Authentic Worship. Is it singing a song? Is it stained glass, electric guitar? I believe authentic worship is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the body of Christ today. Would you like to hear exactly what Jesus says authentic worship is and how to do it?
Then stick around. What does authentic worship really look like?
Well today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram gets intensely practical. God is actively seeking true worshipers, people who worship Him in spirit and truth, from the heart, with an accurate view of who He is. But here's our problem. We've made God so small, reducing Him to our buddy instead of recognizing Him as the holy, transcendent creator of the universe. Today, Chip reveals three essential characteristics of worship that pleases God.
Plus, He'll share practical tools that can transform your daily time with God.
Well, here's Chip Ingram concluding our series called Experience Breakthrough.
Well, let's Ask one question. If someone asks you, Who are you worshiping? In your honest heart of hearts, who are you worshiping? Is it Christ? Or is it An idol.
Person, job, success. Can I suggest that As I keep talking, you start having a little wrestling match with God about what has your best interest in mind. and what would be the wisest thing for you to do. It's important. In fact, Your whole future depends on it.
We find in John chapter 4, verses 21 to 24, Jesus ends up talking with a lady, a Samaritan. She was a despised woman. And the historical history is: Samaritans are kind of like Jewish half-breeds. They have half-Jewish blood and half-Samaritan blood, and they had a real tussle between the Jews and the Samaritans. And so Jesus is tired, the fellows go in to grab lunch.
He's sitting by a well and this lady we find out later has a pretty uh Checkered past. Jesus looks beyond all that. And they strike up a conversation. Jesus declared: believe me, woman, a time is coming. When you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
They got talking about worship, and she said, Well, you know, our fathers do it here, and you Jews do it over there. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we know for salvation. It's from the Jews. Yet a time is coming.
And it has now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
Now notice this line. For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. You want to be close to God? You want to experience God. You want to see God do things in your life about People that you read about and in the New Testament.
In the Old Testament, he is seeking. I mean, he's got the spiritual x-rays out probing, looking for men, looking for women, looking for students who would worship him in spirit and in truth. He longs to have a relationship with you. You are special. But he won't interfere.
You know, it's like people dancing, you know? It's rude to rip someone else and say, I want to dance. See, when you're polite, what do you do? You tap them on the shoulder. And then you step in.
This is what God does. He comes to you. And he taps you on the shoulder. He says, Excuse me, can I cut in? And you say, well, I'm worshiping this house right now.
He says, I know. He said uh Not a good dance. And he taps you on the shoulder and he says, Can I cut in? Oh, I'm worshiping my career and I have to go to school and I gotta go to grad school and then I have to do this and I have to do that. He says, I know.
Can I cut in? See? He seeks after people. who worship him in spirit and in truth. Why?
God is spirit. And his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
Now, the question is: what, right? What in the world does it look like? If the Holy Spirit will illuminate our minds, do you realize that the Father will be seeking you? We find in John chapter 4, verses 21 to 24, Jesus ends up talking with a lady, a Samaritan. It's very interesting.
In verses 21 and 22, they're talking about geography and location. Authentic worship can happen anywhere.
Now, we're more open to that, but in that culture, that society, hey, God is going to show up at the synagogue. Jesus said, a time's coming when location means nothing. See, worship is not about form. It's about function. It's not about location.
It's about purpose. Worship can happen in a church building. Nature, quiet moments, a human heart. 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20 says, Know you not that your bodies are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? God, we are told in Scripture, doesn't take up residence in.
Things made by human hands, but what in human hearts? If you know Christ as your Savior, if you've turned from your sin, believed on his death on the cross and his resurrection, and invited Christ to forgive you of your sin, you've trusted in him, and he's entered your life. You've been adopted into his family. The Holy Spirit lives within you. You are his sanctuary.
It can happen anywhere. It can happen as you walk, it can happen as you talk, it can happen as you think. Every single moment of every day, anywhere, worship can take place. But it begins. at a point in time when you say, I want to worship you as a living sacrifice.
This is me. Second, Authentic worship flows from the heart. Did you notice that phrase happened two times? Worship in spirit. Everyone wants to know: should there be a big S there or a little S?
You know, like in spirit as a big S, the Holy Spirit, or in spirit out of the human heart? From the context, It seems clear that it's a small S. It's from the heart because the Holy Spirit hadn't even been given yet. But as we read our New Testament, what we know is both are true. It's the Holy Spirit who teaches us how to pray.
It's the Holy Spirit that leads and guides us into all truth.
