Sermon Notes, September 25. 2016 AM
With Reverence and Awe
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. If
you filled a box with items representing a typical Sunday morning of preparing
to go
to church what items would be in the box?
1. I asked this question on Facebook and
among the answers were: Bibles,
backpacks with supplies/activities for
kids, diapers, snacks, clothes, shoes, phones,
bottles of water, purses, paper, pens,
etc.
2. Sunday morning can be tough. For the
college student it requires discipline to get
out of bed on a weekend. If you’re a
parent of small children you must get the
kids fed, dressed and buckled in the car
seat. There is hair to style, makeup to
apply and food to prepare before driving
to the church building where you must find
a parking space and a place to sit before
9:00!
3. Why do we do it? We recognize something
significant is taking place.
B. One
day as Moses was tending sheep he had a life-changing experience. He saw a
flame in the midst of a bush but remarkably
the bush was not consumed. As Moses
drew closer to investigate He was stopped
in his tracks by a voice that said, “Do not
come near here; remove your sandals from
your feet, for the place on which you are
standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).
1. Moses never dreamed that turning aside
to look at the bush would change his life
and alter the course of a nation. In
that moment something significant happened.
Moses had an encounter with the Holy
God. His life would never be the same.
2. When we come to church do we comprehend
that we, like Moses, are standing on
Holy ground? Do we recognize that when
we assemble we have come into the
presence of Almighty God? We have come for a purpose that transcends
anything we do. We have come to worship.
I. WE HAVE COME TO WORSHIP BECAUSE GOD
IS POWERFUL.
A. Have you seen the old TV show, “The
Adventures of Superman?” The show
began with the words, “Faster than a
speeding bullet. More powerful than a
locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings
in a single bound. Look up in the air! It’s a
bird, it’s a plane, it’s . . .
Superman!”
1. In our imaginations we invent
characters like Superman, Captain America,
Batman, The Hulk, The Force and
others who possess incredible strength and
are endowed with qualities like justice
and compassion.
2. Why do we do this? Is it not because of
our attraction to someone greater than
ourselves?
B. God is not the product of human
invention. He is our creator and sustainer.
1. When Paul spoke to the Athenians at
Mars Hill he said, “The God who made the
world and all things in it, since He
is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in
temples made with hands; 25 nor
is He served by human hands, as though He
needed anything, since He Himself
gives to all people life and
breath and all
things” (Acts 17:24-25).
2. The prophet Isaiah spoke poetically of
God’s greatness in Isaiah 40:12 -16.
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow
of His hand, and marked off the
heavens by the span and calculated the
dust of the earth by the measure,
and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales?
and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales?
13 Who has directed the
Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has informed Him?
14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught
14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught
Him in the path of justice and taught Him
knowledge and informed Him of the
way of understanding? 15 Behold,
the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the
and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the
islands like fine dust.”
C. Trying to comprehend God’s power is like
trying to catch a fish in the ocean using
an inch of fishing line. The longer we
contemplate God’s creative and redemptive
power the more we are in awe. Our
worship is a proclamation of God’s power.
II. WE HAVE COME TO WORSHIP BECAUSE GOD
IS HOLY
A. What do we mean when we say “God is
Holy?”
1. In 1 Samuel 2:2 Hannah prayed, “There is no one holy like the Lord, Indeed,
1. In 1 Samuel 2:2 Hannah prayed, “There is no one holy like the Lord, Indeed,
there is no one besides You.”
2. The word Holy comes from “hagios” meaning “separate,” “sacred,” “not
common.” The first time it is used
in the English Bible is Genesis 2:3 where God
blessed the seventh day and made it
holy. He set it apart.
3. Leviticus 19:2 - “Speak to the entire
assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy
because I, the Lord your God, am
holy.’”
4.
Leviticus 20:26 – “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I
have set you apart from the nations
to be my own.”
5. Over 50 times the word Holy is used
in the book of Leviticus with reference to
God, His people or the utensils used
to worship Him.
B. There are three occasions in the Bible
that leave no doubt about God’s holiness.
