Three Seasons Community Church– 3-4-07

"You (God) created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created." Revelation 4:11b (NLT)

MY 1ST PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO _____________________________________.

Because of God’s great mercy to us... Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer. Romans 12:1 (TEV)

A. WORSHIP is _______________________________________ to God’s love.

God takes the initiative. God always makes the first move. God doesn’t ever ask you to make the first move. He always makes the first move. And He creates us. He saves us. He forgives us. He blesses us. He protects us. All these things and then because of all these things, we worship.

B. WORSHIP is _______________________________________ to God.

He gives to us, and we give back to Him. And whenever you give back to God, whenever you offer anything to God, that’s called worship.

_________________________________ "with my mind"

_________________________________ "with my heart and soul"

_________________________________ "with my strength"

There are three things God does not have unless you give them to Him. He doesn’t have your attention unless you give it to Him. That’s loving God with your mind. He doesn’t have your affection, unless you give it to Him. That’s loving God with your heart and your soul. He doesn’t have your ability, unless you give it to Him. That’s loving God with your strength. ...Whenever you take the things God has given and give them back to God, that is worship.

1. WORSHIP IS _______________________________________ ON GOD.

God wants us to worship Him thoughtfully. It takes energy. It takes getting our mind focused on God. Not just going through the motions, but really, really thinking about it. Which isn’t always easy to do.

"You have looked deep into my heart, Lord, and you know all about me. You know when I am resting or when I am working...You notice everything I do and everywhere I go." Psalm 139:1-3 (CEV)

"Focusing on yourself is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, and ends up thinking more about self than God." Romans 8:7 (Msg)

"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God." Romans 12:2a (Msg)

1– Establish a daily time with God.

"Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace." Matthew 6:6 (Msg)

2– Develop a constant conversation with God.

"Worship Him continually." Ps. 105:4 (TEV)

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, whose thoughts are fixed on You!" Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

When you focus on yourself, the inevitable result are thoughts of worry, insecurity, anxiety, guilt, fear, discouragement. But when that focus shifts from me to God, from you to God, all of a sudden, you begin to sense gratitude and hope and confidence and love.

2. WORSHIP IS ______________________________________ TO GOD.

But the neat thing about God is He’s taken away the risk. He said it first. God said it first to you. God said, "I love you." God has said it in a thousand ways, so we don’t need to fear rejection.

"We love Him, because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19 (KJV) Have you ever said, "I love you" to God? God wants that from you!

"I don't want your sacrifices -- I want your love! I don't want your offerings --I want you to know Me!" Hosea 6:6 (LB)

"He is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you." Exodus 34:14b (NLT)

How can I express my affection to God? Start by just saying "thanks." Start looking around at everything and start thanking God. The greatest way to express affection to God is by giving your life to Him, by yielding yourself to Him.

Surrender is the essence of love. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. You have to give.

What holds us back? Why do you not give your life completely to God? One word -- f-e-a-r. You’re scared to death. You’re afraid to give your life to God because "if I give my life completely to God, is He going to turn me into some kind of religious nutcase?"

"Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life." Romans 6:13 (NLT)

3. WORSHIP IS ______________________________________ FOR GOD.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people." Colossians 3:23 (TEV)

"Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering." Romans 12:1a (Msg)

Real purpose-driven living happens in the ordinary, routine, mundane, things of real life where you go, "God, I’m going to take out the garbage for You." God, I’m going to ________________________ for you!

What are you worshiping? Whatever you’re giving your primary attention to, whatever you’re giving your primary affection to, and whatever you’re giving your primary abilities to helps us see what we’re worshiping.

The greatest temptation of your life and the worst sin you could possibly commit is the temptation to worship something other than God. It’s the number one problem in life, because it is the root behind every other one of your problems. Whenever you love something more than God, you’re going to have chaos, conflict, stress and problems.

"So we make it our goal to please Him..." 2 Corinthians 5:9 (NIV)