Made to Worship: At All Times

We’re moving right along through our June series: Made to Worship! In part 1 of the series, Alexa Jones highlighted the importance of worshiping in spirit and in truth. If you missed her message, click here to watch the replay! She reminded us of what it really means to be made to worship. 

In part 2 of the series, Pastor Eric Jones teaches us how, as followers of Jesus, we can (and should!) worship God At All Times. He kicks off his message with two personal stories that illuminate the fascination and awe we have the joy of experiencing when we witness and behold wonders of the world we haven’t yet seen before.

Isn’t it funny how beautiful, miraculous, awe-inspiring sights and experiences become commonplace to us after time? A child flying in a plane for the first time sees the world in ways we forget to appreciate. A friend awestruck at the sight of Lake Michigan really puts into perspective for us how much we lose appreciation for wonders we have the privilege of experiencing often. 

Human nature has a way of turning things that were once extraordinary into being just ordinary. We get used to the environment and spot noticing things we were once marveled by. Things that were once beautiful become boring. Is it possible that we can become so comfortably blessed and familiar with the grandeur of God–His holiness, His presence, the consistency of His goodness in our lives–that we sometimes take Him for granted?

The Wonder + Worship of God

Think about this: When was the last time you stopped to marvel at God’s glory and pause your busy life for a second to linger in His presence? It’s time for us to take another look at God’s presence–to be reminded of His majesty, His holiness, and all the ways there is no one like Him. It’s time to take another look at worship, let go our our familiarity, and see Him with a fresh perspective. 

Revelation 4:8-11 (NLT) 8Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.” 9Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), 10the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, 11“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

How is it possible that these angels can worship day and night without stopping? The answer is simple: God is that good, that worthy, that beautiful. In At All Times,  Eric describes it as every time the angels make another pass around the throne of God, it’s like looking at a diamond if you turn it ever so slightly. Each pass, the angels catch a new glimpse of God’s glory. It’s hard to put into human words to describe God! He is worthy to be praised always, at all times. 

Psalm 34:1-3 (NKJV) 1I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.

We were handcrafted by a Creator to worship; we’re wired to praise God. And we’re called to worship Him at all times! In every season–the good, the bad, the mundane–we are to be people who are so aware of His presence, so enamored by His goodness, so connected to His heart…that worship would be our natural outpouring and praise would be our native tongue. 

So how do we cultivate lives of worship that do not get bored with God’s beauty and learn to worship Him at all times? We’re diving into 3 stories from the Bible that highlight different seasons of life when we are to worship God.

1. Worship in Victory

Luke 17:11-19 (NKJV) 11Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 

15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

In this story, we see 10 lepers, also known as “The Walking Dead” because their illness was so deadly, who ask Jesus to heal them. Jesus does not lay His hands on them to heal them; He gives them a command, something to do. This is an important lesson for all of us–God isn’t going to just come and fix all our problems; He’s going to ask us to do something and it’s as we go in obedience doing what He’s asked that we find our answers. Amen! Here’s the key…

Worship is a Response to God’s Goodness

In the story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers, we see only 1 returning to glorify the power of Jesus as His feet. The natural response of a believer who recognizes that they have experienced the goodness, the love, and the mercy of God is to worship! Worshiping is a response to God’s goodness. When we worship, we’re collectively gathering and responding to the one who initiated love, grace, goodness, and power in our lives. 

In At All Times, Eric reminds us that, as a culture, we understand this concept of worship as a response more than we may realize. Enter: College football season. We talk about the great game we watched over the weekend and celebrate animatedly about touchdowns scores and passes thrown. The natural reaction when we see something good is to praise!

When we gather in church, in a place of worship, we’re praising something so much greater than a touchdown we will soon forget. Sometimes, unfortunately, Christians get into a habit of sitting with their hands at their side when the presence of the very being who created us is in the room! We are called to be like the 1 leper who returned, the 10%, who says “I will praise loudly and boldly. I will use my mouth and my body; I will worship in response!” Not in passive worship, not in somber worship, but in the exuberant praise God deserves. 

Yes, the miracle of healing leprosy was amazing. But what about our healing? Let’s reflect on what God has done for us:

Ephesians 2:1-6 (NLT) 1Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 

4But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

God is so rich in mercy and He loved us so much that he saved us from our sin; He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. He raised us with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. We are called to worship in response!

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NKJV) 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

As born again believers, we have experienced an amazing moment of victory! We have the privilege of worshiping at all times because we have been given eternal victory over death, hell, and the grave. We have a fire and a passion in our souls to worship because we have a fresh perspective of how good God has been to us! 

Discussion:

Share a time when your response to God’s goodness was to worship. 

Outside of major life events and big miracles, how can we worship in our everyday life victories?

