Printer Friendly VersionSermon series: the Gospel of Mark
Goal: to be mature in Christ
How to become mature in Christ and grow in Christlikeness? Core
Values:
1. Devotions
2. Public Worship
3. Discipleship
4. Witness
5. Service
Today’s focus: public worship. Scripture lesson: Mark 1:21-27
(Read)
Mark’s gospel of Jesus unfolds in a series of logical and
natural steps. First, Jesus is baptized and receives God’s seal of approval
and equipping for His mission/ministry. Next, He is tested by the enemy. Next,
He chose His disciples, His primary method for taking the Message to the world.
Now, He is ready to launch His campaign. So, He moves to the
synagogue to worship the Father and proclaim the good news. Now, worship in
a Jewish synagogue in Jesus’ day was quite a bit different than Christian
worship in our day. The temple of Jerusalem was a place of worship and sacrifice.
The synagogue was the place of teaching and instruction. But, let’s not
miss the obvious. Jesus intentionally went on the Sabbath to the synagogue
for public worship of God. So, if we want to become like Jesus, we too should
gather with other believers for worship publicly.
Now, Christian worship can take many forms. But historically,
when Christians gather for worship, they enter into three forms of expression
(these are the foundations of Christian worship):
I. PRAYER
A. There is a place for private prayer. Jesus said, “When you pray, do
not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and on the street corners to be seen by people. No, go into your room, close
the door and pray to your Father” (Matthew 6:5-6).
B. But Jesus also makes it clear that there is a place for public,
corporate prayer. Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: ‘Our
Father…give us…forgive us…deliver us’” (Matthew 6:9-13).
C. The apostle Paul says if we want to be a community of love,
we must “pray for one another.”
II. PRAISE
A. To praise God is to exalt God’s name for what He has
done. To worship God is to exalt God’s name for what He has done. To
worship God is to exalt God’s name for who God is. Again, praise and
worship is an expression of love and intimacy; it is the expression of a love
relationship.
B. The story is told of a couple who got married and on the
day of the wedding the husband told his wife that he loved her. But years
went by without the husband ever expressing any more words of affection. One
day the neglected wife couldn’t stand it any longer, so she asked, “Why
don’t you ever tell me you love me?” The husband replied, “When
we first got married, I told you I loved you and if anything changes, I’ll
let you know.”
C. The purpose of praise and worship is to express our heartfelt
love to God.
D. Here at Stillmeadow, we sing gathering songs (songs of invitation),
we move to songs of praise (songs about God), to worship songs (songs to God),
all the while increasing in intimacy.
III. PROCLAMATION
A. According to Mark, Jesus began His earthly ministry by going
to Galilee and “proclaiming the good news of God.” “The time
has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news”
(Mark 1:14-15).
B. Jesus was a preacher as well as a disciple-maker (these were
His methods).
C. Now, the Bible tells of some pretty good preachers: Noah
was a preacher of righteousness (II Peter 2:5). Jacob exhorted the people
of Bethel to put away their strange gods and repent (Genesis 35:2). Moses
pled with Israel to keep the covenant (Deuteronomy). Joshua preached to the
people of God (Joshua 24). The most celebrated preacher B.C. was John the
Baptist.
D. And there have been great preachers A.D.: Luther, Calvin,
Wesley, Whitefield, Clarke, Fletcher, Spurgeon, Edwards, Finney, Moody, Graham,
and Jakes.
E. But folks, all these people, though anointed by God’s
Spirit, pale in comparison to the Master Preacher. The simplicity and majesty
of His style, the beauty of His parables…Jesus could be both gentle and
severe, compassionate and prophetic. Jesus is our model for preaching the
Word.
F. Fact: God still calls some to preach, to communicate divine
truth in the power of the Holy Spirit.
G. Now I know that to some, preaching is foolishness (1 Corinthians
1:18, 21); to some, preaching as a means of communication is an affront (phrases,
“Don’t preach to me or at me;” “He or she is too preachy.”).
H. But that does not change the fact that, as old-fashioned
and out-of-date as some people think preaching is, the Preacher is still the
main source of communication between God and persons.
I. Folks, preaching the gospel is not just a vocation; it is
a call, a divine call upon someone’s life. A preacher needs to be able
to say with Paul, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” (1
Corinthians 9:16).
Here are four things we can do to improve our worshipping life:
Come to church to be with God. Learn to think of Sunday morning not as a time
for a “church service” but rather as an “event of meeting.”
We can come to church to meet God, not just friends. We can come to honor
God, assured that when even two or three assemble in Jesus’ name, He
is there (Matthew 18-20). Even if others around us seem to ignore His presence,
we can concentrate on His being there—the focus and the goal of our assembly.
Prepare the heart. Visualize the meeting place as a sanctuary. When we enter,
we can pause to pray. We can select one word from a verse or from the sermon
topic to meditate on while waiting for the service to begin. We can relax,
with head bowed, grateful to be there with Jesus.
Participate. Even in congregations where no opportunity is given for members
to contribute spontaneously, we Christians can participate in the worship
service. As we listen to Scripture we can mentally place ourselves in the
situation described in a gospel or can imagine ourselves as an early hearer
of an epistle’s teaching. As we share in the communion service, we can
by faith see ourselves with Jesus in His death, and with Him in His resurrection.
Listening intently and actively is one way we can participate in any worship
service.
Respond to God. We can respond to God in any service as well. When a hymn
speaks of God in the third person, we can shift the pronoun to ‘You’
and address Him personally. We can let our hearts be carried along as we pray
with the persons leading congregational prayer, making praise they offer our
own. And we can focus carefully on the Word as it is preached, asking the
Lord to help us sense what He has to say to us, and letting the Holy Spirit
open our understanding and guide us to the obedient response God wants us
to make.
To live in union with God demands moments of intimacy with Him. We can find
that intimacy in prayer of the heart and in worshipping Him with a people
who are His own.
(Lawrence O. Richards, A Practical Theology of Spirituality, p. 117-118.)
