4/26/2026 Sunday morning service

message from pastor Carla

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 1:24

I want to take everybody for you today. I want to read you something really quick. I entered your house. You gave me no water from my feet. She is water my feet with her mother. You gave me no kiss from the end. She is not the feet. You did not annoy my head with the oil. She has annoyed my feet with oil. Therefore, I tell you her since you're in the forgiveness. It's not for Carla to play the piano or Tony to play the drums. I think we do all right. But this isn't a concert. So what would it take for you to break open your alabaster box today? And you pour out your oil on the Father. And you don't care what the disciples, or the other disciples, rather, or what Judas has to say about it. You just break your alabaster and you pour it on the Lord. So I want to encourage you to do that because I mean a lot of a lot of churches have uh, you know, you you can do this, you can't do that. You know, we're we're a very expressive church. All right, you do what you need to do. You break yourself before the Lord today because he really is just that good. Amen? All right, let's go. I got the joy of the Lord, sit down and start a muscle, and I can't add it no more. I got a praise, I got the joy of the Lord, sit down and start a muscle, and I can't add it no more. I got a praise I take them off, my freedom I take us take us. Come on, cut it, dust that cut, just faithful that you dust that I've stopped faithful that you stay my life like you steps you would my hands up high, hard up and a fake off take it and dance and Cut you stay my life like you start you just, gotcha just I could I got the joy of the Lord, seeked out inside of my soul, and I can hide it no more. I gotta praise, I got the joy of the Lord, seeked out inside of my soul, and I can hide it no more. I gotta praise the one who broke my chain and bought my freedom Has he broke his chains? I save a thank you, Jesus Cut it just that good, just that faithful that you just take cut I'll so faithful that you save my life, I just had to make my hands off to save my life, I just had to just cut you just a good It's just a good It's just that good Praise the water much takes them for my freedom What else can I say but thank you Cause you're just that good Just that faithful and you just that cut I'm so grateful that you save my life I choose that to So with my hands up hard up and a faith of fire Sing and dance it dust you save my life I just had to judge tilt you just praise the one who broke my chainstep on my freedom What else can I say but fake you just that God Just that faithful that you just had God I'm so grateful that you save my life Like you stand to him save your life Come on top and a faith of Park Save in the dancing but you save my life Archie John Catch your jumps at go set up Hey man hey man Is he that good? Man, I could sing that song for three hours so good. Even though I don't deserve it, you didn't even know I could imagine you give it to Jesus Who am I that you keep me on your mind, God I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you being right here by my side, God I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm so grateful for you. Holy, holy there's only one I give you glory for all that you've done, even though I don't deserve it, you did it, even though I couldn't turn it, you give it to keep me on your mind, God I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you all my life you've been right here by my side, God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Who am I? That you keep me on your mind, God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you all my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Let's everybody lift your hands. Just a total surrender to the Lord this morning. God, I thank you for every person here, Lord. God take us back to the heart of worship where it's all about you and not about us. In the mighty name of Jesus. I'll lift in both of my hands, cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance, and I'm giving all that I am Cause you gave me chance after chance after chance, and I'm lifting both of my hands Cause you gave me chance after chance after chance and I'm lifting both of my hands It's you gave me chance after chance after chance and I'm giving all that I am It you gave me chance after chance after chance Oh am I that you keep me on your mind, God I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you All my life you've been right here by my side, God I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you that you keep me on your mind, God I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you All my life you've been right here by my stuff, God I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. I serve out and I'm here to testify. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. I'm all right if they say I'm out of my mind, God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. I want to praise the wonder of your mind to love I shall answer to our future strength. So let every word and tall that I never cease to wash shall to the Lord of the earth. Let us sing our majesty praise to the king, mountains felt out and the seas will roar at the sound of your name. I sing for joy at the work of your hand. Forever I'll love you, forever I'll send nothing compared to the wrongness I have in you, but there is none like you all know.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

