WEBVTT 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:29.090 You're listening to GARDEN CHURCH Podcast. We're in a series called Church on Fire, a journey through the book of Acts. This is the story of ordinary people filled with the spirit carrying the presence of Jesus into every corner of the world. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and in us today. Join us as we step into the call to be people set on fire for his mission. 00:00:32.290 --> 00:00:46.275 What's up, 10:00? Good morning. So next week is nine and eleven. I'm here at both next week, nine and eleven. It's my last day of driving back and forth. 00:00:48.915 --> 00:01:11.760 Praise the Lord. Don't have to drive back and forth. Hallelujah. A couple years ago, the CEO of a music label Oh man, this is doing it again. The CEO of a music label took his two year old son to the hospital for what he thought was just a normal illness. 00:01:12.240 --> 00:01:43.040 Found out his boy had e coli and it was attacking his organs. And he his kidneys were failing and he had to go on dialysis immediately. And then shortly after his two year old was in the hospital, his daughter was diagnosed with the same condition. So, these parents had a two year old and a four year old in the hospital fighting for their life. And, he sent a text message to some of his friends, desperate. 00:01:44.135 --> 00:02:11.985 And, one of the text messages landed on a worship leader in the community. He read the text and he felt This worship leader felt like what he called a a giant of unbelief was standing in front of him. As he read what he needed to pray for. And instead of arguing with the giant, he started to intercede. And in the middle of the intercession, a song came out of him. 00:02:12.065 --> 00:02:27.210 I raise a hallelujah in the presence of my enemies. I raise a hallelujah louder than the unbelief. I raise a hallelujah. My weapon is a melody. I I raise a hallelujah. 00:02:27.210 --> 00:02:40.570 Heaven comes to fight for me. I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm, louder and louder. You're gonna hear my praises roar up from the ashes. Hope will arise. Death is defeated. 00:02:40.570 --> 00:03:02.570 The king is alive. Come on. Wasn't written in a studio for a best seller or a hit. It was written in the face of a giant for a two year old on dialysis. Friends filled the hospital room, sang over that boy, prayed for weeks. 00:03:02.570 --> 00:03:26.200 He had weeks of treatment, hundreds of prayers, the family walked out with two healthy kids. I'm not saying that you sing that song, it has magical powers. That's all I'm saying. Prayed for lots of people in hospitals, with lots of faith, and I've buried them. But, I want you to notice something that the parents and this worship leader understood. 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:55.380 It's something that we're gonna talk about in Acts 16 today. I believe God gives us a tool to help transform any circumstance we face. And, the tool is worship. Worship has the power to transform our problems and our circumstances because it has the power to transform our perspective. What do you do with the overwhelming realities that you face come crashing in on you? 00:03:58.420 --> 00:04:30.525 What do you do when your marriage is hanging by a thread? When you find yourself in the hospital again for that same illness you've had for so many years. What do you do when the anxiety comes crushing in on you as you drive in traffic? What do you do when it's the middle of the day and the depression creeps in and you can't wait to go to bed at night? Where does your soul go? 00:04:30.525 --> 00:04:51.110 What does your soul do at midnight? Paul gives us a glimpse of his life with Jesus in Acts. We're in the series and it's been a year almost. In a couple weeks it will be one year and we're in Acts 16. And, I wanna show you what Paul does. 00:04:51.110 --> 00:05:19.090 I wanna kinda pull apart this this one testimony because the book of Acts is written as not just history for what happened, this happened. But, Luke the author wants you to know why it happened, so it forms you as disciples of Jesus on your journey of faith to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Can you pray with me as we open the word? Lord, I pray now that your spirit would fill us afresh. Ignite our hearts with new songs to sing. 00:05:19.730 --> 00:05:32.795 That our lives would become an offering to you. God, I pray for all of us here that we'd be encountered by you. And may your word pierce us and shape us in Jesus name. Amen. Let me see your bibles. 