Worshipping Jesus.

Steve Gentry

[0:09] We’ll go ahead and have a seat. [0:10] Welcome to Village Church. [0:11] If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village [0:14] Church. [0:14] And as always, I’m thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:18] If you have a Bible, go ahead and turn it to Romans chapter 12.

[0:22] We’re going to be starting in verse one this morning on a brief summer series on the topic [0:28] of vision, because knowing where you are going is important. [0:34] If you start any journey, if you don’t set a destination, you are certain to arrive [0:40] nowhere that you meant to go. [0:42] That becomes even more crucial if others are accompanying you, as it aligns you in the [0:48] same direction.

[0:50] So when we think about something like having a vision for a church, having a vision that [0:56] God is vital or else we will be some type of church, but it won’t necessarily be the [1:03] one that God wants us to be. [1:05] Because if you’re not going in the direction that God has called you to go, then you cannot [1:10] hope to accomplish the purposes of God for his life, for your life rather, but certainly [1:16] all of us together will never accomplish the vision and the purpose that he has for his

[1:22] church.

[1:24] Missiologist Greg Nettles told me a few months ago a story of a church plant that he attended [1:30] that checked off every box that he wanted for a church to have for his family to be [1:37] a part of that church until he asked the pastor what his vision for the church was. [1:44] He wanted to know the direction that that church was going, what he could expect for [1:49] years to come if he was to be a part of that church. [1:53] And he told me the church planter had no answer.

[1:56] And so he moved on. [1:58] Now obviously, if I tell you that story, that got me thinking. [2:02] Is the vision of Village Church obvious or is it even understood by everyone? [2:08] I think our mission statement is known. [2:10] We say it every single Sunday. [2:12] So if you don’t know that, well, that’s your fault.

[2:13] It’s to help as many people as possible become fully devoted followers of Jesus. [2:20] Now, the mission statement is an answer to how will we accomplish the vision? [2:26] How will we get where we are going? [2:29] And a mission statement is what’s supposed to answer that. [2:31] But the question is, what’s the vision? [2:33] Where are we going with that mission statement?

[2:37] To put it as simple as I can, vision is about the future that we hope to arrive at as a [2:43] church. [2:44] More or less, it’s the idea that if someone was to write an article in 10 years about [2:49] Village Church, what would we want them to say? [2:53] What would we want them to write? [2:55] What is it that we want to be known for?

[2:59] I do believe our mission is going to get us there. [3:02] But over the next few weeks, my hope is that I can unpack for you what the vision for the [3:07] church is. [3:08] And now, I’ll be clear with you. [3:10] Right off the bat, we’re not going to vote on it. [3:14] Because if I were to go through the two services that will gather on this campus this morning,

[3:20] and I were to ask each and every one of you, well, where do you hope that our church will [3:24] be in 10 years? [3:25] Some of you are even going to start talking about the handouts that you get on Sunday [3:29] morning, and I don’t care what those look like in 10 years. [3:32] So we’re not going to have a vision for those. [3:34] They’re going to look the same.

[3:37] If we have them at all. [3:40] But really, over the next few weeks, I want to share what I believe is a biblically formed [3:45] vision for a local church. [3:48] This is what we strive to be here at Village. [3:51] Village Church should be known, I believe, for five things, and I’m going to talk about [3:54] one of those each week.

[3:56] We should be known for worshiping Jesus. [3:59] We should be known for building faith. [4:01] We should be known for equipping families. [4:04] We should be known for defending the truth. [4:06] And I pray we should be known for multiplying disciple makers. [4:11] That’s the vision.

[4:12] That’s what we want to accomplish. [4:15] And if you want to know what do I want for your life, those are the five things that [4:20] I want for your life. [4:23] The fact is, I want to talk about this morning, what I believe is the bedrock of all of those [4:28] things, the foundation for every part of our vision for a church is the one that I believe [4:35] is the easiest to drift from, even if you won’t admit it.

[4:39] And it is worshiping Jesus Christ. [4:42] Here at Village Church, we strive to worship Jesus above absolutely everything else. [4:51] I don’t want to drift from that vision. [4:55] If in 10 years, people can’t look at this church and say one thing that I know about [5:01] is that they worship Jesus Christ. [5:04] I want you to know that we have failed at absolutely everything that we have set out

[5:07] to do and everything that we have set out to be. [5:10] And we have striven for the wrong things.

