James McLean
[0:01] Normally at this point you would see me go sit down, but today we’re doing something [0:07] a little different.
[0:10] Steve who normally teaches up here, he just had a baby last Friday.
[0:18] So Liam Elisha Gentry was born on Friday morning. [0:21] He was nine pounds, six ounces. [0:23] And so they are resting healthy and just kind of recovering from that. [0:29] And he’ll be back next Sunday and the following Sunday to talk about God’s presence here on [0:36] earth at Christmas time. [0:39] And we’ve been going through Galatians as a church together, if you haven’t been here
[0:43] before through the book of Galatians. [0:45] And we’re taking a little break right now as Steve is out. [0:48] But next week we’ll be kind of getting into the Christmas spirit more and hearing from [0:53] him in that way. [0:56] So this morning, my name is James. [0:57] I’m the worship pastor.
[0:59] If I haven’t met you already or seen you or if you haven’t figured that out, I’m glad [1:04] to have the opportunity to talk to you this morning about worship and kind of share with [1:10] you from God’s word.
[1:15] I need to take a break here for a minute. [1:16] I’ve been singing a little bit.
[1:25] Before we get too deep into our text this morning, I just want to talk to you about [1:31] something that I think we all can relate to. [1:34] It’s something that we all do, and that is worship. [1:39] It’s not something that just Christians do. [1:41] It’s something that all people do, really. [1:43] Worship is central to who we are and to the way that we were made.
[1:48] It doesn’t really take too long for us to observe ourselves and our society and people [1:53] in general to see that we are worshipers.
[1:59] Anything from our favorite TV show to our favorite movie to our favorite actor to food [2:05] to places to family, you name it. [2:08] We are worshipers. [2:11] And we will do anything to get the thing that we’re after when it comes to worship. [2:19] And so I think that’s something that’s common knowledge to us as we go about our week. [2:25] And for me, as I really, this week as I’ve been preparing, I’ve really had to take a
[2:30] look at my life and see what is it that I really worship. [2:34] Not just what do I say that I worship or how do I appear to other people, but when it’s [2:40] me, how do I express that and what is the deepest thing in my heart that I worship? [2:48] I’d like to say all the time that it was Jesus, but I can’t always say that it’s that way. [2:54] But I think God is continuing to change and grow me and change and grow us as we focus [3:00] more on Him and less on us.
[3:04] But this morning I kind of just wanted to establish that truth that we are all worshipers, [3:11] that we do it really well, and that we go hard after the things that matter to us most.
[3:17] Worship is basically just finding value and worth in something. [3:23] So it’s not necessarily the singing of songs or coming to a service or any of those things. [3:31] Those are all very good forms of worship. [3:33] Those are some things that we do in our churches here in America, and they’re very [3:39] central to our service on Sunday morning. [3:42] But I think we would be naive to think that that’s where worship stops.
[3:47] It’s definitely something that goes beyond that, and it’s a part of our [3:50] entire being, our entire lives, and it really guides and shapes where we’re headed in life.
[3:57] So now that we’ve kind of established that, the question really isn’t, are we worshipers? [4:05] Because we know that we are, and we can see that in our lives. [4:08] The question is, what or who are we worshiping? [4:13] The object of our worship matters because it really shapes who we are and what we become.
[4:21] And for me, I don’t know about you, but if I’m naturally a worshiper, [4:27] I want to maximize that worship. [4:29] I want that worship to be directed at the highest object of worship, [4:34] the thing that it would find its fullness in. [4:38] And so over the past 10 years in my life, I’ve come to discover that it’s Jesus, [4:44] that Jesus is the highest thing that we could ever worship.
[4:47] And I just kind of want to get into Colossians this morning, [4:52] because it really kind of lays that out for us. [4:55] So if you have your Bible with you, you can turn to Colossians 1, 15 through 20. [5:02] If you don’t, we’ll have it up here on the screen.
