Let's turn in your copy of God's Word with me to Hebrews chapter 10.
Those of you who have been with us for a while might be scratching your heads.
I did say Hebrews chapter 10.
We're going to take a little break from Romans and spend the next couple of weeks, a few weeks, three to four, in the book of Hebrews
to take a brief break and to talk about something that's kind of been pressing on our hearts.
But before we get started there, let's pray together.
Father God, thank you for the congregation.
Thank you for those whom you've called your own.
And I thank you, Father, that you've called us together this morning to study your Word.
I pray, Father, you'll be generous to us in understanding, that you will fill in the gaps in my preparation,
those that I know about and those that I don't.
I pray, Father, that I will speak accurately and truthfully for the edification of your church this morning.
And we pray this in the precious name of Christ who makes it possible for us to pray.
Amen.
So as we have been praying through our preaching, something that we try to make a habit of doing,
kind of sticking our finger in the air, seeing which way the wind is blowing,
we felt that it was important for us to take a little break from Romans,
not that things are going poorly there,
but just to stop and talk a little bit about the vision of Christ's family church,
which is not an odd vision.
It shouldn't be a foreign thing to any Christian.
We place a statement that we call our vision statement on the screen.
If you've been here at all, and I hope paying attention,
you'll know that that statement says,
Christ's family church exists to experience, proclaim, and display the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all things.
What we want to talk about is how that actually fleshes out.
Because it's just a sentence, otherwise.
How is it that we experience, proclaim, and display the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all things together as a local church?
And so we have a little analogy we like to use,
and I keep saying we, I'm talking about the leadership of the church,
which you'll maybe key into because you've seen our logo.
It's a group of trees standing together,
and you may notice that they're not spindly pine trees,
but they're mighty oaks, I say, or some sort of hardwood, pick your favorite.
The large difference between these varieties of trees is that one's a softwood and another's a hardwood.
One puts down a different type of root.
Pine trees put down a taproot.
If you ever see a field cleared,
the first type of tree to come back into that field is a pine tree.
And the pine tree knows that in order for it to compete with large hardwoods that cast lots of shade,
they have to grow quickly.
So they put down what's called a taproot, a long root,
and they send out little roots from that, and they grow.
But what happens around here when we have ice storms come?
When those trees get a little heavier than they should be,
they're the first to go, right?
That's that snapping you here in the middle of the night,
and you hope that one of them doesn't snap and fall on your house.
Those are the pine trees,
because all it takes is the weight to snap that one root,
and the whole thing comes down.
It's not the kind of trees we want to be as Christians, right?
We want to put down deep, solid roots that reach out deep into the Word of God.
So that's one area, one thing we do together is we study together.
We read God's Word and we understand it together.
We also want to put our branches high into the air.
We want to exalt God in all that we do,
in our singing of praises to His name,
in our prayers, in our proclamation of Him.
And so those are the branches.
And we also want to bear fruit,
the fruit of love, both to the church and to the world.
So you find in that this neat little four-week sermon series, right?
It's little fruits, branches, fruit to the church, fruit to the world.
It's a nice little package, and that's kind of the way we set out.
Nathan, we're going to take a break from Romans,
and we want you to preach on these things.
This is what we're going to do together as a church.
God tends to thwart our plans, though, doesn't He?
As I began preparation to study this morning to talk about roots,
kind of topically talk about that,
what it means for us to study the Word of God together,
I was led to Hebrews chapter 10 as a text to preach from.
And I discovered in this, all of these elements are contained.
So I'm not going to preach over the next few weeks in the neat little roots,
branches, fruit to the church, fruit to the world, order.
However, we were going to get all that in there,
which is why I'm giving you this lengthy preface.
So I'm just going to verse by verse preach through verse 19 through verse 25.
So let's read that together.
The writer of Hebrews writes,
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain,
that is, through His flesh,
and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
with our hearts frinkled clean from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,
for He who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Now we're going to spend most of our time this week and next in verse 22.
I have six points I want to pull out,
squeeze out of that one verse,
verse 22.