I want to make the wonders of your mind shelter tower refute and strength let every breath all that I am never sleep to us to all the earth let us stay.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

How are deep breaks to the king Elton Roy at the style of your next little joy at the work of your head? Forever I love you forever, puffling compares to the promised diet, buffling compares to the frontier, buffling compares to the promised dip. Just worship him in your own words for a second. Lord, you are so good, Lord, we lift your name high. God, we thank you for all that you've done this week, Lord, all that you've done this month, all that you've done this morning. For bringing us out of bed, despite all the stuff. Whether it was a good week or a bad one, Lord, you brought us here. Lord, you didn't bring us here in vain, God. You brought us here into your presence. And we thank you for it. In Jesus' mighty name. Really quick, we're gonna sing that again. Because we should shout to the Lord, amen. Couple weeks ago at Youth Night, I gave my kids three steps to get into the presence of God. It's not hard. It's not difficult, it's not complicated. Religion complicates things, but thank God where religion says do, Jesus says done. Amen. So the first step was understanding that God doesn't owe you anything. He's already given everything. He doesn't owe you anything beyond his physical body. Death and resurrection. Amen? Can we all agree on that? Amen. Number two is understanding that God is not far from you. Matthew 28. 28 verse 20 says, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Does that mean that he's with us sometimes? Does that mean he's with us when when the music sounds right? Only does it mean he's with us when the money's flowing right? When we pass the test, when they love me, when they don't. It means always, he is always with us. He's not a part-time God, he's a full-time God who is always there all the time. When you feel lonely and you feel abandoned, God is still not far. When you're in a worship service like this, and you may or may not fully understand what's actually going on. Maybe you haven't completely given yourself over to that. Maybe you're still wondering what everybody else is thinking about you. Focus on this point, number two, that God is not far. I opened this service with what would you do if he was standing right here? What if it wasn't been up here on the stage? What if the music was just coming out of his presence? Because he's just that good? If you were standing in the glory, in the omnipotent glory of Almighty God, how would you handle that situation? Would you just stand there and sway to the music? Or would you break yourself in the floor because he is just that good? If the angels who are in the presence of God 24-7 all the time, and have been since the very beginning, what we understand as time is just our creation. Eternity has no beginning and no end. So they've just been up there with no beginning and no end all the time, and they still, they still manage to fall down in the presence of Almighty God. And we come in here on Sunday and we sway to music and then we listen to Carla and then we go home and we try to catch Popeyes before the Baptists get there. What if he was actually here? What would you do? The last point, and I'm I'm trying to make this quick, I promise. Everybody just close your eyes for a second. This ain't the binge show, don't look at me. In addition to God, it doesn't owe you anything, and God is not far. Number three is your heart posture. Jeremiah 29, 13 says, You will seek me and you will find me, but that is conditional. The rest of that sentence says, When you seek me with your whole heart. So what if this just wasn't about you or the person sitting next to you? What if it was legitimately about the Father? And we posture our hearts and we understand that he doesn't owe us his presence, but he's just so good that he just happens to be here. Let me tell you, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is not going to come into a place where he is not welcome. So let's just take a solid 30 seconds. What you're supposed to do in church. Miss me with all that noise, okay? None of it's real, it doesn't exist, it's plastic, and it doesn't belong here. That's not how we do things. What we do is understand that God doesn't owe us anything, but he's still in the room, and we posture our hearts to him. What would you do if he was here? You wouldn't be. I I don't know what you do. Depends on your story. How good is he? So we're gonna sing this again. Just tell him that from your heart.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