00:05:32.795 --> 00:05:37.675 Let's go. Raise them up. Love seeing a wave of bibles. 10:00. Let's go. 00:05:37.675 --> 00:05:52.810 Well done. Acts 16. Acts 16 verse 22. We were in the verses before this and I wanna just pick up in the story. So if you weren't here with us, go go listen to the podcast. 00:05:52.890 --> 00:06:27.485 Verse 22 it says, the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet with stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Alright. 00:06:27.485 --> 00:06:35.405 Let's pause right there. So, recap. Remember what happened. Why Paul is beaten? Why he's flogged? 00:06:35.405 --> 00:07:12.680 Why he's in prison in the first place. He's in Philippi. He shows up and there was a a young girl who was possessed by what the Greek says is a python spirit. Now, we wanna get in the charismatic world really obsessed with trying to name the different spirits, but that had very specific meaning for Philippi and the first century Greek thinking. The world view of the Greeks believed that there was the center of the universe was Delphi, a location where according to their mythology, Apollos killed this great serpent, and her powers went into Apollos, and from that location, a cult of fortune tellers was formed. 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:42.220 These prophets would would form, and there was a cult that would possess people, and you as business owners could buy access to this super intelligence. And it says that this female slave had that specific branding of spirituality, where she could tell the future. And she follows Paul around saying, they are servants of the most high God. Teaching you the way of salvation. Paul gets annoyed and casts out the demon. 00:07:43.420 --> 00:08:25.675 She gets liberated and set free, and her owners, there were many of them because every culture every culture tries to enslave people. Every culture finds a way to use resources to keep people trapped. And, this girl was the oppressed by demonic spirits and had power, and that power was capitalized as a business plan. And, those owners discovered that that they had no way of making money anymore, and so they bring Paul and Silas before the magistrates, and they cause this commotion, and they get beaten up. Here's what I wanna say, Orange County Church. 00:08:25.675 --> 00:08:40.860 You ready? Please hear me lean in. It's just an observation before I go off on worship. One little side note, it's a freebie for y'all that come from a kind of culture filled with consumerism. The kind of Christianity that wants to add Jesus onto his life like an accessory. 00:08:40.860 --> 00:09:05.190 The kind of Christianity that makes Jesus a life coach or some type of business expert to bless your dreams. You could be at the center of God's will and find yourself in a prison. You can be doing the very thing Jesus called you to do and be persecuted. In jail, you can lose business. You can lose your reputation. 00:09:05.430 --> 00:09:19.655 You can be beaten, and you can experience injustice, and it could be the very thing God has for you because you're doing all of the right things in the name of Jesus. Are you with me church? Yes. I'm not gonna preach on that. That's just an observation I make. 00:09:20.215 --> 00:09:32.840 Paul's doing the very thing Jesus called him to do and he's flogged. He's in jail. It's midnight. The time is important because what do you do? Have you ever had a sickness? 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:51.815 Like a real sickness, like where you got body aches and chills? Why is it never bad in the day? Why does it pulsate at night? Like, or you you roll your ankle and you get through the day and then you're laying down and it's 2AM. And you're like, oh my goodness I'm injured. 00:09:51.815 --> 00:10:13.525 Why do we sweat through our sheets at night when we're sick? Midnight. It's midnight. And, it says that Paul is singing hymns. Here's my question I wanna get after because Paul is a hero of the faith to me. 00:10:13.525 --> 00:10:27.070 He's a He should be for all of us. He wrote most of the New Testament. His short words about this much of your bible has transformed thousands of years of history. Right? Why was Paul singing? 00:10:28.190 --> 00:10:39.675 Have you thought about that? Why was he singing? There's a lot of other things I would be doing. Like, for example, can we just speculate? This is me speculating. 