But I think I would be remiss if I didn't talk first about the first three verses,
which we're going to get into as we progress through this text in the coming weeks.
But I feel it's very important that we set the stage properly
as we begin to talk about what many have called,
and I've been reminded over and over again this week,
is the lettuce patch.
Let us, let us, let us.
So verse 19 through 21,
the writer of Hebrews has just finished talking about the old sacrificial system.
All right?
For those of you who aren't totally versed in your Old Testament knowledge,
the Old Testament sacrificial system,
there was a temple,
and within that temple,
there was an inner sanctum called the Holy Place.
And within that place was a place called the Holy of Holies.
And this is where the glory of God dwelt.
Physically, we could see it, the Shekinah glory,
where we could actually see the glory of God dwelling in this place.
All right?
Unless I misspeak, we couldn't actually see it.
But one day a year,
one guy, the high priest, could see it.
It was a very special day,
the Day of Atonement.
And I won't get into all of the ritual that was taking place there,
because I don't have time.
But there was much preparation,
lots of things he had to do
to be able to enter into the presence of God.
In fact,
they sewed bells into his garments
and tied a rope around his ankle
in case they heard the bell stop moving,
because they would know he died
because he did something improperly,
and they could drag his dead body
out of the Holy of Holies.
That's how serious it was
to enter into the presence of God.
So the writer of Hebrews
is either teaching us for the first time,
for many of us,
but here he's writing to a Jewish culture
and he's reminding them of this.
What an awesome thing it was
to enter into the presence of God.
He goes on to tell us
that there's now been
that atoning sacrifice,
once and for all,
has been made by Jesus Christ,
our great high priest.
Greater than any of the high priests,
he has made one sacrifice
that has officially and forever
atoned for the sins of God's people.
So now,
we come to verse 19.
Therefore,
since we have confidence
to enter the Holy Place
by the blood of Jesus Christ.
How shocking would that have been
to the readers,
the original readers of this letter?
We read past things like that, right?
Yeah, confidence, yeah, yeah.
To enter into the Holy Places.
Confidence.
Even the high priest
didn't have confidence
when he entered in.
He had safeguards.
The safeguards.
The bells and the rope.
Guys, I'm going in.
You may not come out.
Pull me out, alright?
Bury me somewhere.
Don't stink up the Holy Place
because I'm not sure
how this is going to go.
We, though,
by the blood of Christ,
we have confidence
to enter into
the Holy Places
by Jesus'
body.
The curtain
that was torn.
You remember
when Christ died?
The temple curtain
that was dividing
the Holy of Holies
from the Holy Place
tore from top to bottom.
And here the writer of Hebrews
says it was his body
that tore that curtain
for us.
And then verse 22,
let us
draw near.
And that's where we're going to
spend our time
this morning.
We'll get to the rest of the verse
next week.
But this morning,
we're going to spend our time,
verse 22,
let us
draw near.
Christian worship,
let me say.
Because we can,
let's do that.
Because this is a grace
given to us,
let's draw near
to God.
Now,
we all worship all the time.
And I know that.
Alright?
If you don't,
we all worship all the time.
It depends on what
you're worshiping.
So this morning,
we're talking about
Christian worship,
not the worship of other things,
of your stuff,
or yourself,
or your girlfriend,
or your wife,
your favorite football team.
We're talking about
Christian worship.
Because we all worship
all the time.
And particularly,
we're going to talk this morning
about those things
that we do corporately,
together.
Certainly,
there are times
for individual worship.
I would encourage you to it.
But specifically this morning,
about those things
that we do corporately,
the prayers we pray,
the songs that we sing,
and the study
of the Scriptures.
Now,
this concept of worship,
this idea,
the subject of worship,
has spawned many battles
in the church.
In fact,
officially,
they're called
worship battles.
When you hear that term,
it's in reference
to songs,
specifically.
We've probably all
participated in that
in some degree,
or at least been around that.
I like the drums.
I don't like the drums.
I like hymns.
I like modern praise
and worship.
I prefer the contemporary service.
I'll go to the traditional service.
