YOU ARE WHAT YOU WORSHIP

0:03 Well, before we get going, I've got a little confession to make. We just got to clear the air. And I hope this doesn't disqualify me from speaking to you today. But I've got to tell you, I'm a Creed fan. You know, like the band Creed with arms wide open. Can you take me higher? I do a mean rendition of higher on karaoke night. So just that's by request only. okay? But I will. I will. But I love the band Creed. And some time ago, I went to the Creed concert with a couple of friends by the name of Pastor Derek Bonneau and Pastor Dave Clark. Come on, guys. Back me up here. I'm not going down alone. But we went to the Creed concert. We were having a blast. You know, we're singing all the lyrics to all the songs. We've got our arms wide open, you know?

1:06 We're having a blast, and, you know, I started to look around, and I realized, this is like, a lot of us are very similar. We all kind of look the same, like, a lot of white guys, you know what I mean? And like, even to the fashion, you know what I mean? Like, the jeans with like the embroidered pockets, and the white tank tops, you know? You might wonder, do people still wear the white tank top? Oh, the white tank top's doing real good, okay? Just go to the Creed concert.

1:40 But I looked around, and everyone kind of looks the same. We're saying the same words to the songs, and I'm realizing we have a lot in common. And to be honest, that would be true of any crowd that gathers, right? We gather because we have something in common. And if I took you to Disney World, you'd see lots of little families, and they'd have their Mickey ears on and their matching outfits. If I took you to a political rally, you'd see people who think alike and have the same values and the same mindset. Some political rallies have people with matching red hats, and some have people with matching blue hair. It just kind of depends on which one you go to. But the reality is that the reason all of these gatherings, everyone kind of looks the same, is because we are formed by the things that we set our minds to, the things that we give our attention to and our affections to and even spend our money on.

2:46 We're formed by these things. In other words, we are formed by our worship. in the title of this talk the thought that I want us to get and grasp today is that you are what you worship you are what you worship what if I told you that worship was a pathway not for us to just know God but to become more like him what if I told you that so many of the things that we face and the problems that we deal with in our internal struggles could be dealt with if we would get serious about worship and learn to worship well? What if I told you the addictions could find recovery, that marriages could find healing, that sinful thoughts could start to fade away if we would learn to worship well? Because we would become more like Christ.

3:46 You are what you worship. And so for the next 20 minutes or so, we're gonna talk about why we worship, how we worship, and what happens when we worship. Have you ever wondered why we worship? Like, is this just all like pomp and circumstance? Like, what are we doing here? I put on my Sunday best, and I drove to this building. We dropped the kids off, maybe grabbed a coffee, sat down, sang some songs, listened to a guy talk, and then go home and do it all over again the next week. Why are we here? What is this all for? What is this all about? Well, the easy answer is because God is worthy. You know, like God, the creator of the universe. I think sometimes we forget just how worthy of our worship God is. You know, he's the God who set the stars in the sky and he knows them by name.

4:42 He calls the heavens his throne and the earth his footstool. He created all things, yet for some reason he still wants a relationship with little old me and little old you. So much so that he sent his one and only son down from heaven to earth to live perfectly, die sacrificially, rise bodily. That God is worthy of our worship. Come on, can we just take a moment to give him the worship that he deserves this morning? And if that were all there was to it, God would be well within his right. He would be worthy. If we could just worship God every moment of every day and never do anything other than that, he would be 100% worthy, and we still wouldn't be able to give him enough worship. But get this, God is so good that he actually gives you some of the benefits of worship. Is that crazy?

5:44 That as we worship, we actually start to become more like Christ. As we worship, we start to become more like the thing that we are worshiping. Psalm 115 verses four through eight say this. But their idols are silver and gold made by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, feet but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. those who make them will be like them and so will all who trust in them in other words if you want to be deaf and blind and lame and dumb and dead then go worship an idol but if you want to have life and life to the fullest then worship the king of kings and the lord of lords whose name is Jesus Jesus Christ. You are what you worship. You are what you worship. And I can't help but think of the story of Peter, the apostle. You know, at one point, the disciples had just finished some ministry with Jesus, and Jesus said, you guys go ahead to the next stop. I'm going to go and pray. And so they get on a boat, and they cross the Sea of Galilee. And as they do, a storm begins to rage to the point that they don't even know if they're going to make it out alive.