00:10:39.675 --> 00:11:03.280 I would complain. I am regularly defensive for no reason other than my childhood and adolescent wounds manifest regularly when any anybody kind of accuses me, or it sounds a bit like a tiny bit offensive. It doesn't matter what my wife said. Did you take out the trash? I always take out the trash. 00:11:03.280 --> 00:11:09.735 Sorry about that, babe. Defense. I would get defensive. I would complain. I would check out. 00:11:09.735 --> 00:11:35.705 I would try to entertain myself through the suffering. I would definitely blame Silas, without question. If that was me, and my back was bleeding, and I was sitting in stocks at 12:00 at night, I would be going, Silas, why did you encourage me to do the exorcism? It's your fault we could have dinner right now. Or, I would rehearse. 00:11:37.465 --> 00:11:44.745 Know, rehearse the regret. So, I'd have regret. So, what is regret? I would just rehearse what led me to the situation. Be walking. 00:11:44.745 --> 00:12:00.540 If I would have turned right, I wouldn't have seen her. Then I would have kept going. We would have been at Lydia's house and she's got amazing rib eye steaks ready for us. Paul chose to worship. Here's the thing. 00:12:01.715 --> 00:12:14.835 Paul worshipped through his problems. Just leaning. I'm trying to look at what's going on. Why did Luke include these details? The next part is miraculous, but let's pause and just see. 00:12:15.110 --> 00:12:37.585 Paul wasn't singing because he felt like it. I'm gonna just say, like the conditions that get me to sing are usually perfectly curated. Yes? A bleeding back and chained is not something that I'm like, yep, this is the moment I raise a hallelujah. Right? 00:12:37.585 --> 00:12:46.380 It's usually like, it's dark enough to not be noticed. It's loud enough to not be heard. Come on church. You know, we were singing at the 9AM. I wrote it down. 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:55.660 Let me We were singing these songs. What was the song? Everything bows at his name. You know that song? Sickness, darkness, chains break at the name. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:13:11.115 I'm like, everyone was going off. Yeah. And then I was like, you know what we need to sing in Orange County? Preferences bow at his name. Expectations, dreams bend at the name of Jesus. 00:13:11.355 --> 00:13:34.905 Comfort, convenience, and plans bow at the name. Now we like to keep it spiritual. Let's talk about sickness and shame, although that is a real thing that you need to be singing. What we don't recognize is we curate the environment so that we could sing maybe. He worshipped through his circumstances. 00:13:34.905 --> 00:13:42.620 So the question then, why? Why is Paul singing? Why is he worshiping? Well, I've thought a lot about that this week. N. 00:13:42.620 --> 00:14:01.285 T. Wright says, there are two golden rules at the heart of spirituality. Listen to this. You become like what you worship. When you gaze in awe, in admiration, wonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of the character of the object of your worship. 00:14:01.285 --> 00:14:22.220 Those who worship money become eventually human calculating machines, and you know it's true. Those of those of you who worship sex become obsessed with their attractiveness and prowess. Those who worship power become more and more ruthless. He has this long quote, and I'm not gonna go through it. My point is that, N. 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:35.055 T. Reichs makes a point that you become what you worship. Worship is not passive. You are being shaped by the where you direct the resources of your worship. So if N. 00:14:35.055 --> 00:14:50.890 T. Reich wrote that quote today, I think it would look like this, especially for gen z. Those of us who worship YouTube become an audience. Always watching, never doing. Spectators of other people's lives, other people's workouts, other people's faith. 00:14:52.255 --> 00:15:09.380 You worship Instagram, you become an image, curated, filtered, performed. You start living for the photo of the moment instead of the moment. You Your vacation becomes content. Your kids become content. Your worship becomes content. 00:15:09.540 --> 00:15:25.015 Wow. For others. The question is not whether you are being formed through worship. The question is who is forming you? What is forming you? 00:15:25.015 --> 00:15:34.695 What is worship then? So, if we become like what we worship, what is worship? Well, worship then, according to N. T. Wright, is whatever we gaze in awe at. 00:15:36.370 --> 00:16:03.445 Where add our admiration goes, where our wonder turns toward towards. It's it's when we ascribe value or worth to something or someone. So, this is why worship is where your attention goes. You cannot worship what you will not look at, which is why the most valuable commodity today is not oil or gold. It's your attention. 