I like things acoustic.
I love an electric guitar.
These types of arguments,
which are much heat
with very little light,
if that makes sense
to you at all.
These arguments
are predicated
on opinion.
We do the same thing
with preaching.
There are varying
preaching styles.
Some preachers
use their hands,
as you'll notice I do.
Some stand kind of stiffly
behind a lectern.
I like his preaching.
I get a lot out of it.
I don't prefer his preaching.
I don't enjoy it.
Many, many things
that cost heat,
but very, very little light.
And all are predicated
on opinion.
So who gets to define
how we worship?
Is it us?
Who gets to define
how we worship?
Ultimately,
who has the final say
in what happens
here
in Christ's family church
on Sunday morning?
Who decides that?
God decides that.
Beloved,
the Bible gives us
much latitude
in the particulars.
Much latitude.
There is no
New Testament-inspired liturgy.
An order.
I could preach
at the beginning
and we could do
all the songs
at the end.
I could preach
at the end
and all the songs
at the beginning.
I can preach
right in the middle
like we do.
There is no
inspired liturgy.
There's much latitude.
We can play drums.
We don't have to use drums.
We can use an organ.
It doesn't matter
if we don't.
There is room
for preference.
But ultimately,
how do we filter
what we do?
How do we hold it up
to light
and see if what we're doing
is proper
on Sunday morning?
Now, it's not my burden
this morning
to prove to you
that what we do
is right.
I am sure
we can improve
what we do together.
I just want to hold
what we do up
to the lens of Scripture
to the very beginning
of verse 22.
Let us draw near.
And here is the reason.
In Matthew 15,
verse 8 and 9,
Jesus says this
to the Pharisees,
This people
honors me with their lips,
but their heart
is far from me.
In vain
do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines
the commandments
of men.
Does that scare you
a little bit?
It scares me.
Let me explain to you why.
Jesus says to them,
Your worship
the thing you call worship
and I am calling worship,
so catch that,
is in vain.
So we can call
what we do worship,
even God will call it worship.
But if we don't worship
rightly,
it's in vain.
That frightens me.
And for these people,
it wasn't that they were
worshiping the wrong God.
they were worshiping
the right God
wrongly.
So let's learn a little bit
about how to worship
the right God
rightly.
Let us draw near.
And the implication is
let us draw near
to God.
So if you hear me say that
and your text doesn't read
that way,
I'm adding the to God
because of the
preceding verses.
Let us draw near to God.
I discovered this week
that this phrase,
I thought I was being
very holy to preach
on just one little phrase,
it's actually,
in the original language,
in Greek,
it's actually one word.
So I'm preaching on one word
this morning.
That word is
proserkamai.
Don't write it down.
Proserkamai.
And I'm going to
break out some of this
for you,
but it is
plural,
present tense,
in the active voice,
and in the subjunctive mood.
This one word
tells us
an immense amount
about how we ought
to worship together
corporately.
So I have three points
this morning.
Number one,
Christian worship
is
corporate
in emphasis.
It's corporate
in emphasis.
We can see that
in the plural form
of this word,
as well as the rest
of the text.
Take a quick look with me.
Verse 22,
let us,
our hearts,
our bodies.
Verse 19,
since we have confidence.
Verse 20,
that he opened for us.
Verse 21,
since we have a great priest.
Verse 23,
let us hold fast
the confession of
our hope.
verse 24,
let us
consider.
Now,
I understand
that worship
is a lifestyle.
I'm one of the first
people to complain
about folks
who just call
music worship.
Right?
To think that
only the time,
the only time
I can come
and worship God
is when
I come to church
and we sing songs
together.
That's improper.
Entirely improper.
However,
worship is
congregational
in emphasis.
If you look
throughout the scriptures
at the instruction
for worship,
it is
heavily weighted
to the side
of the congregation.
I'll explain
why in a second.
But here's the problem
with the
worship is a lifestyle.
I hear people say that.
Well,
worship is a lifestyle.
So what we tend
to do then
is use it
as an excuse
to not meet
with the congregation.
