Despising the ordinary

What could church do that would enable you to flourish spiritually?  That's the question we began with at Gospel Group last night as we studied Nehemiah 11-12.  It's a fascinating question isn't it because there are so many possible answers and so many of them are dictated by the trends in our society.  But it is a question worth thinking about not least for how it exposes our habit of despising the ordinary God instituted means of flourishing in our faith.  What could church do that would enable you to flourish in your faith?

In Nehemiah 11 and 12 the walls are rebuilt, the people have committed themselves to the covenant having repented of their sins.  And now they put structures in place in Jerusalem that will help them as God's people flourish in God's city.  Firstly 1 in 10 of the people from the surrounding villages and towns moves into the city.  We need others, something that is plainly obvious when you read the New Testament and pay any attention to the one another's.  They put leaders in place who will administer what needs to be administered, who will give direction and be the bridge between good intentions and actual action.  They put the priests in place to make the offerings and sacrifices which we know point to Jesus the great high priest who once for all offers himself for sin.  They recognise the Levites and put them in place, those who read, teach and apply God's word to the people.  They set people apart to be gatekeepers, to provide security from their enemies but also to facilitate purity by keeping Sabbath traders from other nations out.  And they recognise and put musicians in place who will lead the people in recognising, rejoicing in, and responding to the faithfulness and goodness of God.

In Nehemiah 12v44-47 we are told that the people ensure that these groups are provided for materially on an ongoing basis so they can keep on dedicating themselves to their given roles, so that God's people have the trellises (yes I know that's been used somewhere else) which facilitate spiritual flourishing.  Israel commit themselves to having structures and people in place that will enable them to flourish spiritually.  But it's worth noticing that these are the ordinary everyday things that God's people had done for centuries.  It is not a magic bullet, it doesn't guarantee spiritual flourishing (see chapter 13) but it does provide an opportunity for it to happen.

As you move into the New Testament we see similar structures put into place in the New Testament church.  Those who read, teach, and apply the bible to the people, those who guard them (see Acts 20 - elders watch over the flock), musicians to lead us in worship, leaders who help direct us as to where the rubber hits the road with a passage.  And yet because of the sheer ordinariness of it all we are tempted to despise such things, to take them for granted because of their everyday or every Sunday-ness.  Instead we ought to thank God for them and for providing them so that we have opportunity to spiritually flourish and we ought to dedicate ourselves to making the most of the opportunity they provide rather than looking off and wondering about or longing for the silver bullet that will provide instant flourishing.

The Gospel and Worship

Here are the notes and discussion questions from LightHouse last night;

Worship is not an activity in our lives, but the activity of our lives.

Worship flows from grasping God’s compassionate grace
Worship is the natural response to God’s mercy(1). But what are God’s mercies? Paul has spent 11 chapters explaining what they are, here’s a quick summary. In Romans there are two definitions of sin, one is breaking the law the other is worshipping anything other than God as God. The consequences of both are judgement, condemnation and death, for (3:22)everyone. But from ch3 onwards Paul explains and applies the mercy of God; that though we deserve judgement, condemnation and death God mercifully sends Jesus who gives us righteousness by faith so that “all are justified freely by his grace…” and frees us from slavery to sonship in the service of God.

The rest of Romans unpacks how we ought to live in the light of God’s salvation, not to contribute to it but as a response to it. God’s mercy and grace are all encompassing, they make the believer what we are. They take us from death to life, from alienation to justification, as Jesus gives everything to save us, and that grace flows out and over from our hearts to our actions and to others.

In the previous verses Paul has been praising God for who God is, and now he concludes that the only right response to God’s character and his actions is worship, and a worship which gives everything. A right response to God doesn’t just demand gifts and sacrifices but the giver too. “in view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices,”. Paul has in view God’s compassion, if God in his loving compassion gives everything for us how can we not give everything back to him. We are to be a people shaped by compassionate grace!

Worshipping God is the natural response to realising who God is and receiving his grace. It is an awareness of God’s compassion, mercy and grace in saving us that fuels our worship.

We don’t worship because we know we should, that isn’t worship, we worship out of an understanding and awe at what God has done for us. Now that means that if we are struggling to love God and worship him the problem is hugely significant, because it means we are forgetting or discounting God’s mercies. But it also means the remedy to listless, lifeless worship is to look again at the gospel and be amazed at what God has done for us.

Worship is physical, relational and everyday
One of the greatest problems we face as Christians is the tendency to divide life up into compartments. We have our work compartment, friends compartment (or even compartments), church compartment, leisure compartment. Think of it like a house, each compartment is like a different room in your house with a different purpose and a different mode of behaviour in each. For example you don’t chop carrots and cook in the bedroom, likewise you don’t sleep in the kitchen.

There is a danger that following Jesus functions a bit like adding a conservatory to a house, it is an extra room, it involves some minor cosmetic tweaks but no major changes, you go into it go out of it but essentially the rest of the house is unchanged. But Paul is saying following Jesus, understanding the compassion of God changes everything, it’s not the conservatory, it’s taking the house down to its foundations, laying new ones and starting again so that the gospel runs through and changes everything.