00:16:04.470 --> 00:16:21.575 We live in what the economists call the attention economy. Worship is where you put your time. It's where you spend your money. It's what you sacrifice for. So, whatever has your attention, your time, your money, your energy, that is forming you. 00:16:22.935 --> 00:16:50.310 So therefore, worship isn't a spiritual thing. It's a human thing. Worship is not just what we do here when we curate an environment for you to encounter the living God, where we sing theologically rich songs that you get centered into reality. Worship is what you're doing all the time. In fact, one of my favorite speeches by David Foster Wallace when he did the commencement speech in 2005 at Kenyon College, he says, and he was not a Christian, everybody worships. 00:16:51.425 --> 00:17:18.160 The only choice we get is what to worship. And, the compelling reason for maybe some, choosing some sort of God or spiritual type of thing to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. And, he lists something similar to n t rite. But, he says at the end, look, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they are evil or sinful, is that they are unconscious. They are the default settings. 00:17:19.695 --> 00:17:38.680 This is why Paul chooses to worship at midnight. Because you become what you worship and worship is the default setting, then where you direct the resources of your love and worship matters more than you could ever imagine. I mean Paul makes this case. Can I just A side note because I love theology? Is this okay? 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:56.085 Because I'm thinking about Paul saying this in Romans chapter one. He he lives this in Acts 16. But in Romans one, he's making this theological case for the gospel. It's a gospel for 11 chapters. Here's what God has done for you in Christ. 00:17:56.085 --> 00:18:34.910 He makes this amazing case in the first 11 chapters. In chapter one, he says, essentially, the problem with humanity, the problem with the world is a worship problem. Romans chapter one, he says, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood for what has been made so that people are without excuse. In other words, God's been on display. You look at the sunset, you look at the Grand Canyon, you see a human form out of a woman and the body that's birthed into this child. 00:18:34.910 --> 00:19:10.400 And you see there must be a God. Yes. Only, verse 21, although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God, nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. And he goes on to talk about that it led to immorality, and then it led to imprisonment or enslavement. Chapter one is so phenomenal, but he essentially says, the problem with humanity, the reason we're enslaved to our immorality is because we did not bring our gratitude and worship to God. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:28.935 The question is not whether or not you worship. The question is where do you direct your worship? But Paul was singing at midnight. Why? Because he needed to recalibrate his soul. 00:19:30.220 --> 00:20:04.090 He was singing to recenter his being around what's true. Because when sickness, when pain, when your back is shredded from the the metal shards in the whip that flogged him. You might think blame, complain, redirect, but instead worship lifts your head to what's true. When you worship Jesus, you fix your mind not on the moment, but into the eternal. Worship recalibrates your soul. 00:20:04.250 --> 00:20:47.845 Worship re centers you to what is actually true. This is why revelation is so powerful when John receives the revelation in the book of revelation. What's so powerful is the church is at threat of being compromised and crushed by the empire. And rather than John receiving a vision strategy, rather than John receiving global campaign to evangelize Rome, rather than John receiving a purpose driven practice utmost for your highest church discipline, he receives a revelation of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Heavens open in chapter four, and he sees the lamb who was slain on the throne, and this becomes the center of reality. 00:20:47.925 --> 00:21:05.140 Unless we see Jesus for who he is, worship will not make sense. Paul's not seeing about his circumstances. It says he's singing hymns. What's the content of your worship? Paul sings scripture according to the Greek. 