This is the time where we take up our our offering. This is a form of praise to the Lord. He tells us that we are to trust him, and one of the best ways that we trust him is through our tithes and offerings. We show him that we know that he has complete control and can take us through. So we're gonna take up the offering this morning. As always, God loves a cheerful giver. If you don't feel comfortable, don't do it. That's perfectly fine, okay? All right, Heavenly Father, God, we come before you this morning. Lord, we praise you for your goodness, for your grace, for your mercy. And God, I ask right now that your spirit continue to minister to the hearts in this room. Lord, that you uh be with us as we hear the message. God, help us not to just hear it, but do it and put it into practice. And God, as we get ready to take up the offering, uh I pray, Lord, that you bless the gift and you bless the giver, Lord, to help their finances go further, help their drivers last longer, their cars last longer. God, just give them that blessing, God, for being obedient unto you. And we will never forget to give you the praise and all the glory in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Good morning. How is everybody? Blessed by the best. Blessed by the best. Something's going to be different deep down inside of you. I want to start with this question. And I want you to be honest. Even if it makes you just a little uncomfortable, okay? Here it is. When worship starts on Sunday morning, what goes through my mind? When worship starts on Sunday morning, what goes through my mind? Now some of you are thinking, well, I just think about God, and that's good. That's a great answer, and I hope that's what you're doing. But that's not always what people are thinking when we stand up to have praise and worship. Some people are thinking, Man, I had a hard week. I don't feel like standing today. Right? Unless there is a physical reason, which there are physical reasons, I would say to you, Jesus died on a cross for you and endured a pain that you will never, ever, ever feel. Stand up for him for praise and worship. Amen. Some of you are thinking about dinner already, right? Some of you are already planning where you're going after church, what you're going to do. Some of you are thinking about that nap you're going to take when you get home. Some of you are thinking about that work you have to do. You gotta move that yard when you get home. Some of you are thinking everything but what your mind should be thinking when it comes time for praise and worship. And then some of you are afraid of praise and worship. Some of us are afraid of praise and worship. What if I'm the only one? What if I'm the only one and honestly? Some of us have had some of us feel like do I even deserve to be able to praise God? Do I even deserve to be able to lift my hands? Today we're going to talk about some of those things. And the message today is entitled Beyond the Cover. Beyond the color. Like I said, this is out of order, so I'm just out of the word. True worship. What is true worship? True worship is when you no longer think about yourself when your hands are right. That you get so lost in God. In the goodness of God, that the thoughts of yourself and who you are, and what you need to do, and where you need to be, or who's two or three chairs behind you looking at you, just dissolve away. And you don't think about anything but God and who God is. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. In spirit and in truth. So why do we worship God? We worship him because he's good. We worship him because we belong to him. We worship him because he made us, right? We worship him because his love endures forever, and because his faithfulness reaches across every generation, including yours. Worship is not a musical performance. Did y'all know that? A lot of people feel that worship is merely external and it's a musical performance. That's why we get up here, the praise team tries to usher you into the throne room of God, and it turns out to be musical. So we associate in our minds that worship is musical. Well, it can be. But worship is what's here and how you are thinking about God at the moment. I said that we were worshiping in tithes and offerings, and a lot of you probably thought, I'm giving money. How is that worshiping? That is worshiping God when you do that, because that in the Old Testament they did it with animals. They sacrificed their animals. All right? And there was a sacrifice for sin, there was a sacrifice for every single thing that you can think of, and then sacrifices for sacrifices, and they killed the animals. And they trusted God, and there was always more. We give God our money because that's the old covenant. The new covenant is grace. How do we trust God? By showing Him we trust Him with our finances. So that's a way to worship. There are other ways that we can worship. Did you know that we're worshiping right now by sitting in this building and by listening to me bring forth the word and bring forth a lesson? You're worshiping right now. And what I would like to do is for everybody in this room to get so comfortable with worship that it becomes an everyday experience for you in everything that you do. In everything that you do. Have you ever heard someone uh that that starts uh through their week and everything is praise God or well, hallelujah, or well, they have they've gained such a close relationship with God that worship is always on their tongue. And that's what I want to do. And it tells us that we need to worship in spirit and in truth. All right, in spirit and in truth. Worship in the spirit means it's not merely external, it's not just going through the motions, it's not Not just showing up on Sunday, singing the words on the screen and checking your box. All right. When the Spirit is connected, it's alive. Your worship is alive. And it flows from the Holy Spirit who lives inside of every believer. All right. At the moment you got saved, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of you. And that is letting that worship come out, guided by the Holy Spirit who lives inside of each and every one of us. 1 Corinthians 6.9. And that's probably not your next one, but that's where I am. 1 Corinthians 6.19. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You are not your own. Did you know that? God made you. When you dedicate your life to God, you are giving him all of you, and you aren't your own anymore. You belong to him. You aren't your own. And you don't belong to him just spiritually, but you belong to him in every way, and that means physically too. You physically belong to God. When you get ready to come to church on Sundays, he doesn't just care about your spiritual self. He cares about your emotional self and he cares about your physical self because it's all one thing to him. So what does it mean? The Spirit is the one who empowers our worship, who steers our hearts, who gives us the ability to approach God at all. And worship in truth means that it's grounded in who God actually is. Not who we imagine him to be, not a watered-down version of him, not a God we have shaped our own image to suit our preferences. Did you hear that? A lot of people try to do that anymore. A lot of people try to take God and mold him and reshape him into something that fits what they want to do. They try to mold him to where the sins that are in their life can make excuses as to why they're okay. Because the God that I've molded says I can do this or says I can do that. And therefore, everybody starts making a different God based upon what they prefer, the lifestyle that they want to live. I'm here to tell you this morning spirit and truth. Spirit and spirit and truth. How many saw that video? All right, there's some in here that saw that video. Anyway, Ben was up here and he had a couple of kids up here with him, and he looked at one of them and he said, Tell me what color that other guy's pants are. Okay? And of course, Ben whispered in their ear what to say, and they said, purple. Well, they had on blue jeans. It wasn't purple. That's a good example, though. God has his rights and he has his wrongs. And I don't care what the world says or what your opinion is, it doesn't matter. It's still black and white, right or wrong. And God does not accept the worship of non-truth. Did you hear me? God will not accept the worship of non-truth. So if you come in here on Sunday and you say, I have molded God into what I want God to be so that He accepts my preferences, and then you throw up your hands and say, God, I love you. You let me be who I want to be. That's not working. That doesn't work. You need to worship in spirit and in truth, and that's by saying, God, I will be who you created me to be. And I worship you for it. I love you, God. You are everything to me. That's the God that is the God of the Bible, the God that we need to worship, not the God that we make up, because He expects us to worship in spirit by the Holy Spirit that's guiding us and in truth. We have to be honest with ourselves. Worship in truth is anchored in the reality of the Word of God and in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. That's where your truth is. Spirit and truth, not one or the other. You can't worship in spirit, but not in truth. And you can't worship in truth, but not in spirit. They come as a team. You worship in spirit and truth, both together working at the same time. Here's what this means for us practically. Okay. True worship requires our whole selves, our minds to be engaged with the truth of who God is, our hearts to be open and responsive to the Holy Spirit and our bodies. Yeah? Your physical bodies. Actively participating in the worship service. The Psalms are filled with physical expressions of worship. Physical expressions of worship. Lifting hands. Lifting hands. That's in Psalms. Why do we lift our hands? To surrender. That is a that shows God that we have surrendered our lives to Him. God, here I am. The good, the bad, the ugly. You know what I've done. You know who I really am. God, I come to you with truth and I worship you. And I lift my hand, saying, I've surrendered everything. How about kneeling? Our knees. Should our knees be involved in worship? Yeah. I watched that happen this morning. Uh, those of you up front probably couldn't see it, but when we really got into worship in that last song, someone went out into the aisle where there's room and knelt down on their knees. And they were on their knees and raising their hands. They were physically participating in worship because God wants your body. How about dancing? You think dancing is a sign of worship? It is. David danced before the Lord, right? Yeah, and yeah, that's right. His wife wasn't real happy about that either. But but David danced before the Lord, and y'all, dancing is okay as long as it's done in spirit and in truth. Not for a show, not to have everyone look at you, not to just get your steps in for the day, right? It is there in spirit and in truth. That's how we're supposed to worship. What about shouting? Shouting? All right, yes, shouting. That is part of worship. And we have a few shouters in here, and and it might make some others feel uncomfortable, but