That is what Paul is saying here “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God...” Everything changes.

But that is liberating because it means worship isn’t an extra activity to be crowded into our already busy schedules. True worship isn’t mystical or disembodied it is real, earthy and physical, it isn’t an extra slot to put in the diary but a new way of thinking about the diary and how we do everything in it. It is costly because it means offering all of my life to please God, but it is also liberating because I can offer all of my life to God. Our work, relationships, friendships, family time, leisure time are all to be offered to God as worship that is liberating.

Leon Morris says this “The believers body is to be employed as the living, breathing expression of the grateful response of a life lived under the recognition of the expansive mercies of God. It is appropriate to do so with ones body, in any and every sphere of life, that which will honour God and bring glory to his holy name.”

My life, all of it, is to be offered as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – that is right worship, not because it saves me or contributes in anyway but because we are aware of what God has done and is doing for us and want to respond to his love and mercy. But what will that look like?

Worship isn’t something we do as an individual but as a community shaped by grace. As Paul fleshes this living out in 3f he shows us that it means loving and serving each other(3-8), using the gifts that God has given us to serve others, for their good not our glory. So worshipping God may look like encouraging someone by sending them a text to say you are praying for them, or popping in to visit someone, or by singing God’s praise when we gather together. It may look like serving others practically by serving tea or coffee or transporting people to church, or setting up chairs. You may worship God as you give generously, or lead with excellence, or teach the children or the adults thoughtfully leading them to Jesus.

Worship is living out of the love we have found in God, living with God’s contagious compassion(9-13), and (14-21)it is evidenced in a love for those who oppose us. It is intensely practical and physical, it is intensely relational, and it is all fuelled by an awareness and joy in the love we have experienced in God. It is not something we whip up or add to a ‘to-do list’ but is an out-flowing and overflowing of how much we are loved.

Worship is a War(2)
But we need to have a gospel world view so that we don’t find ourselves disillusioned by a hopeless idealism which falls flat on its face when we live in the world. Living out our identity in Christ, keeping worship as the activity of our lives will be a battle, it will involve change and effort, putting to death, and putting on.

Part of living as God’s people worshipping him as the activity of our lives is negative and part is positive. What is the negative(2)?

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world...” The word ‘world’ means age, do not conform to the pattern of this age. Live differently – that’s what it means to be holy. But I want to take a minute to think about how the world wants us to live, what pattern it calls us to conform to.

Self worship – our age prizes individualism, self fulfilment, rights, self esteem. You matter, you have the right to have what you want when you want it. We are constantly called to adopt this as our outlook.

Sacred/Secular divide – our ages pattern is that there must be a sacred secular divide, practice your religion in private but not in your professional sphere. That is increasingly the tune our workplaces, councils, bosses and government are singing – fine be a Christian, worship however you want on your time but don’t bring that to work.

There is no truth – so don’t contend that there is. Accept that every religion or no religion are all the same, don’t be a fundamentalist, or a bigot.

Be like everyone else – fit in, don’t rock the boat, go along with the consensus, be like everyone else.

All those and others are forces that are powerfully at work around us, one or all of them will have exerted their influence on you at times this week, they will have affected your thinking and or your actions. Just think back over this past week where have you felt that pressure at work, at home, when with friends? Where have you seen those messages in the media? How have they sought to make us conform?

Our age exerts powerful pressures on us to conform, it wants to shape our thinking because our thinking – our desires, emotions, our hearts – control our actions. Worshipping God as the activity of our lives is a battle.

We must replace that worldly pattern with another “but be transformed in the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” The grace of God is transformative; we are given a new identity, a new heart and a new way of thinking. God’s grace becomes the driving force of our lives, grace fuels the humility which leads us to serve others not insist on our rights, love for others becomes the natural mode of expression for our new hearts. God fills us with his Spirit to that end, but he doesn’t override our thinking, he calls us by grace to cooperate with him so that we understand more of who he is.

The gospel transforms us so that worship becomes not an activity in our lives but the activity of our lives.

1. Where particularly are you feeling the pressure to conform to the pattern of this age?

2. How would you encourage and help someone struggling with that?

3. Worship is physical, it is everyday and it is relational. How does that liberate us to worship God?

Bible overview final weeks readings

1. Revelation 1
1. What does this chapter tell us about God?
2. What does it tell us about people?
3. Revelation is written as a comfort and encouragement to God’s people facing uncertain times. What is there here that provides comfort and encouragement?

2. Revelation 4
1. What is John being allowed to see?
2. Why is God worshipped and how?
3. What here is there that you can use to help you worship God today?

3. Revelation 5
1. Who worships whom and why?
2. What does this teach us about who the Lamb is?
3. God is on the throne, the lamb has won and secured this future for his people – how will you respond to that?

4. Revelation 21
1. What is the believer’s future?
2. What are the defining marks of the new creation?
3. What is the key to the new creation?
4. How will knowing this is your future secured for you in Christ shape the way you live your life as worship?