[5:14] I want to read what I think is probably the clearest and maybe most popular text on worship [5:22] and what it really is in the Bible. [5:24] And that’s the apostle Paul writing in Romans chapter 12. [5:27] He starts in verse one. [5:30] He says, I appeal or I beg you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present [5:38] your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual

[5:47] worship. [5:49] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that [5:55] by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

[6:05] Number one, this morning, what I want you to see from this text is that worship goes [6:09] beyond Sunday to everyday life. [6:12] Worship goes beyond Sunday to everyday life.

[6:18] Worship, simply put, is offering all of myself to God in response to the gospel. [6:26] Worship is offering all of myself to God in response to the gospel. [6:31] Now, the response to the gospel is vital, and the response to the gospel is what he [6:36] means by the very first phrase. [6:38] He says, I beg you, therefore, in light of everything that I have said in the previous [6:44] That’s what he’s saying.

[6:45] He’s summing up 11 chapters. [6:47] The first 11 chapters of the book of Romans are basically, simply put, a systematic theology [6:53] of the gospel of Jesus Christ. [6:56] He just lays it out for 11 chapters, and then from chapters 12 through 16, he says, [7:01] this is how we live in light of that, and he begins by saying, you give all of who you [7:07] are to Jesus.

[7:08] That is worship, but it must be based on the gospel. [7:13] He will not accept less than a response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. [7:20] He starts with this appeal to worship, saying that my entire self is the sacrifice that [7:30] God desires, but then he says, this is an appeal to worship. [7:37] Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says, this is the acceptable worship. [7:43] The question then becomes, how does that work itself out in Christian life?

[7:50] The facts of the gospel give faith in Jesus, which forms a feeling of awe in the work [8:01] of God that responds with worship.

[8:06] And so I am very much this morning going to say that worship does involve an affection [8:12] that comes from within you. [8:14] And so if you’re like me and you are more of a stoic person, I’m very stoic in my nature. [8:20] You don’t really see much of a response to me about anything.

[8:25] But without affection for Christ in response to what he has done, that he has laid his [8:33] life down for you at great cost. [8:38] And if there is nothing that wells up inside of you over that, there’s nothing that says, [8:44] I need to give myself to him. [8:46] I need to feel for him. [8:48] I need to be in awe of him.

[8:52] And all of your religious pageantry really isn’t a work of sacrifice on your part. [8:59] You’re not giving all of yourself to him. [9:01] You may be giving your activity to him. [9:02] You may be giving an effort towards him. [9:05] But he doesn’t say, I want effort and I want activity. [9:08] I want a living sacrifice.

[9:10] I want all of who you are in exchange for all of who Christ is. [9:16] From Genesis forward, we were created for the specific purpose of worshipping God.

[9:25] It’s part of who you are.

[9:29] Worship is not an option. [9:31] And so you do not just desist from worshipping Jesus and then consider yourself, well, I [9:36] am a non-worshipping being. [9:37] No, you are always giving yourself over to something every single day of your life. [9:45] In Romans 1, of course, that systematic theology makes it very clear. [9:48] In Romans 1, just to summarize for you, he states that we have exchanged the worship

[9:53] of God for the worship of the things of this world.

[9:58] Listen to the conversations that you have. [10:00] What is the primary affection that comes across from you to others? [10:05] What is the core value of who you are? [10:08] What do you long for? [10:09] What do you want? [10:10] What are you passionate about?

[10:12] Because it’s going to come out in you.

[10:18] And so not to be too judgmental, but what you worship is what commands your conversations. [10:25] And the question is, what are you talking about?

[10:30] See, we were designed to worship every single day of our lives, but sin is what has corrupted us. [10:38] Sin robs God of worship and God cannot ignore our sin. [10:44] And that is the bad news of the gospel, is that we who are designed to have deep affection [10:51] for God have instead spent our lives pouring our affections onto things that have nothing [10:58] to do with God yet were created by him.

[11:03] It’s such a worship issue that wrong, excuse me, such a serious issue that wrongly placed [11:09] worship actually demands death according to scripture. [11:13] That’s how we know how serious issues of worship are.

[11:17] I was reading recently in Second Chronicles, everyone’s favorite book of the Bible.

