RECHARGE | The Church: What Is Worship Really About?

Worship isn’t a performance—it’s a response. But what are we actually responding to when we gather?

In this message, we explore how worship flows from what God has already done through Christ and why it must be something we actively participate in together.

Key Takeaways:

•  Worship is a response to who God is and what He has done 
•  We gather to participate, not to observe 
•  Worship is corporate—it strengthens and encourages one another 
•  God is seeking hearts that respond in spirit and truth 
•  Our focus shifts from “Did I like it?” to “Did I respond to God?” 

Scripture: Hebrews 10:19–25; John 4:23

Church link: fbcboerne.org

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Transcript

Prayer And Welcome

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And our minds understand it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right. Happy Wednesday to you. Welcome to Recharge. So on Wednesday nights, we've been walking through uh just a study of the church. I want us to think well about the church. Um and uh so we've been kind of building blocks of what scripture says and teaches to us about the church, and we're finally to the to the section where we're gonna talk about what the church does together. And so tonight we're gonna look at uh we gather together for worship and why do we do that? Now, before we jump into that, so in 2011, uh the Texas Rangers were making a run to the World Series. Okay, the previous year was the first year that the Rangers had ever made it to the World Series, and they were back in a playoff run, and it was the ALCS, and they're facing the Detroit Tigers. We won game one, and uh it's game two, and I had a buddy, a close friend, that had excellent, excellent seats, and he invited me to go to that game. Now, again, the Rangers had never won the World Series. Game two was important. If we can get that at home, it's gonna set us up to win the series and move on, but it goes to extra innings. And in the bottom of the 11th, the bottom of the eleventh, it's still tied, but the bases are loaded and Nelson Cruz comes up. Watch this on the left, now that's still that still gets me hyped up, all right? That's I was there at that game, and I was yelling, and I would have lost my voice like Mark, okay? Now, here's what I wanted you to notice from that clip. No one had to tell the stadium to stand up and begin to applaud. All right, no one had to be told, none of it was rehearsed. Why? Because it was a response to what had just happened, and what had just happened was amazing. It grabbed everyone's attention, and our natural reaction is to stand up and shout and to praise. You see, worship is a response to what God has already done. It is a response to who God is and what he has done. Okay? And it is why we gather together as Christians to respond to what God has done in Christ. Listen to Hebrews chapter 10, 19 through 22. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, that's in the heavenly temple, okay? By a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is his flesh. And since we have such a great high priest over the house of God, then let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of the faith. Okay? Here's what I want you to notice about that. God has acted, God has performed, God has wowed, and because of that we respond in worship. Since we have confidence by the blood of Jesus, a new and living way to approach the throne of God. See, worship is not us trying to reach God, it's not us trying to get God's attention. It is the fact that God is already near. It is the fact that we already have his attention, and he has acted, and he has moved, and we worship him out of what he has done. Continuing on in Hebrews 10, 24 and 25. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembly together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Second thing I want you to know about worship is worship is a gathering. It is a corporate. Worship is not just personal. We have gathered together as a family. Okay? Let us stir up one another, we encourage one another. You cannot do the one another's by yourself. Okay? So this is this is not when you come to the gathering, it is not something you do by watching, but it is something you do by participation. We do you don't come to church to be the audience. We come to participate. I want you to think about it like this. Whenever you go out to a restaurant, all right, you are served and you evaluate and you leave a review. And on your way home, you say things like, Did you like your dish? No, I didn't like my dish. I will not order that again. I'm not going back to there. Let's go to a different place. You evaluate, you critique. But when you go to the Thanksgiving family table, all right, you participate. Okay? You belong, you engage, you are at the family gathering. I want you to think of church the same way. The church is not a restaurant that you evaluate. You do not leave the church and say, you know what, that wasn't my song choice today. Mark's voice was out of it and not my cup of tea. Really, the illustration that he used, I'm an Astros fan, and uh I didn't like that one bit. All right? No, we are a family, right? We are