Readings for next week in Bible Overview

1. Jeremiah 7
1. What are Israel relying on?
2. What does God require of Israel is they are not to be carried off into exile?
3. What disgusts God about Israel’s behaviour?
4. What does this chapter teach us about worship?

2. Jeremiah 31:31-40
1. What is God’s promise?
2. List the benefits of the New Covenant?
3. How is it different from the Old Covenant?
4. What does it mean for us to be under the New Covenant? Praise God for those things now.

3.Amos 5:18-27
1. What shouldn’t Israel long for and why?
2. How does God feel about their ‘worship’?
3. What would God rather have? How does this help us understand what worshipping God really is?
4. Examine your own worship; am I in danger of going through the motions? Do I do worship on Sunday but not during the week? Is worship The activity of my life or an activity in it?

4. Malachi 2:17-3:5
1. What is the question Israel ask of God?
2. What is God’s answer (note: look for the two comings)?
3. What will the Lord do when he comes to his temple?
4. How does this help us understand what Jesus comes to do?

Bible Overview Readings

Here are the 4 readings that go with teh Bible overview for next week.

1. Deuteronomy 17:14-20
1. What are the requirements God sets for a king?
2. What is the job of the King?
3. What is the promise that comes with obedience?

2. 1 Samuel 8
1. If God has set the pattern for kingship, why is it wrong for Israel to ask for a king here?
2. As God reviews Israel’s history what is his conclusion about Israel (v7-9)?
3. How would you describes Israel’s attitude to God?
4. What does this chapter teach us about God, worship and the human heart?

3. 1 Samuel 16:1-13
1. What is God’s concern as he looks for a king?
2. What does God provide for David, how does this help him rule (c/f Psalm 51)?
3. Yet even David was not perfect, Read 1 Sam 11, what causes David to fail?
4. What lessons can we learn from the life of David about worship?

4. 2 Chronicles 36:15-23
1. How is God’s grace to his people seen?
2. “God is faithful to his word, even when we would rather he wasn’t”, how is this seen here?
3. How serious is not worshipping God rightly? What ought this to teach us?
The book ends with a note of hope, as Cyrus allows the people to return. God is not finished with his plan yet.

Bible Readings for next week

1. Joshua 1
1. What does God call Joshua to do? What promises does he give him as he does so?
2. What phrase is repeated in this chapter? What do you think it looked like in practice?
3. How is worship seen in this chapter?

2. Joshua 24
1. In Joshua’s recounting of Israel’s history what stands out about God and the people?
2. Joshua calls them to fear God and serve him with all faithfulness, what does that mean they give up and what do they replace it with?
3. Why do you think Joshua initially says they cannot serve God (v19-20)?
4. What does this chapter teach us about us, God and worship?

3. Judges 2:1-19
1. What recurring pattern does this summary of the book set up?
2. What is the purpose of the judges?
3. What does this chapter teach about the hearts of Israel and the grace and love of God?

4. Ruth
1. Read through the book – what do you see of the character of Ruth and Boaz?
2. How is Boaz worship of God seen practically in the way he acts?
3. What is the purpose of the genealogy in v18-22? (c/f Matthew 1) What does it show us about the place of the Gentiles and God’s promise to bless all nations?

Bible Overview

We're nearly half way through our ten week Bible overview and it is proving every bit as challenging as I thought it might. We have spent 3 weeks looking at the book of Genesis; the first on chapters 1 and 2, the second on chapters 3-11 and last week on 12-50. Now it picks up pace, this week we're looking at Exodus-Deuteronomy under the heading 'A Nation of Worshippers', here are some of the challenges it poses:

1. The challenge to root yourself in one passage which you expound - It is tempting to do a skim through, but our commitment to expository preaching means I want to anchor my overview in one passage which summarises the main themes. This means investing time to discover the main themes and then locate such a passage.
2. The challenge of selectivity - By its very nature that means you are not saying everything good that there is to say. It is a great reminder that scripture is bursting with lessons we need to learn and such a series forces you to prayerfully choose.
3. The challenge of theme - Having picked the theme of worship I am endeavouring to stay anchored in this theme and have been amazed at the way the Exodus can be viewed as a battle for worship between God and Pharaoh and the false gods of Egypt, as well as the way small things like the ordering of the Israelite camp in Numbers 2 draw attention to God's centrality, the definition of worship in Deuteronomy 10-11 are breathtaking. But there is also so much that it means we don't touch on.
4. The challenge of application - There are so many areas of our contemporary worship that this series touches on; our fundamental misunderstanding of worship - it is THE activity of our lives not an activity in it. Worship is obedience to God's word but is not just legalism - something I fear is being lost. The challenge of teaching right worship to our children (Deuteronomy 6 and 11) in every day life. And so on that I seem to reach this point every week with application overload - so many applications so little time!

It needs to drive me back to prayer; 'Father God teach me by your word, open my eyes, my understanding and my heart.' It drives us back to trust in the word of God to do the work of God by the Spirit of God among those he will gather to hear his word on Sunday.

Bible overview readings for next week

1. Gen 50
1. On what basis did the Patriarchs worship God?
2. How far has God fulfilled the Quad promise he has made to Abraham at this point?
3. How is worship seen in Joseph’s final words? What similar promises do we have about our future?