you know what? The Bible's full. What did he tell when what did he tell his his children when they marched around Jericho to shout? Seventh time around, what was they supposed to do? Shout. And the walls fell down. Shouting. Your mouth, your voice. That's right. Even the stones are going to shout. So shouting is a part of it. So that goes to show you that God expects all of you in the worship experience. Your mind, your soul, your emotions, and your body. And why am I telling you that this morning? Because a lot of you are newer Christians. You might not be newer Christians, but a lot of you are newer Pentecostal Christians. Right? And a lot of you have just grown so used to staying in your comfort zone that you just won't let go. That you just won't let go. And that's what these past few weeks uh the sermons have been about is I'm trying to show you how God wants you to worship him. People in the Bible, they were whole person worshiping. Mind, body, spirit, all saying the same thing. You are worthy, Lord. And notice what Jesus says. And this is going back to 1 Corinthians 6 19. Notice what he says. He is seeking people who will worship him. It tells us that. It says, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? Who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. He's expecting your body in the worship. Not performances, not the most talented voices in the room. I bet you I could come out there and hear some pretty good voices, couldn't I? And if they're not good, I bet you they're loud. I watch Shirley every week. Shirley is back there, guys. And Shirley has her physical limitations, right? But Shirley sings her heart out every single week. This morning she was perched up so she could see those words, and she was letting it bail her. Wasn't you, Shirley? She was. She's shaking her head. Yeah, she was. And that was so pleasing to God. Much more pleasing than the person who sits there and refuses to open their mouth. She used her mouth this morning in worship. Not the most theologically trained person in the room. Did you know you don't have to have a huge Bible education to worship God? You don't have to. You can know nothing about it. You can know that you love God, that He saved your life, and that Jesus Christ died for you, and that's all you need to know to worship. That's all you need to know to worship. He's not looking for people who are like theologians and know every word from cover to cover. He is looking for someone to worship him in spirit and in truth. That's what he wants. That's what he wants. Now I want to take you somewhere. We're going to take a look at what worship looks like when there is absolutely no fear present, no inhibition, no performance anxiety, no distraction, and no second guessing. When the only thing that fills the atmosphere is the overwhelming presence of God. So we're going to Revelation chapter 4, verses 8 through 11. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings, day and night. They never stopped saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and they say, You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. Can y'all see that in your mind? Can you see it? Can you see the angels worshiping? And can you see them shouting and singing? And can you see the elders as they fall down in front of God and they bow down and they take off their crowns and they give them to him? Y'all, all of that that you're seeing is physical stuff. Because we can't see the spirit, right? That's physical stuff. And if it was good enough for the people in the Bible, should that not be good enough for us? They worshiped without fear. They didn't care who was right beside them. They didn't care who was behind them. They didn't care that people might be looking. They didn't think that they were they were angels with eyes all over them. They don't care if you think they're weird or not, right? They don't care. They don't care. But that's what it's like to worship with no fear, no inhibition, no distraction. They were totally focused on the Son of God. Day and night it says, without stopping, without tiring, without pulling back, they're declaring the holiness of God. They were shouting, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And let me tell you something this morning. If you have a hard time doing that for three songs on a Sunday morning, how are you going to do it forever? 24-7, day and night. You come in and praise and worship starts, and we say, stand under your feet, and you're going, not again. Three more songs. I hope they hurry through these this morning. I'm tired. And no. Imagine what it will be like when you're there 24-7 and praising and worshiping all the time. If you can't do it for three, you better start practicing. Because you're going to do it a lot longer than that, we hope, in heaven. These living creatures. They weren't embarrassed. They weren't worried about the creature standing next to them or what they looked like. They were not asking themselves, is this too much if I raise my hand? Should I tone it down just a little? They didn't care. They were going to worship God regardless. Not for a single moment. They were so consumed by the reality of who God really is, and worship poured out of them without them having to even make themselves. No restraints, no apologies, and without end. Think for a minute about what a crown represents. What