Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
We are a local Church in Orange County California who are passionate to witness lives being renewed in Christ, strengthened through discipleship, and to thrive in the fullness of living for Christ.
Get connected to us by visiting www.c3oc.com or emailing us at hello@c3oc.com
Hi. Thanks for tuning in to this week's message at C30C. We hope that it blesses you, equips you, and fills you with faith. Let's dive in.
Ps Joseph Pringle:So, yeah. We're gonna talk about, worship. Let's talk about worship, baby. And I I think that we can sometimes get caught up in the performance of worship. We we end up walking into church and, by our preference, we decide whether we will give worship today or not.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I don't like this song. My mind's pretty preoccupied right now, and so I'm either going to give it or I'm not I don't like that worship leader. I know you've got a lot of problems with Sean in in this I'm just kidding. He is wonderful. That we might come with our preference.
Ps Joseph Pringle:And that that last song that we sung, Nothing Else, is, returning to a repentant side of I am coming to give glory to God. I think it's a strange statement to say I didn't really like the worship today because the truth of the matter is is the worship wasn't for you. The worship was for God. And to get to a a space within your world and trust me. If I if I had to live within giving caveats for everything I say said, we would never actually preach a message.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Like, we believe in excellence. You you, in Psalms 333, it says, play your instrument skillfully. There is a skill if if you, are against beauty in the house of God, then just go and read the temple requirements that God had put out. They were very specific. And, God wants an order and an excellence that is brought to Him.
Ps Joseph Pringle:But if it is all performance and no substance, then we're missing the point. And, Jesus calls us to a new style of worship in the New Testament, and he does it in a peculiar way as he's talking to a Samarian, a Samaritan woman who is on the outskirts. And Jesus comes to a well where it's so awesome. It says, he was wearied from his journey. Ain't it nice to know that Jesus was a 100% human and he was a 100% god.
Ps Joseph Pringle:He was wearied from the journey, and yet he still had the capacity to preach the gospel to this woman. And he comes to this woman, and in John 423 to 24, he sits by the well, and there's so much in this whole chapter. We're gonna focus here on worship. And this is one of the, most famous scriptures on worship as, the New Testament church. And it says in verse 23 to 24, but the hour is coming and is now here.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You can say that because Jesus is there present talking to this woman. The hour is coming where I will rebuild the temple in 3 days, is what Jesus is saying. When his death, his resurrection happens. When the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. For the father is seeking.
Ps Joseph Pringle:The father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. God, oh god, I thank you that your presence is here today. God, let me be short, focused, and succinct. Let the words be potent.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Let it sink into our hearts and let your spirit speak louder than me. Help me get out of the way. Amen. Incredible. So you and I, we were created to worship.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You are a worship apparatus. When God created you, it was to bring glory, it was to worship God. And He gave us the choice to worship. It was the very distinct nature that He gave us was the ability to make choices. He didn't give that to animals.
Ps Joseph Pringle:He didn't give that to trees. He didn't give that to the stars, but he gave it particularly to man and to woman that we would be able to make choices. Sometimes that's a blessing. Sometimes that's a kind of curse. And so we we get to decide whether we're worshiping or not.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Now you can do that consciously, or you can do it without thought at all. Meaning that if you have no intent to what you are worshiping, you are worshiping something. And it's probably not necessarily going to be the right thing. In 1977, Maria Rubio from New Mexico was in her kitchen and she was cooking burritos. How many people love a burrito?
Ps Joseph Pringle:Come on. Only 4 people. Gosh, we're in California. What is going on? She's in the kitchen, she's cooking a tortilla.
Ps Joseph Pringle:She's making it up, making it for the family, and probably homemade. And she's flipping it over, and as she pulls it out and she's about to throw the fillings in there, she noticed that the skillet marks on the tortilla look suspiciously like Jesus. And so she begins to look as She shows her family and her friends and they're all in awe. Yes. It looks like Jesus.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It it definitely looks like Jesus. And she began to feel this, oh, I I got He is speaking to me and there's all these changes in my world. So she goes down to the local priest and he confirms it and he blesses it that it looks like Jesus. So she goes home, she sticks it in a little frame with little glasses, she puts these, cotton balls. I'm not I'm not no one ever liked.
