The A-C-T-S of Worship

This morning we come to the end of a journey, a journey that we actually began last year on June 8.  We’ve called it “Salem Lutheran Church: A Faith Odyssey.”  As I noted in my first sermon in this series, an odyssey is an extended journey.  And on this extended journey we have gone in 3 directions: deeper in our understanding of the Bible; wider in our understanding of fellowship and how we are to relate to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ; and most recently, we’ve been going higher in our understanding of worship.  Since this is the last sermon and service in the worship phase of this journey as well as the last sermon and service in the entire series, I thought we would do things a little different today.

So I want to begin by asking you a question.  And that question is: If Jesus Christ were here right now in the flesh, how would you act?  If he were sitting right there in our front pew, what would you say?  What would you do?  What would you ask him?  The way we answer those questions really becomes our definition of worship because worship in its purest and simplest form is what we do in the presence of God.  You may recall about 2 months ago in one of my sermons we talked about the origin of our English word “worship.”  And I said that it came from an old Anglo Saxon word pronounced worthscipe.  Eventually that became the wordworthship, and eventually that was shortened to our English word worship.  But notice the word “worth” in those 2 previous words.  Worship is the act of ascribing worth or value to God.  It is our way of expressing to him how much he is worth to us.

Psalm 29:1-2 gives us a great definition of worship, so I’ve printed it out for us in our worship folder this morning.  I’ll also put it up on the screen.  Let’s read it together as our Call to Worship:  “Give honor to the Lord, you angels; give honor to the Lord for his glory and strength.  Give honor to the Lord for the glory of his name.  Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.”

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, or better yet, a theologian to learn from those 2 verses that worship consists primarily of what?  Giving honor to God.  But how exactly do we do that?  Well, this morning in this rather unusual format for our service, I’m going to take you through 4 different ways in which we can give honor to God.  We do it through our adorationwhen we declare how much we love him and appreciate him.  We do it through our confessionwhen we admit that he is holy and we are not.  Yet he is loving enough to forgive us and receive us as his own.  We also honor God through our thanksgiving when we acknowledge the many blessings that he has poured out upon us.  And lastly, we do it through our supplication when we bring to him burdens that are too heavy for us to carry and thus convey to him how much we need him, how much we depend upon him.  So, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication.  A-C-T-S – that’s why I’m calling this service today the ACTS of worship.

Let’s pray:  Come, O Almighty King.  Come and have your way with us today.  Make this church your temple.  Make our hearts your home.  Make our lips conduits of your praise.  May you be exalted and may we be spiritually renewed and refreshed.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.HYMN – 14 (HS) – early; “Come Christians, Join to Sing” (screen) – late

  1. ADORATION

Worship begins with adoration, with adoring God.  If Jesus were here in person, would you not do that?  Would you not be awestruck and stunned by his presence?  Would you not want to reach out and touch him?  Would you not want to fall at his feet as did the shepherds and the Wise Men when they beheld the baby Jesus?  What’s that familiar refrain we sing at Christmas time every year?  “O come, let us adore him.”  Let’s sing that now – 224 (HS) – early; “O Come, Let Us Adore Him”/”Thou Art Worthy” (screen) – late.

As we adore our great and awesome God, we are in essence expressing to him how much we love him.  When’s the last time you told him that?  Have you ever told him that?  I remember visiting with one of our members some time ago and she told me that she was mowing the lawn one day and all of a sudden, out of the blue, the thought struck her that she had never told God she loved him.  So guess what she did?  She did it right then and there out in the middle of her lawn.

We tell our spouse we love them.  We tell our children we love them.  Why wouldn’t we want to tell our God that we love him?  So let’s do that now in the words of HYMN 44 (HS) – early; “I Love You, Lord” (screen) – late

  1. CONFESSION

Having spent some time in adoration, we now want to enter a time of confession as part of our worship today.  And I’d like to preface that time by sharing with you something you may have never known about me.  When I was at my first congregation, St. Paul, Shobonier, we had a variety of animals.  Aside from the usual dogs and cats that you’d find on any country place, I also raised quite a few rabbits, a number of ducks, and even 2 pigs.  And the thing I remember most about those pigs was their smell.  It was bad.  And whenever I’d go out and feed them, that smell would stick to me like glue.  Now if another pig owner were to come along and visit with me, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the smell so much because if the fellow next to you stinks as bad as you do, you don’t think he or you stink very much.  But if I immediately went from the pigpen into our nice fresh clean house, the odor was quite noticeable and almost unbearable for my lovely wife.