2. Exodus 3
1. List the ways Moses responds to God in this chapter. What do we learn about his character?
2. How does God reveal himself and what does this mean?
3. What is God’s purpose in bringing Israel out of Egypt? (esp. v12, 18)
4. What does this chapter teach us about God and about worship?

3. Exodus 20
1. Why is the law given? (c/f 19:3-8, Deut 5:1-4)
2. Looking at the commandments they cover most of life. What does that tell us about true worship?
3. Read Ex 32 – What do we learn about the people, the law, worship and God?

4. Deuteronomy 6
1. How is worship defined in Deuteronomy? (c/f 11:1, 8, 13, 22, 26-8)
2. How is worship to be learned?
3. What does this look like practically today? What changes does it mean making to our priorities and diaries?

A world divided over worship

On Sunday from Genesis 4-11 we saw the consequences of sin worked out as the world divides over worship.

With Cain and Abel we see right and wrong worship. The big question in Gen4 is why does God approve of one offering and not the other? It’s in wrestling with these questions we will learn.

There is a clue in (3,4)Cain brings “some of the fruits of the soil” whereas Abel brings “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock”. We are given an insight into their hearts and worship. There is another clue(7) in God’s warning to Cain to “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” The issue isn’t with the offering – it isn’t that God dislikes fruit and veg – but with the offerer.

Heb 11:4 makes that clear “By faith Abel brought a better offering that Cain did.” The offerer is not approved of because of the offering but the offering because of the offerer. Abel was righteous his offering was only part of his worship expressed as the activity of his life, whereas Cain’s heart and living was wrong so his offering was wrong.

The division between those who worship God rightly and those who don’t continues in rest rest of the Bible narrative. We see it in the genealogy(ch5) with a line who worship God and a line who don’t. We see it with Noah who worships God with a hammer, as he accepts God’s grace to him hears God’s word and lives his life in the light of it – his building of the Ark is an act of worship to God. Twice the account draws our attention to this by emphasising Noah’s obedience(6:22, 7:5). And as God judge’s humanity for their wrong worship Noah is saved by grace and worships God because of it.

This division over worship continues right down to today. There are two fundamental issues for us as God's worshipping creation; the first is that right worship is worship of God as he reveals himself in scripture, secondly that God determines how we worship him rightly. Both of these run counter to our culture which says any worship goes and what you worship doesn't matter.

The nature of temptation

In studying Genesis 3-11 it has been great to be reminded of so many things, too much for one talk that's for sure. One of those things which has been very helpful has been the way Genesis 3 reminds us of the nature of sin.

Temptation is Sin made attractive - hence the reason when Eve looks at the fruit it was "good for food...a delight to the eyes"

But it also promises no consequences but reward - as Eve takes it there are no warning labels, no small print even, just the promise of knowledge. Yet the consequences are dire.

Finally sin is refusing to listen to God and to worship him. Adam and Eve in taking the fruit choose to worship something other than God - that fundamentally is the choice behind all sin.

It is helpful to see that these things lie behind all sin.

The Battle for Worship Begins

Bible Readings to accompany Bible Overview series - week 2:

Day 1: Genesis 2 (Recap)
1. How is Adam and Eve's worship described?

2. Why is marriage given? How should that affect our marriages and thoughts about marriage?

3. Worship is not an activity in our life but the activity of our lives. How will that change your thinking, actions and living this week?

Day 2: Genesis 3
1. How does Satan subvert worship?

2. What are the consequences of wrong worship for Adam and Eve?

3. What would it have looked like for Adam and Eve to have worshipped God rightly in Genesis 3?

Day 3: Genesis 4
1. Why does God reject Cain's offering? (1 John 3:10-15, Heb 11:4, Jude 11)

2. What does Genesis 4 teach us about worship and God?

Day 4: Genesis 5
1. Why do you think the genealogy is included?

2. What does the character of Enoch teach us about right worship?

3. What does it mean to walk faithfully with the Lord?

Day 5: Genesis 6-9 (part 1)
1. What is emphasised about Noah in contrast to the rest of humanity?

2. What is the context of Noah's relationship with God (6:8)?

3. Is sin serious? How is it seen?

Day 6: Genesis 11 (part 2)

1. What is emphasized about the building materials(v3)?

2. What does the incident at Babel tell us about man and his worship?

3. Sin is failure to worship God, how does this failure keep repeating itself?

Day 7: Review
1. What does Genesis 3-11 teach us about sin? How does that apply to us today?

2. God has shown tremendous grace to mankind despite its failure to worship and ruin of creation. List all the instances of grace.

3. "The God of the Old Testament is vengeful and judgemental, whereas in the New Testament we see a loving and gracious God." How would you use Genesis 3-11 to counter such a wrong view?

Bible Readings to accompany Sunday mornings

We started our Bible Overview series on Worship on Sunday morning (you can listen to it here: click) and I was thrilled to be asked by a couple of people what they could read during the week to help them get to grips with the Bible come Sunday mornings.