[5:07] And Paul kind of lays this out for us in describing Jesus. [5:12] He says that,
[5:56] I think that’s a pretty worthy description. [6:04] I can’t think of anything in my life that really lines up with that that’s worthy to be worshiped. [6:11] I think they pretty much nailed everything in that text there. [6:15] And so I kind of want to get into that a little bit deeper and break that down. [6:21] I’ll probably never be able to do that justice, [6:23] because even some of the things that are being said there are just beyond my grasp or even understanding still.
[6:31] But let’s kind of break that down a little bit. [6:35] It starts by saying, he is the image of the invisible God.
[6:40] So there was a time on earth that we didn’t know really what God was like as far as a physical representation that we could see, [6:52] that we could see a face of, that we could see characteristics of, that we could observe in human form until Jesus came.
[7:00] So we could see some miracles and some things that he had done through different people’s lives. [7:07] But until Jesus came, we really had no idea what that really looked like lived out among us. [7:13] So it was a little bit hard to relate to that. [7:17] So here Paul just says he is the image of the invisible God. [7:21] So if you want to know what God’s like, look at Jesus. [7:24] Look at his life.
[7:25] Look at how he lived on earth, how he treated people, how he talked to people, [7:29] what he thought about, what he did. [7:31] That’s what God’s like. [7:33] He’s basically Jesus’s God with skin on. [7:37] That’s kind of how I choose to, the easy way to remember it. [7:41] All the characteristics that we read about his life on earth, those are reflections of the character of God.
[7:48] And that’s why he’s worthy to be worshipped. [7:50] He is the firstborn of all creation. [7:52] So before anything was created, Jesus existed. [7:56] By him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. [8:01] Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. [8:11] So nothing exists that wasn’t created by Jesus.
[8:15] Even things that we can’t see, angels, things that are going on that we are not even aware of, were created by Jesus. [8:22] And I just want you to think about that for a minute.
[8:26] Every single thing that we see, hear, touch, taste was created by God, through Jesus, for Jesus. [8:40] It’s kind of overwhelming to think about. [8:42] And even things that we can’t see or sense were created by him.
[8:48] And we see this not just written in the Bible, but we see this through nature. [8:53] We see this through our bodies, through the planets, through the universe. [8:58] When I was a student at Liberty, I took biology.
[9:05] I had a professor, his name was Dr. Spahn. [9:08] And Dr. Spahn was really good at helping us see God in the midst of his creation. [9:18] And so he would explain it to us in a way. [9:20] I’m not really a big biology person. [9:22] My mind doesn’t operate in the realm of science and math. [9:25] So it was helpful to have him do that.
[9:28] But he would explain it in a way that was very just worshipful. [9:34] And so we would hear him talk, and he would talk about the different intricacies of the body, [9:38] and how the heart was made, and how it connects to this. [9:41] And if this doesn’t operate, if this doesn’t come together, then this won’t happen. [9:44] And all these different functions that make our bodies run, [9:48] everything down to the fact that we have eyelashes to protect our eyes from
[9:52] getting anything in them. [9:53] I mean, all these little intricate details that were put in us, [9:58] those show the value and the worth of God through Jesus. [10:03] So not only was everything created by him, but it was created through him, [10:09] and it was created for him.
[10:15] It also says that he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [10:21] So the earth is being held together by Jesus. [10:23] The universe is being held together by Jesus. [10:26] Your body is being held together by Jesus. [10:29] He is the great sustainer of all things. [10:31] The fact that I’m speaking right now, and you’re hearing is being sustained by Jesus.
[10:37] It’s a little overwhelming to think about.
[10:40] He is the head of the body, the church. [10:44] So we recognize that here at Village Church. [10:48] So who’s in charge of the church? [10:50] Jesus is. [10:52] Who’s directing it? [10:53] Who sets our vision, our direction, our mission?
