Sermon Tone Analysis

*THE PRIORITIES OF A PURPOSE-DRIVEN CHURCH –WORSHIP*

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Matt 22:34-40

 

34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together.

35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment.

39 "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

Every church is driven by something.

Every church has a controlling factor, a dominant influence, or an overarching philosophy, mindset, conviction or attitude that affects and directs everything it does.

Rick Warren in his book entitled THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN CHURCH says that there are seven things that drive most churches.

Some churches are driven by tradition.

The tradition-driven church is a church that is captivated by what God did yesterday.

It is a church committed to perpetuating the past.

Change is almost always viewed as bad, and stagnation  is almost always viewed as stability.

The tradition-driven church is a church that is commited to the seven last words of the church, “WE’VE NEVER DONE IT THAT WAY BEFORE” Some churches are driven by a dominate personality.

In the personality-driven church, the pastor or some powerful church member is the dominate force.

This type of church tends to take on the personality of the dominate leader and it’s agenda is set more by the will of the leader than by the will of God.

If the dominate leader dies or leaves the church, this type of church finds itself seriously crippled and without leadership.

Other churches are driven by finances.

The number one question in a finance-driven church is “HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?” and the number one activity in this type of church is fundraising.

Ministry, discipleship, and evangelism all take a backseat to raising the budget in a finance-driven church.

Some churches are driven by programs.

The goal of this kind of church is simply to perpetuate programs, regardless of whether or not the program has outlived its usefulness and regardless of whether or not it is meeting the needs of the people.

Some churches are driven by buildings.

In this type of church, the majority of the church’s financial and human resources are spent on paying for and maintaining the building.

Funds earmarked for ministry have to be diverted to pay the mortgage or fix constant problems, and the ministry to the people suffers.

Other churches are driven by events.

The calendar of an event-driven church is packed with activity, but in the church there is very little productivity.

The main focus in an event-driven church is to boost attendance at the events, with little regard for actual ministry or discipleship.

And still other churches are driven by seekers.

These kinds of churches forget all the other Biblical purposes of the church and just focus on attracting lost people.

But, the only thing that should drive God’s Church are God’s Purposes, His purposes should be our priorities, and His purposes are revealed in His Word! God is in the business of blessing three things: HIS WORD, HIS WILL, AND HIS WAY.

If we want to be a blessed church, then we must seek to do God’s will according to God Word and God’s Way.

If we want to be a blessed church, we must seek to be a purpose-driven church.

BUT WHAT IS A PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH?

* A church driven by God’s Biblical purposes, not by man’s plans, programs, or personalities

* A church which seeks TO GROW WARMER THROUGH FELLOWSHIP, DEEPER THROUGH DISCIPLESHIP, STRONGER THROUGH WORSHIP, BROADER THROUGH MINISTRY, AND LARGER THROUGH EVANGEL

*  A church that seeks to evaluate everything it does against the five purposes of the church,

* the main question in a purpose-driven church is: WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?

WHY ARE WE HERE?

WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT FROM US AND HOW CAN WE DO GOD’S WILL?

JESUS SAID THAT THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT IS TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.

Loving and worshipping God is the number one priority for the Christian.

Loving and worshipping God is the number one priority of the church.

Worship is the #1 priority of the church.

Today we want to deal with three critical questions about worship.

WHAT IS WORSHIP?

WHY THE CHURCH SHOULD WORSHIP?

HOW IS THE CHURCH TO WORSHIP?

 

WHAT IS WORSHIP?

Nobody described worship better than Sir William Temple.

He said that */"To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God."/*  Writing more than one hundred years ago, Alexander Paterson Smith gave this definition of worship: */"To worship God is to make Him the supreme object of our esteem and delight, both in public, private, and secret."/*

Both of those are good definitions of worship, but I submit to you today that at its very core, worship is a celebration.

And celebrations are events that all of us are familiar with.

Celebrations are an important part of our individual lives.

Most of us celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and special events.

Celebrations are festive and happy times in which we pull out our best silverware and china, we bring flowers and gifts and take pictures as we remember the past and share our hopes for the future.

Celebrations are not only important to us individually, but they are also important to us nationally.

For in our national life we celebrate a variety of special days such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Memorial Day, The Fourth of July, and Labor Day.

