Oct 2 prepare your heart Psalm 51:10-17 worship part 1b
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
New series- worship
1. Preparing for worship
2. Engaging in worship
3. Living it out
Take you to the door of the sanctuary- to the countdown
Worship is about meeting with God
Worship is the giving of one’s heart and soul
William Temple [bishop of cantebury 1881-1944] made this clear in his masterful definition of worship:
For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose -- and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.
Do we need to prepare? What happens if we don’t?
-We get more out of the things that we prepare for
-We think harder about why we are here
Ultimately - We cant wait until jeff opens his mouth to try and worship
If we do, it is too late
Something should happen when I drive onto the property
Lakeland church – dangers of this age – consumerism and individualism
It begins with what we offer to God, not with what we think we got out of it
When you give yourself to God, you do get something out of worship
Zan W. Holmes, Jr., tells why, returning to an African American adage, "If you don't put anything in, you won't get anything out. " In terms of worship, says Holmes, that means "you have to bring something to the sermon to get something out of it." He then goes on to tell the story of a "young college student who returned home for the holidays and accompanied his mother to church one Sunday. Afterward the young man said, 'The preacher was not too good today.' His mother said, 'Well, maybe not.' He said, 'I noticed that the choir was not too good today.' His mother said, "Well, maybe not.' Then she said to him, 'Well, son, tell me, how good were you today?"'
Steps to prepare
1. Understand that your relationship with God is the most important thing
-this seems a little odd
-until you understand that your breath is a gift from him
-who will you call on in a time of trouble
-who will you look to when you are on your death bed?
2. Clear space in your heart and mind
-get rid of your cell phone
-don’t fight in the car on the way here
-Don’t make the grocery list in church
3. Begin to offer self
a. Quiet time
b. Centering prayer
c. Breathing- breath prayers
d. The labrynth
e. Find the one thing- Rick Taylor
How do pastors prepare
Worry, work, take care of what needs to be done.
Pray- God where am I , where are you?
Connecting your heart and Gods heart with this sermon
God this is the best that I have, please add your holy spirit, touch the people
In psalm 51 david is getting to the bottom of it
Post david and Bathsheba
A broken and contrite heart is what God is looking for.
Describe contrite – God I am here for you
The carol reads "O Come, let us adore Him;" not "O Come, let us ignore Him."
If we get this part right, everything else will follow
This is what I love about communion, Preparing to come to the Lords table
World communion Sunday
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