So both are accurate. But the idea here, Jesus is saying, He's living in a world with religious ritual. Jesus is saying: true worshipers have to be people from the heart. Anytime you get honest, anytime you're broken, anytime you say, Oh, God, I need you, and you come just as you are, God says, and I'm there. I'll meet you.
He's just looking for people who come honestly from the heart. God has room for people that have blown it deeply. Who have absolutely messed up morally and they repent and they come back broken, and God has a place to forgive. Are their consequences sure? But He meets them where they're at.
You want a father who's seeking and pursuing you? First of all, realize worship happens anywhere. take advantage of it. Authentic worship flows from the heart. Third, authentic worship is rooted in an accurate view of God and Of ourselves.
Notice in truth, it's in spirit from the heart, in truth. Scripture is the standard for our worship. John 17, 17. Jesus is in the garden. He's praying.
He's ready to check out of the planet. Remember? Sanctify them a praise to the Father. Sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is thy truth. When we wanted to know what the object of our worship should be, what did Jesus say?
I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you're going to have authentic worship, Jesus needs to be the center of it. What did Jesus say? If I be lifted up, what? I will draw all men to myself.
You see, worship has got to be much more than an experience, an emotional experience, even a religious experience. All kind of religions have all kind of religious experiences. It must be in spirit and in truth the truth of Christ, the truth of Scripture, the truth of the resurrection, the truth of the character of God. What has reduced our worship in our day is God has gotten so small. Because we We don't think about God as he is.
God used to be so far away that people couldn't get close to him. And then this whole evangelical Christianity came in, and we've swung the pendulum in our day where God's everybody's buddy. Hey Lord, hey man upstairs, give me five man. I got news for you. I got news for you.
He's a holy God. And when the people of the Bible see a holy God, they fall on their face. And every time we open a curtain and you look at heaven, Isaiah 6. Revelation 5. Anytime you get a peek at heaven, you know what you see?
You see worship and you see exalted angelic beings flying and they cover their eyes and they cover their feet because they are in awe. They are in awe of the holiness and the otherness and the sheer power. of the holy God who created all that there is. We are so glib with the God of the universe. And we don't think he can do much because we have shrunk him down.
to our little size, and made him our little best friend Jeanie. Who work out our life. And we pray about parking spaces. I'm for that. And relationships and money and this and that.
And you know what? When's the last time you thought, who is God? And you worship him for who he is. And then to think that he would grant a parking space or a life mate or a financial need is humbling. that one so transcendent, so powerful, Even knows you want a parking space.
Let alone answers that. But you know what he is? He's intimate and he's caring. and is compassionate. And so he'll just take me and he'll take you.
where you are. He'll meet you where you are. Not where you ought to be. Right view of God and a right view of ourselves. That's what truth does.
When you look at yourself You're full of dignity because you're made in the image of God, but you are fallen, and I am fallen. And we are sinful, and the heart is desperately wicked above all else. And when you worship, you will find something happening. The closer and the closer and the closer you get to God, you will not have any problem with humility. Because God's holiness expands.
And you know what happens? Your sinfulness expands. See, most of us We think God grades on the curve. He doesn't. He's 100% pure.
100% of the time, all the time. He doesn't break on the curve.
So you know what I do? In my weaker moments, and I have many of them. I find someone who's a little less holy than me, and I compare myself to them, and I think, you know what? Yeah, that's not. I'm doing pretty good, you know?
You know, I don't swear anymore, and I'm doing this a little better. You know what? Then I get before God. And then he lets me see some of my motives in ministry. And then he lets me see little things that come out of my mouth that reveal a heart that is so selfish.
And then he lets me see some just junk. And there's times when I have a great time praying. I just think, God, how do you even put up with me? He says Jesus Todd put up with everybody. He loves you.
He died for you. He paid for that sin that I just pointed out. and you're in a lifelong process of him renewing and transforming you.
Well Are you a worshiper that the Father's seeking? Do you worship? Anywhere? Does your worship come from the heart? Is your worship revealed an accurate view of God, an accurate view of yourself?
You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We'll return to our message in just a moment. But first, did you know that you can access this entire series anytime you want? Head on over to livingontheedge.org where you'll discover Chip's full teaching library, along with study guides and small group materials. Whether you want to replay today's message or explore other topics, everything you need to grow spiritually is available online at livingonthege.org.
Let's get back to Chip's message. But let's move on. How can you experience greater intimacy in your worship? Let's get real practical. Let me give you some tips, if you will.
Uh from people who've walked with God a lot longer than me and a lot longer than Most here. I think one of the greatest problems in our worship is lack of balance. We tend to get into ruts very quickly. Certain forms, whatever form we grow up with, we think that's the way. It's amazing.