Ps Joseph Pringle:She's got all these cotton balls all around it. And there's Jesus, the tortilla, on the tortilla right there. And so she she sets it up and and in in a backyard, she builds a a a wooden utility shed like a, you know, where you stick your tools, but she put the little shrine of the Jesus tortilla in there. Over the next few, months, there were 8,000 people that came to visit that to seek the blessing from Jesus of the tortilla. Over the next 2 years, it continues to keep going and over, I think it's around 40,000 people come to visit.
Ps Joseph Pringle:They make a pilgrimage to visit Jesus' image on a tortilla, seeking a blessing, seeking to worship, seeking to bring veterans towards this item. And, you know, unfortunately, the granddaughter in 2,005 took it to school for show and tell, and it it smashed and the tortilla ripped. And so the the people kinda stopped visiting from that point. But I do think it's funny what we might, assign worship to, even in its reverence that there might be an odd shaped Cheeto. And I mean, we see it.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It only takes a quick search on the Internet to find Jesus on toast, and Jesus on this, and Jesus on that. Now listen, God can speak through anything, But I think it's important to know that our true worship is directed to God and Jesus himself. There there is a building of a new temple, and that new temple is within you as a person. And so for us to get it right and to bring reverent worship to God, to God alone and I mean the Bible is pretty specific. It says, don't carve out idols.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Don't even make an image of heavenly things Because it will not compare to the glory. People end up worshiping creation over the creator so quickly. So quickly. And I'm telling you that if you don't have the foundation of what true worship is, then our worship is gonna kinda just go anywhere. And it begins to be kind of a relaxed style of worship.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Here's one of the hard truths about living a life for Jesus is that when you say, Jesus, I give you my life. You're saying, I I am giving my life to be a living sacrifice. He then, it's almost like he hands you a contract and he goes, okay. Here's the contract for you and I to live by. And you go, that's great, but there's nothing written on it.
Ps Joseph Pringle:There's no words between just a little signed by down the bottom. And Jesus goes, yeah, that's right because you're signing everything away. There is no KVArts. And so you're like, but but I need to know all the loopholes. I need to know all of the regulations and side and, you know, I need to know what I'm signing up for.
Ps Joseph Pringle:And he says, you're signing up to give me your whole life. And that is a life existing within worship to God, is that we are offering up a, a living sacrifice daily on the altar that brings glory to him. It's important for us to grasp what worship really is so that we can operate as true worshipers. In the scripture, it says, the the hour and the day is coming when the worshipers, the true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth. That tells me that there is not so true worshipers.
Ps Joseph Pringle:That there is a way to not so truly worship God. That we might have a watered down approach to our worship as we bring it to God. We want to be a potent worshiping people. Right? Regarded as true worshipers who worship not just in spirit or not just in truth, but spirit and in truth in collaboration together.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Amen? Worship is not just heard, but it's also seen. Worship is not the you know, it's funny, we might also break down, you know, our Sunday singing into praise songs. Pray songs are the the little bit faster tempo. It's the ones you kinda jump to.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I just kinda jump all all the time. But, and then there's worship songs, which are the bit more slower ones, you know. And and we we begin to create almost like a genre of worship via our playlists. And we go, oh, I've got my worship playlist, and I've got worship this, and I love the the the the worship on Sunday is is right here. But that is not what worship holy is.
Ps Joseph Pringle:There is a greater substance to just singing songs. Worship is not just heard, but it is seen. It is a seen attribute within our world which we're gonna talk about today. It's not just music, but it's also motive. Worship is not just intent, but it's also attitude.
Ps Joseph Pringle:And God is craving to see to see. It says He is seeking a people. I'm trying to see a people who would worship me in truth and in spirit. His eyes are gonna stop over C three OC. I'm believing and say, I have sought and I have found a people who are truly after my own heart.
Ps Joseph Pringle:The first time worship is mentioned in the Bible is actually in Genesis 22. Genesis 22 is not a, a collaboration of, you know, harps and and and choruses of songs, but it's actually the story of Abraham who is bringing Isaac to a mountain to sacrifice Isaac. And it was a call for obedience from God to Abraham. And as they are approaching the mountain and they're about to walk up, all the men, you know, Abraham had had some men with him. And he said, men, you stay here.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You stay down here. I am going to go up with Isaac on the mountain to worship. But he wasn't going up there to sing nothing else, you know, with Isaac. And nothing else, nothing else will do. Nope.
Ps Joseph Pringle:He's going up there to offer a sacrifice of his only son that was given to him through Sarah. His only son that was a blessing from God to him. Abraham said worship not because they were going to sing a song, it was because he was going to be obedient. He was going to make a sacrifice that God had commanded him. If you don't know the end of the story, God stops him.
