誰でも気軽に集える、明るく、カジュアルな雰囲気の教会です。
2016.1.3 Psalm 148:1-14 “Find the joy of praising the Lord”
Children going to school learn something new almost every day and can even see them grow physically. On the other hand, it may be difficult to see growth among adults. This does not mean people just stop growing once they become adults. Same can be said of Christians when we look at our own growth in faith – our relationships with God.
This first Sunday service of the year would be a good opportunity to think about strengthening our relationships with God.
Psalm 67:3-4 3May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. 4May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.
Reading the Psalms, we realize how David was faithful and never betrayed but praised God.
Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Even at times of difficulties, he remembered God rather than finding something else to take his mind off the difficult situation. His psalms are written like love letters. Can we write like him? Instead of giving up easily, we must realize God is someone we can talk to more casually as to our loved ones.
At the same time, we learn how David found joy in praising God. We praise God because God likes to be praised (Psalm 67:3). However, we should first learn to find joy in praising God.
During the last two months, we talked about God’s love – to be moved and live by God’s love. When we fully accept God’s love, we would want to love God. Some of the natural responses would be to love one another, worship God and to trust God.
What parents want their children to know, most of all, is that they are loved by their parents. Furthermore, what parents expect of their children is to love their parents.
Likewise, what God wants us to know is His love. And what God expects of us is get to love Him though not from obligation.
1. God is pleased with our worship which shows our love.
Psalm 148:1 Praise the Lord …
Psalm 96:4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
2. God is not pleased with our worship if there is no love and only given as a formality.
Isaiah 1:11-15 “The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me?” says the Lord. …”When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.”
It could be said that worship without love is like any other religion where people seek something in return for their service. If love of God is not the focal point of worship, God would not find it worthwhile.
3. Let it be our challenge to offer every worship from our heart.
John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
We must offer the best of ourselves – not to sacrifice ourselves physically but to worship in spirit and truth – our love of God.
Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.
We are challenged and expected to deepen our relationships with God and find more joy of worshiping. This is nothing special since it is very much like the relationships between parents and children.