In light of those requests I'm endeavouring this week to put together a 9 week reading plan to accompany the series, hopeful I'll post them here by Friday.

A Bible Overview - the Battle for Worship

This coming Sunday we are starting a new series, its a Bible overview on the theme of worship. I've preached one before on the theme of kingdom, and looked for myself at the theme of covenant, but I've never preached a Bible Overview using the theme of worship.

In part the series is based on something I did three years ago for a small group on Tuesday mornings, except this is much longer and is to be preached to a Sunday morning congregation. Here's how the series looks

1. Genesis 1-2 - Worship and Creation
2. Genesis 3-11 - The Battle for Worship Begins
3. Genesis 12-50 - Worship and the Promise
4. Exodus-Deuteronomy - A Nation of Worshippers?
5. Joshua-Ruth - The Battle for Worship in the Land
6. 1 Samuel-2 Chronicles - Worship with a King
7. Isaiah-Malachi - The Watchdogs of Worship
8. Matthew-John - Perfect Worship
9. Acts-Jude - Worship in God's New Community
10. Revelation - The Past, Present and Future of Worship

Why do a Bible overview? Because we consistently teach expositionally through Bible books and the danger is that we get the micro picture but miss the big sweep of Bible narrative. A Bible overview is a chance to stand back and be amazed at what God has done in history. Its also a great way to familiarize young Christians with the whole Bible.

Its a series which provides many challenges for those preaching in terms of preparation. Firstly their is the sheer amount to be covered in each session, finding a text or a couple of texts to hang things on which represent the story of the whole, there is also the challenge of picking the big themes, selection, editing, and finally application to the people God has given us to teach. And then preaching it rather than lecturing it.

But it is phenomenally exciting; just in beginning preparation on Genesis 1-2 I am reminded what a great God we worship, so great that he has been worshipped from eternity past, that the whole of creation sings his praises and that amazingly he creates man and places him in the midst of this worshipping creation to worship him. Then there is the mode of worship for man - it is in obeying the word of God and fulfilling the mandate God gives him (what a great antidote to the 'worship(singing/music) wars' and 'worship' pastors we see in churches today!!!). And then there is the place of marriage in worship, if Adam and Eve are made to worship God by their ruling over the earth as God's regents and Eve is given to Adam to help in that task - then marriage is about worshipping God - how phenomenally liberating and counter cultural even in our churches!!!

Now the challenge is to teach those things that God has graciously reminded and amazed me with on Sunday.

worship at Christmas

What would you say you worship? We all worship – we all have something that gives us significance and that matters intensely to us.

Luke ch2 gives us a picture of just that in Augustus Caesar (1). What is Caesar doing? He is carrying out a census of his empire. Why? Because he wants to know how great he is, in fact my hunch is that he wanted it recorded so that he made his mark in history. Do you see what gave Caesar significance it was his empire, how many lands he had conquered, who he ruled over, the extent of his power.

You see it again in Matthew with Herod – why does he kill all the infant boys in Bethlehem because his rule, his reign, mattered more than anything else.

How about us, what gives us significance? Maybe it’s a relationship, or family, or career, or money, or things. We may think they give us significance but ultimately each of those things will leave us dissatisfied – if we centre our life on relationships we will be jealous, emotionally dependent and manipulative, unable to take even perceived criticism. If we centre our life on family we will try to live our life through theirs and what happens when they grow up and leave? If we centre our life and identity on work and career we will be workaholics and what happens to our sense of worth if we lose our job, if we centre our life on money and possessions we’ll never be content and end up envious of others and bitter because you can’t take it with you. If you centre your life on religion and doing good you will end up judgemental and proud.

I wonder what you think sin is. Most people think sin is breaking the Ten Commandments, or any other commandments, it is doing bad things, or not doing good things. But actually sin is more than that, it is seeking to establish a sense of self by making something else more central to your significance, purpose and happiness than your relationship with God. In fact the 10 commandments start out with that very idea “You shall have no other gods before me’. Sin is failing to live rightly relating to God.

Christmas is about God in his Son telling us we worship wrongly, how to worship rightly and living a life of perfect worship in our place.

Enjoying preaching

Over at Pure Church (see link in right hand side bar) they were blogging on how we enjoy church and the dangers of evaluating all the service in the same way. To whet your appetite here is an extended quotation from it:

"To enjoy a sermon or prayer, it seems you really must enjoy:

1. Thinking. Songs carry thoughts (increasingly the choruses only carry one thought). And if we sing well, we sing with understanding. But songs tend to be commercial-length thinking. Sermons tend to be at least sit-com length, and perhaps even drama length. The level of thinking required in the sermon can feel like a tax if you actually don't want to think that much. And so enjoyment may be weakened by a resistance to thinking.

2. Argument. Sermons not only demand thought, they actually demand some level of argument. There is sustained reasoning, illustration, advancement of points, anticipation of objections, and so on. If you don't like thinking, you probably won't like following arguments. You probably won't like the Pauline epistles. You'd probably prefer narratives and the "stories" of the Bible. And you probably won't enjoy preaching that much as a general rule. In fact, you probably don't like the good hymns either, since they often advance an argument of some sort. But to enjoy a sermon, a person must enjoy a well-made argument and be able to follow it.

