Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Mankind, made in the image of God, cannot help but worship. It's built into us. The question for each of us is, who or what will we worship? Deuteronomy 12 gives a portrait of what it looks like to worship the Lord God of the Bible.
In this message titled, A People Who Worship You Shall Rejoice in the Lord, Pastor Rich lays out seven principles for worshiping our Lord God. Let's listen in. This is part four of a message first preached on July 14, 2024 at Grace Bible Church in Winston Salem. You can listen to the message in its entirety and other sermons from this series at www.delightingrace.com. We are gathered here to acknowledge his worth.
As blood sacrifice, our worship is rooted in that sacrifice. We sang more than once this morning about how the sacrifice of Jesus is what establishes and affirms our worth. but what's also true is as we gather together to affirm the worthiness of God, it is strangely, strangely attractive to the unbeliever. Strangely, they might come in and consider it strange, but it is strangely attractive. And the New Testament tells us that.
Number seven. Our worship of God is to be inclusive. Verse 12. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your male servants and your female servants and the Levite that is within your town since he has no portion or inheritance with you. And we see something similar in verse 18.
You see everyone who's included in that. Everyone is included in that. Male servants and female servants and the Levites. I'm glad that's in there too. Your worship leaders are to be included in worship, right?
worship is our worship of God is is inclusive because we worship an inviting and welcoming God of compassion he is an inviting and welcoming God of compassion so our sons and daughters ought to be worshiping with us The male and female servants many of them were probably foreigners They should be worshiping with us too. And the Levite, we didn't own anything. And remember back in chapter 10 and verse 19, we were called to love the sojourner. Why? Because remember you were sojourners in Egypt.
Love the alien. Include them in worship. Our worship of God is to be inclusive. Number eight, our worship of God is to be passed on. It is to be passed on.
Look at verse 25. You shall not eat it that it all may go well with you and with your children after you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. And verse 28, be careful to obey all these words that I command you that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God. We just read about the inclusivity of where our children ought to be worshiping with us. Stop here for just a minute.
Is the only place your children see you worship is here? then you are robbing them of worshiping God. It's good that they see you worship here, but it needs to be more than just here. Your children need to see you worship. They need to see in you that God is the greatest and most important reality of your life.
That he is a holy and just God, but also that he is gracious. and loving and merciful. And he is worthy of our adoration and devotion. In this way, also, our worship of God is a great contrast and repudiation of pagan worship that will lead people simply to indulge their passions. There's a great contrast here.
Look again with me at verse 31. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way as the nations do for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods for they even burned their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. How awful, how awful that is. And how many parents are sacrificing their children today at the altar of the self. at the altar of image, at the altar of material acquisition, at the altar of sexual appeal.
How many girls grow up today believing that their worth is in their sexual appeal? We sacrificing our children Throughout Deuteronomy God is especially concerned about the welfare and training of children throughout Deuteronomy. Remember the Shema that we memorized? You talk about it in your home, when you're in the way, when you rise up, when you lie down. teach them diligently to your children and that is a command to the parents that's not a command to the levites it's a command to parents teach them diligently to your children they are to be diligently taught in the ways of god they are children are to be cognizant and part of corporate assembly they need to be reminded of his mighty redeeming acts and protected from the lures and vicious practices of pagan worship and yes there is a lot of pagan worship today rescue your children from them a lot of it can be held in your pocket rescue your children from that lastly number nine our worship of God is to be a stewardship of life meaning our worship of God isn't something that only happens in this room this is corporate worship but Chris brought it out well at the call to worship.
We worship throughout the week. And then on Sunday, the Lord's day, we get to bring our worship together corporately. What a joy it is, what a delight it is. But this fuels our worship throughout the week. Verse seven, verse 12, verse 18, a stewardship of life is a matter of worship.
Your stewardship of life is a matter of worship. And don't take that word stewardship just simply to be talking about money. Listen to me. Everything you have has been entrusted to you. Your relationships, your time, your intellect, your talents, all of it is entrusted to you and your stewardship of those things is an act of worship.
He says in these verses, 7, 12, and 18, in all that you undertake, whether therefore you eat or drink, do all what? To the glory of God. That's pretty broad, isn't it? that makes it very, very clear that our worship of God is not just relegated to a time and a place. I like what Raymond Brown writes He says we have been made for God and unless that God vacuum is filled by God other things will always be out of perspective.
Unless that God-shaped vacuum is filled by God, all other things will always be out of perspective. Nothing, therefore, is of greater importance than acknowledging his prior claim on our lives. And that is precisely what we do when we worship. When I worship, I'm acknowledging God's claim on my life.
so your worship is not relegated only to a time and a place you are a worshiper of a holy redeeming benevolent sovereign this is what god wants from our worship let's resolve to be this in obedience to God let's worship him in the way that he has called us to as the people of God would you stand with me please our father God benevolent sovereign you are good you are faithful you are holy and just You are merciful and kind. You are gracious. You are good. And you alone have the words of eternal life. You alone are worthy of our devotion.
And so, Father, I pray that you would find the understanding, the affirmation, and the resolve in our hearts today to be worshipers of you in all that we undertake. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in Him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
Thank you.