7:19 And the disciples look out on the water and they see this figure standing on the water. And that makes no sense. So their minds say, this can't be a person. So it must be the next logical thing. They think it's a ghost. And Jesus calls out, no, it's just me. And Peter says, Lord, if it is you, then call me out on the water. And so Jesus calls him. So he gets out of the boat and he puts a foot on the water and he begins to walk on water so long as his eyes are focused on Jesus. But what happens? He begins to worry and he begins to look at the wind and the waves and he wonders what's going to happen if I sink. And sure enough, he begins to sink like a rock. And I love Jesus's response. He saves Peter.

8:12 He picks him up. And then he looks at him and he says, you of little faith. Why did you doubt? Could it be that some of us, maybe at one point in our life, we were walking on water. We were in a moment in our faith where it's like, man, we were clicking on all cylinders. We were in our word. We were in prayer. We were worshiping, man. but then the worries of the world caught up to us and we started to fade. You see, Peter's problem was that he allowed his worship to wander. And I think for so many of us, we allow our worship to wander. The finances get tight and we allow our worship to wander. We have marital struggles and we allow our worship to wander. We get a bad diagnosis. We allow our worship to wander.

9:05 But I believe that Jesus is looking at you and I today with those loving eyes. He's not asking this question to be rude or to be condescending. No, he's looking at us with a smile on his face and he's saying, why did you doubt? Did you not think I could handle your finances? Did you not think that I could handle the worries of this world, that your health? Did you not think that I held that in the palm of my hand? This isn't taking me by surprise. Why did you doubt?

9:39 And I just believe that God wants you to live a life of walking on water, of doing the impossible for him, of walking step by step, day by day, with Jesus side by side. He wants to see you do amazing things for God to raise those children in the love of the Lord so that they grow up to follow Jesus, to run that business in a way that it points people straight to Jesus, to live your life, to love your spouse, to raise your kids, to do everything that you do so that people can see your good works and it would glorify your father in heaven. but here's the thing you will never experience the abundant life that God has for you if we allow our worship to wander and so the question is how do I do it you know I get all that Brad but like what do I do do I just like sing songs all day is that what I'm supposed to do I'm worshiping in the kitchen.

10:46 You know, like, I'm worshiping in the car. Like, is that worship? Well, the Bible tells us what worship is. That's what's so good about God is he doesn't leave it up to mystery. And so worship starts in our private life. We worship God privately. Matthew 6, 6, Jesus says, But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen, then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. I love that. He says, go in your room, shut the door, and pray to your father who is unseen, who sees what is done in secret. You don't have to post it on Instagram. You don't have to create a reel or a picture with your Bible and your coffee and like a cute little quote, you know, just go into your room, shut the door and have a private moment with God.

11:49 But the problem is we live in this culture where everybody wants to know everything that you've ever done. And so like, have you ever met like a marathoner before? it's all they talk about yeah i'm getting 50 miles in this week working up to 100 i got a mare next month short for marathon it's like no one says that but like it's like it's all they talk about like you can't talk about anything else it's like it just makes you feel terrible about yourself you know what i'm saying like that's how crossfit used to be until everyone started getting hurt and now we don't have to hear about crossfit anymore I don't know. And to be clear, I did wake up at 4.30 a.m. this past week, so I'm calling the kettle black. At least I'm honest, you know? Four out of seven days, so I'm basically Jocko. You know what I'm saying?

12:43 But we live in this world where we want to tell everyone, you know, I had my quiet time today, you know, not trying to brag. but if we would get serious in our private worship I can tell you some of the most profound moments of your life will be in your room with the door shut in a moment just between you and God these moments where you will hear God speak to you in a surreal way with your Bible open with the worship music playing will be so impactful. You will get ideas like you've never had. You will have dreams for your life like you've never had if you would get serious in private worship. Jesus wants to get to know you in this private time. This should be sacred time that you and I have each and every day of our life.

13:42 Second Chronicles 7.14 says, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear them from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. How many people wanna see our land healed and sins forgiven?

