Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
December 18, 2005 - W0551

One of the greatest gifts we can give to the Lord is worship. Though there are many ways in which to express our love, the book of Romans says: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers in view of God’s mercy, to offer you bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Rom. 12:1) Worship includes our bodies not just our minds.

The Bible also says, “…the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” (Jn. 4:23) In other words, God looks for those who love Him so much that they worship with all their hearts. “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…” (2 Chr. 16:9)

I enrolled in Bible College when I first became a Christian. I had a Catholic background so Pentecostal worship was a little different for me. One of my first assignments to preach was at a church near where my dad lived. So I invited him to come to the service. Keep in mind that my dad was a staunch Catholic and very conservative. What I didn’t realize was this was an on-fire, all-out worship, no holds barred kind of church. So you can imagine what worship was like. I was so nervous about what my dad was thinking. I was sure he thought I joined a cult. Yet after service when we went out for coffee, I asked him what he thought. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, “Those people really love God, don’t they!” And that’s all he talked about. He had never seen people love God like that and he said he needed to love God more. And we need to love God more too.

The thing I learned from that is that even though worship may seem foreign to us, we can tell if it comes from the heart. And God uses a heart of genuine worship to reach another heart. It’s the greatest gift we can give the Father. And it’s a gift we give to others that cause them to get closer to Him. That’s why God seeks the true worshipers. It’s not something new because it’s been around since the beginning of time. Actually…

·        THE BACKDROP OF CREATION WAS WORSHIP.

Listen to how God responds to Job after he questions the Lord about his afflictions. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding…Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7)  There was worship going on as God choreographed creation to music. Remember, God knows what He is doing. And I remember writing in my journal, “Lord, if I want You to do more creating in me, then maybe I should worship You more because it’s against the backdrop of worship that You do Your best creating”.

Worship has always been a part of God’s people. In fact, we see that as the Israelites journeyed through the desert, they would stop, build an altar, offer a sacrifice to God, and worship Him. So one of the things worship does is…

·        IT IDENTIFIES US AS GOD’S PEOPLE.

If we begin to move away from worship, we begin to dilute our faith and blend in. Then people won’t know we belong to God. That’s what happened to the people in the Bible. They were not distinguishable as God’s people. “…Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come near to me.’ So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob…” (1 Kin. 18:30-31) The altar had been in disrepair because it hadn’t been used. The people forgot who they were and why they worshiped the Lord. So as Elijah restored the altar and placed the twelve stones which represented the twelve tribes of Israel, he basically called them back to their identity as God’s people.

Yet although we are not required to sacrifice a lamb because Jesus’ final sacrifice assured us of salvation, does worship stop? Does sacrifice stop? No, we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices of worship not as atonement for our sins, but in thanksgiving of Him who has already redeemed our freedom. It is the new sacrifice. It re-identifies us and reminds us of who we are. And there are three postures we can take that will help us remember this gift.

HOW DO WE GIVE THIS GIFT?

1.     SINGING.

“…let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” (Heb 13:15). (See also: Rev. 14:3 & Ps. 66:1)

Singing is a posture of worship that allows us to express our love for God. And it’s not about being able to sing well: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” (Ps. 66:1) God doesn’t say we have to be good singers. So consider it a joyful noise when you are singing and even if we can’t sing, God really hears the song in our heart long before the melody comes out of our mouths. On the other hand, we can have a beautiful voice, but no heart.

Remember God loves the singing of His people so we need to be sure to do so with all our heart. Another posture of worship we take is…

2.     UPLIFTED HANDS.

I want to encourage you to do that too. Why? The Bible says: “So wherever you assemble, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.” (1 Tim. 2:8 NLT) One of the reasons that we are to lift our hands is in doing so we are saying “Lord, cleanse my heart”. We don’t want to have hands of wrath or disagreement so we invite the Lord to purify us so none of that residue begins to filter into our souls and corrode our spirit.

We lift our hands as a posture to the Lord that says we are ready to be healed. “…lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children…” (Lam 2:19) Not only is it a sign of invitation to the Father to cleanse us, it is also a sign of…

·        SURRENDER.

When we lift our hands up in worship and surrender to God, it is really our greatest…

·        VICTORY.