[11:23] And in chapter 29, I think that we see an example of this, an example of wrong worship being sought [11:31] to make it right. Hezekiah is trying to bring repentance in Israel. [11:36] And I just want you to listen to his work toward the worship of God. [11:40] It says, then Hezekiah the king rose early, gathered the officials of the city, [11:45] and went up to the house of the Lord. [11:48] And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, seven male goats for a sin offering,

[11:54] for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. [11:56] And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar. [12:01] So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar. [12:09] And they slaughtered the rams and their blood was thrown against the altar. [12:13] And they slaughtered the lambs and their blood was thrown against the altar. [12:16] Now I’ll stop there, but you can just assume what keeps happening.

[12:22] Now what fascinates me about this is this is totally out of our context. [12:26] This is totally out of our reality. [12:28] We can’t even imagine. [12:29] I don’t think you can even picture what a scene like this must have looked like. [12:35] And with our sensibilities desensitized to the effects of sin, [12:39] I think if I could muster up a vision of what that must have been like,

[12:43] it would have been so off-putting. [12:45] I could not have been in the room. [12:46] I would have left immediately. [12:48] And I would have said, what an awful assembly.

[12:54] They’re just killing all these animals. [12:56] And then they’re, look, I mean, just imagine if I had Nate and James up here [13:01] and they’re slitting the throats of bulls and then they’re like, let’s sling it everywhere. [13:06] You would be so grossed out, not to even mention, [13:10] I doubt you know what the smell of such an event would have been like with no central AC.

[13:20] And yet, what we summarize from scripture is that this was worship.

[13:30] And it’s so strange. [13:32] Israel had disobeyed God. [13:34] They had chased after false gods that weren’t even real.

[13:41] And Hezekiah seeks repentance. [13:43] And the picture of this is a bloody sacrifice, visibly disgusting, [13:52] to atone for the sin of Israel. [13:55] Here’s what you need to understand about worship. [13:57] Worship is bloody because sin destroys life. [14:02] And God wants us to have that picture always.

[14:04] And so often we forget. [14:07] We forget the cost of our own sin. [14:09] Therefore, worship necessitates sacrifice. [14:13] And that’s what He’s saying in Romans 12. [14:15] He says, you’re a living sacrifice now.

[14:19] Yet, the book of Hebrews is very clear about many things. [14:23] And one of the things that the book of Hebrews is very clear about [14:26] is that the blood of bulls and goats did nothing to atone for sin. [14:32] And that fascinates me too. [14:33] And so begs the question, what was the point?

[14:39] In John chapter four, Jesus has a fascinating conversation with a sinful woman. [14:48] She’s at a well. [14:49] She’s a Samaritan. [14:50] They don’t talk to Samaritans as Jews, and Jesus is thirsty. [14:54] So He goes to the well and He says, woman, give me a drink. [14:57] I say that to my wife.

[14:58] She doesn’t respond well.

[15:05] And immediately the woman knows this is an awkward encounter [15:09] because a Jew would never ask a Samaritan for a drink of water. [15:14] And in response to her, Jesus becomes the riddler, [15:17] and He looks at her in verse 10, and He says, [15:19] Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God, [15:23] and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink,

[15:26] you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. [15:30] And then again, verses 13 and 14, Jesus speaks to this woman about [15:34] this issue of living water, and Jesus said to her, [15:39] everyone who drinks of this water, the physical water, will be thirsty again. [15:43] But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. [15:49] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water

[15:54] welling up to eternal life. [15:57] So He tells her she needs to drink of what He has to offer [16:02] and know that it will never diminish. [16:05] She will have life eternal. [16:06] But then if you skip further down in verses 23 and 24, [16:10] He really begins to get to the point of the matter

[16:14] that He is going to do a work that’s going to change worship forever. [16:20] He says the hour is coming, verse 23, and is now here [16:23] when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, [16:29] for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. [16:32] God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth. [16:38] And so right there, Jesus says, okay, no more figurative language.

[16:42] I’m talking about worship.

[16:48] Jesus is looking at her and He’s saying, [16:50] you don’t even know what it’s like to worship God. [16:55] But if you want to know what it’s like to worship God, [16:57] you have to come to me because I’m the only one that can give you life. [17:01] And what really isn’t understood oftentimes by the normal reader of this passage [17:07] is because what Jesus is saying the subtext is, is all you know is death.

[17:12] Because sin is death. [17:15] And so you cannot hope to have eternal life [17:18] because you only possess eternal death. [17:21] Remember the bloody scene from the altar?