Some of you
may know somebody
who says,
I just feel close
to God
when I go hiking.
So I'm going
to go on Sunday
mornings
to worship God
on the Appalachian Trail.
Now,
there's something
wrong with you
if when you hike
the Appalachian Trail
and you get to some
of those grand overlooks,
you aren't caused
to worship God.
You should worship God
when you spend time
in nature.
He created it.
It speaks of His glory.
You should do this thing.
However,
God's character
culminates
in the person
and work
of Jesus Christ.
The redemption
of His people
and we must
be in the midst
of His people
to have our minds
and hearts
lifted properly
to God.
The grandest
overlook you've seen
on the AT
does not compare
to the people
sitting in this room.
We're all
a pitiful looking
bunch of people,
but what Christ
has done for us
is awesome.
We properly
worship God
when we're with
His people
because we see
the greatest
work that God
has accomplished
amongst His people.
Martin Luther
said rightly,
if you expect
to have God
as your father,
I just fancy
lost my spot.
There we go.
Sorry.
There we go.
If you expect
to have God
as your father,
you must embrace
the church
as your mother.
If you expect
to have God
as your father,
you must embrace
the church
as your mother.
Any expression
of Christianity
devoid of the church
is totally
foreign
to the pages
of Scripture.
I encourage you
to begin
reading
Scriptures
in that way.
Pay attention
to the pronouns.
The writer of Hebrews
did not get himself
trapped
in a pronoun
conundrum.
He didn't start
verse 19
and say,
therefore,
brothers,
now I've got to say
all these plural pronouns
throughout the rest
of the text.
Now I'm stuck
with these
we's and us's.
It wasn't an accident.
He could have
simply gone back
and changed
brothers.
It was inspired
that way.
We have a shared
faith.
Language entered
into evangelicalism
in the 60s.
Much of the
traveling evangelists
will phrase
personal relationship
with Jesus Christ.
We're all familiar
with that phrase.
True
that Christ
saves individuals.
I'm one of them.
true
that I have
a personal
relationship
with Jesus Christ.
I don't need
an intermediary
for me
to pray.
I can go
personally
to Him
to pray.
All that's true.
But why is it
that we think
when we step
outside of the
language of Scripture
we won't have
problems as a result?
The simple
call
to salvation
is not
personal relationship
with Jesus Christ.
It's repent
and believe.
So as we
stepped outside
of that
as evangelicals
we began
to lose
the value
of church
of the congregation
the fact
that we have
been called
as a people
persons
but as a
people.
We lose
that value
in there.
Look at some
of the shocking
even language
of the New Testament.
We are
compared to
a body
made up
of many
parts
a household
made up
of family
members
a temple
made up
of living
stones.
These are the
analogies that
we're given
the metaphors
by which to
view the church
and the result
always in these
texts
is that by
themselves
they make
no sense.
The individual
parts
are meant
to be part
of a whole.
They're not
meant to exist
on their own.
Look at David
wrote many
of our
songs
most of
them in
scripture.
Psalm 22
says I will
tell of your
name to my
brothers in
the midst
of the
congregation
I will
praise you.