[10:55] Jesus does. [10:57] When we need guidance, clarity, wisdom, we look to Jesus. [11:01] He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, [11:04] that in everything, he might be preeminent. [11:07] In Romans, it says that Jesus is the second Adam. [11:13] So everywhere where Adam failed, where Adam fell,
[11:17] Jesus came and succeeded and lived that life that Adam, basically Adam and us, could not live.
[11:29] So when God redeemed humanity, Jesus was the beginning of that new life, [11:34] that new creation that restored that back to us.
[11:40] In him, in Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. [11:45] So God saw fit that Jesus was fit to carry his fullness and represent it to the world.
[11:55] And through him, he also, he rescued us, he redeemed us, [12:00] and by his sacrificial death on the cross, we now have peace [12:03] with God.
[12:06] So we see this kind of picture of humanity the way it was, [12:11] and the fracture that happened from the fall, the fact that we needed to be restored to God [12:15] in order to know what was, what is the best thing that we could worship. [12:21] Until that point, we had no picture of that. [12:25] And so Jesus came, he died, he restored our relationship with God, [12:29] and now we have the ability to worship the highest.
[12:35] So why would we want to worship anything less than this? [12:39] If Jesus is most deserving of our praise, the object of our worship really does matter, [12:46] because it defines who we are. [12:49] It changes us for better or for worse. [12:52] And I think when we worship anything less than Jesus, we’re selling ourselves short of joy, [12:59] and we’re dishonoring God by worshiping anything less than him.
[13:02] So that’s why it matters so much, what we worship, what we value in life, [13:07] what is our highest worth. [13:11] Because it’s really not just the dishonoring of God or not giving him the praise that he’s due, [13:17] but it’s also the devaluing of ourselves and not realizing the joy that we could have [13:24] in the fullness of worshiping Jesus.
[13:30] So other than the fact that he is worth worshiping, there are other reasons besides that, [13:37] that we should worship Jesus. [13:40] We are also transformed by worshiping God. [13:47] And I want to show you where it says that in Corinthians.
[13:53] You know, last week Nate talked about the gospel and how it changed our lives, [13:57] in Galatians we’ve been talking about freedom in Christ and freedom from the forms of religion [14:06] and morality and really understanding what that means that now that we have Christ, [14:12] we are free to worship him, free to live for him. [14:16] And so I want to read this here in 2 Corinthians 3, 17-18.
[14:25] It starts out and it says, Now the Lord is the Spirit, [14:30] and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there’s freedom.
[14:35] So God’s Spirit has set us free. [14:38] We are no longer bound to sin. [14:41] We are no longer stuck worshiping ourselves or worshiping anything less than God. [14:47] We have the ability now, because he’s freed us, to worship him. [14:54] And not only do we have the freedom to that, but it also changes us. [14:58] It changes who we are.
[15:01] And this is something actually only within the past few months [15:04] have I really realized in this passage.
[15:08] If we continue into verse 18, it says that we all, with unveiled face, [15:14] so now that we can see the truth, now that we know that Jesus is our highest value,
[15:22] beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image [15:26] from one degree of glory to another. [15:29] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. [15:33] So how are we changed? [15:34] I think that’s a big question. [15:37] There’s no doubt that I don’t think you’re here this morning because you
[15:41] just wanted to be entertained or you just wanted to hang out with some people. [15:45] I think you’re here this morning because you want to see God, [15:48] because you want to know God. [15:50] You want to know how he changes you, how he changes all of us. [15:55] That’s why I’m here too. [15:57] I’m here because he has changed me and continues to.
[16:02] It just states clearly right here, it says,
[16:06] we are changed, we are transformed, beholding the glory of the Lord. [16:11] We’re not transformed necessarily just by saying a prayer or by coming to a service [16:17] or by acting good. [16:20] We’re transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord. [16:23] And as we see him as he is, it transforms every area of our life. [16:29] We see everything differently.
[16:31] Our relationships look different now. [16:33] The world looks different.
