giving your money? Why are you serving Like, why are you doing things? It's not helping you. Serving Like, why are you doing things? It's not helping you, it's not building your business, that's not how. You just need to leave that marriage. Your kids don't care about you. Why should you care about them? There are a bunch of voices in your life that you just need to decide. Is this voice bringing me closer to the Lord, is this voice helping me when I get into the pit or are they distracting me? You need to turn around and tell the voice. I'm done.
Speaker 1:I remember when I was a teen not a young adult, so probably early 20s we had decided hey, let's get a team together in the church, we're going to go out and we're going to knock on doors and invite people to church and just pray for people and do like just street ministry. We went team together in the church, we're going to go out and we're going to knock on doors and invite people to church and just pray for people and do like just street ministry. We went out right around the church and I remember it was hot and everybody was complaining and I thought, man, maybe this wasn't what God wanted us to do, because no one would listen to us. We're knocking on the door and say, hey, we're here at the church down the street, we'd love to pray with you and just let you know what's going on in the community. You know what we got most of the time they didn't even say bye, no, thanks, not interested. They were just like you're with who? Boom? How many of you experienced that before? And it's not fun. In fact it's enough to make you just want to say, okay, we're done, guys, let's go have lunch. A couple of doors getting slammed on you. But I remember we just kept going and we said you know what? We're just going to do? All the rest of the houses in this neighborhood, no matter what happens, we're in it.
Speaker 1:I don't know how we stayed so positive, but we did. Knocked on the door and a young lady answered the door. There were a few of us there. She was probably 13 years old and we said hey, are your parents home? Can we talk with the man or the woman in the house? We'd start saying we just come by to offer prayer. And she said, yeah, my siblings are here and some older adults, but not parents. And we prayed with her and we just left her with a little card and I thought, man, that was unusual. She seemed awfully downcast and we just kept going on and on and on. And then I remember on Sunday morning she showed up at church and then she came to the youth group and then she kept coming to church and she gave her heart to God. She decided to follow Jesus and then, all of a sudden, all her siblings started coming to church. They did the same thing, and then her parents came to church, and then her grandparents came to church and they all it began to transform their lives and looked over the next five to ten years. A dramatic change. We had an assignment on that, maybe the only thing that was supposed to happen. As we knocked on doors that day, we went through all the doors slammed just to talk to one young girl. That may have changed 10 lives, and how many since I don't know, it's incalculable.
Speaker 1:We have a mission in our city right now and it's easy to think Pastor Sean, it is hot out there. You want me to pray over my neighbors? I could do that from my car. You can do that from your car. But listen, this doesn't say hey, come to church. This doesn't say hey. In fact, it barely says the church's name on the back. It says this house has been prayed for, and then you put your name right here and let someone know that you prayed for their house.
Speaker 1:Because for 21 days we're covering our neighbors. We're believing for transformation to happen and it might. You might pass out 20. There's packets out there and we're putting our little dots on the map to show all the places that we believe and have faith that God can transform and move. But you might put out 20 door hangers and only one person. They may never come to church, but who knows what God can do? Let's keep reading. We're almost done. Even at the hour of midnight, even at the hour of midnight, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds and then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. And the rest of the story plays out that they were released and things were made right. But they were there for a reason.
Speaker 1:Number four this is my final point, that how truly this is the practical point of how worship is a weapon. Number four worship moves the immovable. Worship moves the immovable. It reshapes the landscape of the battle that you're in. You may feel like you're in the darkest day, the darkest hour of the night, and yet, whenever you begin to lift up praises, whenever you begin to sing hymns and give thanks to God, even despite the circumstances that you're in, you know what happens the things that are immovable, the stocks that are on your feet, the clanging door that's locked behind you says that an earthquake happened and things started moving that couldn't be moved, and they did it at midnight. So let's say that you're in a dark place or tomorrow you end up in a dark place.
Speaker 1:We have to make it our default response, the standard for our lifestyle, that I'm going to be a worshiper. I'm going to let this be my response in the deepest, darkest times. I may have started this day in prison, or I may have started this hour in prison, but I'm going to turn it around. I'm going to set my heart. I'm going to set my mind on things above and let a new day begin. I'm going to set my mind on things above and let a new day begin.
Speaker 1:James 4.8,. This is the last verse I'll give you, and that is that this is such a powerful point that we get it backwards so often. It says draw near to God and he will draw near to you. The Bible says that God is near the brokenhearted. We just feel like he's far away. We just feel like it's not worth worshiping. It's not worth the effort. I'm just. This is my life now. I just have to deal with how bad things are and we give up.