Psalm 40
9 and 10
I have told
the glad
news of
deliverance
in the
great
congregation
behold I
have not
restrained
my lips
as you
know
O Lord
I have
not hidden
your
deliverance
within
my
heart
I have
spoken
of your
faithfulness
and your
salvation
I have
not
concealed
your
steadfast
love
and your
faithfulness
from your
great
congregation
Psalm 149
says praise
the Lord
sing to the
Lord a
new song
his praise
in the
assembly
of the
godly
and we
could go
on and
on
I kind
of
skipped
through
the book
of Psalms
for you
David
understood
what it
meant
to praise
god
in the
congregation
public
glory
brings
more
glory
than
private
glory
I
could
say to
my
wife
Sam
I
love
you
let me
tell you
how
wonderful
you
are
she
would
appreciate
that
how much
more
glory
is brought
to my
wife
though
when I
say
to
you
I
love
my
wife
let
me
tell
all
of
you
why
I
love
her
whether
she
wants
me
to
do
that
or
not
could
be
embarrassing
for her
but you
get my
point
now all
of you
know
why I
think
my
wife
is
wonderful
not
just
her
public
glory
brings
more
glory
than
private
glory
that's
why we
want
Christ
family
church
to
grow
not
because
we're
counting
numbers
I
have
no
idea
how
many
people
are
here
this
morning
we
want
more
praises
to be
lifted
what
more
glory
given
to
our
father
by
Christ
family
church
our
gatherings
as
Christians
our
gatherings
are
the
closest
semblance
we have
to
heaven
on
earth
what's
going to
be
happening
in
heaven
it's
just
going to
be
a
big
picture
church
Christ
in
the
middle
of
the
whole
thing
we
see
in
revelation
an
innumerable
company
of
angelic
beings
and
an
innumerable
company
of
redeemed
sinners
worshiping
God
together
in
concentric
circles
around
the
throne
that's
what's
going to
be
going
on
in
heaven
if
you
don't
like
big
groups
of
people
you're
kind
of
a
solo
kind
of
person
me
and
Jesus
kind
of
person
if
you
don't
like
big
groups
you
don't
like
big
music
you
don't
like
it
when
people
sing
loudly
around
you
that's
distracting
to
you
!
are
going
to
hate
heaven
this
is the
closest
thing
we've
got
if
we
don't
love
this
we're
going
to
hate
heaven
number
two
Christian
worship
is
frequent
in
occurrence
the
word
is
present
active
which
means
simply
this
let
us
when he
wrote
this
word
let
us
draw
near
he
was
saying
let
us
draw
near
now
and
continually
not
at
one
time
let's
gather
together
let
us
and
then
continue
to
gather
together
you'll
remember
after
Pentecost
as
the
believers
were
gathering
together
still
on
their
holiday
as
they
had
gathered
in
the
city
they
met
together
how
often
every
day
right
but
as
they
had
to
return
back
to
their
lives
back
to
work
and
labor
the
first
day
of
the
week
was
the
day
that
became
the
day
of
gathering
it
became
known
as
the
Lord's
day
because
it
was
the
day
that
Christ
was
resurrected
so
it
got
away
from
the
Sabbath
being
the
last
day
of
the
week
to
the
first
day
of
the
week
the
Lord's
day
that
was
a
day
of
work
for
them
so
they
gathered
in
the
evenings
on
the
Lord's
day
325
Constantine
made
the
first
day
of
Christian
emperor
made
the
first
day
of
the
week
a
day
of
no
!
work
so
what
do
you
think
the
!
did?
they
began
to
meet
both
in
the
morning
and
in
the
evening
they
didn't
say
oh
great
now
we
got
some
time
that's
fantastic
let's
do
morning
that's
a little
more
convenient
for
us
others
said
nah
we
like
the
evening
we
like
to
get
up
and
go
hiking
and
we'll
meet
in
the
evening
they
met
at
both
times
for
two
reasons
one
they
believed
that
God
was
worth
it
rather than
giving
God
a little
bit
of what
they
had
they
gave
God
much
of
their
day
and
number
two
they
understood
that
corporate
worship
is the
primary
place
of
blessing
you
guys
know
that
our
times
together
your
fellowship
of
believers
is the
primary
place
of
blessing
it's
the
place
in
which
our
spiritual
gifts
are
activated
when
we're
together
as a
body
of
believers
it's
when
we
function
as we
should
function
with
the
body
it's
when
our
gifts
are
activated
we'll
be
blessed
by
God
meet
with
the
congregation
I
think
that
we've
far
too
much
taught
church
attendance
as a
legalistic
matter
you
should
be
here
which
is
entirely
true
you
should
be
here
but
why
should
you
be
here
why
should
you
want
to
come
together
with
the
people
of
God
I
can tell
you
that
the
people
I
know
with
the
most
immovable
faith
those
who
despite
the
circumstances
in
their
life
have
a
spiritual
solidness
in
them
have
already
settled
in
their
mind
this
issue
of
whether
or
not
corporate
worship
is
important
they've
already
come
to
understand
I
need
the
body
of
Christ
cannot
do
this
on
my
own
those
are
the
people
I
see
as
the
most
firm
in
their
faith
are
you
one
of
those
people
I
tell
you
that
brutally
honest
I
wake
up
fairly
early
most
Sunday
mornings
530
ish
and
sometimes
I
hit that
snooze
a couple
of times
6
ish
I
don't
always
want to
come
here
on
Sunday
mornings
I
wake
up
and
think
just
to
have
a
day
off
to
catch
up
around
the
house
be
so
nice
and
after
our
morning
service
we
go
home
and
it
become
my
habit
to
take
a
short
!