3. Reflection. Sermons and prayers often insist on a fair amount of introspection and application. Songs and music are outstanding for leaving you with good feelings. And feeling good after singing truth is good. Yet, it takes quite a bit of skill to turn music and singing into extended reflection and lasting change. That's the role of the sermon and to some extent good prayer. In prayer there is confession and repentance and dependence and resolution. In the sermon there is application and teaching and correction and encouragement and rebuke and so on. If you don't want your sins to find you out, if you don't like to be spiritually challenged, if you don't want to reflect on how you think, feel, live and so on, then chances are you don't enjoy sermons very much. To enjoy a sermon, you must be willing to reflect on the implications of what's being said for all of life.

4. Listening. All of what I've said above presumes an ability and willingness to practice disciplined listening. Most people listen differently when they sing. Again, they listen for harmony, melody, rhythm... pleasing sounds that are intuited rather than cogitated (unless you're a musician or can read music). With prayer and sermons, there must be some cogitation; and that requires skillful listening. In a day and age where "huh" is a complete thought, listening may be a rare jewel. Listening is not particularly valued in a culture where laugh tracks cue all our "spontaneous" giggles and "outbursts." But if we would enjoy and really benefit from public or private prayer and sermons, we must enjoy (or at least not mind) listening.

5. Praise. Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about how we talk about public services is we limit "praise" only to the portions of the service where we sing or hear music. We even talk about "praise music." So, for many people, in subtle but real ways, "praise" is not what you're doing when you pray or listen to a sermon or give (there's something else that has a different standard for enjoyment). For many people, sermons are not praise because we think we're not "doing anything" when we listen, think, argue, and reflect. "We're just sitting there," we tell ourselves. But I like Piper's definition of preaching as "expository exultation." The aim of preaching is to help our people exult, revel, delight in God. Nothing is more appropriately considered praise than being led by the preached word to exult in the God of all creation who redeems sinners by the loving sacrifice of His Son and seals them until the day of redemption by His indwelling Spirit. We'd both exalt preaching and discover more enjoyment of it if we understood preaching and listening to be acts of praise."

Living life as worship

Having looked at Malachi 1:6-14 on Sunday there are some questions that it poses for us:

1. Do I rely on the perfect sacrifice of Christ my Saviour or attempt to make my own sacrifices sufficient for salvation?
2. As a response to the love and rescue that God enacts on our behalf in Christ do I live my life for him?
3. Do I treat God with honour or contempt?
4. Do I treat God with reverence or dishonour?
5. Do I offer parts of my life or all of my life?

Emotion - a right response

We were looking at Luke 7 again on Sunday and the incident where the woman weeps, wipes and anoints Jesus feet. It is striking passage, why? Because her response is so emotional - in fact Jesus draws attention to her response of great love and contrasts it unfavourably with Simon's failure to love but desire to discuss ideas.

It poses the question are we to respond to Jesus emotionally? This woman is aware of her sin and the great salvation that Jesus has given her hence her lavish love seen in action. A great sinner worships a great Saviour.

I found myself asking whether I know that response? Whether I keep on knowing that response and what does appropriate expression of that look like? Or am I like Simon engaging in the debate enjoying the cerebral challenge but not broken and worshipping because I love little because I think I have little to be forgiven for?

Work the godly rhythm

How many weeks holiday do you get a year? The British average is 28 days including bank holidays, do you get more or less? Do you take all your holiday? Do you ever find yourself working longer hours than you are contracted to without being paid for it? A recent survey discovered that the average British worker does eight weeks unpaid overtime a year, that’s like working January and February for free.

Do you answer work emails at home at the weekends or in the evenings? Do you take your mobile phone or laptop on holiday with you – just in case something comes up?

What is your philosophy when it comes to work and rest? Do you work to enable you to rest? Do you live for the next holiday? Or do you rest in order to be able to work? Do you take a lunch break of any sort, let alone an hour?

I was in London last year for a conference and outside one of the big financial institutions in the heart of the city was an enormous banner which said this “3 days until the weekend”. Every morning I went to this conference someone had been there before I arrived and altered the count down, I was half expecting it on Friday to count down the number of hours.

Charles Dickens in 1857 wrote Little Dorrit, in it one of the characters says this:
“What else do you suppose I think I am made for? Nothing, rattle me out of bed early, set me going, give me as short a time as you like to bolt my meals in, and keep me at it. Keep me always at it, and I’ll keep you always at it. There you are with the whole duty of man in the commercial country.”

That was written 150 years ago and it hasn’t changed, if anything its gotten worse. And it isn’t just in the work place is it? So for the young mum there’s the nursery drop off, the toddler group, music club, play dates with friends, nursery pick up, meals to cook, cleaning, ironing, washing to do, and that constant pressure of always stimulating your children as you do each of these things, always encouraging my child as I engage in this maelstrom of activity.