does crown represent? Authority. Crown represents authority, identity, achievement. You've achieved a lot if you're wearing a crown, right? You've achieved the status if you're wearing a crown. Everything that defines who you are in the eyes of the world is what that crown represents here in Revelation. Everything that you have created for yourself, everything you've accomplished, all those degrees, all those certifications, all that book knowledge, every single thing that you've managed. You've worked yourself up at your job, and you're some big boss. That represents all of that. And how much was that worth to the elders? Nothing. They took it out and gave all that back to God and laid it at his feet. Laid it at his feet. And they said, I am worthy, not worthy to be here, but I've entered this moment. And I am worthy because you're worthy. I'm worthy because you are. So the three fears. The three fears. I'm going to tell you three fears. Before we get totally in that, I want you to go to Romans 12, 1 and 2. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your what? Bodies as living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will. Good, pleasing and perfect will. Now, Paul, he used a phrase here that I want you to think about for a moment: a living sacrifice. Now, if we go back to the Old Testament again, and I was talking about the animals and how they would sacrifice the animals, they used dead sacrifices back then. They killed them, threw them up on the altar, and they just laid there. They laid there. Here's the thing: if I were to take you and throw you on an altar this morning, you could get up and walk away. Because I haven't killed you. You could get up and you could walk away. Or you could choose to be a living sacrifice. You could choose to be a living sacrifice, and that's what God is wanting. That's what God is wanting there in Romans 12, too. It says, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Now that tells me a couple of things. Number one, we cannot mistreat our bodies, right? And there's a lot of things you can do to mistreat your body. But your body belongs to God. Your body, as it was created, belongs to God. And he don't want you changing it. He made it perfect the first time. The thing is, as we live and as we go through life and as sin attaches itself to us, it automatically changes us. And we begin to conform to the world. But God doesn't want us to conform to the world, he wants us to shed all of that sin, get rid of all that sin, and he wants us to be transformed back into who he meant for us to be by the renewing of our minds. By the renewing of our minds. That's what he wants. Paul says that this new covenant, the living sacrifice, calls for something entirely different. Something that is alive but completely surrendered. Because in order for it to work as a sacrifice, it has to be completely surrendered. Something that's breathing, choosing, deciding, and yet fully given over to God. Fully given over to God. If we're going to be transparent with one another, what a lot of us do is when we get right to the edge, right to the rim, right to the brink of worship, we get up and walk off the altar. That's what a lot of us do. When we get right there, we get up and leave. Why? Because we're afraid. We're afraid. The first fear, the first reason we don't praise is fear. We let fear stand in our way. We're always afraid. What if someone sees me?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:51

What if they go and talk about me tomorrow? Let your guard down.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:24

That you're holding on to that you like so well, if you let your guard down, he might convict you of it and make you get rid of it. He just might do that. So I better keep my guard up and not start praising and worshiping because when I do, he might just reveal something to me that I don't want to hear. What if I get emotional? What if I start crying? What if something breaks open inside of me and I can't pull myself back together? Praise God. I hope it happens in this church. I hope someone gets so Tied up in worshiping God that they just break all over the place and just start running, Heather. Heather did that for us not long ago. But that's what you call surrendering to God when He tells you to do something. She was so full that the only way that she could release everything that was inside of her was to run it out. She was that excited. What if I get emotional? I can't pull it back. What if I lose control right here in the middle of worshiping God and everything? I want you to. I want you to. Maybe you grew up in a home or in a culture where emotion they equated with weakness. And some people are like that. They grew up in a home where if you showed emotion, you were weak. It just simply wasn't acceptable. And you've learned to hold it together. I want you to I want you to see something in scripture that I believe might gently loosen up that grip. Let's look at Psalm 56.8. Record my misery. Are they not in your record? Are they not in your record? Did you know God keeps a record of your tears? Did you know that? Who honestly knew that? God keeps a record of your tears. When you cry, he doesn't just let those go unnoticed. He actually records them. On this day, such and such shed this many tears, and it was because of this. And he records