Thoughts Of Some Guy In Ohio
Thoughts Of Some Guy In Ohio
Our worship is not about us—it's about recognizing who God truly is.
What if everything you thought you knew about worship was just scratching the surface?
The conversation moves beyond typical Sunday morning expressions into the profound territory of what it means to worship God with every fiber of our being. Through personal stories, biblical insights from Mark 12, and practical examples, this episode challenges our limited understanding of worship as merely singing songs on Sunday mornings.
Drawing from ancient Jewish traditions like the Shema prayer and the timeless poetry of the Psalms, we discover that true worship flows from a deep understanding of who God is—the unchanging Creator, Redeemer, and King above all kings. This recognition should transform not just our sanctuary experience but every aspect of our lives.
Perhaps the most compelling takeaway is how authentic worship naturally extends into how we treat others. Jesus purposefully connected loving God and loving neighbors as inseparable commandments. When we genuinely worship God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, loving our neighbors becomes a natural outflow of that devotion.
Through everyday moments—from hospital rooms to Walmart checkout lines—we see how worship manifests in unexpected places. The powerful image of "As we enter, we worship. As we exit, we serve" encapsulates the complete picture of what Jesus called the greatest commandment.
Ready to expand your understanding of worship beyond Sunday mornings? This episode will challenge you to examine how you're loving God with everything you are and how that love transforms your relationships with everyone around you. Listen now and discover what it truly means to make your entire life an act of worship to the King.
So let's talk about worship, and I want to go kind of bigger, broader with this category, because I think a lot of times when we talk about worship, our primary focus is always almost always Sunday morning, and it has to do with some kind of instrument or some kind of song that we're singing. And so let me just give you a little bit of background. Some of you know me and you've heard this story before. I didn't grow up in the church. I just started going to church when I was 15. Thanks, ryan.
Speaker 1:A great friend of mine invited me to his church and I remember the first time I went to the church I went to New Word of Life Fellowship, which is over on Lover's Land. It was the first church that I ever went to and I remember the first thing when I walked in, they had a pretty cool worship team. They had some guy on a keyboard. There was a lady behind him with like this huge set of bongos that wrapped around her. They had a drummer. So, set of bongos that wrapped around her, they had a drummer. So they had bongos, a drummer, a guitar player, a bass player and their keyboard player. And the first Sunday I was there, the song they played was Days of Elijah, and I don't know if you know that song, but you probably do. But that song is like Dottie knows, dottie knows that song. That song is intense. I don't know if you've ever like listened to it, but it's not like a let's just sit here and fold our hands, it's not. And so this worship team was playing this song and I was just enthralled, like I was like this is so cool and the lady on the bongos was going crazy and I was just mesmerized.
Speaker 1:Prior to this moment, I had never picked up an instrument in my life, but I found myself fascinated with the music and there was something about that moment that stuck out to me, that worship and, mind you, I'm not even a believer yet but there's just something about the praise of that moment that really just kind of it drew me in. So a couple months go by and I had a youth pastor his name was Mike Deviney and he's putting together a youth worship team. He's like, hey, you know, we need someone to play bass, so you play bass. I was like never, never touched an instrument in my life. He's like all right, I can teach you. 20 years later, still don't. There was something about worship in my life that's always been important, even before I was a believer. Now, once I've come to the knowledge of Jesus and I accepted him, it changed even more for me.
Speaker 1:I think about worship and I think about music a lot, because a lot of times that's how we worship. I think about some of the darkest moments in my life. There's a song called Do it Again by Elevation Worship that I played on repeat in the hospital after Danny lost our first baby. I remember sitting in the hospital and just letting that song play again and again and again and again, because it reminded me as terrible as this moment was. God's going to do it again. He's going to bless me. He's going to take care of this situation. He's going to continue it again. He's going to bless me. He's going to take care of this situation. He's going to continue to lift me up. I think back to that Days of Elijah moment and I remember that I fell in love with that song early on.
Speaker 1:I've stood in rooms with people who had ten pieces in their band. I've worsh in rooms with people who had 10 pieces in their band. I've worshipped in churches where it was acapella only. I've stood outside in the middle of the night, with teenagers at 2 in the morning crying out to God and worshipping, with a kid on a guitar who had just learned how to play. I've worshipped in the hospital room. I've worshipped in the hospital room. I've worshipped in the sanctuary, I've worshipped at the foot of beds or the ones that I loved when I lost them.
