Looking Up Camp 2014 - Nelspruit preach

The way people worship can be so different around the world and from church to church but it’s all aimed at the same person - Jesus. 

Many things will end when we get to heaven - both good and bad.
Bad things: Sin, sickness, oppression, abuse
Good: Preaching the gospel

Only a few thing continue on into eternity. 

1 Cor 13
v8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
…
v13 So now faith, hope, and love abide (remain with us now), these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Why is love the greatest?
- God is love!
- Love will continue on into eternity. The others will cease.

Why do these things end?
v9-12 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Love continues. We are in the Fathers love. We will continue to love and worship Him.
In fact these other things stop but love grows deeper and bigger. 

Worshipping will continue in heaven and our worship will become bigger and fuller because we will see Him face to face!

Worship and the object of our worship

Rev 4 - the throne in Heaven
v8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" 

If these heavenly creatures can sing the same one sentence “day and night, ceaselessly” then they have obviously seen something that we have yet to see in full.

We're going to spend a lot of time worshipping. So what is worship?

Rom 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
... Great, what does that mean? Ask for answers.
Bible reading 101 - Context! Most people stop there - let's read on...
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Back to v1... Present your bodies.... to God.
Worship needs an object!

Just like love needs an object.
Explain subject (worship) - object (God)

1 Cor 13:4-7
Love

Love is patient (with others) and kind (to others); love does not envy (others) or boast (to others); it is not arrogant (to others… etc.) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Think of all the pictures you all post on your Facebook wall with a perfect Instagram filter and some inspirational word on it…
"Believe"
"Hope"
"Love"

In what? In who? Without an object someone/something to direct these at they are trite and meaningless!

Passion is in the blood of young people. Direct your passion at something!Or even better, at someone!

Are we passionate about being passionate? Or are we passionate about something or someone?

This kind of thing is a real problem!
Relationships and marriages are wrecked because people are more in love with the feeling of being in love or falling in love than they are with the person they say they love. What is that!?
Marriages break apart and the reason given is "I don't love them anymore." Lost the emotional feeling of "falling in love”…

If you are just passionate about the passion then you've got nothing to stand on! Hype dies away very quickly. Emotions shift and change. We need to base our lives on something that never changes or our lives will be emotional roller coasters. Remember Rev 4:8 we just read, “the lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come…”  God never changes.

Are we passionate about being passionate? Or are we passionate about Jesus?

Subject: Worship

What are some good models for what worship is?

I am convinced the most biblical is this:
Revelation and Response

Why? Look at the Bible!  
I invite you to take a look through the entire bible for every time people are worshipping.
Please actually do this! You bible app makes this really easy to do. 

When you do this there are a few things you can look at. I'm going to look at two:

1. You can look at how these people worshiped.
Some of the actions are described. Singing, bowing etc. 
Sometimes the original words help us here... 
Old Testament dance, clap, hallal. 
New Testament proskyneo bow down, to approach to kiss the hand, latreuo to serve

It is interesting to do but only partially useful. Lots is down to cultural responses.
Age, wealth, country (eg gratefulness SA vs USA), different historical or political context.

John 4
Jesus gets into a discussion with a Samaritan woman. Talks about living water. Tells her all about her family situation. Tells her to call her husband. She says She has no husband. He says, you have had 5 husbands, the current one is not your husband.

John 4:19
The woman said to him, “ Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 

… Caught in a corner, she tries to change the subject. Prophet therefore let's ask a religious question...

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “ Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

She asks how to worship. On this hill or in Jerusalem. We do this too. We ask how we should be doing it. Having conferences and workshops and books and upgrading our lights and sound and praying for better musicians...

Jesus answers her and says “neither here nor there” - but will worship in spirit and truth for this is the worshiper the Father seeks.

God is looking for worshipers!
v23 the Father is seeking such people to worship him

We can spend time, money and emotional effort trying to perfect the style of our worship and shape it to be pleasing to God. God isn't looking for your worship like He needs it to make Himself feel better. He is looking for you as a worshiper!

Become a worshiper!

So, what is a worshiper? Brings me onto point 2.

Remember we are looking in the bible for people we find worshipping. 
1. Was “how" do they worship

2. You can look at why they do it.
This is far more useful!

Again, bible reading 101 - context! Go back and look at what caused the people to worship.

Go and do this reading yourself but what do you think caused not most, but all the worship?

Always 2 things:
1. Seeing Him reveal something about Himself or 2. Seeing God do something awesome.
His nature/character /name and His deeds/the things He has done (Ex 33)

Remember, Jesus is the very image of God! Whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father.  Jn 14:9
Who is Jesus? What does scripture say about Him? What does He say about Himself? And what has jesus done?

What is a worshiper?
Someone who has had a revelation of Jesus! Your natural response is worship!

Revelation (see Jesus) and response (worship)!

If you or anyone else can spend any amount of time talking about worship and not talk about Jesus, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!

Remember this: Worship is not the point! ...
Jesus is the point!

Our worship needs an object! Everyone worships. We are created for it. People, money, some dream you may have, power over others, sex... These are modern day idols.

Jesus is the only one who is worthy to be the object of our worship.
Everything and everyone else will let you down. Jesus never will!
In fact, for now our worship will always be too small for Him. But the perfect will come!

How to become the kind of worshiper the Father seeks? (Jn 4)

Get a revelation of Jesus!

How do we get a revelation of Jesus? 4 quick practical points.

1. Read the Bible
Jesus is the Word! He has revealed Himself in His word.
Luke 24:27 - Jesus after His resurrection
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Try a Bible reading plan. Start small with a reading plan that tackles just one of the gospels.You don't have to read the whole bible in one go.
Get a bible reading app on your phone that sends you reminders. Form a habit of reading in small doses every day. 

2. Pray
Just pray. It's just talking to God.
Pray and ask God to reveal Himself to you.
Try getting to know a special lady friend when you never speak to her…
Again start small. 2 minutes a day. But do it every day! 
Don't worry if it's a shopping list at first. It'll grow. I had to plan things to say and rehearse my lines when I was trying to impress my wife.

3. Be committed to local church
Heb 10:25
Christianity is a communal faith. God called us into the church. Not To be lone-rangers. We are saved and brought into a body with many members and which Christ as the head. 1 Cor 12
In a church we  have the privilege of sitting under regular preaching by other people who have seen Jesus. Preaching that is (hopefully) saturated with the word of God.
Small groups. Testimony - hear people's stories of how they continue to encounter Jesus.

4. Be full of the Holy Spirit
It can be very difficult to continue doing all of the previous three points in our own strength.

John 16:13-16
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 
All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
He reveals and gives glory to Jesus - John 16:14-16
He helps us to read the bible. Guides us into all truth. John 16:13
He teaches us to pray. Rom 8:26-27