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:27.710 He can't stop singing. Paul, as life squeezes in on him, oozes out scriptures of God. He doesn't have a app. He doesn't have the recent favorite music that you can put on and let it sing for you. He had a hymnal memorized. 00:21:28.590 --> 00:21:55.030 He had the Psalms at his disposal. It came out of him and I was like, oh, reading through the Psalms, what what was the content of his worship? I would imagine maybe Psalm one nineteen, at midnight, I rise to praise you. Psalm one sixteen, you have freed me from my chains. Psalm one forty six, the Lord set prisoners free. 00:21:55.030 --> 00:22:12.695 He leads us out the prisoners with singing. Psalm 68, in my distress I called to the Lord. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundation of the mountain shook. Psalm 18. Or maybe it was Psalm one eighteen, I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. 00:22:12.695 --> 00:22:35.645 Last week I talked about the voices of influence that you wake up to influencing your life. Today, I'm recognizing that your worship, the resources of your worship are forming you more than you could ever imagine. What happens when life squeezes down on you? What is the hymnal you've prepared to sing? Is it the algorithm that's formed you? 00:22:35.645 --> 00:22:41.325 Is it the entertainment cycle that's formed you? The news cycle? The app? Is it the Instagram? The TikTok? 00:22:41.325 --> 00:22:51.000 The Internet rabbit trails? The podcast voices? Is it the comment section? Is it the group chat? You will worship at midnight with whatever you rehearse throughout the day. 00:22:51.080 --> 00:23:02.725 And some of you are stuck. You're stuck. You're stuck in life. You don't know about relationships. You're wondering why you don't have the partner of your dreams. 00:23:02.725 --> 00:23:25.980 You're wondering why your business is stalled out. You're wondering about this transition season and what God has for you. Can I just suggest that the tool that might form you more than anything else is to redirect your worship toward Jesus and just sing? Stop trying to read all the answers. Stop trying to download and comment, react to the person on Instagram that has the 17 steps for you to finally not react. 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:38.875 Don't pay $9.99 for the business solution of the person that's marketing. Forget that. Sing. Worship Jesus. And look at what happens. 00:23:38.875 --> 00:24:01.665 Can we just keep reading this miracle? It says, suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once, all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose. Now, there's innocent bystanders to a passionate worshiper. The jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open. 00:24:01.665 --> 00:24:19.970 He drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. Paul shouted, don't harm yourself, we're all here. The jailer called for lights, rushed and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. I just want you to just highlight this. I want you to think about this. 00:24:19.970 --> 00:24:54.495 Luke does this all over the place. He shows you how the kingdom of God flips the social dynamics, the power dynamics, the economic dynamics upside down all the time. Paul's gonna be telling a ship rep ship wrecked captain what to do at the end of this story in Acts. This guy has no business telling a captain how to manage a boat, except when you lead in the kingdom, you have a different kind of authority and power. The jailer called for lights and rushed, fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 00:24:54.895 --> 00:25:09.300 He then brought them out and asked him a pagan question. Sir, what must I do to be saved? Isn't this what we do? It's what pagans do. I gotta go to the festival. 00:25:09.300 --> 00:25:15.780 I gotta give an offering. I gotta light the candles. I gotta do the ritual. I gotta do the right thing. Paul says, no, no, no. 00:25:15.780 --> 00:25:36.030 There is nothing you can do. It's already been done. He says, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. And you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house At that hour of the night, what hour was it? 00:25:36.030 --> 00:25:47.545 A little earlier? Midnight. Was all happening in the wee hours of the morning before the sun's up. The jailer took them and washed their wounds. Then immediately, he and all his household were baptized. 