[17:25] God demands that we understand the cost of sin [17:29] or we will never have affection for just what Jesus did.

[17:36] He demands that we understand death. [17:39] He demands that we understand our thirst. [17:41] He demands that we understand that we have a longing inside of us [17:46] that apart from Him, we will continue to drink and drink and drink [17:52] of everything that we’re chasing after in this world. [17:55] And we will never have our thirst quenched.

[18:01] Jesus looks to this sinfully dead woman and He says, but if you want life,

[18:07] if you never want to thirst again, if you want satisfaction, come to me.

[18:14] Because there’s coming a day [18:16] where God will be worshiped. [18:19] And it won’t be about what mountain you’re standing on. [18:22] It won’t be about what location you happen to be sitting in. [18:25] It won’t just be about your ethnicity. [18:29] Because God wants true worshipers and worship only happens eternally

[18:34] in spirit and in truth. [18:39] And spoiler alert, Jesus goes from this conversation [18:44] and becomes the bloody sacrifice of Second Chronicles 29.

[18:52] The most valuable treasure of all time, the most perfect lamb, the spotless lamb [19:01] lays his life down. [19:04] The death of God, the Son pays the penalty of sin for all time. [19:11] Why? To restore worship.

[19:16] Romans 12.1 tells us that God gave His life and in return, [19:23] we are called to give Him ours in worship.

[19:28] And so Jesus is very much in John 4 saying, worship is life. [19:34] Worship is what real life is all about. [19:36] It is not some mythical interlude on Sunday mornings. [19:42] It is meant to be the fuel that drives the engine of everyday life. [19:48] And so worship is an outward act [19:52] that flows from the core of who you are and what you feel in the deepest of senses.

[20:00] It is to be the motivating factor for the Christian life. [20:05] And so when you think about all this scenery, all this imagery begins to become clear [20:12] that where there is no feeling for God, how can there be worship?

[20:19] A living sacrifice is an interesting play on words because it seems contradictory. [20:24] But what it means in the sense that Paul puts it is that Jesus has already died. [20:31] So you don’t have to.

[20:33] So you can live His sacrifice every single day, no death, just life.

[20:44] We can live in worship of God rather than the false gods of this world that will never satisfy us. [20:54] Through faith in Jesus Christ, we don’t have to offer any more sacrifices that lead to our death.

[21:03] Jesus did that for us. [21:05] And so what is the only thing that I have to offer?

[21:09] It’s not death. [21:11] God won’t accept it. [21:12] I can’t improve on what Jesus did. [21:14] I don’t know if you can.

[21:17] But no, since the death sacrifice has already taken place, the only sacrifice that I have [21:23] that is acceptable to God is the sacrifice of my living days. [21:27] I offer Him life every single day. [21:30] In exchange for the death of Christ the Son.

[21:36] So worship reflects back to God the worth that I feel He has for my life.

[21:46] And in light of that, a purpose for the church, a foundational purpose, [21:52] and even the gathering of the church that we have going on right here, right now, [21:56] in this moment, is very much to encourage individual Christians [22:02] in your ongoing faith and relationship with Christ. [22:06] We seek to stoke the flames of your living sacrifice so that you will walk out of here

[22:16] affectionate for Christ the King.

[22:22] I’m supposed to energize you with reminders every Sunday that guide you throughout the week [22:28] in worship of Jesus, but let me caution you. [22:33] When we relegate worship to the compartment of one particular place [22:41] at one particular time throughout the week, we lose what Jesus said in John 4 about Spirit [22:49] and truth. It’s not an event on my calendar. [22:55] It is a life that I live. True worship is in spirit and in truth, and so as a follower of Jesus,

[23:03] I always have a renewed spirit filled with the Holy Spirit, [23:09] and I always have the truth of God every single day. And so when do I worship? [23:14] Am I alive? That’s when.

[23:19] What I mean to tell you, friends, don’t settle for less than you were created for.

[23:27] You were created to be in awe of God. He is awesome.

[23:35] What he has done for you is meant to provoke awe. Now I know a lot of you are in awe of a lot of [23:43] things. Very blessed people.

[23:51] But never transfer your awe from God to your awe of money or your awe of a house or your awe of [24:00] a career or your awe of a sport or your awe of a leisure or your awe of a person or your awe of [24:08] anything that is not. God, the sun bloodied on a cross to atone for your cosmic treason [24:20] of robbing God of what he justly deserves and giving it over to dirt on the ground.