14:05 Well, guess what? It starts with me and it starts with you in this private time with the Lord where we come to him and God takes out the things that need to be taken out of our heart and our soul and he downloads his heart and his soul into us and we become like the one that we are worshiping. How many know you are what you worship? And so it starts privately, and secondly, it continues publicly. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus says, Our Father who is in heaven, holy is your name. He doesn't say, My Father. Jesus is setting the tone that there is a collectivism to our faith. We are not mercenaries on a solo mission doing our own thing through life. No, we are an army on the battlefield, accomplishing the great commission that God has for us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

15:14 And so we have to understand that we are not alone. See, the enemy's plan for your life is to isolate you, to make you feel like you're all alone. No one else struggles with that sin that you're dealing with. Who do you think you are? You think you can show up to church? What? But can I just encourage you this morning? You're not alone. Somebody needs to hear that this morning. You are not alone. No matter who you are, no matter what you walked in with, no matter what you did last night, we're glad you're here. We love you. Jesus has a plan for your life, and you're not alone. And the enemy wants us to feel like we're alone. He wants to isolate us. He wants us to feel like we're the only person in the world struggling with what we're dealing with.

16:05 But when I show up to church, and we're blessed here at Fellowship Church across all of our locations, I look around, I see hundreds of others, and I'm reminded I'm not alone. I'm in this thing. There's others that are in the fight with me. See, it's so important that we worship God publicly. And God actually tells us how he prefers to be worshiped in this setting. In Colossians 3.16, he says, let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Have you ever wondered why we sing songs in church? Because it's in the Bible. God tells us, I want you to sing these songs.

16:59 And he tells us exactly why. He says, because the message of Christ dwells richly among you. And it's a way that we teach and encourage one another in the faith. So when we sing these songs and we sing the truth in God's word, get this, we actually start to believe the very thing that we're singing. In other words, in other words, sometimes you just got to sing it even if you don't feel it. I have a five-year-old son named Jackson, and one of his favorite songs is an old country song by Travis Tritt, It's a Great Day to Be Alive. He loves that song, and you know, some days I'll pick him up from school.

17:53 It's been a long day, you know, maybe I'm frustrated. Maybe I got things going on at work and things that I'm trying to think through, and I'm just, I'm not, to be honest, it doesn't feel like a great day to be alive. And I'll put Jackson in the back of the car, and he'll say, Dad, play It's a Great Day to Be Alive. and so I'll put the song on and you know we'll start out singing you know I got rice cooking in the microwave a three-day beard I don't plan to shave it's a goofy thing but I just gotta say I'm doing all right and you know we'll get through the first verse and we'll hit the first chorus and then it turns out to be kind of like that scene from Tommy boy where like by the end of the song I'm singing it he's singing it we're crying it's like this is a beautiful moment I'm like you know It is a great day to be alive. I've got a lot to be thankful for. and you know that's actually the point of music you know that's a gift from God God created music to to to lift our spirits to lift our souls to him and it's even more powerful when we come here and we sing the truth from God's word and even if you walked in and you're like you know what it doesn't feel like a great day to be alive we sing that the joy of the Lord is my strength We sing the truth from God's word, and we sing what the Bible says.

19:19 And guess what? We start to believe it as we sing it. I'm thankful that God has given us this gift of worship. Psalm 47.1 says, clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with cries of joy. So clapping your hands is an act of worship. Having joy in the house of God is important. come on, can I just be real for a second? I greet like all of you guys. Y'all know that, right? I'm out there like every Sunday. I see you walking in and some of y'all need to let your brain tell your face that you have the joy of the Lord. You know what I'm saying? I'm talking to you guys. You know who you are. And you know, I get it. You know, we go through stuff, life happens and all of that. But when I show up to church, I should have the joy of the Lord. I should be excited. I should be fired up because God has given me grace that I didn't deserve. He's given me mercy that I didn't earn. He's given me forgiveness. He has saved my soul. Come on. How many have the joy of the Lord this morning?

20:30 Psalm 134.2 says, lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. 143.6, I spread my hands to you. I thirst for you like a parched land. 1 Timothy 2.8, therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. See, I had to come correct on that one about lifting hands. I brought three verses because I know we got a lot of Reformed Catholics and Baptists in the room today.