Speaker 1:Worship is such an integral part of who we are. And here's the thing what makes worship significant. It's not the music, it's not the songs, it's not the lyrics, it's not even the bridge. If you guys know anything about music, the bridge of a song is that like catchy hook that everyone sings Like. Usually, if I like a song, it's because the bridge just kind of sticks with me.
Speaker 1:What makes our worship so unique and so powerful is the God we worship. He's unwavering, unchanging, unbothered by the world around us. When you look up the definition of worship, worship is to show great respect, love or devotion to someone or something that is considered sacred or important. It can involve acts of praise, rituals or devotion. When we worship God, we show him respect, we show him love, we show him devotion. When we think of worship, we focus primarily on the worship we participate in Sunday morning, but it goes beyond Sunday morning. Worship is something that should bleed over into our lives. We're going to find ourselves in Mark, chapter 12 today, verses 28 through 34. But before I read the text, we're going to set the stage because I think context is important. So, mark 11, verses 1 through 11, jesus this is the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. It's Palm Sunday. This is the nation of Israel acknowledging Jesus as king. Okay, mark 11, verses 12 through 26,.
Speaker 1:Jesus curses a fig tree that's not producing fruit. He goes into the temple, flips over the table and then he has a talk shortly after that about faith and how faith can move mountains. By the way, the fig tree and the flipping over of the table were related to each other. They kind of spearhead, or sorry, the fig tree story bookends that, because Jesus is using the fig tree as an example to show that what's happening in the temple is not really what's supposed to be happening. It's not producing the kind of fruit that it's supposed to be. Mark 11, 27 through 33, jesus is questioned about where his power comes from, but he leaves the Pharisees with questions they refuse to answer and therefore he refuses to answer them. They ask about his power and he asks them about John the Baptist and where he came from, and they don't touch it. So Jesus leaves them kind of bewildered.
Speaker 1:Mark 12, verses 1 through 12, jesus tells the parable of the tenants and we see the son of the vineyard owner being rejected. The same way Jesus is about to be rejected. So the parable of the vineyard is actually showing what Jesus already knows that when the true king, when the true son, comes, his rejection is imminent. Mark 12, verses 12 through 17,. Jesus says pay your taxes. Ah man, no one laughed at that. I thought that was going to be a sorry. So he has a conversation about what belongs to Caesar. He says give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and what God belongs to God. Mark 12, verses 18 through 27,. The Sadducees come and talk to him about who's going to be whose spouse in the resurrection. By the way, they don't even believe. That group doesn't even believe in the resurrection. So again they're trapping him. And then we get to Mark, chapter 12, verses 28 through 34. It says starting in verse 28, it said One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating, noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer.
Speaker 1:He asked them, of all the commandments, which is the most important? So this teacher comes and he's trying to get I believe he's trying to get some clarity. I don't think he's trying to cause a problem necessarily, but I think he's trying to get some clarity. So that, of all the commandments and we've talked about this, when you go back there's about 632 commandments that have been recognized out of the Old Testament and the New Testament. And so the teacher says out of all of them, which one matters the most? Verse 29,.
Speaker 1:So the most important one, jesus answered, is this Hear O Israel, the Lord, our God. The Lord is one. It says love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. The second is this Love your neighbor as yourself. There's no commandment greater than this. Well said teacher. The man replied can you imagine like giving Jesus a high five? Good job, jesus. You said the right thing. You're right in saying that God is one and there's no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him you are not far from the kingdom of God. And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions. So if you go, if you know anything about Judaism, so, starting in verse 29, so verse 29 to about 32 or 31,.
Speaker 1:In the Jewish culture it's called the Shema. It's this really important prayer. I actually have a friend of mine who recently invited us over. She practices Judaism. She invited us over for a Seder I've never been to a Seder but it's like a Passover meal and so I reached out to her and I just kind of wanted to kind of pick her brain a little bit.