[24:31] The never ending bloody sacrifices of the Old Testament foreshadowed the once for all [24:40] sufficient, costly, bloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ to restore our relationship with God [24:52] and to purchase for us the privilege of never ending access to the worship of the one true God [25:03] with my own.

[25:06] Number two, this morning, that means that worshiping Jesus will necessarily make you [25:13] distinct from the world. It will.

[25:18] Worship changes your vision for life. Now it is very easy to spout definitions, okay? It’s just [25:26] very easy to say worship is ascribing worth to Jesus. It is harder to define how that works out [25:31] in my personal life. The definition is the bones. The meat is what actually happens in my life [25:41] because no one lies to me about my worship more than I do. The answer can’t be simply and reduce [25:49] it to, well, I gather on Sunday and sing songs, hear from the Bible, even though some of you need [25:55] to do that more often. You would be more effective in your worship if you would stop neglecting the

[26:02] gathering of the body together. But if worship is connected to worth, then my pursuit through faith [26:12] in Christ is to show the worth of him every day. And so that begs the question, what am I ordering [26:21] in my life to show the world the worth of Christ to me? Verse two gives the outcome of a life of [26:30] worship. Look at what it says. He says, don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the [26:34] renewal of your mind. Pause there. Worship rejects the purpose of life that the world around you [26:45] wants to convince you of, and worship pursues the transformation of my outlook based on my desire

[26:54] to worship God. The church cultivates then environments that aid you in continually [27:01] transforming your mind to worship Jesus. Now, this happens as you learn more of who he is, [27:09] more of what he wants, and more of who you are. And so as you grow in knowledge of those things, [27:17] you continually repent of sin in order that you might grow closer to God. [27:24] Scripture, prayer, singing, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, all of those [27:34] activities of worship flow from a heart that has faith in Christ and is affectionate for him.

[27:44] We cultivate environments in our lives that are distinct from an unbelieving world, and the [27:50] purpose of each is to build our faith, expand our worship, and give greater distinction as each of [27:57] those areas grows in our lives. The term for church in Scripture means a called out assembly. [28:07] The question must be asked, called out for what? [28:12] Called out from a sinful world to be made a people distinct by the worship of God in spirit and [28:22] truth. Ephesians chapter 1, starting in verse 4, shows the sovereign work of God in the gospel

[28:28] to save you. It says, even as God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, [28:34] we should be holy and blameless before him. And love, he predestined us for adoption [28:39] to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will. [28:44] But look at what verse 6 says, what’s the purpose behind it all? [28:49] To the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved or in Christ, [28:56] to the praise of his glorious grace. Everything that he has done in Christ throughout all eternity

[29:02] past and in history is meant to be returned to him and worship. Then down in Ephesians 1, 12, [29:14] so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might what? Be to the praise of his glory. [29:23] Worship the gospel then changes your mind according to Romans 12 to [29:33] to focus on worshiping God above everything in this world.

[29:40] Christians do ordinary things, but for extraordinary reasons.

[29:46] The motivating factors then behind family, behind home, behind vocation, [29:57] become enraptured in worship. Jesus becomes the why behind the what of everything that you do. [30:05] And so that requires a lot of thinking. Because so many of you, even as I say that you sit there [30:14] and you say, well, how do I do my job for the glory of God? It’s just a job.

[30:23] Not according to scripture. Scripture says that it can be so much more with the right motivation. [30:30] And yeah, so if you go to work every day and your motivation is just making pay,

[30:37] your motivation is just building it bigger. Your motivation is just getting more money. [30:42] Your motivation is just paying off debt or just buying bread or just [30:48] doing all of this and just being the world. Yeah, you can’t worship with that motivation. [30:55] Now, all of those things will be accomplished by a job, won’t they?

[31:00] But a Christian goes to work every day and says, I’m going to be the best, the most honest employee. [31:07] I’m going to respect my leaders, going to obey his word. I’m going to have deep integrity.

[31:17] And through that, I’m going to show how awesome Jesus Christ is to me. And you say, well, that [31:22] sounds corny. And I said, well, the Bible is corny sometimes. And yet still some of you are like, [31:30] yeah, whatever you want to know what that is. That is you not having affection for Jesus Christ, [31:34] because you show me an employee with affection for Jesus Christ, and I will show you someone [31:38] who knows how to use their job for worship. And you show me with no affection, and I will show [31:42] you someone who’s just there for pay, because you love the world more than you love Jesus Christ.