Ps Joseph Pringle:An angel comes down and stops him before and provides a ram in the thicket, just to bring clarity to the end of that story. Worship is obedience. Obedience because we hold a reverence for God. Obedience out of an awe and wonder towards God. Obedience because God is good and living by His statutes will only bring fruit.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It'll only bring blessing into our world. Obedience because He is creator, He is savior, He is Lord. Not obedience just because He is the authority figure within our within our lives. But obedience out of our heart that it would begin to change us from the inside out. And yes, worship is the pursuit of what God wants, not just through obedience, but also true worship is our genuine desire in our hearts to see His will fulfilled.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Worship begins to change your heart. That instead of it being like, I've got to do all of this. How many husbands get a honey do list? Yeah? Oh, cool.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Just any more? Yeah. Come on. Yeah. There we go.
Ps Joseph Pringle:We get a honey do list. It's like the list of things to do. Sometimes, you know, you're you're looking at your schedule and you're like, how am I gonna get this all done? And you kinda do it really quick, maybe with a little grumble under your breath. But you get it done because, you know, you wanna fulfill that.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You wanna, but but there is also a changing in the heart that as you consistently do that, you kinda want to to get stuff done in your house, you know, because you're the keeper of your house. If you're, if you own a home, you can't call the landlord. It falls on you and your responsibility. There has to be a heart for your house to see it fixed up. And so as you begin to worship God, as you begin to taste the goodness of His fruit, though sometimes it might feel so difficult, so difficult to grow, when you taste His fruit of righteousness, when you taste the fruit of purity, when you taste the fruit of obedience, you go, oh my gosh, this tastes so good.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Oh, I've been existing on all this synthetic strawberry stuff over here, but this is the real fruit. It's a real orange. It's a real apple. Oh, I feel like I've been ripped off my whole life because now I've got substantial fruit. Fruit with substance.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Fruit that gives life. And here's the thing, what Jesus creates, what god creates in your world cannot help but multiply. He said, Adam, you're Adam. Eve, you're Eve. From that day, I will tell you humans are still multiplying.
Ps Joseph Pringle:When he said apple tree, you are apple tree. We still have apple trees to this day. So what he creates multiplies. I want that fruit in my life. I don't want seedless fruit that I'm gathering from over here and and over there and and and falsified.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Have you ever accidentally been in a hotel room or I don't know, a lobby somewhere and they've got fake fruit? And you and you go, wow, that looks good. And you grab it, and you're like, it's too light, but it's still coming to my mouth. And you go, ah. Or it's like you're living a life like the hotel soap.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You kinda get in you get into the you you get into the shower and you're like, oh, there's the soap bar, and you stick it on and you're rubbing it around and you're like, what the heck? Nothing's happening. Because it's still wrapped up. You gotta unwrap it, and as you begin washing it, you begin to clean it. We gotta unwrap worship within our life, so that it reaches its full potency.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It begins cleaning our souls. Yeah. Begins adding to our souls. Amen? Amen.
Ps Joseph Pringle:So worship is the pursuit of what god wants, not just through obedience, but also true worship is the genuine desire. I want you to hear that. It's the genuine desire within our hearts to see the will of God fulfilled, to see His will fulfilled. Here's a heavy scripture. Amos, 521 to 24.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I bet you didn't think this word was in the bible. I hate all your show and pretense. The hypocrisy of your religious festivals and what? Sole solemn assemblies. Let me tell you where God is, it is not solemn.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It is joyful. It is buzzing. It is happy. It is overflowing with purpose. I'm tired.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I'm tired of all of these festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise. I will not listen to your music, to the music of your harps, instead instead, I want to see.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I want to see a mighty flood of justice and endless river of righteous living. Isn't that hectic? I don't want to hear the music, your performance, your religious duties, if your heart is not in it. Don't just relegate your Christian living to your solemn assemblies. Don't just leave it to your concerts and to your performances, but give it in your hearts.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Let it flow out of you. Let worship change you, that you would not just be a clanging cymbal in the ears of God, but, God, I want to be an ever flowing river of righteousness. Righteous living takes obedience. Oh, man. Didn't we just talk about this in faith?