while
Kate
is
napping
and
kind of
recoup
from the
morning
and I
often
wake up
from that
nap
and think
we have
to do
this
again
tonight
we're
getting
back
together
again
I
have to
prepare
I
haven't
even
looked at
the text
we're
studying
this
evening
the
thing
that
makes
me
come
even
sometimes
I
walk
in
these
doors
not
wanting
to
be
here
the
thing
that
makes
me
come
is
I
know
this
to
be
true
I
know
that
throughout
my
life
I
have
been
most
blessed
by
God
when
I'm
with
his
people
if
you
have
not
experienced
that
I
would
invite
you
to
involve
!
yourself
with
the
congregation
now
of course
there
are
exceptions
!
we
can't
all
be
here
all
the
time
conveniently
I
get
to
schedule
events
I'm
part
of
that
process
so
I
can
schedule
things
around
my
schedule
so
I'm
not
talking
about
people
who
have
to
work
sometimes
I'm
not
talking
about
those
who
physically
can't
get
themselves
out
of bed
to
come
I
hope
I
think
that
God
gives
extra
grace
to
those
who
are
invalids
and
can't
actually
make
it
to
meet
with
the
congregation
I'm
not
talking
about
people
in
our
case
that
live
too
far
away
to
be
at
everything
that
we
do
ultimately
what I'm
talking
about
is our
hearts
I'm
talking
about
people
who
just
find
something
else
to
do
there's
something
better
something
comes
up
we
all
have
those
friends
that
you
ask
if
they'd
like
to
hang
we'll
hang
out
if
something
better
doesn't
come
up
a lot
of
people
treat
church
that
way
we'll
see
how
things
are
going
that
morning
a lot
of
us
lead
ourselves
into
that
day
that
way
I
can
go
to bed
at
two
o'clock
in
the
morning
and
if
I'm
feeling
chipper
I
will
go
meet
with
the
congregation
if
I'm
not
I
can
always
stay
home
that's
what
I'm
!
talking
about
not
those
exceptions
some
people
may
ask
well
how
frequent
is
frequent
enough
some
of
you
may
have
that
question
in
your
mind
now
it's
a
troubling
question
to
me
I
think
it's
the
wrong
question
I
think
really
the
question
that
should
be
asked
is
when
can
we
meet
together
how
often
can
I
be
with
God's
people
how
much
do
I
have
to
do
to
get
by
if
a
husband
came
to
me
and
said
Nathan
how
much
time
should
I
spend
with
my
wife
be
very
indicative
something
else
going on
in their
marriage
wouldn't
it
he
should
want
to
spend
time
with
his
wife
he
should
enjoy
spending
time
with
his
wife
both
because
it's
his
reasonable
service
to
her
and
because
of
how
it
makes
him
feel
a
husband
binds
up
his
identity
in
his
wife
I
am
a
husband
we
don't
tend
to
do
that
with
the
church
beloved
you
are
Christians
you
are
bound
up
with
the
church
the
New
Testament
doesn't
command
a
certain
frequency
so
to
add
that
in
there
it
would
be
wrong
of
me
to
say
there's
a
certain
frequency
Sunday
morning
Sunday
night
and
Wednesday
the
New
Testament
doesn't
command
it
I
think
that
kind
of
idea
would
have
been
entirely
absurd
to
the
New
Testament
writers
to
think
that
they
even
needed
to
give
us
some
frequency
rate
as a
redeemed
people
delivered
from
sin
in a
hostile
world
if you're
living as
a radical
Christian
in this
place
the world
is hostile
to you
we will
want to
be
together
we will
want to
find the
encouragement
to
continue
on
which
we'll
talk
about
in
verse
25
in
coming
weeks
our
efforts
to
avoid
legalism
should
never
prevent
us
from
using
our
common
sense
so
someone
comes
to
me
and
says
Nathan
I
would
like
to
grow
in
my
faith
what
should
I
do
I
would
ask
them
the
question
do
you
read
your
Bible
do
you
spend
time
daily
in
the
word
of
God
David
did
he
meditated
on
it
day
and
night
I
would
start
there
if
you're
not
already
doing
that
the
same
holds
!
