Sermon Tone Analysis

Isaiah (5)

Hollow worship

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!!! Doxology                        /Hymn 330: "God himself is present/ \\ \\

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Call to worship and Greeting

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

(Psalm 9:9-10)

Greetings in the Name of the Creator of the universe.

Grace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

Let us worship the Lord.

Let us join our hearts together in prayer before the Lord and pray the prayer He taught his disciples.

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The Lord ’s Prayer

 

!!! Hymn 384:                                            “/O King eternal, Sovereign God”/

!!! Baptism of Trenna Lyndel Sheperdson (Rev Hugh Gallagher)

!!! Hymn 352                           /Aaronic Blessing/

!!! Hymn no 60:                                        /"To Him who chose us first"(Tune Hymn 1)/

!!! Prayer of adoration and Confession of sins

*Adoration *

Our heavenly Father, who is as wonderful as You are!

We worship a personal God; our God is not only a power or a source of energy.

Our God created to world, and He is involved in his creation day by day, moment by moment.

With David in Psalm 139 we declare:  O Lord, You have searched me and You know me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar.

You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, You know it completely.

You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too lofty for me to attain.

(Psalm 139:1–6)

*Confession*

Your eyes are on the ways of a man, and You see all his steps.

There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide.

You do not need to examine a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.

(Job 34:21–23)

So Lord, we confess our sins.

We admit our wrongdoing and stiff-neckedness.

We beg for forgiveness.

Thank you Father that You will not always strive with us, nor will You harbour your anger forever; You do not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is Your love for those who fear You; as far as the east is from the west, so far have You removed our transgressions from us.

Thank you for the fact that You as our Father have compassion on your children, and as our Lord You have compassion on those who fear You.

Amen  (Psalm 103:9–13)

!!! Declaration of pardoning

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16

!!! Hymn no 397:             /                         //"Out of my bondage, sorrow and night"/

!!! Bible Reading:

                New Testament:                                /Matthew 23: 22 -- 28/

!!! Hymn no 120:             /                         "//You are the way"(Tune 422)/

!!! Announcements

!!! Offering and Dedication

!!! Prayer of Intercession

!!! Bible Reading           

Old Testament:                  /Isaiah 1: 10 -- 17 /                               

!!! Sermon

!!! Introduction

Dear brother and sister in the Lord,

Any minister may be tempted to preach a gospel that will be accepted everywhere and anywhere and to anyone.

That is always the easiest way out.

It was no different in the times of Isaiah.

The popular message of his day and of the other prophets was: "Peace, peace".

It was a message that everything was okay, everything was accepted and that God would be happy, as long as the outward appearance is okay.

God detested this form of worship, because the message was not from him.

The prophets even prophesied in his Name while they knew that the message was not from him.

It was a popular message nevertheless.

It sat easy on the ears of listeners.

It did not really require any commitment from their side.

I think it is possible to say that a hollow gospel leads to hollow worship.

An easy gospel leads to an easy form of worship.

A frivolous gospel leads to a frivolous worship.

On the other hand, a gospel which is nothing but the Word of God, leads to biblical worship and brings us in contact with the living God.

The Church who is willing to bow before the gospel of the Lord will be will lead to bow before the God of the gospel.

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A Man-made gospel

Not so long ago, I saw an ad on TV.

It sounded like some Christian message.

I can't remember the full message, but towards the end of it I heard something like this: "God will always be there for you."

The question now is, is it true?

I will repeat: "God will always be therefore you."

What would you make of the sentence like this?  Closer examination of the sentence, tells us that we need to qualify it.

Question is: "Will God always be there for us?"

Well, that is exactly what the prophets of the Old Testament told the people of Israel.

“Peace!, Peace!”

And they swallowed the message.

This hollow Gospel led to a hollow worship.

But then God sent his own prophet Isaiah.

And instead of the soothing message of “Peace, peace!", he had completely different message.

He cut a right into the heart of things by calling the people of the Lord Sodom and Gomorrah.

And you can remember how evil the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were?

So evil indeed, that God destroyed them, and wiped their names from the face of this earth.

These cities were destroyed and buried under the Dead Sea as a witness to God's Holiness and righteousness, one the one hand and their sinfulness on the other hand.

Can you imagine what happened that day when the congregation in Jerusalem heard the message from Isaiah?

They who looked upon themselves as God's chosen people, now heard that they were in God’s eye nothing more than Sodom and Gomorrah.

It must have been a blow to them.

Especially when the Lord told them that He had no pleasure in their sacrifices.

What would you say if I tonight would say that the Lord has no desire in hearing your prayers any more?

What if you came to Church only to find that everything is locked up because the Lord has condemned a gathering in his name because He has no pleasure in hearing you prayers?

See, the prophets in the time of Isaiah had a cheap and a hollow message.

People went to worship the Lord, but it had no effect on their lives.

It was all ritual, and nothing more.

Yes, they still brought the sacrifices to the temple, they still burned the offerings, they still burned the lambs and the fat of the fattened animals; they still sacrificed the blood of bulls and of goats; they still burned incense.