To wor\u00adship God as a holy God is to wor\u00adship him even if you do not expe\u00adri\u00adence him as a loving, mer\u00adciful, just God. In doing so, you bring a pie\u00adce of hea\u00adven to earth, becau\u00adse it is the heart of wor\u00adship. But if we refu\u00adse or dis\u00adtract our\u00adsel\u00adves with other things, how that leads us into inner turm\u00adoil and dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n
Tomor\u00adrow my hus\u00adband and I will cele\u00adbra\u00adte our second wed\u00adding anni\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adry. I\u2019m not say\u00ading this to give my hus\u00adband a heads-up and give him time to think about tomor\u00adrow. So it\u2019s not just becau\u00adse of that. No, I\u2019m pri\u00adma\u00adri\u00adly tel\u00adling you this becau\u00adse the cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances of our wed\u00adding were a bit spe\u00adcial and have a lot to do with today\u2019s topic. Within three months we can\u00adcel\u00adled ever\u00ady\u00adthing for the wed\u00adding plan\u00adned for Octo\u00adber and orga\u00adnis\u00aded a com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly dif\u00adfe\u00adrent cele\u00adbra\u00adti\u00adon a few months ear\u00adlier. This was due to a serious ill\u00adness of my mother and the fear that she would not make it to a cele\u00adbra\u00adti\u00adon in Octo\u00adber. My hus\u00adband had suf\u00adfe\u00adr\u00aded seve\u00adral strokes of fate in his envi\u00adron\u00adment in the months befo\u00adre and had trou\u00adble deal\u00ading with such sur\u00adpri\u00adsing deaths. So you can ima\u00adgi\u00adne, when we stood in church two years ago, we were both two bro\u00adken peo\u00adp\u00adle and real\u00adly not at our best. Even though we were both at a low point in our lives and real\u00adly had not\u00adhing to offer each other, we stood the\u00adre and said how much we loved each other. I think wed\u00adding vows are very much like prai\u00adse. For me, it is still a les\u00adson that love and wor\u00adship \u2013 lif\u00adting up the other per\u00adson \u2013 has litt\u00adle to do with how I expe\u00adri\u00adence my coun\u00adter\u00adpart at the moment, but with who my coun\u00adter\u00adpart is. \tWhat kind of God do you per\u00adcei\u00adve the holy God as at the moment? Do you expe\u00adri\u00adence him as a loving, mer\u00adciful, pati\u00adent father or rather as a cool, distant God who seems to igno\u00adre your calls? To wor\u00adship God as a holy God means to wor\u00adship him, even if you do not expe\u00adri\u00adence him as a loving, mer\u00adciful, just God. In doing so, you bring a pie\u00adce of hea\u00adven to earth, becau\u00adse it is the heart of wor\u00adship. Howe\u00adver, if we refu\u00adse or dis\u00adtract our\u00adsel\u00adves with other things, how this can lead us into an inner rest\u00adless\u00adness and\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":7419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[97],"wpfc_sermon_series":[90],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-cornelia-roth","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-heilig-heilig-heilig","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-7399","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"hentry","11":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nHe is worthy
\nPer\u00adhaps you know how you can go out\u00adside into natu\u00adre and just be ama\u00adzed. What you see ine\u00advi\u00adta\u00adb\u00adly leads you to wor\u00adship God as the crea\u00adtor of this incre\u00addi\u00adbly won\u00adderful beau\u00adty. It may be that you are expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adcing bles\u00adsings and gui\u00addance in your life and, full of joy and gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde, you can\u2019t help but prai\u00adse God for it. But it is just as pos\u00adsi\u00adble that you are not expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adcing God as just becau\u00adse he has taken a loved one from you. It may be that you do not expe\u00adri\u00adence God as mer\u00adciful becau\u00adse he does not hear your pray\u00aders, your pleas and you have to bury wis\u00adhes and dreams. May\u00adbe you are not expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adcing God as loving becau\u00adse you are not hea\u00adring him or fee\u00adling his pre\u00adsence. I don\u2019t know if your soul is rejoi\u00adcing or wee\u00adping right now. But with a bro\u00adken heart it is very dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to wor\u00adship God. How can I sing that God is such a loving, just God when my cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances scream that He is not. I\u2019m not say\u00ading God still isn\u2019t, but if you don\u2019t expe\u00adri\u00adence it yours\u00adelf, it\u2019s just har\u00adder to belie\u00adve. I think this is whe\u00adre the holi\u00adne\u00adss of God comes in. To wor\u00adship God as a holy God is to wor\u00adship him becau\u00adse he is wort\u00adhy. It abso\u00adlut\u00ade\u00adly does\u00adn\u2019t mat\u00adter if you are having the best time of your life or if you are sad\u00adden\u00aded to death.