What’s my point?  Well, we spend our weeks in a world that is filthy from God’s perspective.  It’s a pigpen.  And sometimes some of that filth and stench rubs off onto us in the form of bad attitudes, bad words, bad thoughts and desires, bad things that we do.  But because we’re surrounded by it so much, we become desensitized to it.  And we hardly notice it anymore.  It doesn’t smell as bad.

But in contrast to God and his holiness and his perfection, we are filthy beyond description.  We need a bath.  We need to be cleansed by him, every one of us.  And that’s why we have a time of confession at the beginning of every one of our services.  For the Bible tells us that if we confess our sins to God, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

This morning we’re going to do our time of confession a little bit differently.  We are going to hear 4 voices, each with a different type of confession.  First, we listen to the VOICE OF DOUBT…Now we hear the VOICE OF FRUSTRATION…Now the VOICE OF LONELINESS…Finally, the VOICE OF BROKENNESS.

Do any of those voices describe you lately?  We could add others: guilt, fear, confusion, despair.  However you feel, God invites you to come to him just as you are and just as we now sing in our next hymn.

HYMN – 359, vv. 1,3,5,6 (LW)

In the Bible the ratio between repentance and forgiveness is 1:1.  You understand what I mean by that?  Every time there is a repentant heart, there is forgiveness given by God.  I love how author Max Lucado once put it.  He said:  “Whenever you see a soul on the porch of forgiveness, you hear the front door of grace open.”  Every time, without exception.  Now maybe you find that hard to believe.  Surely there was somebody sometime in the Bible who did something so bad that when that person came to God for forgiveness, God said, “I don’t think so.  I’m afraid you crossed the line this time.  You’ve gone too far.”  Surely there was somebody like that in the Bible.  Like how about Rahab the harlot?  But no, she was given grace and even allowed to be one of the few ladies mentioned in Jesus’ family tree in Matt. 1.  What about David the adulterer and murderer?  Surely he crossed the line.  But no, he too was given grace.  How about Saul, the persecutor and killer of Christians.  No, he too was given grace and became Paul the Apostle.  Well, then what about Peter the liar and denier of Christ?  Surely he crossed the line, didn’t he?  According to God he didn’t.  In fact, Jesus fixed him breakfast that one morning on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and spent some private time with Peter reinstating him as his disciple.  Listen, my friends.  Story after story after story reveals that the Bible is stitched together with one account after another of God’s amazing grace, grace that continues to radiate from the cross and reach across the centuries of time into our hearts and lives today.  God has never turned away an honest prayer of repentance and never will.  Let’s sing now of his amazing grace.  HYMN – 5, vv. 1,2,5 (HS).

III.             THANKSGIVING

Aside from God’s amazing grace, we have so much to be thankful for, don’t we?  Did any of you hear a baby giggle this week?  That’s pretty special, isn’t it, especially if it’s your baby or your grandbaby?  Did any of you make it through the week without getting sick or without having any pain?  Did any of you receive a compliment or a pat on the back this week from your boss?  How many of you had the awesome privilege this past week of coming home to a child or two who were just waiting with great excitement and anticipation to greet you at the door?  Can you believe that God entrusted you with such precious treasures?

How many of you believe that your blessings far outnumber your burdens?  There’s no getting around the fact that we all have burdens.  But in all honesty, don’t you have a whole lot more blessings than burdens?  And isn’t it only fitting and proper to say thank you to the One who is the Source and Provider of those blessings?