[16:36] Anything you can think of. [16:37] The way that we use our money, the way that we use our time, [16:42] the gifts that we’ve been given and how we express those. [16:45] All of those things are changed now because we’re beholding the glory of the Lord. [16:51] We’re putting that before us. [16:52] We’re putting that before all things, beholding his glory.
[17:00] So I kind of just wanted to
[17:04] kind of recognize that. [17:05] And even in the midst of our circumstances, you know, [17:08] I don’t think that anybody can say that they worship God out of a heart that’s in a normal state. [17:16] I think all of us are dealing with different things in our lives, [17:19] whether it’s sickness or death or hardship. [17:23] And the Bible has definite examples of people that have done that throughout the ages,
[17:29] who have worshiped God in spite of those things.
[17:33] I don’t think that as we behold the glory of the Lord, as we worship him, [17:39] I don’t think this is something that we can manipulate. [17:42] I can’t play a certain note up here or sing a certain verse of a song [17:47] or do anything that will make you worship Jesus because it’s a matter of your heart. [17:56] Before, it’s a matter of expression, whether through music or anything else, [18:00] it’s a matter of your heart, where your heart is, and what you treasure and what you prize as ultimate.
[18:08] That’s really the bottom line when it comes to worship. [18:12] So we do express worship in music and other ways, [18:18] but the deepest thing that God wants to change in us is our hearts. [18:23] Hearts are really what he’s after. [18:26] It’s what he…that’s the kind of acceptable worship that he receives.
[18:34] So this morning, you know, my prayer every morning [18:38] as I get up here with Village Church is that we will behold the glory of the Lord together. [18:44] Sometimes that’s on Sunday mornings in these services, sometimes that’s in small groups,
[18:51] sometimes that’s just in your day-to-day living, whether it’s going to your job or being [18:55] with your family, being with your friends, all those things. [19:00] We behold the glory of the Lord in all of those things.
[19:04] So it’s definitely something that we take with us everywhere. [19:08] It’s something that changes our heart, and out of that, it changes everything else.
[19:16] I kind of want to also give you a little bit of background here
[19:21] that this isn’t something exclusive. [19:23] This isn’t something that we’re just trying to start here in our church. [19:28] This is something that has a history behind it.
[19:33] From all the way from the beginning, you know, before creation, worship was happening. [19:40] But I also kind of want to give you some examples of some people throughout scripture who have [19:46] shown that the value and worth of Jesus is so much more beyond them than they could ever [19:54] express. [19:55] And so I kind of want to read through a couple different verses. [19:58] You don’t have to turn to these, but I just want to show you that this is something
[20:03] consistent throughout scripture.
[20:06] And a couple different examples of that.
[20:10] In Hebrews 11, it says that Abraham, by faith, went to live in the land of promise. [20:17] And this is because he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer [20:23] and builder is God. [20:25] In Job, we see that after Job lost everything that was precious and dear to him, he said, [20:31] for I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, he will stand upon the earth.
[20:38] In Psalm 73, David, after being caught up in adultery and murder, cried out, [20:44] Whom have I in heaven but you? [20:47] And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. [20:50] My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
[20:57] We fast forward to the New Testament, and John the Baptist says, this joy of mine is complete. [21:03] He must increase, but I must decrease. [21:06] In John 6, many of Jesus’ disciples left after a really tough teaching.
[21:13] And Jesus asked the twelve if they would leave as well.
[21:18] And Peter replied, and I love that he said this because I feel this way so often, [21:23] Lord, to whom shall we go? [21:25] You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to know [21:30] that you are the Holy One of God. [21:33] And then coming to the end of his ministry on earth, [21:36] Jesus, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.