Ps Joseph Pringle:Yes. It is the recurring theme throughout scripture. Where are my obedient people? Not just in deed, but in heart. That there would be a desire to seek it.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You know, to for the Israelites to cross the wilderness, the desert, would have taken no more than a couple of months. Just a couple of months. But it took them 40 years. Do you wanna know why? Because their heart was full of complaint.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It would not let go of the past. It did not have faith in the promises of God. They did not have faith in the promises of God, and they worshiped every other idol that they could. They wandered for 40 years. How long have you been wandering?
Ps Joseph Pringle:If there is a wandering within you, I'm telling you, relegate your life to the altar. Say, I'm done. I surrender all. You know what? That contract that I didn't wanna sign, I'm now signing.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I give you my life. I give you all of these temptations that I'm facing and struggling with. I give you all of these motives that begin trying to steal me away from God's presence. I I hand my heart over to God. It is my great desire, our great desire as a church, to seek God as true worshipers.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I'll and I tell our worship team all the time, if we're gonna sing songs, I don't wanna do it. I don't wanna just sing songs. This is, you know, and and and like I said before, let's get excellent. Let's let's keep stretching to get better, but we're not here to perform. I did that for years.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It's empty. Playing at bars and clubs and and big venues. It's empty. I'm done with just singing songs. I want to worship God.
Ps Joseph Pringle:That there would be a fragrant offering coming up from my heart. I can't just do that on Sunday for 4 songs. The fragrance has to exist throughout the week. And we're gonna talk about the fragrance of offering, of of offering worship to God next week, or the week after. We're gonna talk about worship for a few weeks, but I wanna set this, foundation that worship is obedience and obedience within our heart.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It's not just us carrying out an action, but we have a desire to see his will fulfilled. It's a change within our heart. And for us to be a church that we say we are a worship movement here in Orange County. Is not just that we're going to put out albums of worship songs. That we're not, you know, writing songs in house.
Ps Joseph Pringle:We'll we'll do those things but that we would be a living sacrifice church. Bringing true worship to our father. The choosing factor in David being chosen as king of Israel was that his heart was after God's. It was after God. Before anything, no matter what the obstacle was in front of him, he said, yes, God.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Let's go. Let's do this. You wanna do this? I don't know if it's a good idea because in my human mind, it's not really a good idea. Or living by the kingdom, that's kind of always the reverse of how the world does it.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Give freely and I will give to you. That's not how it works in the world. I meant to halt and hold and reinvest for myself, but to to give freely in the house and generously, it's the reverse of it. Lay down your life and I'll give you a new one and a new purpose and a new no, no, no. I gotta take the reins of my life.
Ps Joseph Pringle:That's the way of the world. But it's this reverse side that David goes beyond any circumstance, I give my life to God. I am obedient to God. From Genesis to Revelation, that doctrine of worship is knitted all throughout. We cannot be strong in our faith without a strong revelation of worship.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Oh, we need that worship bubbling up within us that isn't just in song, but it's also in life. That worship is our lifestyle, as so many of us have heard over the years. In Mark 12 29 to 30, Jesus says, the most important and this is him, speaking to, one of the Pharisees that says, well, what is the most important command of the the most important commandment of of God? Trying to trick him. Jesus answered, the most important is, hear, o Israel, and he's quoting Deuteronomy 6:4 to 5.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is 1. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Did he leave anything out? I don't think so. He's saying, love the Lord your God with all of your life.
Ps Joseph Pringle:This is a call for worship. And with Jesus stating, this is the most important of all of God's commandments, He is undoubtedly confirming that worship is the overarching priority, first priority. Worship is so important to God. In Exodus 20, there are the the the recording of the 10 commandments that have been given to the people of Israel. And at the top of those is 2 instituting worship practices, regulating worship.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. I don't think I gave, this scripture, so just look it up in your Bibles right now. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven, above or on earth, beneath, or in the water, under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.
Ps Joseph Pringle:In the Old Testament, worship was a way of life. It was a way of life for them. It was supposed to be this continual preoccupation with the people of Israel, with the people of God, that they were always occupied in worship to our father. Here's an example. The tabernacle was designed and laid out to emphasize the priority of worship.
Ps Joseph Pringle:The description of its details requires 7 chapters. 7 whole chapters. 243 verses in the book of Leviticus, yet only 31 verses in Genesis are devoted to the creation of the world. God is intense about worship. He wants us to know about worship.