2. Worship before Battle

2 Chronicles 20:15-17,21-24 (NLT) 15He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!” 

21After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:

“Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!” 22At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.

This is an amazing story of worship! In At All Times, Eric shares the backstory of these verses with us as Israel is facing an attack from three other nations combined together to take down the Israelite nation. The king at the time, Jehoshaphat, was fearful because he recognized the magnitude of the upcoming battle and had no hope of winning it. So he prayed to God, and we see the story unfold in 2 Chronicles. 

The Israelites had a great army, but God gave them an even greater promise–a promise that He would fight the battle for them. Jehoshaphat puts his faith in God and sends singers, musicians, and worshipers to the front of the line, ahead of the army of soldiers. When they started singing, God started working. God worked on the Israelites behalf before they even arrived at the battle. This is the key…

Worship is an Act of Faith

Like the Israelites, we are called to worship before battle. Even though they couldn’t see God’s promise in action yet, the Israelites acted by faith, trusted and obeyed. They believed in God’s promise over the fear that was brought by their enemies. They believed God’s word was true and, of course, it was.

“We might say that it was not their praise that won the battle, rather it was their faith; yet their praise was sure evidence of their faith. When one really believes the words and promises of God, they cannot but help to praise Him.” - David Guzik

It’s time for us, as believers, to put down our our swords, our efforts, our own abilities, and instead, lift up our hands. Praise is our weapon! Let’s start worhsipng God by faith before we even see the battle. 

In At All Times, Eric reflects on a season for our church where the battle seemed ominous and hope seemed bleak. 14 years ago, when the 2008 recession hit, our church building was just beginning its build. Founding Pastors Jeff and Beth had a choice: let the fear of the economy drive their decisions as leaders or remain true to the Word that God had given to them to build our church building and be a hope to our community and to the world. 

Our senior pastors began to thank God and worship Him for the promise He had given them. They couldn’t see the funds to make it possible and they had no physical building as proof; they simply knew their God is faithful and they began to worship. Here we are, 13 years later, looking ahead to all God has in store for VFC in the future! We start in worship before the battle. Amen!

Discussion: 

Reflect on a battle you’ve faced. What did your worship look like in preparation for that season?

Do you have a challenging circumstance or situation on your horizon? How can you worship before battle as an act of faith in God’s promises?

3. Worship at Midnight

Paul and Silas were apostles pioneering the early church after the death and resurrection of Jesus. They were traveling, preaching the gospel, and often faced persecution. In one of the towns where they were preaching, religious leaders were very upset and imprisoned them. They weren’t just thrown in any prison…it was the worst of the worst and Paul and Silas were thrown into the dungeon with arms and feet shackled to the wall. It was dirty and grungy, the place for the worst of criminals. Check out what happens: 

Acts 16:25-26 (NLT) 25Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26Suddenly, 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! 

These men found themselves in the darkest of places, but they knew that in every season, we have a reason to worship. They could have been mad at God, bitter and upset, but they rejected those feelings and chose to praise God at midnight. Midnight is the deepest, darkest moment of night; this is when we’re in the worst place, our most challenging and defeating seasons when hope seems lost. But here’s the key…

Worship is a Choice

Psalm 42:5 (NKJV) 5Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.

It’s important to remember that being a follower of Jesus does not guarantee an easy life…it just means that we have hope in the midst of challenges. In the seasons of midnight, we have to make a choice–not a choice based on our circumstances or out of emotion, but a choice of the conviction of our soul that God said He is good and He is good all the time. Even in midnight moments, we have a reason to worship!

When it feels like it’s time to walk away, to throw in the towel, to allow frustration and discouragement to consume us…we worship God! 

Discussion:

Think about one of your challenging life seasons or darkest moments. How did choosing to worship impact the aftermath of your midnight? 

What does it look like to choose to worship even in the midst of oppression and hopelessness?

At All Times

Psalm 34:3 (NKJV) 3Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.

The word magnify does not mean we need to make God bigger–God is already as big as it gets! He is all powerful, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, everywhere at all times. He can do anything that He desires. He created us…so how do we make God bigger? 

Magnifying the Lord is not making God bigger…It’s making Him bigger to us. When we worship God at all times, in all seasons, we’re reminded that God is bigger than the season we are in and the situations we face. 

We worship At All Times–in victory, before battle, and at midnight. When life seems mundane, worship in victory. When we’re facing battles of anxiety and fear, worship before battle. When we face a dark season and we’re unsure what to do next, worship at midnight. We worship at all times!

Prayer: 

Lord, we love you. We’re so grateful to be able to learn about you and come around your word. God, we pray that you speak to both our minds and our hearts through scripture as we dive into our Bibles. Help us to grow in our understanding of what worship is all about and help us to carry out our days walking, talking, living, and being more and more like Jesus. We thank you for your love and your guidance. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray, Amen!