Mrs. Bowers loves the Word of God and has something to share with us.

        Is that what you think of when I say the word "worship"? Probably not. You might think of: music, church, and people gathered together. Those are ok, but what God says about Worship is a whole bigger thing!

First and foremost, Worship Is -

God gives us a command - Do not worship any other god, for the LORD , whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Ex 34:14

Why should we worship the Lord God? Because "Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. Ps 145:3

The first time we see the word Worship in the Bible is in Genesis 22

¹ Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied. ² Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy (will) go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." 

Here we hear that God says, Abraham, Go to the region of Moriah and worship me there. It is a definite place with a definite purpose. God wants to meet Abraham at a specific location to be worshipped by Abraham.

Do you ever have a definite place and time to meet with God? Yes! Every Wednesday morning and right here at school. You have a divine appointment with the Living Lord God Almighty!

So from now on, think about this…. You come here not to just sing songs, or listen to people, or sit with your friends, …. But the real purpose is because God, Who is Sovereign wants you to worship Him here.

Have you ever invited a friend over your house, and they said they'd be there. And then they call, say they cannot come. Later you find out that they went over someone else's house? How did you feel? I have had that happen, and I felt very badly. I felt like they didn't care about me, and maybe didn't even like me. Well, God feels the same way when you show up here on Wednesday, but spend time thinking about someone or something else instead of Him. God loves you incredibly, and He wants you to spend time with Him.

Secondly, Worship Is -

When Jesus was in Samaria, he told a woman "Believe me, … a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." Jn 4:21-24

When you sacrifice something, it has to mean something to you.

Let's go back to the passage - Genesis 22

God said, "Abraham!" "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

So early the next morning Abraham got up and took his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
¹² "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

But that's not the best part … there's more!!

¹⁵ The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD , that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

God speaks of One particular offspring, it's Abraham's great, great, great…. Grandchild Who will bless all nations. Do you know Who that offspring is? It's Jesus Christ!!

If Abraham had not Obeyed the Lord God, then Jesus Christ may never had been born, and all the nations on the earth would not be blessed! We do not have time to go into this right now, but when Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, then through the Holy Spirit, God's children changed all nations.

Third, Worship is - All about God.

Who is God? How can you be focused on Him? Well, how can you focus on anyone? By thinking about their qualities, or what they do. If I ask you to think of your mom, most likely a picture will come to mind, and how she is with you, or what she did this morning,…

Thinking about God is the same way.

What has God done this morning? He made kept the universe on its course, God caused the sun to come up, watched you get ready, made sure you didn’t have an accident on the way, and God was eager for this appointment with you!!

Last but not least-

4. Worship is Only through the Lord Jesus Christ.

God sees what really counts, your heart. "From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;" Ps 33:13 The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1Sam 16:7

There is no fooling God.

This is what God says worship is NOT.

The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Isa 29:13

To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. Jer 6:10

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His Face from you, so that he will not hear. Isa 59:2

If you worship by doing things without having your heart involved with God, if you find my teaching offensive, or you cannot hear God's voice in your heart, then God says, "their hearts are far from me" and "your sins have hidden His Face from you."

So how can you get into God's presence? To sense His Glory, to feel His passionate love for you? To be able to worship God as He commands you to, "In spirit and in truth"?

By being born of the Spirit of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Jn 3:5

You see, God is Holy. God cannot be in the presence of sin. Is there anyone here who has ever sinned? Raise you hand. Who has lied? Cheated? Said bad words? Disobeyed their parents? And didn’t do things they should have?

That means that God cannot honor your worship of Him. But don't worry! God knew that you would be sinful and couldn't be good enough by yourself. So God did something about it. Since God hates sin, it makes Him really angry!! Wrathful!! But since God knew you couldn't take all of His wrath and still live, he sent His Son to take the wrath that you deserved! God had Jesus Christ take every sin that ever was, and died by crucifixion.

God says - we were by nature objects of wrath. Eph 2:3

God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Eph 5:6

God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement, Or as the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away sin, through faith in His Blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, – Romans 3:25

be saved from God's wrath through him! Romans 5:9

Have you experienced God intimately in your life? Have you felt His heart in yours? If not, will you ask God to take all of your sins and put them on Jesus Christ, who took the punishment that you deserved. Then you must ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit that you would live for Him forever and always!! When you do that, then your everyday life will be as worship to Him!!

But don't limit your worship of God to just Wednesday mornings! When God's Spirit is in you, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

God wants and enables you to worship Him all day long. And it's easy! Just keep Him in you mind and talk to Him in your thoughts as you learn and play. Worship is obeying the Lord out of Love and Gratitude for Who He is.