Ps Joseph Pringle:He wants us to be preoccupied, not just in a, Sunday morning setting, but that we would live a life of worship throughout the week. The tabernacle was designed solely for worship. It was the place where God met with his people. And when they set up their camp, every time they set up their camp, they set the tabernacle in the middle, and they, each tribe built around, faced inwardly to the altar, to the tabernacle. That they would always be facing it.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You know, I I think this is funny side note, but people will choose where they are going to move without first looking for the house of god they're gonna plant themselves in. God called me to this place. And then I've seen them and they get up and they move and they go probably to Tennessee. Let's be real. But and they go there, but and they say, god has called me.
Ps Joseph Pringle:And and I know some of those people who are still without a church. They were still without a place to go and worship god. And I think it's incredible to know that they built their lives around the presence of god. There was such a holiness and a reverence that they held to God and to His presence. We gotta get back to that place where we are so reverent towards God's presence.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Life revolved around the place of worship. The law existed around worship. God just states over and over again the importance of worship to his people. In Leviticus 107 is the list of offerings that are to be presented to god. And at the top of that list is the burnt offering.
Ps Joseph Pringle:A burnt offering means that there was nothing left over. There was nothing that was reserved for the priests and I I I won't get into all of these other options but of offerings but there's burnt offering. Everything that was put on the altar was given to god. That is worship in our context here today when we put our lives on the altar. In Romans, 12:1, he says, I appeal therefore to you brothers, this is Paul, by the mercies of god to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Ps Joseph Pringle:That translated is proper worship. Worship properly understood. Your spiritual worship. So, properly understood worship is understanding that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. You know what the sucky thing about a living sacrifice is?
Ps Joseph Pringle:Keeps crawling off the altar. It's living. There is a daily surrender, almost that we are crawling back onto the altar to hold ourselves there. Here's an interesting fact, is that the altar, in those days, they would present a living sacrifice. But what they would do is there were 4 horns that surrounded the altar and they would tie down the sacrifice.
Ps Joseph Pringle:The reason being is, if it fell from the altar and it hit the earth, it was then called unclean. It was not to touch the earth. And so for you and I, we have to establish these horns in our life. I have so many statements, but I'm not gonna say it. And I believe those four horns that we need to tie ourselves to, is that of prayer?
Ps Joseph Pringle:Is that of the word, understanding his word, speaking his word, living his word? It's true worship, and it's the church that we would be in community. That when we bind ourselves down, we will find that as a living sacrifice, we find it easier to be on that altar. That we find it the desire in our heart is to be on that altar. Not just, you know, my hand.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I've just put my left hand up here today. I'm gonna keep my tongue off the altar, so that I can yell at that person, I can speak badly to my wife, or I can gossip or, you know, do this, ah, just keep my ears off the altar so I can listen to that and I can watch this. But, you know, then I'll tomorrow, I'll just I'll plant it on the altar again and I'll nail it down. That we would be a people who come to the altar and tie ourselves down with prayer, with the word, with true worship, and with our community as the church. That to me is that spirit side of worship, that we would be continually laying down our flesh, because our flesh is weak.
Ps Joseph Pringle:And our spirit without god will find itself weak. But in its continual obedience, in its repetitions over and over again, we will find our spirit coming to life. We'll find our heart being changed because the presence of god metamorphosize. It it it it changes our heart. He says, I will pull out that stone that heart that is like stone and put in you a heart like flesh.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Oh, I want a new heart. I want a heart like God. I want a heart that is purely after Him. A carnal heart will look no higher than carnal ends. So we need our spirit to grow continually, and the and the way that we get our spirit to grow is that we we live a life that says, 'less of me and more of you.' Less of me and more of you God.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Less of my decision making. Less of me, making all of these ways and designs for my life and more of you, god? What is the way that you would like me to live in obedience with a heart that desires god? You'll find that when you surrender to god, his will in your life is so desirable. In the same passage of scripture in John 4:34, Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
Ps Joseph Pringle:It's pretty incredible that Jesus says nothing about his own will. I think people think that if I can just get my way in life, that I will be truly fulfilled and truly happy. And here, Jesus is saying that if I just do the Father's will, I'm I'm here to do the Father's will and to accomplish the work. That it's not just the will is received, but the work is carried out. We begin laying down our life that God would come in more.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Less of me and more of you. You won't find that perfect happiness in just seeking after and working out your will all the time, all your wishes to be gratified and longings to be fulfilled and desires that are granted to them. But perfect happiness is to be found in exactly the opposite direction. It's that kingdom way of living. Namely, in the casting down of our own will entirely, and asking that the will of God would be fulfilled in our lives.