[21:43] And finally, Paul, as he worked to grow the church in Acts, he stated this, [21:50] I do not account my life of any value nor is precious to myself. [21:56] If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus [22:02] to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
[22:08] So as you can see, this has been going on for a long time. [22:13] We are a part of that history, and we are the continuation of that. [22:19] So my question to you, my challenge to you this morning is, as we’ve seen God’s great value, [22:26] and as we’ve seen his honor, if you’ve come to know Jesus for who he is and trust him, [22:33] why would you worship anything less than that? [22:36] And how is that going to be lived out in your life?
[22:41] Will you be able to say with David, [22:46] my heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my life forever? [22:51] Can we say that in our lives?
[22:56] I think that it’s definitely not an easy thing. [23:00] It’s tough to worship in the midst of trials.
[23:05] But as we’ve seen in the book of Job, God showed himself faithful.
[23:14] And he is worthy of our worship in all seasons of life. [23:19] This morning, even as we are, you know, it’s cold outside, it’s rainy outside, [23:26] this morning we’ve all shown together that Jesus is worth us coming out into this, [23:34] coming together so that we can recognize, so that we can hear from him and be changed by him, [23:40] sing to him.
[23:44] Around this time of year, Christmas season, we’re kind of reminded of the hope [23:50] that was brought to earth because of Jesus coming.
[23:55] And I think as we sing these songs together this morning, as we’ve sung some of them already, [24:02] we’re reminded that we are no longer,
[24:08] we are no longer wandering, we’re no longer lost. [24:12] We have hope because God sent his only Son down to this earth. [24:20] He knew that the only way that we could change was if we saw a physical representation [24:28] of himself here, and then he showed us that life, and then he died, and his sacrifice [24:35] is what restores us to God, gives us peace with God, and allows us to worship God now. [24:42] We live that life of worship together.
[24:47] I want to close this morning kind of highlighting a couple of the [24:51] values that we live by in this church. I don’t know if you’ve been able to hear any of those yet, [24:56] but they are redemption, mission, community, and culture. [25:02] And all of those things take place so that we can worship Jesus. [25:09] Redemption frees us up from sin and darkness so that we can worship Jesus. [25:15] Mission is how we live our lives every day so that we will bring more worshipers to Jesus.
[25:24] There’s a great quote that I heard from one of my favorite speakers, John Piper. He says that
[25:32] mission exists because worship doesn’t. So there will be a day when there won’t be any mission [25:38] anymore. There will be a day when all will bow down and worship Jesus, but we are not at that day yet. [25:48] And so we live and we order our lives in such a way that we can live this mission out [25:53] and we can draw more people to worship Jesus, as many as we can.
[25:59] When it comes to community, I think that as we gather together, we see more people [26:06] worshiping Jesus and that’s encouraging to us. And we always want to do that in the context of [26:11] living life together as a community. And then we create a culture within our church of redemption, [26:20] of worship, and we also take this truth out to the culture that we live in [26:27] and we show them the worth and the value of Jesus with our lives every day. And so
[26:37] if you are at a place this morning where, you know, maybe Jesus isn’t your greatest [26:45] value, maybe he isn’t your treasure, he can be. He can be your treasure. And I would encourage [26:50] you to keep walking with us in this. This is why we’re here. This is why we gather together [26:57] every Sunday morning. We want to behold the glory of the Lord together, and as we do that, [27:05] we’re transformed. So it’s not just going to come in an instant. We’re not just going to wake up one [27:10] morning and say, I worship Jesus, and then we’re permanently in that state. It’s definitely going
[27:16] to be something that we, that there’s tension in and that we struggle through sometimes. [27:22] But that’s why we’re here. That’s why we’ve planted this church, because we want to be a [27:28] community of people who rally around the glory of God, who behold him together, and as we do that, [27:34] we are transformed. So as we continue this morning,
[27:42] this song that I want to sing you, it’s kind of an older hymn. You may not have heard it before, [27:47] but as you kind of, as you catch on to it, I’d encourage you to sing along, but it just speaks [27:53] of the sovereignty of God and just the silence and the peace that he brought to earth and just [28:00] calm that came upon us when he came here.