true
of
meeting
the
church
singing
praises
praying
together
common
sense
tells
us
we
should
meet
together
we
should
be
about
this
work
and
verse
19
or
22
tells
us
that
as
well
all
right
point
number
three
Christian
worship
is
thoroughly
preoccupied
with
God
thoroughly
preoccupied
with
God
I
mentioned
earlier
the phrase
let us
draw
near
and I
add it
to the
end
to
God
there
are
actually
some
translations
that
render
it
that
way
because
of
what
has
just
been
said
because
we've
now
been
granted
access
confident
access
to
God
that's
what
we're
talking
about
here
the
verb
here
let us
draw
near
is
subjunctive
which means
it's
conditional
it means
we can't
just draw
near
in any
old
way
we
want
to
draw
near
we
can't
just
draw
near
and
we're
near
we
have
to
do
so
in
a
proper
way
if
we're
drawing
near
there's
a
way
in
which
we
draw
near
so
our
worship
of
God
as
we're
drawing
near
is
thoroughly
preoccupied
with
God
I
know
I
read
it
already
I
want
to
read
to
you
again
Matthew
15
8
9
Jesus
says
to
the
Pharisees
this
people
honors
me
with
their
lips
but
their
heart
is
far
we
get
very
caught
up
as
Christians
and
I
think
even
in
our
congregation
in
putting
form
before
substance
something
we fight
against
and as
individuals
in this
church
I
know
we
buck
against
this
so
I'm
not
scolding
you
right
now
it's
not
my
desire
at
all
but
often
we
put
form
before
substance
not
that
heat
without
light
that
I
was
mentioning
earlier
one
writer
put it
this
way
for
the
modern
evangelical
worship
is
defined
exclusively
by the
individual's
experience
worship
then is
not about
adoring
god
but
by
about
being
nourished
with
religious
feelings
so
much
so
that
the
worshiper
has
become
the
object
of
worship
catch
in
this
flow
for
the
modern
evangelical
what
they
get
is
what
services
have
become
about
and
this
writer
says
so
much
so
that
the
worshiper
has
become
the
object
of
worship
Sunday
worship
is to
be
centered
on
my
needs
and
desires
I
am
at
the
center
my
needs
are
paramount
meet
them
or
I
will
go
to
church
elsewhere
that
is
the
attitude
by
and
large
of
evangelical
Christians
when
you
leave
here
on
Sunday
morning
you
ought
not
ask
what
did
I
get
out
of
this
morning
what
you
ought
to
ask
is
was
God
pleased
with
my
participation
this
morning
we
are
not
the
audience
we
are
the
performers
we
are
the
subjects
he
is
the
observer
it
is
God's
approval
we
seek
his
applause
we
don't
do
this
for
us
we
receive
benefit
from
it
I
just
talked
about
growing
in
your
faith
and
meeting
with
the
congregation
didn't
I
but
primarily
our
worship
together
is
to
come
together
for
him
does
God
need
us
I
hope
the
resounding
answer
in your
head
is
no
I
have
a
pitiful
God
if
he
needs
me
but
he
has
arranged
things
such
because
he
loves
us
he
knows
that
us
gathering
together
and
arranging
what
we
do
together
as
a
congregation
for
him
is
ultimately
to
our
greatest
joy
he
knows
that
when
we
worship
him
properly
when
we
actually
draw
near
we'll
be
sustained
in
joy
it's
good
stuff
help
that
get
your
spine
tingling
in
revelation
as I
mentioned
earlier
we see
throughout
the book
of
revelation
furthering
explanation
of what's
being seen
in heaven
by
John
and
if you
don't
know
this
revelation
is
had the
second
most
songs
of
praise
in
it
next
to
the
book
of
psalm
I
would
encourage
you
to
just
look
through
the
style
of
songs
that
are
sung
in
heaven
we
see
these
ever
increasing
concentric
circles
around
the
throne
father
god
the
lamb
of
god
sitting
at
his
right
hand
and
we
see
circles
of
praise
around
him
all
about
adulation
and
praise
of
Jesus
Christ
for
what
he's
done
so
you
hear
a lot
about
the
secret
friendly
movement
people
arranging
church
services
to
make
it
comfortable
for
lost
people
to
come
in
and
meld
not
feel
too
offended
and
so
you
ask
the
question
should
we
plan
our
services
for
lost
people
and
I
think
I
would
surprise
you
by
saying
yes
I
think
we
should
I
think
we
should
do
!