People, if you grew up with hymns and God spoke to you through hymns, do you think hymns are what we ought to sing?
Some of us that came to Christ through courses, courses is where it's at.
Some of you that came to Christ with electric guitars, you know, well, I'll tell you, God doesn't. God couldn't even be in the building if there's not electric guitar and drums. 'Cause that's how you came to Christ. There's some of you that think that you're not really worshiping unless you raise your hands. And there's some of you that think if you do raise your hands, please don't worship next to me.
There's some people that, unless the organ is playing in the stained glass, and there's that sense of absolute silence when you walk in. Then that's the way to worship. And there's others that feel, unless there's the joy of the Lord, unless there's celebration happening in the room, then there's not worship. And you know what? You're all right.
You're all right. But so easily what we do is we get in a rut. and we think it's form instead of function. And then we slide into very gradually making our needs, our lives, our agendas. instead of God, the focus of our time of worship.
Private worship, I believe, is our Declaration. Our Declaration of Driving a Stake. to refuse. to become little gods. To the extent that you worship privately, you are driving a stake and saying, I'm going to have something in my life on a daily, or at least almost daily basis, that forces me to stop.
and let go of all the plastic. all those beads. And remember who is. Lord. King.
Sovereign. Boss. And private worship is a declaration. of my refusal to be God. And when I don't have time to worship, when I'm too busy to worship, you make the parallel.
How could we not have time for Him who made us? It's an oxymoron, isn't it? Unless we really believe. Were God or? We're worshiping something else.
In your private worship So that you don't get in a rut. This was taught me early on, but it's been very effective. In fact, when I do, sometimes I have a hard time concentrating. And I have a really hard time praying, and I feel like my prayers aren't getting anywhere. The other big problem I have in worship and time with the Lord is I lie a lot.
I lie to myself. I pray prayers I don't mean. I say things that sound good. And then I hear them and I think. And so I write him down.
I don't know why, but when I see it in print, I'm thinking, oh, Ingram, who are you fooling? That's not true. And then I write down what's really true. And often in my journal, I'll write down the letters A, C, T, and S. Because if I'm under a lot of pressure, all I do is S, supplication, supplication, supplication.
The A stands for adoration. in your private time with God. Read some passages about who he is. or think thoughts about his character. Second is confession.
This is an easy part to skip in a hurry. And every time I skip it, my spiritual skin gets thicker, and then it's harder to hear God's voice. But I'll write C on my paper and then I'll sit quietly and I'll say, God, will you bring anything to my mind that I need to confess? Anything that's produced a barrier between me and you or me and another person? And I said quietly.
And I assume that what God brings to my mind, not vague now, if you get a vague feeling like you are a jerk. That is not God. Because it's true. Because the scripture is very clear, the Holy Spirit's job is to what? He illuminates in order to draw you near.
That's what conviction is. Conviction is the opposite of condemnation. Condemnation makes you feel bad and makes you want to go away from God. Conviction is: hey, I really love you, and there's this little problem between us. Why don't we get this taken care of so we can get closer?
And you sit quietly and He'll show you. Third is tea for Thanksgiving. I find that multiple mornings I don't feel like, I don't feel like being chip, I don't feel like being a pastor, I don't feel like doing anything. And maybe you can agree. And you know, then you think, well, it's a cup of coffee.
And then after my second cup of coffee, and I still feel the same way, I realize maybe I have an attitude problem. And it's amazing to sit down and fill half of a page. God, I'm thankful today for. And then I start with my wife and I start with my kids and I begin to list things that I'm thankful for. And in about five minutes, my attitude changes.
And I offer them up to him. This little acronym, ACTS, A-C-T-S, I think it's a great way to learn to worship. The final one is S, supplication. And what I do is I just take my concerns, I write I'm concerned about, and then I list them. And then at the end of them, I turn them into prayers.
God, would you take this one? And would you take this one? Would you take that one?
Now, you don't need to write all that out. I'm just a slow learner, and it helps me. Because the other thing I've done is life gets complicated, and it is a joy.
Sometimes when I'm feeling really even less motivated than when I talked before, then what I do is I just flip back on my journal. Three days ago, and I see the check marks, the dates, the answers to prayer. Then I flip back a week: check mark, check mark, check mark, check mark, dates, answers to prayer. And you know what it reminds me? God is still on the throne.
Ingram? You're not the center of the universe. Lighten up, buddy. I got it all under control. I had a control last week, got it now, got it next week.
If you get hit by a milk truck, life will go right on. And you know what? That's a healthy thing to remember. In public worship, let me give you three P's by way of practical experience. The first one, And take this from a winsome heart, okay?