00:25:47.545 --> 00:26:07.400 There's no time to waste, church. We got a baptismal pool right here today. Some people have signed up. But some of y'all have confessed Jesus, and you're just waiting like it's not urgent to make a public declaration of your faith. You think it's as convenient and accessible and comfortable as everything else in your life. 00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:32.010 And this jailer in the middle of the night redirects his household to go in some cold water and get baptized in the name of Jesus because it's urgent. Don't wait for Nana. Get in the water. Send her the livestream. When it was daylight I love this part. 00:26:32.010 --> 00:26:38.730 This is where you see you can wait till after. We'll dunk you in a second. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I should have known. 00:26:40.255 --> 00:26:57.350 When it was daylight I love the urgency. I gotta keep going. When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with these orders. Release those men. The jailer told him, the magistrates have ordered that you and Silas to be released. 00:26:57.350 --> 00:27:05.190 Now you can leave. Go in peace. Paul's like, uh-uh. I love this about Paul. You see in his writings. 00:27:05.190 --> 00:27:17.485 He's just so oh, he's like confident, cocky maybe. Like that's probably a word. Like arrogant, especially in his early writings. Like I love the journey of Paul. This is early. 00:27:17.485 --> 00:27:26.360 Like he's like, nah man. I'm Roman citizen. They're gonna walk me out. I know who I am. Because this is Philippi. 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:49.105 This is a Roman colony. They could be crushed by the Romans for what they did to Paul as a Roman citizen. He holds them accountable. Paul, you read Galatians and he's like, I'm the best of the apostles. And then you get to the His last letter, Philippians, the first church he planted, this church. 00:27:49.970 --> 00:27:56.370 And he's so humble. He's like, oh, they're preaching Christ for wrong motives? It's okay. Christ is being preached. It's okay. 00:27:56.370 --> 00:28:08.035 I'm the worst of sinners. It's this life. What N. T. Wright says about Paul is he's the first person to open his heart to the ancient world. 00:28:08.675 --> 00:28:26.840 Paul's letters change the world because he gives us his heart. So Paul and young Paul, release those men they say. And he's like, nah, I'm a Roman citizen. And it says, they beat us publicly without a trial even though we are Roman citizens and threw us in prison. And now, they wanna get rid of us quietly. 00:28:27.080 --> 00:28:37.715 No. Let them calm themselves and escort us out. So the officers reported magistrates. And when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They were afraid. 00:28:38.275 --> 00:28:57.460 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. And Paul's like, I'm not done in the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went back to Lydia's house where the church was formed, where they met with their brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then on their own terms, they left. Come on, church. 00:29:01.055 --> 00:29:17.460 Don't be cocky. Don't be arrogant. I love the miraculous story. Innocent bystanders caught up in the worship of Paul and Silas. The prison doors open, the chains fall off. 00:29:18.500 --> 00:29:35.725 Have you ever noticed that a passionate worshiper is contagious? I made this observation live in the last service. I was thinking about this. I've never met a passionate worshiper that wasn't full of joy. And then, I was like, oh, you know what's interesting? 00:29:35.960 --> 00:30:09.300 I've never met a passionate worshiper that wasn't full of joy, that wasn't generous. And, I'm thinking about the crisis that we're witnessing right now of despair, anxiety, fear, scarcity, all these things are connected to this act of worship. Dealing with fear, worship. Dealing with despair, worship. Dealing with there's not enough for me to go around, worship the God of abundance. 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:34.790 He forms you as you bring your attention, your admiration, your awe, and your wonder towards him. Isn't that amazing? You don't even realize that there will be bystanders to your life of worship that are impacting all of a sudden worship is missional. I was talking to my friend, Jake Sweetman. He's a pastor at Cathedral in LA, a church that he's led for years. 