\nWe natu\u00adral\u00adly try to find ans\u00adwers. The ques\u00adti\u00adon of why comes up again and again, but the Bible shows us that God does\u00adn\u2019t always need to ans\u00adwer this ques\u00adti\u00adon, the best exam\u00adp\u00adle being Job. He loses ever\u00ady\u00adthing he has, his pos\u00adses\u00adsi\u00adons, his fami\u00adly and his health. This is fol\u00adlo\u00adwed by many chap\u00adters describ\u00ading how Job and his fri\u00adends dis\u00adcuss why all this has hap\u00adpen\u00aded to Job. In the end, God comes and ins\u00adtead of ans\u00adwe\u00adring this one big ques\u00adti\u00adon, he final\u00adly says to Job: \u00abI am God and you are not.\u00bb. But ano\u00adther unans\u00adwe\u00adred ques\u00adti\u00adon is even more impres\u00adsi\u00adve for me. Jesus hangs on the cross to pay for our guilt with his death. He sacri\u00adfi\u00adced hims\u00adelf so that we could live for eter\u00adni\u00adty. The phy\u00adsi\u00adcal pain must have been incre\u00addi\u00adbly bad, but think about how gre\u00adat his hearta\u00adche must have been. We read about it in Matthew 27:46: \u00abAbout three o\u2019clock Jesus cried out loud\u00adly, \u00abEli, Eli, lema sabach\u00adtani?\u00bb That is, \u00abMy God, my God, why have you for\u00adsa\u00adken me?\u00bb (Matthew 27:46 HFA<\/span>). And God is silent. The\u00adre is no ans\u00adwer from the Father. I am sure that Jesus expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced the Father as any\u00adthing but loving, mer\u00adciful and gra\u00adcious at this moment. Per\u00adso\u00adnal\u00adly, it helps me to rea\u00adli\u00adse that in addi\u00adti\u00adon to the phy\u00adsi\u00adcal pain, Jesus also expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced the inner pain and had to expe\u00adri\u00adence that God did not ans\u00adwer his cry. God is holy and that means he is dif\u00adfe\u00adrent from what we expect. Reco\u00adg\u00adnis\u00ading this is the first step to very honest prai\u00adse. When we fall on our kne\u00ades and say, \u00abGod, my heart is bro\u00adken and I don\u2019t under\u00adstand why you don\u2019t inter\u00adve\u00adne right now, but I rea\u00adli\u00adse you are holy. Even though I don\u2019t under\u00adstand you, I know you are wort\u00adhy to be wor\u00adship\u00adped. For this reason I prai\u00adse and honour you Lord. I lift up your name,\u00bb then we come to the heart of prai\u00adse. This is prai\u00adse that chan\u00adges the world.