the tears that you cry. So all of you guys that and gals that think that you shouldn't get emotional, why not? If God has a way to record your emotions, then emotions must be something he wants you to show. Emotions must be something that he wants you to show. Not one tear you have ever cried in the dark has got unnoticed by God. Not one. Not one moment of grief, not one moment of being overwhelmed, not one moment of being hurt by someone else. Every single time God has recorded that. And if the God of the universe can record your tears, if He is moved enough by your emotions to record what they are, why should we be ashamed to show emotion? Why? Why? And fear number three. What if I'm unworthy? What if I'm unworthy? This one usually goes the deepest. And some of you, this has probably kept you from worshiping. I was horrible this week. I fell back into such and such sin. I've done this, I've done this. I'm not worthy to worship the Lord. Guys, that's not true. That's not true. It sounds like this when you have this fear. Who am I to stand here and worship God? You don't know what I did this week. You don't know what I struggle with. You don't know the thoughts that I have. You don't know the things I've done, the promises I've broken, and the ways I have failed. Hear me? That is one of the most destructive lies of Satan. That is one of the most destructive lies of Satan. Isaiah fell apart in the presence of God. He cried out, Woe to me, I am ruined. I am a man of unclean lips. That's in Isaiah 6. Isaiah was absolutely right about one thing. Apart from God's intervention, he was unworthy. And apart from God's intervention, there's not a person sitting in this room this morning that's worthy enough to praise the Lord. There's not one. But God did not confirm Isaiah's fear and just send him away. What did he do? He reached out, he cleansed, he restored, and he commissioned. That's what he did to Isaiah. Your guilt is taken away, and your sins are atoned for. There it is. Woe to me, I cried, I am ruined, for I'm a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king, the Lord Almighty. So if Isaiah can say this, if he can be unclean, if he can do things and God still come before him, he can do it for you too. He can do it for you too. Don't give up. God's throne is a throne of grace, not the throne of performance, not the throne of you had better get your act together before you show up here, but the throne of grace. God don't want us to fix ourselves and then come to him. He wants us to come to him and let him fix us. That's what he wants to do. You will never feel completely worthy of worshiping God if you keep looking at yourself. That's why we don't worship ourselves or we shouldn't. We don't perform, we worship God. Not because of who we aren't, but because of who he is. Because of who he is. How do we step beyond that? How do we step beyond those fears? We've covered a lot. We've covered what worship is, how we're supposed to use our whole bodies to do it, and what usually stops us this morning. We've defined what true worship is. It's worshiping in spirit and in truth. So now, what are we going to actually do with everything that we've heard today? With everything we've heard today, what are we going to do? Go back to Romans 12, 1 and 2. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. In view of God's mercy, God I don't want you to praise and worship out of you feel it's an obligation, a duty. Maybe you feel guilty because you're not doing it. But God has poured mercy into your life, and that alone is enough to worship. Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Kneel. Raise your hands, your posture, your voice. All of those can be used. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You have to decide by renewing your mind that today I am going to step out of my comfort zone. I'm going to step out of what's familiar, and I'm going to step into a world where God can bless me wholly and freely. You become someone who carries the presence of God out of this building and into your daily life when you learn to get rid of those fears and to start truly worshiping Him. So, Ben, if you'll come forward, this is going, I'm going to ask y'all to step out of your comfort zone this morning. All right. Who's willing to do that for God Almighty? Who's willing to do that for God Almighty? Now, we've been practicing raising our hands, and I've seen people raising their hands that don't normally raise their hands, and I think that's awesome. If that's as far as you can go, then that's where I want you to go this morning. But if you are a normal hand raiser and you just feel all wonderful, you've learned how to do this, and it's no longer out of your comfort zone, I'm going to ask you to find a place in the aisle and kneel. I'm going to find you, I want you to find a place in the aisle and I want you to kneel. And what we're going to do right now is Ben is going to start singing that song, shout to the Lord all over again. And I want you to think about the words that he said to you before we did it. What if God was actually here? I got news for you this morning. He is. God is here. God is here watching everything you're doing right now. So, right now, I want to challenge you while Ben runs through this song, step out of your comfort zone and learn to worship him this morning in spirit and in truth.

