The Fuel of Worship

In our worship we are like one of these two men:

The Farmer

Once upon a time, a very poor carrot farmer lived on a small farm in rural England. During one harvesting season, he unearthed the largest carrot he had ever seen. He thought, “Now that is a carrot that befits a king.” So he traveled to the king’s palace, obtained an audience, laid the carrot joyfully at the king’s feet. “Oh king,” he said, “you have always been such a wonderful, fair and gracious king to me, and I love you very much. As a token of my love for you, I want you to have this carrot. It is a gift which you truly deserve.” The king, touched by this man’s simple offering, responded, “Thank you for this gift. I happen to own the farmland that surrounds your farm and I would like to give you that land as a gift. Please know that it also is a small token of the affection that I have for you, my son.”

The Nobleman

One of the king’s noblemen, standing in the court that day, thought, “Wow! If the king would give all that farmland in response to a carrot, imagine what he would give for a real gift!” So the nobleman went that night and found the most majestic horse he’d ever seen and brought it to the king the next day. The crafty nobleman said, “King, you are a wonderful and worthy king. As a token of my love for you, I want you to have this horse as a gift.”The king, being very wise, saw through the ruse, and said to the nobleman, “Yesterday the poor man was giving the carrot to me. But today, you are giving the horse to yourself.”

Consider this as an analogy to how we approach God

Do we come to give? Or to get?

The Gospel (the Good News) of Christ is what brings us into proper worship:

Matthew 3:16-17

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

In the light of God’s love for Jesus, we have reason to rejoice

But God has a way to make people right, and it has nothing to do with the law. He has now shown us that new way, which the law and the prophets told us about. Romans 3:21

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

JD Greear

In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make God love me more, and nothing I have

done that makes God love me less.

The gospel is a pardoned thief on a cross

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!"

Then Jesus said to him, "I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise."

Luke 23:42-43

The gospel is a pardoned son"The son realized that he had been very foolish… So he left

and went to his father. While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him coming and felt sorry for him. So he ran to him and hugged and kissed him.

The son said, 'Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

"But the father said to his servants, 'Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and good sandals on his feet. And bring our best calf and kill it so that we can celebrate with plenty to eat. My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!' So they began to have a party.

Luke 15:17-24

The gospel gives us power to worship God rightly

Satan’s Primary Strategy

To try to get your eyes away from your identity in God and base your standing before God on

something else.

Matthew 4:1-3

Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert. He was taken there to be tempted by the devil. Jesus ate nothing for 40 days and nights. After this, he was very hungry. The devil came to tempt him and said, "If you are the Son of God…

The strategy has been very effective since time began

Gen. 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden but…

Gen. 3:1 …[The serpent] said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"

Our enemy can try to use our failures

Our enemy can try to use our pride

Louie Giglio

Satan starts with what you did, and tears down who you are. The Holy Spirit starts with what Christ has declared over you, and helps you

rebuild what you did.

The way to combat it is to always go back to the Gospel

The Good News is not the ABC of being a Christian, it is the A-Z of being one.

The gospel is not just the springboard from which we jump into the Christian life. It is the

swimming pool itself.

Imagine if you could say this to God

“God, here is why I think You should hear my prayer: this week, I concluded a forty-day fast, and during

that time I met Satan in the flesh, stared him down, and resisted all his temptations. And then I suffered unjustly at the hand of sinners, but did so without

complaint or the first flash of selfish anger. The only time I opened my mouth was to forgive those

who were doing that to me. Also, I walked on water, healed a blind guy on the spot, and fed five

thousand hungry men with a loaf of bread.”

Well in Christ we can say that

He makes beautiful things out of us