[31:52] When Jesus is the why behind the what, it changes your motivation. But often, here’s the key, [32:00] will change your what. You expand your vision for what could be rather than what is, and you [32:06] walk into a future where you give God more glory as you excel in every area with every opportunity. [32:14] Christians aren’t losers. Christians are best. Because we don’t just clock in and clock out. [32:23] We have purpose. Worshipping Jesus means there’s something different going on with you [32:29] than the suburban lives all around you. We are distinct. We saw that throughout our First Peter

[32:36] series. But where does that distinction comes from? And I will tell you, it comes from passion for [32:42] Christ. This is about affection. In Psalm 42, it’s about longing for the worship of God with a [32:52] passion that leaves you dehydrated when you don’t feel like you have his presence. [32:58] As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, [33:04] for the living God. When shall I come and appear before the Lord? That’s not just some cutesy [33:09] metaphor about you staring at deer in a field. Notice about a deer who has had a long run and

[33:16] is filled with thirst. That’s what it’s like in your life of worship. If you are a follower of [33:23] Jesus Christ, you constantly desire the presence of God. So you’re constantly seeking him in prayer. [33:29] You are constantly seeking him in scripture. You are constantly seeking to obey him by building [33:34] the body of Christ. You are constantly seeking to be discipled and to make disciples. You are [33:40] constantly trying to be a Christian. But the problem in the modern church, which has been the [33:45] church for all of human history, is that we have a church filled with people who are like,

[33:50] when I can make time, but I’m struggling to make time right now. This is a difficult season. [33:56] I can’t be in the word. I can’t be in prayer. I can’t be in discipleship. I can’t be in community. [34:02] I can’t serve the body. I can’t build the body. What you don’t understand is that fundamentally, [34:08] you have a worship problem. You say, as soon as I am done throwing myself at the world,

[34:17] drinking cup after cup after cup after cup after cup of water that will never satisfy, [34:26] then I’ll try the good stuff.

[34:31] Psalm 96, splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary ascribed [34:38] to the Lord. O families of the peoples ascribed to the Lord, glory and strength ascribed to the [34:43] Lord. The glory do his name, bring an offering, come into his courts, worship the Lord and the [34:48] splendor of holiness tremble before him all the earth. Again, ascribe just simply means to make [34:57] him look great. From your education to your family to your career to your relationships and on and on,

[35:15] what happens in the life of the church and the environments of discipleship [35:21] sends you into the world to form a life where the motivating factor [35:28] is not keeping up with your neighbors or solely enjoying material gain. [35:39] The motivating factor in scripture

[35:44] is that there’s an extraordinary God that you get to worship with everything you are [35:55] and you live to be discipled to discover more that you can give him that you didn’t even know about.

[36:05] That’s why we’re discipled from his word to endure in faith and obeying scripture because when I align [36:12] my life with his word I worship even more. In John 544, one of the lesser focused on sayings of Jesus, [36:21] he rebukes the crowd because they’ve lost their distinction of worship. He says, how can you believe [36:29] when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

[36:37] That is 2025. You don’t feel anything for God because you’re too busy taking what only he deserves. [36:48] You want to be noticed. You want to be treasured. You want to be glorified. You want attention. [36:55] You want somebody to notice you. And Jesus Christ, God the Son himself is looking at the crowd and [37:02] that’s why you don’t believe in me. You can’t even imagine that there’s a glory greater than your own. [37:10] Even their religious practices were not motivated by a passion for God. [37:15] They wanted to be seen, but Christians are distinct in that we seek a motivation for God’s

[37:21] glory rather than our own. Friend, just when you think you understand everything about worship, [37:28] there is more to uncover in yourself. And so number three, worshiping Jesus changes your priorities.

[37:37] Changes your priorities. That’s how you get the distinction.

[37:42] The worth of Jesus is what must shape your life, friend.

[37:47] God’s design for our lives is to worship him with our all. And I’ll be just completely blunt. [37:54] If you can find somewhere in scripture where that is wrong, come tell me.

[38:02] If you think from scripture that less than your all is acceptable to God, challenge me.

[38:16] But giving him my all from what I see is what real life is all about. [38:22] Again, it’s not reserved to one worship service a week. It is the outcome of faith in Christ and [38:28] the fruit of a transformed vision for life. Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world. [38:34] Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. That by testing, [38:42] you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [38:49] The concept of renewal is a recurring theme throughout all of scripture.