Just think about advertising for a minute. What’s the slogan for Pepsi-max? Live life to the max. What are the selling points that are emphasized of remedies for the common cold or flu? Their ability to get you back up and at them, to help you avoid having to rest. Cram every second full of activity or you are missing out is the message. When was the last time your saw an advert that sold their product on its ability to help you rest? Rest is for wimps!

Its been said that we live in binge resting culture, we overwork 48 weeks of the year for 4 weeks holiday, and we overwork 40 years of our life to be able to retire. Is work, is busyness the problem? How do I solve it? Should a Christian’s attitude be different? Should my diary look different to that of those around me?

1. Work in the perfect world (Gen 1:26-31)
Genesis 1:31 gives us God’s summary statement of the results of his work in creating the heaven and the earth, and as he surveys the results he says this “God saw all the he had made, and it was very good.” I guess the shock as we look at the passage, for those of us who are tempted to live for the holidays or for the weekend is that this included work. Work is good!

What was Adam and Eve’s work? It was to “fill”, “subdue”, “rule over”, “work”, “take care of” creation. That’s not the job of the school caretaker, but it’s the job of the regent ruling on behalf of the king, in this case ruling creation on behalf of God.

There is work in the perfect world and as Adam and Eve go about their work they worship God as they do so. Work in the Garden of Eden is part of worship – it is the activity of their lives, it is an expression of their obedience to God. God is glorified as they work, as they “fill”, “subdue”, “rule over”, “work”, and “take care of” the creation.

Society says work to rest, go to work to enable you to live comfortably, go to work to be able to afford that nice holiday. But the Bible says go to work to glorify God, work as part of your worship. In fact it says whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.

2. Work in our reality (Gen 3:17-19)
So why isn’t work like that now? It’s fairly clear that the world isn’t as Genesis 1 and 2 describe it and that includes the workplace. In the Garden of Eden there is no need for a work place counsellor, or a Human Resources department, or even stress relief toys.
Yet today 8 out of 10 British workers feel their health has been damaged by demands at work. 1 in 5 men has visited the doctor with work related stress, and 60% of people feel that our workloads are sometimes out of control. So what happened between Genesis 1:31 and 2006?

Turn over a page in your Bible and you’ll see, Genesis 3 tells the story of man’s rebellion against God, a rebellion that tears apart not just his relationship with God and with his wife but also with the world and with work. Just look at the change (17-19), no longer is everything good but work is marked by “painful toil”, “thistles”, “thorns”, it now involves hardship and “sweat”.

Work just like the rest of the world becomes corrupted by our rebellion against God. Sin changes it from a means of worshipping God to a means of worshipping myself. It is no longer about being God’s regent mediating his will and instead it is all about me.

So success at work defines who I am, it determines my self worth, I take on more and more to prove myself to myself, but also to show you. I am busy all the time because I need more stuff, I’m busy because I’m not content, I’m busy because life’s too short not be.

We find ourselves working harder to earn enough money to buy the 32” plasma screen TV. We buy it but rarely watch it because we are working hard to earn the money to buy the 42” plasma screen and so on...

Work is corrupted by sin, it becomes a means of slavery, it becomes all about us. Let’s be honest we like to be able to say we are busy; we like to be busy because of what it says about us. It is viewed as a badge of success, of our being irreplaceable, of our popularity or that of our family.

So if that’s the problem and we face it in every sphere of life, what is the solution?

3. What’s the antidote: The godly Rhythm (Deut 5:12-15)
Did you spot the last three verses we had read for us? (Gen 2:1-3) What does God do when he completes his creation? Does he instantly start on the universe mark 2? No. He rests from his work of creating. He doesn’t collapse in an exhausted heap in front of neighbours or I’m a celebrity get me out of here! The Bible says he rested from his work of creating because it was complete. “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” why? Because “on it he rested from all the work of creating he had done.”

That doesn’t mean he did nothing but instead of creating he is sustaining the universe as the Bible tells us. He rests from his work of creation.

Just glance back at 1:27, we are made in God’s image, if rest is good for God it is good for us. The principle of 1 day in seven to rest is a good one.

In Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Moses is explaining the Ten Commandments to Israel as they are about to enter the Promised Land. How do you view the Ten Commandments?
Laws that must be kept or else? Unrealistic expectations put upon Israel? A harsh God’s means of keeping his people on a tight leash?

Actually the Ten Commandments are a loving and redeeming God’s gift to Israel outlining for the people he has saved the best way for them to live, showing them how to live lives that reflect their status as God’s people and to show to the watching world around them God’s character. And part of that gift is the idea of rest.

The 1in7 principle is part of the gift “For six days you shall labour and do all your work…” The days rest is part of Israel’s worship of God.

What is the reason that Moses gives here for resting on the Sabbath? (15) “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath.”

Why are the Israelites to rest ? Because it is a sign of their freedom from slavery. It is a sign that they have been redeemed from Egypt. A slave has no say over the days and hours that he works, in Egypt the Israelites had no choice in when they laboured, they did as their masters pleased.

But now they are free, now they have been redeemed from slavery by God and as a sign of that freedom, of that relationship they have been redeemed for they are not to work 1 day in 7, they are to rest. In fact the point is reinforced by the Hebrew word used in v13 for labour – it is the word slave. The days rest is a sign that they are God’s redeemed people living under God’s blessing dependent upon him no longer slaves.