\nWor\u00adship \u2013 Whe\u00adre hea\u00adven and earth meet
\nWhat makes me think that this is the heart of prai\u00adse? I would like to read you a Bible pas\u00adsa\u00adge from Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 4. John has a reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon from hea\u00adven. What he sees seems so mar\u00advell\u00adous that he can hard\u00adly descri\u00adbe it. He tri\u00ades to descri\u00adbe it as best he can with the words he knows. \u00abRight in front of the thro\u00adne was some\u00adthing like a sea, trans\u00adpa\u00adrent as glass, clear as crys\u00adtal. Imme\u00addia\u00adte\u00adly around the thro\u00adne stood four powerful crea\u00adtures, cover\u00aded all over with eyes. The first of the\u00adse crea\u00adtures loo\u00adked like a lion, the second resem\u00adbled a bull, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth resem\u00adbled a fly\u00ading eagle. Each of the\u00adse figu\u00adres had six wings. The wings were also full of eyes insi\u00adde and out. Tire\u00adless\u00adly, day and night, they shout: \u00abHoly, holy, holy is the Lord God Almigh\u00adty, who has always been, who is here today and who is to come! The\u00adse four living beings prai\u00adse and glo\u00adri\u00adfy the one who sits befo\u00adre them on the thro\u00adne and will live fore\u00adver and ever. And each time, the twen\u00adty-four elders fall down befo\u00adre him and wor\u00adship the one to whom all power has been given and who lives fore\u00adver. They lay down their crowns befo\u00adre his thro\u00adne and cry out: You, our Lord and God, we wor\u00adship. You alo\u00adne are wort\u00adhy to recei\u00adve honour and glo\u00adry and to be prai\u00adsed for your power. For you crea\u00adted ever\u00ady\u00adthing. Accor\u00adding to your will, the world and ever\u00ady\u00adthing that lives in it came into being.\u00bb (Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 4:6\u201311 HFA<\/span>). In the second part, he mana\u00adges to hit the words wit\u00adhout para\u00adphra\u00adsing, becau\u00adse he repro\u00addu\u00adces the words he hears the\u00adre. God is wor\u00adship\u00adped as a holy God. When I say it is the heart of wor\u00adship, I mean it is the kind of wor\u00adship that is heard in hea\u00adven. The Lord is prai\u00adsed for who he is, for what he is. Holy. Migh\u00adty. Wort\u00adhy. Anyo\u00adne who has heard a ser\u00admon or two here in the last few weeks will be fami\u00adli\u00adar with this phra\u00adse from Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 4:8 \u00abHoly, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty\u00bb.
\nIt is exact\u00adly the same wor\u00adding as in Isai\u00adah 6:3. Isai\u00adah is cal\u00adled to his minis\u00adtry as a pro\u00adphet and is sur\u00adroun\u00added by angels. \u00abThey cried out to one ano\u00adther: \u00abHoly, holy, holy is the Lord God Almigh\u00adty! His glo\u00adry fills the who\u00adle earth\u00bb \u00bb (Isai\u00adah 6:3 HFA<\/span>). I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a coin\u00adci\u00addence that it\u2019s the same wor\u00adding twice. The two visi\u00adons are about 850 years apart and one won\u00adders whe\u00adther the angels could not have made a new song of prai\u00adse in the mean\u00adti\u00adme. They pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly did not lack crea\u00adti\u00advi\u00adty. Rather, it seems as if it was sim\u00adply a tim\u00ade\u00adl\u00adess\u00adly appro\u00adpria\u00adte for\u00admu\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon. But what fasci\u00adna\u00adtes me about the\u00adse bibli\u00adcal pas\u00adsa\u00adges is some\u00adthing else. It seems as if angels and hea\u00adven are not as far away as we might some\u00adti\u00admes ima\u00adgi\u00adne. Do you know that right now, at this moment, the angels in hea\u00adven are wor\u00adship\u00adping God? And I think we are being asked to join in. And do you know what hap\u00adpens then? Hea\u00adven and earth touch each other. Per\u00adso\u00adnal\u00adly, I don\u2019t belie\u00adve that hea\u00adven and earth are two sepa\u00adra\u00adte worlds. I think some\u00adti\u00admes the\u00adre is an inter\u00adsec\u00adtion and hea\u00adven on earth beco\u00admes visi\u00adble. We see part of this in the cross, whe\u00adre God gives his only son so that we can meet him in free\u00addom. He thus builds the bridge bet\u00adween hea\u00adven and earth. And I am sure that part of this inter\u00adsec\u00adtion also has to do with wor\u00adship. Do you rea\u00adli\u00adse that you are brin\u00adging a pie\u00adce of hea\u00adven here on earth through your prai\u00adse? What a privilege!