00:30:34.790 --> 00:30:45.590 We're close friends. We talk regularly about our church and and sermon prep, and he was telling me about what he was preaching on. I'm like, oh, I'm preaching on this. Calls me an hour later. He's like, you are not gonna believe what happened. 00:30:45.765 --> 00:31:07.240 I'm like, tell me. He's like, Darren, I'm writing my sermon in my house and I have music on, and I I have a guy washing my car out front, and my car kept taking my song. The Bluetooth kept going to my car. And I got so frustrated. Here I am with worship music on, trying to write a sermon, and my car is getting through Bluetooth, the song, and it's just going back and forth, and I couldn't concentrate. 00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:28.790 And then I get a knock on the door. The guy who's washing my car knocks on the door with tears in his eyes, and he says, what music did you have on in your car? I can't stop crying. And it was all creatures of our God and king by Jesus' image. And Jacob gave them led them to Jesus right there and he said a prayer. 00:31:28.790 --> 00:31:58.210 You don't even realize that in your frustration and attempt to worship, God could use it as a doorway, as a key to unlock the heart of a person you don't even know who's next to you. Because worship is missional, and worship is contagious, and worship reorients you, and worship forms you, and we worship. And let me just say, you're like, oh my life is going to hell right now. I have the worst life. Everything's falling apart. 00:31:58.210 --> 00:32:19.335 Can I just say, you have enough content of worship for the rest of eternity because of what Jesus already did on the cross? If he never answers a prayer, if your life stays in a prison, it doesn't matter. You have enough to sing and get your heart realigned. So, I wanna give you practicals because I'm preaching my heart out. Here we go. 00:32:22.270 --> 00:32:36.750 How do we develop a life of worship like Paul? Point number one. Write this down. These are gonna be fire for you later. Worship like David. 00:32:37.215 --> 00:33:01.130 Make worship a priority, a practice, a posture, and a choice. It's not about how you feel, it's about what's best. I give my kids broccoli not because they feel like eating broccoli, but it's best for a holistic diet. Listen to what David says in Psalm one zero three. Praise the Lord, o my soul. 00:33:02.495 --> 00:33:18.840 All my inmost being praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul. Forget not his benefits. Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit and crown you with love and compassion. 00:33:18.840 --> 00:33:27.480 What's he doing? He's telling his soul what to do. You don't feel like it? Praise the Lord, feelings. Yes. 00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:50.770 You don't think like it? Praise the Lord, thoughts. Get your soul aligned with reality, which is a throne room with the lamb who was slain standing on it. Waiting and anticipating for the coming of the renewal of all things. Walking amongst the lampstand, the church. 00:33:51.330 --> 00:34:03.075 Eager anticipations that you may endure and receive the victorious crown. Worship like David. Wake up, put some music on and sing. Number two. Worship like Bieber. 00:34:03.075 --> 00:34:15.570 Write this down. Everything hallelujah. I love it. Look at the lyrics. Let's take a walk hallelujah. 00:34:15.890 --> 00:34:25.425 Sun is out hallelujah. Brand new day. Brush my teeth. Take a swim. Everything. 00:34:25.665 --> 00:34:37.185 Go outside. It's beautiful. It's raining. Breathe the air. I'm singing like dancing like everything. 00:34:37.740 --> 00:34:54.355 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Is a Hebrew word in the Greek New Testament that's not been translated into Greek. It's the halal, which means to praise, to boast, to make something public. Put on a public display of what? 00:34:54.595 --> 00:35:08.020 Yeah. The short form of the covenant name Yahweh. Hallelujah is not a feeling, it's an exclamation point. Y'all praise God. Now, let me say. 00:35:09.860 --> 00:35:21.335 Have you ever been depressed? You've ever been anxious? You've ever struggled with sleeping? Woke up today? Hallelujah. 00:35:21.975 --> 00:35:33.530 Send a text message back to my friend after days of not responding. Hallelujah. Brushed my teeth. Hallelujah. Came to church. 00:35:34.330 --> 00:35:46.170 Hallelujah. Brothers and sisters, let your life be hallelujah. Worship like Beaver. You're welcome. Number three, practice gratitude. 