Speaker 1:And so the Shema is the most important prayer in Judaism because it sets the tone. It sets the tone and it kind of focuses the heart on what is our purpose, why are we here? And so it starts. So Shema, the word itself means here in Hebrew, and the prayer begins with these words Shema Yai Yisrael, adonai Eloheinu, adonai Echad, which translates to and if you go back to verse 29, this is essentially what Jesus says.
Speaker 1:He says the most important one to introduce is Hear O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord, is one.
Speaker 1:So he starts out this conversation, he says Hear O God, so hear what I'm about to say. And then he says to his audience to love God with everything you have, and then to love your neighbor as yourself. And so this prayer that we find in Judaism is said usually in the morning and the night before they go to bed. They tend to share it at meals and they tend to share it whenever they start off their services, and the hope is, and the prayer is, that they are calling out to God and saying, oh, hear us, oh, god and Jesus. So he brings this into light, right? So this is an Old Testament.
Speaker 1:So the idea of loving your God with all heart, soul and mind is in Deuteronomy. And then he pulls out of Leviticus where he talks about loving your neighbor as yourself. So these are things that are really common to the culture, and the worship of God for them is essential, it's built into their life. You know it's crazy, because you and I go to church on Sunday. Church was their existence, the temple was everything to them. That's where they socialize, it's where they met, it's where they built relationships. They spent so much time regularly coming in to worship Regularly, coming in to the temple. It was built in who they are. And so Jesus, when he's talking about worship, he says listen, the most important thing is first to love God with all of your soul, all of your heart and all of your mind. You know, I wrestled with that this week. And I think I wrestled with it because I think, when we come across passages like this, the initial response should be am I loving God in the way that I'm supposed to be loving Him? Am I loving God in the way that I'm supposed to be loving Him? Am I worshiping God in the way that I'm supposed to be worshiping Him? I've already read this one earlier.
Speaker 1:Psalm 95, 1-7 says Come, let us sing for the joy of the Lord, let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation, let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song, for the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care Psalm 100, verses 1 through 4, to shout for joy the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness, come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God and it's he who made us and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter the gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.
Speaker 1:Psalm 145,. I will exalt you, my God the King. I will praise your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever, my God the King. They speak of your glorious splendor, of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all. He has compassion on all. He has made All your works. Praise you, lord. All your works. Praise you, lord. Your faithful people extol you. They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might.
Speaker 1:And let me tell you, as I read through the Psalms, I realized I don't give God enough. It was built into their mindset and I love this song because they reflect on the goodness of God, because all of their worship is tied to their understanding of who God is the creator of the universe, the one who made us, the one who shows compassion and mercy, the God of grace, the God who brought us through the Red Sea, the God who slayed Goliath, the God that protected Daniel and Shadrach, meshach and Abednego in the fire. That same God is the God we stand before and we worship. That same God is the same God who was with me in the room when we lost our child. That same God was with me when I graduated from school. That same God is with me everywhere that I go, because my worship of him does not depend on me. My worship of him all depends on who he is.
Speaker 1:I don't come with the expectation every Sunday morning. I don't come. I shouldn't come to this place thinking what is God going to do for me today? I shouldn't come to this place thinking what is God going to do for me today. I should come to the throne and say God, what can I do for you? That's what it is to worship something, that's what it is to prioritize something. That's what it is and Cody talked about this to be uncomfortable. And I'm not just talking about music on Sunday morning, I'm talking about everywhere that we go. You and I should live in such a way that it makes us uncomfortable. Sometimes, you and I, when we're worshiping God, when we read something in the scriptures that makes us uncomfortable, we should sit with it. We should learn from it, we should try to understand what is God trying to sow us. We, above all, inside and outside the church, should be glorifying God so much. The world cannot help but take notice, because our worship of the God who created us is not dependent on us. It's all because of what he did.
Speaker 1:Nt Wright says this. He says the Jewish law begins with worship, with the love of God, because if it's true that we're made in God's image, we will find our fullest meaning, our true selves, the more we learn to love and worship the one we are designed to reflect. Made in God's image, we will find our fullest meaning, our true selves, the more we learn to love and worship the one we are designed to reflect. No half measures heart, soul, mind and strength, that is, every aspect of human life, is to be poured out gladly in worship of the one true God. Whatever we do, we are to do for him. If we truly live like that for a single day, god's kingdom would have come on earth as it is in heaven. And this is the point. Jesus seems to think that through his kingdom work, this commandment is now within our reach our reach. Listen, it all goes back to how you and I understand the God of creation. It all goes back to who we know and who we believe that he is. I, I think sometimes we lack in our worship because we lack an understanding of God, the God who created all of this, the God who raises people from the dead, the God who heals people from sickness. That's the God you and I serve.