In my office I keep a box in which I place every thank you card, every note of appreciation that I receive from people.  Every one of them is so touching, so moving, and so encouraging.  Now follow me for just a moment here.  If you can express words of appreciation like that to an imperfect, fault-filled, undeserving pastor like myself, how much more gratitude and praise should we offer to our perfect, faultless, and more-than-deserving God whose love for us knows no limits or bounds and who has done everything possible and everything necessary to rescue us from the damning and eternal consequences of our sins so that we can enjoy life with him forever?

Let’s express our thanks to God now by singing our next hymn, 208 (HS), “Give Thanks.”

   One way we worship God and say thank you to him is through our offerings.  Please understand that the offering each Sunday is taken not just so that we can pay the bills.  Rather, it’s an opportunity once again to express to God how much he is worth to us.  That’s why I say every Sunday, “We now worship the Lord with our offerings.”  So Lord, receive our offering now in the spirit gratitude and praise that it’s given.  May it be pleasing in your sight and used for your glory and the ongoing extension of your kingdom.  Amen.

  1. SUPPLICATION

Again I ask you, if Jesus were here in person today, what would you do?  You would adore him.  You would no doubt be moved to confess your sinfulness to him.  You would offer words of thanks to him.  And then I’m sure at some point you would say, “Jesus, I’m really hurting right now and I know you have the power to help me and make me feel better again.  Would you do that for me?”  Or, “Lord, I’m very confused right now.  I need some guidance, some direction.  Would you give it to me?”  Or, “Jesus, I’m struggling today with anger and bitterness.  It’s eating away at me and it’s hurting my family.  Could you please help me to deal with it or better yet get rid of it altogether so that it no longer affects me or those I love?”

We call prayers like those supplications.  And it is very right and very proper to offer those supplications to God.  After all, he’s your Father and he has extended a personal invitation to each and every one of us to cast all our cares on him because he cares so much for us.  So over the next few minutes, we’re going to do that.  I’m going to lead us through a time of prayer while Reva/Barb plays a little background music on the organ.  But if there’s anything weighing heavy on your heart right now, use this time to bring it to the One who alone can make a way for you.

 

PRAYERS:  Father, please hear the prayers of your people now as we offer them to you in the precious and powerful name of Jesus.  We pray that you would be mighty in our midst and that you would minister to all of our needs right now, those spoken as well as those unspoken.  You are our Shepherd.  We are your sheep.  So please give ear to our requests.

Father, we pray for those who are weary of life and their seemingly endless tasks and busy days.  Help them to find meaning and purpose and joy in all that they do. LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for our teenagers that they would have strength to resist temptation and be little Christ’s to those around them.  LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for mothers and fathers who are struggling right now and searching for ways to raise and reach their children in these troublesome times.  Give them wisdom, patience, and strength. LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for married couples and those who are engaged to be married and those who are about to be married, that a spirit of forgiveness and faithfulness would reign in their relationships.  LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for those ladies in our congregation who are with child and ask you to protect and take care of them and their little ones during the remainder of their pregnancies.  LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for those who are single, those who are lonely, those who are elderly, the widow, and the widower, and ask that you would visit them all with a strong sense of your loving and never-failing presence. LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for those who are battling health problems, especially those on our prayer list, and ask that your healing hand would rest upon them. LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for those who mourn.  Cradle them in your everlasting arms and comfort them as only a loving shepherd like you can do.  LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for our farmers and ask you to abundantly bless their labors in the fields with a bountiful harvest in the fall.  LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for the unemployed and ask you to help them feel useful again and find work.  LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for those who are struggling with depression and ask for your peace and joy to penetrate and permeate their hearts. LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for those in the military, those serving on foreign soil and in harm’s way.  Protect them, Father, and bring them safely home to their loved ones.  LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for our enemies, including even those who are a part of ISIS and other terrorist organizations and ask that you would help them to know the love of Christ someday and allow that love to change their hate-filled hearts. LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for President Obama and his family, for all our state and national leaders, that they would govern according to your will and make wise and God-pleasing decisions. LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

We pray for our congregation and ask that you would help us to be a beacon of light in an otherwise dark and dreary world, pointing people to him who is the true Light of the world.  LORD, IN YOUR MERCY…

Make a way, Father, for all these people and all these needs, for we ask it in Jesus’ name, who has also taught us to pray..