The Sabbath, the rest day was a day to remember that freedom, to remind themselves of their salvation and their dependence upon God.

In our world where consumption is king, where profit is the bottom line, where productivity is what counts the pressure is on to work every second you can, to fill every second you can. What would your work colleagues think, or your school mates, or your friends and family if you took a day a week totally off work or chores?

For Israel it was a mark of their distinctiveness from the nations around them. It was a sign that they were God’s redeemed and blessed people. Would taking that rest day make us stand out similarly? Would it convey that we are redeemed by God in Christ not by our own efforts? That my self esteem comes from being God’s child not from getting a promotion. Would it mark us out as those do not need to work to please others but who work to glorify God?

The day of rest is a reminder for Israel that they are saved by God. For us it is a reminder that our hope is in Christ, he has redeemed us from slavery to sin, and that includes redeeming our work so it is worship, and redeeming our rest as worship.

Exodus 31:13 “The Lord said, you must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you and the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy.”

It is not that taking a days rest makes us holy, that is legalism. It is that it is a day to remember that it is God who makes us holy through Jesus Christ, to show that we are different from the world, to reflect the character of God.

We live in a world of ever increasing work hours, of ever increasing activity and busyness. Where the activity we engage in defines who we are, whether we are successful or not.

But the godly rhythm is that of rest as well as work. It is one where work is redeemed as part of my worship of God but also where I rest as part of my worship of God.

A days rest is an opportunity to remind ourselves that we are made in God’s image, we are God’s people redeemed from the slavery of sin, and that we are dependent upon him for our salvation in Christ to make us holy.

A days rest does not mean a day without doing anything at all. It may also differ from person to person as to what that day is, just as what is restful differs from person to person. But it is the idea of having a day off from our normal work, off from our usual chores, a break from the routine as a way of reminding ourselves of our status in Christ. We are God’s people saved by God’s grace by the death of his Son and our lives are refitted so that everything, including my work and my rest are for God’s glory.

Where the rubber hits the road is in my determination to alter my diary, to turn off my mobile phone, to refuse to turn on my laptop. To be different from those we live and work alongside.

The godly rhythm is to take a day a rest. Not for the sake of it but as a way of reminding yourself that God is your saviour, he has redeemed you from what everyone around us is chasing after. That “a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions”. That we are freed from slavery to sin to live for God’s glory. To live lives that worship him in spirit and truth at work and rest.

What is worship

Last week we used this video on Sunday morning, click on the link to watch it again. Click here.

Transformed not conformed at work and in the church

We were looking at why and how to worship God in our service together yesterday. We worship God because we keep his mercy in view but what does it look like to worship God in church?

Looking at (12:3-8) it means humbly using your gifts, be it prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, showing mercy, and that is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Paul paints a picture of worship as active humble service of one another.

You may be sat there thinking I’d love to serve but there isn’t anywhere to get involved. Can I assure you this morning that there are loads. Speak to Someone here or in your church and serve. Maybe you aren’t sure where to serve just ask where there are needs.

Worship in the church is putting God’s word into action and serving others.

What does it look like to worship God in the workplace?

The Bible leaves us in no doubt that work is worship. But it also doesn’t duck the joys and struggles of work. We are made to work, it is how Adam and Eve worship God in Eden, but after the fall work becomes frustrating and it is still that way now. The Bible is realistic about your office situation, about how difficult your boss can be to work for, about the conflicts you face, about days when you just don’t want to drag yourself in.

But it also says you worship God through your work, be it as a mum changing the 5th nappy of the morning, as a cleaner, a teacher, a civil servant or a pastor. They are all the same there is no hierarchy of worship. The mum worships as she cares for her child, the cleaner worships God as they clean just as the pastor does as he prepares a talk.

The key to true worship at work is having a transformed mind.

I read this week that the average time spent productively working in an office environment was less than an hour a day. The rest was spent chatting, making coffees, rearranging desks, checking email, surfing the internet and taking breaks. How do I worship God at work? I don’t conform to the world but am transformed so that I work productively.

We avoid eye-service. A manager once walked up to an employee and said why aren’t you working, to which the employee said because I didn’t see you coming. The true worshipper will not be conformed so they work only when the boss is around but transformed.

There is a danger here and that is that work or career becomes what we worship. The Bible doesn’t call us to worship work, or to have unrealistic standards but to worship through our work.


Worshipping God at work affects our attitudes as employees to our employers and as those in positions of authority to those under our care. (Romans 12:12-21) outline love in action, Titus 2, Colossians 4, Ephesians 6 all call on us to worship God through our work relationships.

That means we don’t engage in the office snipping, no matter how much we’d love to chip in. It means that as a Christian boss we are known to be good to work for.

Worship is living to please God with a renewed mind seeking God’s will, it is all encompassing, though we have just thought about two areas. In short worship is living every moment for God’s glory as a response to grace.

Worship is not just an activity in our life it is the activity of our lives. Worship is the only right response to the grace of God in Christ.