\nWor\u00adship \u2013 our heart\u2019s desire
\nYes, it is tru\u00adly a pri\u00advi\u00adle\u00adge. Not only becau\u00adse we get to expe\u00adri\u00adence a pie\u00adce of hea\u00adven on earth. I belie\u00adve the need to wor\u00adship is ing\u00adrai\u00adned in us from the begin\u00adning. We are made for wor\u00adship. Who of you knows the situa\u00adti\u00adon: you are sit\u00adting at the dentist\u2019s and then as you are sit\u00adting defen\u00adce\u00adl\u00adess\u00adly on this chair with this clamp in your mouth, sud\u00adden\u00adly your left big toe starts to itch ter\u00adri\u00adbly. You can\u2019t do any\u00adthing at that moment and it gets more and more unp\u00adlea\u00adsant over time until it\u2019s almost unbe\u00adara\u00adble. And when you\u2019\u00adre final\u00adly free again, it\u2019s pure sal\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon. So if we are made to wor\u00adship and it is a need of ours, then at some point it beco\u00admes unp\u00adlea\u00adsant if we don\u2019t do it. Eit\u00adher an inner turm\u00adoil ari\u00adses or we start wor\u00adship\u00adping some\u00adthing else. When I think of wor\u00adship\u00adping the holy God, I can\u2019t help but think of David. David danced, play\u00aded music and wro\u00adte songs to the glo\u00adry of God. We can still read some of the\u00adse in the Bible today in the Psalms. David prai\u00adsed God when he was alre\u00ada\u00addy king, but he also prai\u00adsed God when he was on the run from his ene\u00admy Saul. No one told him that he had to wor\u00adship God and yet it was not a ques\u00adti\u00adon for him. No mat\u00adter how despera\u00adte\u00adly he cried out to God, his pray\u00aders ended in prai\u00adse. David did not do this becau\u00adse he felt pres\u00adsu\u00adred to do so. His pray\u00aders are usual\u00adly far too honest for that. No, I think David knew full well that wor\u00adshi\u00adp\u00ading the holy God would bring peace to his heart.
\nI wish that, like David, we would fol\u00adlow this need of our heart, this lon\u00adging, and wor\u00adship the holy God. It is a gre\u00adat pri\u00advi\u00adle\u00adge to be able to do this tog\u00ade\u00adther after the ser\u00admon. But I also want to encou\u00adra\u00adge you to make more space for wor\u00adship in your ever\u00ady\u00adday life. You can sing, dance, play music, pray in your own words or with the words of the Psalms. How you wor\u00adship is not so important. It is more important that you do. Put your mobi\u00adle pho\u00adne away, go out into natu\u00adre or make a date with someone to do so. Do what it takes to move away from dis\u00adtrac\u00adtion into an atti\u00adtu\u00adde of worship.
\n
\n
\n
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small group
\nRead the Bible text: Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 4:8b<\/p>\n
\n\tHow does how you per\u00adcei\u00adve God affect your pray\u00ader life and worship?
\n\tWhen was the last time you took time to wor\u00adship God out\u00adside of the Sun\u00adday service?
\n\tHow do you wor\u00adship God in your dai\u00adly life? Have you deli\u00adbera\u00adte\u00adly set asi\u00adde a time of day? Is the\u00adre a spe\u00adcial place whe\u00adre it is easier for you to worship?
\n\tDo you find it easy to wor\u00adship alo\u00adne (or with your part\u00adner, your fami\u00adly)? What could help you to make it an inte\u00adgral part of your life?
\n\tTo begin, you could end today\u2019s small group time with a time of wor\u00adship ins\u00adtead of a round of prayer.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"