we
do
we
should
arrange
everything
we're
doing
for
lost
people
but
with
this
in
mind
in
John
chapter
4
Jesus
says
that
the
father
is
looking
for
those
who
will
worship
him
in
what
spirit
and
in
truth
God's
the
ultimate
seeker
is he
not
if we
want to
draw
people
into
us
we
ought
to
arrange
our
services
in
such
a
way
that
we
worship
God
that
it
is
entirely
preoccupied
with
him
and
the
lost
person
who's
being
called
by
God
fit
right
in
worship
at
its
very
essence
is a
reply
to
God
it's
a
it's
a
reflex
remember
sitting
on the
table
when you're
a kid
getting
the check
up
and getting
your knee
bopped
and you do
that little
kick
you couldn't
help it
as Chris
talked about
the Grand
Canyon
last week
and that's
the analogy
that was
brought to
my mind
it's like
standing at
the edge
of the
Grand
Canyon
how can
you
not
go
oh
I had
no idea
I said
it was
grand
but man
this is
a big
canyon
it's a
response to
what
we
see
there
so we
must then
know
something of
the God
we worship
right
it's why we
preach
expositionally
it's why we
go verse by
verse through
his written
word
because it
belongs to
him
and he
thought it
was important
to tell us
the things
contained in
it
it's why
we sing
wordy
songs
everybody
the scriptures
all the songs
in scripture
are wordy
but beyond
that
it teaches
us something
we know
the God
we praise
if you can
take a song
that's sung in
church
and replace
Jesus with
your girlfriend's
name and it
still makes
sense
it doesn't
belong
in the
service
it's not
the place
for it
it's why
we do
things that
way
because the
integrity
of our
worship
is determined
by the
substance
that fuels
it
we can
very easily
serve
the right
God
wrongly
we can
also very
easily
serve the
wrong God
a God
that we
don't even
understand
next week
we'll talk
more about
passion
and truth
marrying those
two together
but our
worship
the integrity
of it
is going to
be determined
by the
substance
that fuels
it
psalm
9-1
david
wrote
i will
give
thanks
to
the
lord
with
my
whole
heart
i will
recount
all
of your
wonderful
deeds
and he
goes on
to
recount
many
of
them
and then
revelation
chapter
19
we see
one of
these
great
songs
of
worship
these
praise
songs
being
sung
then i
heard
what
seemed
to be
the
voice
of
a
great
multitude
like
the
roar
of
many
waters
and
like
the
sound
of
mighty
peals
of
thunder
crying out
hallelujah
for the
lord our
god
the
almighty
reigns
let us
rejoice
and exult
and give
him the
glory
for the
marriage
of the
lamb
has
come
and
his
bride
has
made
herself
ready
it
was
granted
her
to
clothe
herself
with
fine
linen
bright
and
pure
the
prayer
as a
response
to
his
name