Ps Joseph Pringle:And that we would fulfill the will of God for our lives. This is my food, says the sinner, that's the girl he is talking to, to do my own will. And Jesus points to a different table. It says, Do the will of the Father. Eat this food and find sustenance.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Eat this truth and find your spirit come alive. When we have conquered ourselves, we have conquered all. When we have won the victory over our own desires and dislikes and have subdued ourselves through sovereign grace to the will of God, we will find perfect happiness. We'll find purpose. We'll find that carrying out the will of God gives us direction in life.
Ps Joseph Pringle:He says, to worship me in spirit and in truth. In Philippians 2:12, we read, therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Accepting the truth that is given to us, working out our salvation, which means maturing in Christ. Working out with God your salvation.
Ps Joseph Pringle:How is it that I'm supposed to live? I will change the way that I am going to live. I love that it says, work out. Not think out, not means work out. We've gotta see this living out within our worlds.
Ps Joseph Pringle:But what it does is it brings integrity into our world. And I believe that God was using Paul to speak to us today as Christians also when he wrote, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence. Oh, that we would be a people that don't just turn up acting obedient on a Sunday service or to the church gatherings or to this and that, but we are obedient much more, much more in the absence. And even now as we wait for Jesus returning, that we would be much more in His absence. Before He returns, be obedient to the call that He has laid down before us.
Ps Joseph Pringle:We're not just Christians on Sundays, but we live a Christian life. We live a life that is a discipled life by being obedient to His word. And that by being a living sacrifice in private more than I am in public, you begin to declare the glory of God to all. I think that's a pretty astounding thing. The greatest testimony that we can live is living in obedience to God, is living in worship to God.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Psalm 19, one of my favorite scriptures, 1 to 3 says, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, Nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. They're worshiping God without a voice.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You cannot hear it. It's pretty interesting actually that you can, listen to planets and to stars. Do you know they make a sound? And that in chorus, there is this song going on. I think that's pretty amazing.
Ps Joseph Pringle:But for us, we can't hear their words, but yet the reason they are declaring the glory of God is because they are being obedient to what He created them to be. The stars never waking up and saying, I wanna be the moon. The sun never wakes up and goes, I'm gonna be the earth today. Because God didn't give them a will, they are stars. You star are going to shine brightly.
Ps Joseph Pringle:You moon, you are going to reflect the sun. You sun, you are going to burn brightly. That we, as believers and followers of Christ, as creation of God, who would be created to worship, would live a life of worship. That we would lay down our preference. That we would lay down our, first choice to to us.
Ps Joseph Pringle:And we would say, God, you can have it all. Just stand up here today. You and I were created to worship. And when we live worshiping God, not just heard in the songs we sing, but seen in the life that we live, one that is humble, one that is loving, one that is kind, one that seeks justice, one that lives in righteousness, we declare the glory of God. Thank you, Father, that here in this church, oh, we would lift great melodies of worship.
Ps Joseph Pringle:100%, father, I pray that the heart of worship would not just be in our song, but it would also be within our lives as we walk through life. I thank you father that our lives would sing a new song to the Lord. God, oh God, I thank you that our attitudes would be shaped into worshiping attitudes of God. I thank you father that our minds would be baptized with a new spirit of worship father. God, oh God, that you would give us the very nature of Christ to stand strong on the statutes that you have given us.
Ps Joseph Pringle:God, oh God, that we would not be too religious, that we wouldn't live just by truth, But God, we wouldn't live just by spirit. But God, you would teach us to live in spirit and in truth in your house God. Thank you father. Thank you Jesus that your presence is here. Oh, you just raise your hands here.
Ps Joseph Pringle:God, I thank you that you would teach us to be a people who follow after your own heart. Give us the desires of your heart. Let your will be so clear to us. God, I thank you for the strength in all circumstances that we would worship you. God, I thank you that our identity would be made solid in your presence.
Ps Joseph Pringle:I thank you father that as we worship you, you would give us the taste for the fruit that is true. Oh God, oh God, oh God, we throw out any of the old synthetic things that we might have held to, and God we grasp onto the real fruit that you have provided for us. I thank you that you would encourage us on this journey, that you would fill us up with joy, that we would overflow with peace, and that your will would be fulfilled through our lives. In the mighty name of Jesus, we all said, amen. Amen.
Ps Joseph Pringle:Come on. Give it up for Christ.
Opener:Hey. Thanks for tuning in. There's a bunch of different ways that we connect throughout the week including Sunday mornings, and we would love to see you there. You could check out all the details at c3oc.com.