21:08 See, lifting your hands is in the Bible. It's not just some weird thing, you know, that crazy Christians do, you know, if you're charismatic or something like that. But it's just a sign of surrender and submission and putting something above you. admitting and humbling ourself that there is something up there higher than us and it is the God of the universe. And so I lift my hands to put God in his proper place and to put me in my proper place. And I love this last verse from 1 Timothy. The apostle Paul is encouraging the men in churches everywhere to lead the way in prayer and to lead the way, lifting holy hands to God. And I love that he says holy hands, meaning that when we lift our hands, let's make sure that they're holy.

22:09 Let's make sure that they're clean. Let's make sure that we're not just talking the talk, but we're walking the walk. And here's the amazing thing is God can clean your hands in an instant. so whatever you walked in with from last night or the week before the month before you just say God clean my hands forgive me of my sin help me to turn from my wicked ways Lord and if we will do that men we will lead this church lead our families in worshiping the God of the universe. And so we worship God privately. It starts privately. We continue that by worshiping God publicly. And then this whole thing just gets better and better as we worship God perpetually. Colossians 3.17 says, and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. He says, whatever you do, whatever you do, if you're a homemaker, then make that home to the best of your ability. Make it amazing.

23:30 If you're running a business, then run that business to the glory of God. If you work a nine to five, then do such a good job that you are undeniable that people will take notice so that it points people to Jesus. Whatever you do on the pickleball court, in the gym, wherever you go, be excellent in everything that you do so that it will point people to Jesus and get this as you continue to worship God perpetually in your day-to-day life, in every single moment when you bring Jesus to do the dishes with you, when you bring Jesus to mow the lawn with you, when you bring Jesus everywhere you go, Jesus will begin to give you a passion for what he's passionate about. People. And you will begin to worship the Lord by bringing others closer to Jesus, by fulfilling that great commission to go and make disciples of all nations.

24:34 You see, God has called us to worship him. And worship is not limited to what just happens in this room. Please understand that worship, it starts long before we ever step foot in here. Worship is in our Monday through Saturday. Worship is when we go in our room and we close the door and we have a private moment of worship. Worship is every moment of every day as we live the life that God has called us to live. And we do our best to live a life that is pleasing to him. And here's the thing, you're going to screw up. You're going to mess up. Nobody's perfect. But when we fall, we get back up and we keep worshiping. And we thank him for his grace and his mercy and how good our God is. and then we get to come here and worship publicly and we just get to remind ourselves that we're not alone.

25:39 And so for some of you this morning, you need to take the first step in your life of worship and you need to simply surrender your life to Jesus. Surrendering your life to Jesus is as simple as ABC. It starts with admitting that you've sinned and fallen short. Everyone's sinned. No one's perfect. That's easy to admit. And it continues by believing that God is who he says he is, that he did what he said he did. He sent Jesus down from heaven to earth. Jesus lived the perfect life. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. That's why everything dies. But Jesus never sinned. Therefore, Jesus should have never died.

26:24 And so because of that, death couldn't hold him down. He rose again three days later. And now he extends his hand to you and to me. And he says, do you believe in me? Do you believe that my word is true? And if you will take that hand, the Bible says you will never be the same. you will have eternal life through Jesus but you will get to experience this life of worship that I've been standing on this stage talking about and you will see the rewards of following Jesus you will experience grace like never before love like never before mercy like never before and you will continue to grow in this walk and like I said earlier you're not going to be perfect so just let that go.

27:23 But when you fall down, you can get right back up again. And guess what? You're not alone. You've got a family of believers here to help you. And so with every head bowed and every eye closed, I wanna give you an opportunity to respond to the gospel. Dear Jesus, we admit that we have sinned and fallen short of your perfect standard for our lives, but we believe that you lived, died, and rose again. And right now we commit our life to you. Help us, Lord, to follow you to the best of our ability all the days of our life. And God, I pray for every single person in this room. Let us live a life of worship in our private life, here publicly at the church and perpetually, Lord, every single moment of every single day. Let us live our lives with you in mind.

28:18 and let us live a life of worship. We love you, Lord. It's in your name we pray. Amen.