SERMON SUMMARY

Gathering with God’s people for the purpose of worshiping Him isn’t just a good idea, it’s a God idea. And the Psalms give us clear pictures as to what this idea looks like, specifically Psalm 95. But, even with a clear picture of what God wants from us and for us, our sin, preferences, opinions, and past pains can interfere, and the result is often confusion and tension. And on top of that, we bring our own idols and problems into the room when we gather. So what do we do? What’s the solution?

Psalm 95 not only gives us a clear picture of what God wants but tells us how to do it. 

By making God Himself the reason that we worship, through actively participating in worship with our whole self, and through making it a habitual priority to be together, we will begin to become the kind of worshiping people that God is seeking. 

SERMON SCREENSHOTS & KEY POINTS

What does God want our worship to look like when we’re together?

1. God wants our worship to be fueled by who He is.
   • Our zeal and passion for worship can dwindle, and like a fire, can sometimes dwindle down to just warm coals. And in an effort to stoke the fire, we often use things that can be “bad kindling” (i.e. trying to muster up the emotion to “feel it”, not sitting next to certain people cause they’re “distracting”, self-talk your way out of it).
   • There is only one thing that is sufficient enough to get your “faith fire” going again, and that is God Himself.
   • Worshiping together takes effort and preparation, not just from church staff, but from everyone involved. Prepare your heart and spirit for the gathering. Pray ahead of time that God would use it to shape you, and that He would use you to build others up.
   • We are given a command in Psalm 95:7-8: DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS. This command is given in the context of the gathering of God’s people in order to worship. When you only want to worship if your preferences are met, or only when you’re really “feeling it” that day, there is a danger of hardening your heart. You may just find yourself asking, “Is God really among us or not?” Instead, when God Himself, and who He is and what He’s done, and His objective worthiness is the reason you worship, having a soft and humble heart becomes much much easier, and your preferences or what you think you need in order to worship, will slowly start to fade away. He will actually be reason enough to worship.
2. God wants our worship to be active.
   • There are seven commands to DO something in Psalm 95, all of which involve our whole self. Sing! Shout! Declare your gratitude! Shout again! Worship! Kneel! Bow down!
   • Worshiping together is an invitation to participate! Not to stand by and observe, but to partake in the activity! Use your voice, your mind, your emotions, your body…everything you have in order to express your worship to God, and to spur others around you to do the same.
   • Tim Keller said, “Worship is the whole self ascribing ultimate value to something.”
   • In most of our life, very rarely do we need to be taught how to express our joy or affection for something. When your kid gets a touchdown, when dad gets home from work, and the kids come running when that check comes through just in time to pay rent when she says “Yes!”, when your candidate wins the election, when the ball drops and everyone shouts “Happy new year!”...Very naturally, there is laughing, cheering, hands in the air, clapping, hugging, smiling…We want to DO something with our bodies to communicate our emotions. And when we are with God’s people, remembering who God is and all that He has done for us, it should especially be this way.
   • Since outward expression is visible, it can become an awkward thing to participate in, simply because it draws attention. But again, the question isn’t “How does this make me feel?” or “Do I want to do this?” but rather, “Does God want me to do this? Will this give Him glory?”
3. God wants us to worship together.
   • There are no singular pronouns in this psalm. They are all plural, meaning, we should do this together!
   • Absolutely we should worship privately every day, in everything we do. But, God desires us (not just for Him, but for our own sake as well!) to regularly gather together to worship.
   • Like sheep, we are designed to be part of a larger whole. Alone time is great, and introverts are encouraged to be themselves, but there are aspects of God and our worship of Him that we will never know if we are just on our own. 

*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.