Take this from, because we don't practice this well. kind of warn you, is preparation. If you come to Saturday night, slow down earlier in the afternoon. If you come on Sunday, the night before, You can't stay out till 2 o'clock in the morning and have effective worship at 9 or 11. See, what you gotta ask is, this is the most important thing you get to do all week.
You know, this is it. I mean, it's like the NBA championship game, the NFL Super Bowl game. Those guys are not running around the hallways at 3 in the morning, you know, playing cards. Man, they're on a special diet and they're thinking, they're focused, because that day is the big day. You know why?
Because that's what they worship.
Now what we worship, man we ought to prepare. You ought to come emotionally low-key'd. And focused in? You oughta come rested? You ought to have prayed for the service, the people involved in it.
You ought to realize that the first 15 minutes is not fluff time. It's when we sing in adoration to God.
So coming here not on time, but five to ten minutes early to interact and maybe share what's going on and encourage someone. And actually being here. When it starts. And see, you're gonna come with an attitude of To hear from him, he's going to meet you. Second P is for purpose.
The purpose of worship is not to evaluate if Chip had a good night, if you liked the music, and if so-and-so is here that you hope would be here. The purpose. It is to not get anything, it's to come. to give. It's your opportunity in community Two.
Focus on The sovereign living source of all life, and tell him how you feel about him, how much you love him, how much you thank him, and so your purpose is to come to give. To offer yourself and your praise to Him. That would change then how you listen. That would change how you sing. Third P is participation.
Yeah. Church is not a spectator sport, nor is it a spectacle to come and observe.
Now we know that many people that don't yet know the Lord and God is bringing can spectate, and that's fine. But if you're a part of the family, It may be hard to sing at first. It was for me. Singing out loud was like weird. I never did that in my life.
And then I became a Christian. I got found out all these Christians sing. And I used to go. And little by little I warmed up. And I realize the Spirit of God works as we sing.
Um it's a place to Pray for. Reach up. Reach out. and listen with an ear to say Truth. I must obey the truth.
See, real worship always ends in participation. Once you see who He is, You're changed.
Now you've looked into the mirror, the perfect law of liberty. What specifically are you going to do and am I going to do? to put into practice the truth God's revealed to us. Until we have done that, we have not worshipped. Jot down for your own Luke chapter 5, 1 to 11.
Read that through with eyes of worship and see how Peter worships. And how he ends up Following Christ. Conclusion: Worship is not a service you come to or an activity you practice. Worship is a life focus and expression of your deepest longings, passions, and devotion. to whom or what you love the most.
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and a powerful message about worship that transforms everything. Chip will share one final thought in just a moment. If you'd like to revisit or share any part of this series, everything is available at livingonthege.org.
Now, as this series on experiencing breakthrough concludes, I want to point you toward a resource that can anchor your spiritual life. It's Chip's free 10-day devotional called Psalms of Hope. Here's the format. Chip provides ten minutes of Biblical teaching each day from Psalm one, Psalm fifteen, or Psalm twenty three, three Psalms that have sustained believers for millennia. Then you spend ten minutes in personal reflection and prayer.
Just 20 minutes daily, 10 transformative days. Today, we explored what it means to be a worshiper that the Father seeks. Psalms of Hope will deepen that practice, helping you develop the kind of authentic, consistent worship we've been discussing. If you want worship to become more than an occasional feeling, if you want it to become the pattern of your life, these Psalms offer the pathway. Start today by going online to livingontheedge.org, search for Psalms of Hope, and begin your journey completely free.
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Well, now here's Chip with today's talking point. As we wrap up today's message, I just want to remind you. that boredom isn't bad. Boredom is simply the evidence that we're trying to scratch an eternal itch with a temporal back scratcher. You see The reason we have music and noise and we stay busy, busy, busy is because we don't want to get alone and realize that we're worshiping something far less than the God who created us.
And so authentic worship we learn today, it can happen anywhere, not just in church, it's your life. We learn authentic worship, it's got to flow from your heart. It's not external. It's not just form. And we learn that authentic worship is rooted in an accurate view of God and ourselves.
So by the way, let me give you just those keys I gave on private and public worship because this week I want you to give that a whirl. Remember the ACTS acronym, ACTS. I'd like you to set aside 15 or 20 minutes. Just this week. and adore God, Confess your sin, Give thanks and then supplication, pray for some others.
Have you got that? A, C, T, S. Do that for 15 or 20 minutes every day this week and see if it doesn't superpower your worship to a new level. I'm Dave Druy inviting you back next time for a lesson on how to build lasting relationships. Join us Monday for Living on the Edge.
Uh Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