[38:56] If we limit it to the New Testament, it is this idea

[39:02] that the work that faith does in Christ is that the old man is discarded. [39:10] And then the new man of life in the spirit is embraced, transformed by the renewal of your mind. [39:18] It begins with the way that you think about yourself. [39:21] And then the testing is when you actually begin to walk in everyday life and look at all of the [39:28] choices all around you. And you slowly, step by step, begin understanding more of who God is, [39:36] more of what the gospel is, more of who you are. And you just slowly give more of yourself over

[39:42] to him. What I struggle with is that I believe some of you think that on the day of salvation, [39:47] you gave God all of you that you could. And you’ve ceased to consider more.

[39:56] But there is so much more. Hebrews 11, six points to this as the life of faith. [40:03] Without faith, it’s impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God, see, [40:08] we miss the worship element of this text. What is it to worship? Well, it is to seek the presence [40:12] of God. Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards [40:17] those who seek him. Faith is prompted by the desire to draw near to God. And then forming [40:25] a vision around that desire is life. God is simply the great reward of our lives. And his

[40:33] presence is what we want. We want to experience his presence. Is that what your life is all about, [40:41] friend? So worship becomes the primary factor by which you form the priorities of your life. [40:51] Unbelievers can’t do that. My faith, repentance, choices, schedule, finances, etc., become about [41:01] ordering my life in such a way as to spend more time pursuing the presence of God in every moment. [41:07] It is all about worship. This must, friends, necessarily go all the way down to how I spend [41:15] my time and money. It’s non-negotiable, the things we don’t like talking about.

[41:21] Because what does he say? This is about the will of God. This is about figuring out. And I love it. [41:27] He’s so practical. He says, this is about figuring out what is good, what is acceptable. [41:33] And then he’s like, what is perfect? That’s an odd group, isn’t it? Because good and acceptable [41:39] seem less than perfect. But the sacrifice that God is after, again, remember, is a perfect [41:44] sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ. And so he’ll accept nothing less than faith. And he’ll accept [41:52] nothing less than all of you. And so you must every day be seeking what is good, what is acceptable,

[41:58] what is Christ.

[42:03] As we grow as a church, as you grow as a disciple, you will either become [42:10] more passionate about worshiping Jesus, or you will become sidetracked by sin. [42:14] I wish there was a middle ground I could give you, but I’m telling you, I’ve been doing this for a [42:19] long time. And you either get more passionate, or you walk out those doors and give your life [42:23] to something else.

[42:30] Great preacher once wrote, sin is like spiritual leprosy. It deadens your spiritual senses [42:38] so that you avoid worship and don’t even feel it. Habakkuk 2 14 prophesies, [42:47] the knowledge of the glory of God will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. [42:56] This is what the gospel is accomplishing according to scripture, worldwide worship.

[43:04] And in Matthew 5 16, Jesus states that a way that this great will of God will be accomplished [43:14] is that our worship will give light to the world so that they will turn from sin [43:21] and worship God with us. In the same way, Matthew 5 16, let your light [43:28] shine before others so that they may see your good works and do what? Give glory to your Father [43:36] who’s in heaven. Worship. Because of that, we understand we must be discipled in a direction [43:48] that makes us more passionate about worship every single day, because this is the Christian life

[43:55] and there isn’t another one. This is what we must strive to be known for. Village Church must be [44:03] passionate about the worship of Jesus Christ. A few application points. Sacrifice your sin [44:13] to worship with your life. What did Jesus go to the cross to kill? Your sin.

[44:23] Faith in Jesus means I believe that. And so the only thing that I have left to give him is my life.

[44:32] Engage activity that forms affection for Jesus. Some of you struggle with affection because you’re [44:37] just not entering environments that stoke the flames of it. Your senses are deadened because [44:44] they’re not being awakened. Third, build a life that showcases the worth of Jesus. [44:53] People around you, yes, unbelieving people around you need to know that you worship Jesus Christ. [45:04] Do they? Do your unbelieving neighbors know? That’s a Christian family.

[45:14] I’ll tell you, in our culture, it’s becoming increasingly easier to be obvious about that.

[45:19] And then finally, order your priorities to worship as a light of Christ.

[45:27] Your worship will bring people to faith in Jesus Christ. The Spirit is that power.