1. Exodus 19:12 – 13, “You shall set
bounds for the people all around, saying,
‘Beware that you do not go up on the
mountain or touch the border of it; whoever
touches the mountain shall surely be
put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him,
but he shall surely be stoned or
shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not
live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a
long blast, they shall come up to the
mountain.” Compare this to Hebrews 12:18-19, “For you
have not come to a
mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and
to darkness and gloom
and whirlwind, 19 and
to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which
sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word
be spoken to
them.” Also Hebrews 12: 28-29 – “Therefore,
since we receive a kingdom which
cannot be shaken, let us show
gratitude, by which we may offer to God an
acceptable service with reverence
and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.”
2. Isaiah 6:1 – 9 describes Isaiah’s
vision of God in the temple with the Seraphim
flying about Him crying out, “Holy,
Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole
earth is full of His glory.”
3. In Revelation 4:8 there are four
living creatures who cry out in the presence of
God, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God, the Almighty, who was and who is and
who is to come.”
4. The Hebrew language did not have
punctuation like English does. There was no
way to place an exclamation point at
the end of a sentence. Therefore, when the
writer wanted to emphasize a word he
would repeat it. The word “Holy” is the
only description of God repeated in
this way.
C.
What does this mean with regard to worship? You and I are in the presence of
one
who is separate in purity,
righteousness, justice, mercy and power. We are unable
to grasp God intellectually regardless
of our intellect and education. We are unable
to comprehend Him morally in spite of
our best effort. Our brightest white, even if it
were possible, would be a soiled dingy
gray in the brilliance of God’s holiness. As
Holy as God is, He loves us.
D. The greatness of God demands an attitude
of reverence and awe.
1. People who have the opportunity to
meet Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain are
expected to observe proper
etiquette. Among the rules are:
a. Do not speak unless spoken to.
b. Observe a dress code.
c. Do not touch unless you are
offered a handshake.
d. Stand when she enters the room.
2. In Exodus 28:2 as God gave
instructions to Moses about the garments to be
worn by the priests. “You shall make
holy garments for Aaron your brother, for
glory and for beauty.” Why was this
so? God wanted their worship to be a
reminder of His holiness, glory and
beauty.
3. Do we recognize God’s holiness as we
worship?
a. There are some distractions that
are unavoidable. On occasion there will be
cries and restlessness from
children. There will occasionally be those who
must leave for physical reasons.
We understand these situations.
b. Worship should mean enough to us
that we set aside anything that would
distract us. Worship is not the
time to write notes, text or check Facebook.
Worship of a Holy God demands, “my
life, my soul, may all.”
III. CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE WORSHIPERS
A. Privilege
1. David said, “I was glad when they
said unto me, ‘Let us go into the house of the
Lord.”
2. We will never make worship a priority
until we recognize it as a privilege.
B. Preparation
1. The Israelites did not merely “show
up.” They prepared themselves to worship.
2. There should be a spirit of
anticipation for worship throughout the preceding
week. Develop the discipline of
preparing yourself and your family before
Sunday comes.
C. Participation
1. Worship is not a spectator sport
where we watch players on a field. Worship is
not an entertainment venue where we
watch others on stage.
2. All of us are called to worship.
Everything we do in worship is participatory.
D. Passion
1. We need the passion expressed by
David in Psalm 42 – “As the deer pants for
the water brooks, So my soul pants
for You, O God.”
2. Since worship is an encounter with
God it should touch every aspect of an
individual including their mind
(intellect), heart (emotion) and will (obedience).
Meaningful worship will sometimes
stir up passionate joy. At other times it may
bring heartfelt tears. It should
never leave us untouched and unchanged.
CONCLUSION:
A. As
a preacher I struggle with worship. Far too often in my life I have been guilty
of
being distracted from worshipping God.
1. I have worried about what people think.
Has the singing been good?
Have the prayers and the comments at the
Lord’s table been appropriate? How
much time is left for me to say what I
have prepared? Will a certain
illustration be
well received? Will this be a “moving
sermon?”
2. I confess that too often through the
years I have allowed my mind to be
preoccupied with such thoughts and I
have neglected my own worship of Ggd. I di
not want to do that any longer.
B. A
baby elephant broke free from the circus on a Sunday morning. It
wandered down the street and into a church
building where people were
gathered. It walked down the aisle, turned,
and trumpeted loudly before walking out
oblivious to what was taking place. Someone
speculated, “Do we ever walk in,
toot our horn, and go home with not real appreciation
for what has taken place?”
C. “O
Lord, may we have a renewed commitment to worship you with a spirit of reverence
and awe? In Jesus’ name, Amen! “