Usually we celebrate these national holidays with family, friends, games, picnics, dominoes, food, firecrackers, and barbeque.

Whether they are individual or national, celebrations are usually times of refreshing, renewing, and restoration.

And I submit to you today, my brothers and sisters, that when the church comes together to worship the Lord, that our worship ought to be a celebration.

It is the most important celebration, for when we worship we come together to celebrate the birth, the life, the death, the burial, the resurrection, and the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Worship is a celebration of what Jesus accomplished on the cross for my salvation, for your salvation, and for the salvation of the entire world.

Worship is a celebration of what Jesus did in history, and how His sacrifice changes my destiny.

Worship is a celebration of his victory on the cross!

It’s a celebration of His holiness and power.

It’s a celebration of his unconditional love.

When the church comes together to worship, there ought to be an atmosphere of celebration!

There ought to be a festive atmosphere of expectancy, in which we expect God to move!

We expect people to be saved, we expect people to be delivered, we expect God to heal and reconcile, we expect lives to be changed.

And I want you to know today, that just because you go to church…sit in the sanctuary…put some money in the offering tray…sing a solo in the choir…bow your head at the alter…play a song on the piano…or even preach in the pulpit…that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve worshipped the Lord!

My brothers and sisters unless our worship of God is…

ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES

COMES SINCERELY FROM OUR HEARTS

IS INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

IS MIXED WITH PURE FAITH

IS SATURATED WITH FERVANT LOVE

IS FILLED WITH PRAISE & THANKSGIVING

AND BACKED BY A LIFE OF HOLINESS AND GOOD WORKS

then our worship is vain.

It is empty, void, and useless…it is worthless and meaningless…it is nothing but sounding brass & tinkling cymbals, and ultimately it is displeasing and unacceptable to the Father.

But when the church comes together and engages in true and genuine worship…THE FATHER IS GLORIFIED, JESUS IS MAGNIFIED, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GRATIFIED, THE BIBLE IS RATIFIED, THE CHURCH IS EDIFIED, OUR SOULS ARE SATISFIED, AND EVERY DEMON AND DEVIL OF HELL IS HORRIFIED!

That’s why the Bible says in 1 Chronicles 16:29, “GIVE TO THE LORD THE GLORY DUE HIS NAME; BRING AN OFFERRING, AND COME BEFORE HIM; WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS.”

That’s why the psalmist declared in Psalm 95:6-7, “O, COME, LET US WORSHIP AND BOW DOWN; LET US KNEEL BEFORE THE LORD OUR MAKER, FOR HE IS OUR GOD; AND WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF HIS PASTURE, AND THE SHEEP OF HIS HAND.”

Worship is focusing on the greatness of God.

It is expressing our love to God because He’s worthy to be praised.

Worship requires that we open our mouths and declare the goodness of God! We’ve got to make some noise when we worship!

Some of us are don’t like to hear shouts of praise in worship!

We think folk ought to sit quietly; act dignified, and not speak above a whisper.

But I’ve got news for you, if you don’t like noisy worship, YOU DON’T WANT TO GO TO HEAVEN.

The book of Revelation pictures twenty-four elders and four heavenly creatures singing night and day without stopping, *"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty."*

And listen, the creatures never rest.

Their song never ceases.

Day in and day out they keep crying Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.

Heaven is not the place you want to go to if you want quiet worship!

The first priority of the church is to worship.

NO HEART IS SATISFIED WITHOUT IT…NO LIFE IS COMPLETE WITHOUT IT…NO SOUL IS BLESSED WITHOUT IT…NO ASSURANCE IS ENJOYED WITHOUT IT…NO DEVOTION IS FULFILLED WITHOUT IT…NO NEED IS MET WITHOUT IT…AND NO CHURCH IS PREPARED TO FACE THE PROBLEMS, THE DIFFICULTIES, THE ADVERSITIES, THE CHALLENGES, THE OBSTACLES, AND THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF WINNING THE WORLD TO CHRIST WITHOUT MAKING WORSHIP CENTRAL IN ITS MINISTRY.

If we don’t  learn to worship, it won’t make a bit of difference how well we do anything else.

The church’s first priority is to worship.

But not only must a purpose-driven church understand what worship is, but it must also answer the question: WHY DO WE WORSHIP?