Speaker 1:So can we set a new tone for the rest of these 21 days of really 21 days? Is this? Why 21 days? Why do we do 21 days of prayer? Because 21 days is long enough to set a new habit, a new pattern, a new routine. So we get in the routine of complaining and criticizing and being cynical of life and this and oh well, it's just par for the course and things are going bad anyway. Look at the government, look at the news, look at my city, look at my neighborhood, look at my HOA, look at my family. It's all bad. But for 21 days and for the 14 days that we have left, let's change our routine, let's change what we're saying. Let's lift up our eyes and lift up our voices toward heaven and let it be a voice of worship. It be a voice of worship If you need a mountain moved, if you need an enemy scattered, if you're losing the battle or losing ground, or if you've got a bad report or an impossible situation, I'm just going to encourage you to pick up the weapon of worship.
Speaker 1:Would you stand up on your feet? We're going to close with prayer and just a moment of worship. But here's what I need you to know, and if you're looking for that last, fill in the blankets. When the praises go up, your God shows up. Don't settle into the darkness. Don't give territory to the enemy to the enemy. Think of this that the chains were strong enough to hold Paul and Silas, but they weren't strong enough to hold God. When they began to worship and his presence showed up, the chains fell off and the doors flew open, because the power of God moving into a situation is stronger than anything the enemy can throw at you. We just have to be willing to turn our hearts toward worship and say okay, god, I'm following you. Let's worship for a moment and then we'll close in prayer, but let's turn our hearts towards thanksgiving. Let's align ourselves with what it means to truly be a worshiper. In good times, in bad times, in good circumstances and in bad circumstances.
Speaker 2:Let's lift up our voices times, in good circumstances and in bad circumstances. Let's lift up our voices. You're the God of all I know. No higher name, no greater throne. You stand alone. You're the God of all I know. You are the one I'm burning on. I stand alone. You're the God of all I know. I live, no rain or flow. You stand alone. You're the God of all. I know. I believe it, I have seen it. My God is over all. I believe it, I have seen it. My God is over all. You are the one, you are the one above it all. I stand alone. You're the power of my Lord. No hiding, no playing. No, you stand alone. You're the God of all I know.
Speaker 1:You are the one I love it all. I stay the love. You're the God of all I know. No higher name, no greater throne. You stay the love. You're the God of all I know. Maybe today you recognize that you haven't had that heart of worship. You haven't had that mindset that's determined to worship God as a lifestyle, in the good and the bad times. Today's a great time. This moment is a great moment for a fresh start and just turning a new page and a new chapter in your life, where you begin. From this day forward, I'm going to follow Jesus and I'm going to be a worshiper, and when he looks for the true worshipers, the ones who will worship that way, he's going to find me.
Speaker 1:We set our hearts on things above Today. Maybe you've never given your life to the one who made you, to the one who made you. You've never offered your life as a sacrifice, as a surrender, to truly be a Jesus follower. That's where it starts. The journey of faith that God wants to take you on starts with a decision of faith where you surrender everything but you get so much in return Not only life, but life abundantly. He wants to walk with you throughout your time on earth and then into eternity, forever. That's what he made us for. It all comes down to a decision to dedicate our lives to him as our father.
Speaker 1:So, wherever you're at today, I would invite you to say this prayer with me, to start that journey, to start back on the right foot, with your heart in the right place. Would you just bow your heads and close your eyes, right where you are and I won't embarrass anyone, but I'll just invite you to repeat these words after me Would you say, dear Heavenly Father, today I give you my life. I choose to follow you with all that. I am withholding nothing.
Speaker 1:So wherever you want to take me, I'll go. Whatever you want to do with me, I'll do so. Breathe life into me. Forgive me of my old life, forgive me of the sin that I've committed. Make me new From today forward. I'll follow you the way you want to be followed. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's put our hands together for those who said that prayer. I'm proud of you. The prayer team is going to join me at the front. If you'd like to pray with someone about any need before you go, then I'll invite you to come and say a prayer with them as we worship. Otherwise we're gonna stay for another song. But if you need to go, then you are dismissed, in Jesus' name, and we will see you next week. God bless you.
Speaker 2:I will praise you. I will praise you. Let's sing. I am Jehovah, you are God. We're standing on the rock Because we know the gates are closed, they cannot be left. But there's a lover in my soul, the king above the throne. Victorious, you stand For. You are the great I am to hold. You are God, standing on the rock. As we know the days of the. They cannot be there forever, all my days. Nothing can steal my praise. I will praise you. I will praise you. Nothing can separate your love and your way. I will praise you Cause you're the lover of my soul.
Speaker 3:Keep the poor soul. It's all we have to say. Oh, you are the great, I am Jehovah, you are God. You're standing on the ground, cause we know the gates of hell. Thank you so much for giving us your time today, and we just pray that you have an amazing week and that you worship and that the Lord shows up and you just have an awesome week. Thank you, thank you. You.