a gathering. And so when we come to worship, listen to what it said: stir up, encourage one another to good works and good deeds. Because we we participate. You participate because of what God has done, you participate. Third, worship is a response and not a performance. In John chapter 4, you remember the woman at the well? Jesus met her, and then there was a lot of theological dialogue that unfolded after that. She was talking about, well, we're Samaritans and we worship here, and Jews worship there, and all of that. And Jesus squashed all of that with a brand new truth. And this is what he said. But an hour is coming, and now is when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For such people, the Father is seeking. The Father is seeking those who worship him in spirit and in truth. That means God is not looking for polished performances, he's seeking hearts that respond to him in truth. See, a performance mindset is what songs did we sing? Were they my favorite? Was the sermon engaging? How did I feel? But a response mindset is you know what? He saved me. And I will sing because he saved me. God has spoken and I will listen to his word. God is moving and I will respond. Okay? It is a response. Worship is a response to who God is, what he has done, and what he is continuing to do. Okay? That he is active and he is alive and he is moving amongst us. So what does it look like practically? Well, look, worship, like when you sing, right? You we sing the truth of who God is and we lead our hearts into worship. When you listen, you listen expectantly to God's word and you listen with ears that are active. Okay? You when you pray, you're declaring to God. We are declaring to God. We are dependent upon you. When we give, we are trusting God with our resources. When we encourage one another, we are building one another up. Don't you see how all of those are an active response to who God is and what he has done and what God is doing. So, what should this look like on a regular basis? Well, we should prepare our hearts before we come in here. Because the saints are gathered around the Word of God. We should prepare our hearts, right? Ready to respond to God. We should engage and not simply observe. You're not an audience. We're called to engage, participate. And thirdly, we recenter our expectations, right? We don't ask, did I like it? We ask, did I respond to God? Did I respond to God? So uh last October I went on a mission trip to India. I had been to India about 20 years prior. And so one morning, uh where we were staying was the uh it was the birthplace of Hinduism, sorry, Buddhism. It was the birthplace of Buddhism. Um and so we got up one morning and we we took a field trip uh to the temple where Buddha found enlightenment. And uh you can show the picture. And as I was uh as we were walking, all the sights and sounds and smells, everything came back to me from when I was there 20 years prior. Now, uh I don't mean to insult anyone. India is the worst place I've ever been on the planet. It is very difficult. If you if you see the real India, and I had seen the real India, and so as as we were walking, I mean, there it's it's it's dirty, it's smelly, there are crippled people, beggars all over the place. There, there's uh poop on the streets, there's livestock, it's it's trash, it's and all of that as as I'm walking to to the place where Buddha found enlightenment, and it was it's dark spiritually. And so after that, after that morning, I was in a foul mood. I mean, uh it the this the spiritual oppression, feeling overwhelmed, like you cannot even come close to changing this place. So we spent the morning there, and in my heart, I was like this. And then at about eleven o'clock, we we went to a uh a Christian gathering of pastors and their wives. And when we walked in, they were worshiping. Okay? And as I my heart is like this, and as I walk in that room, it's a language I don't understand, I don't know what they were singing, but suddenly I knew I was home. And and everything changed like a light switch, the freedom, the presence of the Lord, the joy, the overflowing exuberance from the people of God, right? In a hot, smelly room, okay, but it doesn't matter to words I don't understand, but it didn't matter. Because who God is and what he has done and what he is continuing to do was being expressed even in a language I don't understand, and I knew I was home, and everything in that moment changed. What an incredible picture of the power of worship as we respond to who God is and what he's done. May we be faithful to prepare our hearts each and every time the saints gather together, knowing, knowing he's worthy. It leads my heart back to him. And if there's a lost person in here, may they experience the joy and the freedom of the Spirit of God. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for who we are as the living temple, that we are your church, and that we gather together. And when we worship, and when we gather around your word, and when we pray, when we do all the things, it is a response to you, King Jesus. You are worthy. We thank you, we praise you out of the joy and overflow of our heart. May that truth reign in us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.