Just as a runner crosses the finish line with raised hands signifying victory, we do the same in worship before Him as a dual sign of surrender to Him and therefore victory in Christ. Another truth to this posture of uplifted hands is…  

·        BLESSING. 

“…And the Lord lifted up his hands and blessed them.”( Lk. 24:50)

We also raise our hands is to bless. We extend blessings in Jesus’ name by lifting our hands and praying. I often lift my hands to bless this church as I stand backstage during worship. In the same way parents, ask God to bless your children, your families. We don’t always know how to advise or counsel them. So when we lift our hands and ask God’s blessing, He begins to work in their lives. I think the reason why our children and the people of our church aren’t blessed more than they already are is because we are not blessing them – asking God in prayer for His blessing of guidance, insight, direction, and protection along with everything else.

We need to be a people who sing our hearts out to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving. For God searches for true worshipers who worship in spirit and truth. And as we extend our hands upward in surrender to Him and claiming victory as well as blessing others in Christ, we can confirm that with…

3.     CLAPPING.

Why do we clap, what’s the truth behind it? “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!” (Ps. 47:1) Clapping is an old Hebrew covenant sealer. When someone finalized a deal, they would clap as a sign to those around that they have agreed upon a transaction. In essence, we are sealing our covenant with God in agreement after worship or a prayer. It is a promise we receive from Him and agree with. When we clap and shout with a voice of triumph, it’s a way that…

·        ATTRIBUTES VICTORY.

The Bible talks about us being a fragrance to God. I know it seems kind of strange until we understand the background. The people would fill the streets in those days with layers of the most fragrant flowers waiting for the King’s victory march through the city. As he returned with his men, the people would be clapping and attributing victory to their king. As their horses and chariots trampled over the flowers, it would emit a sweet fragrant aroma. Then behind the king and his men were the ones taken in battle and who were really marching to their death. For the king it was a fragrance of victory. But to the enemy it was a fragrance of death. “…thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (2 Cor. 2:14-15)

So when we worship and we clap to God it is a reminder to us of the fragrant victory in Christ that He will make us more than over comers if we walk close to Him. Yet it is important for us to not only send up a fragrant aroma to God to remind us of our victory, but also to remind the enemy of his defeat. And there are times that we need to do that in prayer to let the enemy know that we will resist him.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” (2 Cor. 10:3-4) If we don’t understand the truth behind worship, we will not be equipped to defeat the enemy on a spiritual level. So clapping attributes victory to our King, but it also…

·        ATTRIBUTES DEFEAT.

“Men will clap their hands at him and hiss him from his place.” (Job 27:23)

“There is no relief for your breakdown, your wound is incurable. All who hear about you will clap their hands over you…” (Nah. 3:19) In other words, Nahum sort of describes the enemy of our soul. So there are times we need to be clapping in a way that assigns defeat to the enemy while claiming victory to God.

The postures of worship are powerful and have been with us from the beginning of creation. God created the universe against a backdrop of worship. And worship identifies God’s people, but we risk drifting and blending in with the rest of the world if we stop or dilute that. So we sing and proclaim who we are as we express our love for Him. Another stance we take is uplifted hands in surrender and victory. And as we do, we must also extend our hands to bless others. And finally, we must be a people who know what it means to applaud the King attributing victory to Him and at the same time attributing defeat to the enemy.

You are a great people of God who have been given spiritual weapons. They are gifts for your life, your family, and your future. So we want to be a people who give a gift of worship to Him and a people, the church of our living God.

Discussion Questions

1.      Refer to Rom. 12:1. What is your spiritual act of worship?

2.      The Bible says God seeks “true worshipers”. How do you worship the King?  

3.      Now that you understand the reasons behind the singing, uplifting of hands, and clapping – do you feel encouraged to do the same as an expression of your love for Him?

4.      Begin to ask God to bless your children and your family. Pray that blessing now.

5.      What most impacted you about today’s lesson and how will you apply it to your life this week?

We want to extend  blessing over all of you this Christmas season and always for God's guidance, insight, direction and blessing.

The Sermon Notes Ministry Team: Doreen Rabaino, Leighton Loo, Robin Hart, Kristi Murai, Elizabeth Texeira, Debbie Chang, Jay Tsukayama, and Rhonda Pang.