The Focus of My Worship

21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. --Matthew 6:21 (NLT)

1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. --Psalm 139:1-4 (NIV)

44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!  --Matthew 13:44-46 (NLT)

BIG IDEA: Faith requires that we believe what God has done … Worship requires that we acknowledge who God truly is

1. Does My Worship Focus on Tradition or Scripture?

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” --Mark 7:1-5 (ESV)

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us.  --2 Thessalonians 3:6 (NLT)

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. --Colossians 2:8 (ESV)

2. Does My Worship Focus on Judgment or Grace?

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” --Mark 7:5 (ESV)

God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. --Romans 5:20-21 (NLT)

3. Does My Worship Focus on Appearance or Authenticity? (Mark 7:6-8)

And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”  --Mark 7:6-8 (ESV)

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. --Hosea 6:6 (NIV)

“What pleases the Lord more: burnt offerings and sacrifices or obedience to his voice? It is better to obey than to sacrifice. It is better to listen to God than to offer the fat of sheep. --1 Samuel 15:22 (NCV)

4. Does My Worship Focus on Rationalization or Confession?

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” --Mark 7:9-13 (ESV)

Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. God sent him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus’ death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair, as in the past when HE was patient and did not punish people for their sins. And God gave Jesus to show today that HE does what is right. God did this so HE could judge rightly and so HE could make right any person who has faith in Jesus. --Romans 3:23-26 (NCV)

It is important as we grow in our faith and worship that we be willing to honestly do a self-inventory and self-assessment of where we are in our walk of faith. So I remind you once again of these four questions and ask you to consider them once again:

• Does my worship focus on tradition or Scripture?
• Does my worship focus on judgment or grace?
• Does my worship focus on appearance or authenticity?
• Does my worship focus on rationalization or confession?

NEXT STEP: The true focus my worship is ______________________

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” --Mark 7:14-23

I have two reactions to this list:

*I can see now that God knows the real ME.”

*I can see now that God loves the real ME since sent His Son for the very specific purpose of dying on the cross for me BECAUSE HE knows and loves me in spite of who the real ME is.

“The gospel declares that no matter how dutiful or prayerful we are, we can't save ourselves. What Jesus did was sufficient.” —Brennan Manning

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look Full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim - in the light of His glory and grace.

Worship of God focuses on Scripture, on Grace, on Authenticity, on Confession. And we worship God when we:

• Honor Him through collective praise and thanksgiving every Sunday … and Monday … and Tuesday … and Wednesday … you get it. Giving Him the highest praise and priority each day of the week.
• Love people the way Christ loved and loves them
• Serve others from the heart, acknowledging God as our motivation
• Teach others about Him … testify to others what He has done for us … share the Good News of what He can do for them.
• Recognize who we are inside, and thus how much we need the Lord.

10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’   --Luke 18:9-13 NIV)

There’s the truth of it all … the focus of worship comes down to something very simple: we need God’s grace and mercy and He has provided it through Christ, His Son. How can we not acknowledge that through praise, thanksgiving, service, sacrifice, generosity, etc.

The true focus my worship is ______________________