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Lift your hands and praise him.

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Use your body to praise him. Because he's good. Step out of your comfort zone and get so close to him that his spirit just quails all over you this morning. Try not to think about yourself. He's provided a way to heaven for you. He's in this building this morning. What are you gonna do to show him you're thankful for what he did for you? What I'm gonna ask for us to do is I want you to sing, I want you to use your mouse, and right now, if you feel like you can, raise your hands, and we're gonna sing through the course of that song a couple times. Amen. Amen. I love you guys this morning. You can be seated for just a second. Thank you for opening up and stepping out of your comfort zones this morning. Now, if we start practicing that on a regular basis, can you imagine the sound that God's gonna hear coming from Wipeline Church Peterstown? Right? Right? Praise and worship that he deserves. And God in her habits the praise of his people. You want to have God move in your life, start praising him, right? Start praising him. Announcements for the week. We've got youth tonight at six.

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That's the war cry of the youth group. It's official now.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:02

Youth tonight at six. And if you have youth that you know that needs to be in church, that want to find good friends that can hang out with them in a godly place, youth tonight at six o'clock. We have on Tuesday nights our outreach program. We had nine this past week. Nine showed up for that this past week. And where we went this past week was over in Denarrows. And we went to the park. Saw a fight. We went to the park and we and we went to some homes. Yeah, two boys, they got into it. Yeah, that's pretty bad. And we went into the homes up and down the road there. I don't know where we're going this week, but let's get out there and spread God's love outside these four walls. Um, Wednesday night, that's family night. We have men's group, Mark leads it. We have ladies, Carson leads it, and we have youth and kids, and charity and I are usually downstairs doing that. Okay. Come on out. Come on out, all right? You need to be in these groups during the week because you can sit here and listen to me every Sunday, and I will stand up here and I will talk to your faces for a half an hour, 45 minutes. But it's in those groups that you get to ask your questions, that they go over the Bible slowly with you, and that you start gaining that deeper knowledge and that deeper understanding. Not to mention, it gives you a friend base that you can call on when you're not having such good days. Okay? Then Friday night. Friday night is celebrate recovery. 5:30 is the dinner hot meal. 6:30 is the uh group lesson upstairs, and then they break up into small group shares. Then, guys, I encourage you any hurt, habit, or hang up, it don't have to be alcohol and drugs. It could be anything, grief. Um, it could be pornography, it could be pride, it could be anything that you're struggling with. Control if you have trouble, letting go. Anything. Come try out celebrate recovery. They're here for you. And then this Saturday, we don't have anything, but Sunday is baptism Sunday. Sunday is baptism Sunday. Now, I gave the invitation last week for those who wanted baptized to come forward. I'm not going to redo that. I already know their names, I know who they are, and I've ordered their shirts. If there's anybody in this room that wants to be baptized next week and you haven't let me know, let me know today before you leave so that I can get your shirt ordered, okay? Um, and then next week, the baptistry is under bin. Okay? That's where the baptistry is. And I think John's gonna figure out how to get it filled for us this week and heated. It'll be heated, so you're not gonna be freezing when you get down in there. But we're gonna have a wonderful day of baptism next week, okay? Um, everybody's conscience clear? All right, John, will you dismiss us this morning?