00:35:47.815 --> 00:36:10.310 This is the most important thing. Paul says in Romans, read that section Romans chapter one verses 20 to basically the end of the chapter. Ingratitude leads to enslavement. You don't learn to sing at midnight by making lists of complaints and critiques. Man, these chains are really tight. 00:36:11.705 --> 00:36:24.745 My back really hurts. It smells. Silas, you stink. You learn to sing by bringing your gratitude to the Lord. You wake up, make a list. 00:36:24.745 --> 00:36:44.365 You start with two great, next day add three. Fill journals of life that's been redirected with gratitude towards the Lord. You see, I think that's the power of worship. It's about the redirection of your life. It's what happens with Jesus when there's a crisis in front of him and 5,000 people are hungry. 00:36:44.765 --> 00:36:50.845 And, he says to the disciples, hey, what do you have? Five loaves and two fish. Okay. I can use that. Hand it to me. 00:36:50.845 --> 00:37:10.845 They give it to Jesus. They redirect their resources, their scarcity to Jesus. Jesus then redirects to heaven and gives thanks and he breaks it and he gives it back to them and they produce with the scarcity that that they thought they had an abundance miracle. Redirect your life resources towards God. Practice gratitude. 00:37:10.845 --> 00:37:31.140 Two more things and then we'll end. Number one, can I just say, worship with your voice? When we do corporate gathering, this is not time for you to start judging this worship set. I said preferences bow at his name. Comforts, convenience. 00:37:33.300 --> 00:37:48.705 You gotta sing. I'm singing mine. I want you to sing like he raised from the dead. And you know that song, raise the hallelujah? That song marked a moment in time. 00:37:48.705 --> 00:38:01.750 It was COVID. Our church was on lockdown in Downtown Long Beach. I had to film sermons in my garage. I grew my hair out. It's crazy what you do. 00:38:01.750 --> 00:38:13.165 COVID was nuts. I had two little kids. Two little kids, and we're watching church online, and we're singing worship as a nuclear family. And somebody think that's how we're supposed to do it? No. 00:38:13.485 --> 00:38:25.540 Under extreme circumstances. But let me tell you, we were singing raise a hallelujah like this. Raise a hallelujah. We were singing. Yeah. 00:38:25.540 --> 00:38:42.035 And I made a promise to God, if we get to go start the garden again, it took a year and a half. Lord Jesus, help me. Our 500 person church went down to a 150 people in Downtown Long Beach when we regathered because LA County was the most locked down. Orange County, you were like the wild West. I loved it. 00:38:43.955 --> 00:39:00.810 I got yelled at for not having a mask in my neighborhood outside taking my trash cans out. I'll go to coffee in Seal Beach, and they're just, like, living like there is no COVID. I'm like, what's going on? I went to Montana during that time. That was another world. 00:39:02.435 --> 00:39:15.155 I had to have proof of something to get into a show in Montana. They're handing me guns. They're handing me all this stuff. What is going on in this new world? What was that sword? 00:39:15.155 --> 00:39:22.930 It wasn't shields. It was something else. It was so big. Anyways, worship with your voice. I don't care if you don't know how to sing in tune. 00:39:22.930 --> 00:39:46.830 You better get those vocal cords redirected to Jesus. And lastly, worship with your body. There's a reason worship biblically is laying down flat on the ground. That is the only definition in the Old Testament that we have. Worship is you laying prostrate in front of God. 00:39:48.270 --> 00:40:08.205 Now here, I get it, because we live in Orange County, and there's amazing coffee. Good coffee. Hallelujah. But you come in here thinking that this is for you, this whole thing is not seeker sensitive. It's about the one true king, and we're hosting him. 00:40:08.285 --> 00:40:18.470 And guess what? You're the choir. You came to Jesus last week? Great. Let me make sure you don't fall into the trap that consumer Christians have fallen into. 00:40:18.470 --> 00:40:39.815 You sing, and you dance, and you shout. And if you have the ability to get on your knees, you get on your knees. If you have the ability to around, you dance around because he lives. And for some reason, your feelings have domesticated your worship. Your people pleasing has neutered your capacity to give God glory. 00:40:40.260 --> 00:40:49.540 And what's at state? Your imprisonment. So if the rocks are gonna sing, let's give them a warm up. Amen? Let's all stand. 00:40:54.045 --> 00:40:57.005 For more information, visit us at garden.church.