Speaker 1:I like this shirt that I have on. I bought it a couple months ago at a concert. On the back, in big white letters, it says Jesus is King. Months ago at a concert. On the back in big white letters, it says Jesus is King. I like wearing this shirt because it starts an interesting conversation. I had someone come up to me the other day when I was wearing it and they're like Jesus, jesus is King.
Speaker 1:I'm like yes, there he is. Why would you say that? Well, a couple reasons. One, he died for you, I mean. So that kind of establishes him as the one who was willing to sacrifice everything and a great king sacrifices, I was like. And two, at the end of the world, when it all comes to an end, the only one who's going to be standing is him. No country, no parliament, no presidency. The only one who's going to be standing at the end of creation is going to be the one who created it. He said well, that doesn't make him king. I'm like if that doesn't make him king, I don't know what does. He's, overall, above all, more powerful than all. Will overcome everything. Every knee will bow. He's like well, I won't. I'm like, yes, you will. He's like I'd like to see that. I'm like I hope I see it too. And listen, I'm not trying to be finicky or mean, I'm just saying listen, you don't think you're going to bow to the king of creation or the king of kings, but when he comes back, you're not going to be standing there.
Speaker 1:I always love when people say this to me. When I get to heaven, I'm going to ask Jesus this? No, you're not. You're going to stand in the presence of God and go hey, glad to be here. You and I are going to worship for all eternity. Do you know what that means? For the rest of our existence we're going to stand in the presence of the one who created us, giving him praise and worship every single day, hallelujah. I hope there's a bass guitar there. I hope he lets me play it. He probably won't, but that's what it is and that's the king we serve.
Speaker 1:The only one who's worth any of my worship is the one who made me not only made me, but died for me. Everything else doesn't matter. So when I come into the presence of God, when I understand wholeheartedly who he is, the only thing, the only valid response to understanding who God is is to worship Him. Who God is is to worship Him. He has given me everything that I need. He has saved me from my sin. At the end of my life, he's the only thing that's going to be there.
Speaker 1:We've talked about this. The only thing I can take to heaven with me are the people I love. I want them to experience the same king that I experience. I think about the early apostles, and how many of them died just to make sure the kingdom of God and the message of his word was being spread. I think about the amount of people throughout history who missionaries, who have died giving their life for the sake of the gospel. So when I come into worship on Sunday morning and I'm living out my life for God and I feel uncomfortable, I should stop and think. I haven't resisted to the point of death, but I pray that if that's my life, if that's what I have to do, that I would be willing to die for the one who died for me. That's worship. I am sold out entirely and it doesn't mean I'm perfect, it doesn't mean I'm always good at it and listen.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about worship in the context of Sunday morning. Some people raise their hands, some people sit down, some people you know they do a lower. If you watch Tim Hawkins he's one of my favorite, he does you know what I'm going right. He does like this worship thing he talks about like and I'm going to mess it up but like the different types of worship, you got like the new believer, you got the person who's been at church a little while. You've got the person who thinks this is just ridiculous. And you've got the person who everyone thinks is crazy, right, you know, I think about David.
Speaker 1:I would like to say personally, as long as you're not worshiping naked, I think we're going to be okay, right, but I bring that up because sometimes we get caught up in. Well, I'm not doing this. Listen, worship is a posture of your heart. That's where it matters when you come to the presence of God. If I need to raise my hands to worship God, then I'm going to do it. If you don't need that, that's okay, that's you. But you and I, our hearts should be the same. As I stand before the King of kings, I should give him every part of me, I should quiet myself in his presence. I should worship him with my heart, my soul and my mind and with all my strength.
Speaker 1:I came across this and I was reading it this week, and it's by Edwin Searcy and he writes this and he has a song. He has a book called Odd to Heaven, rooted in Earth, and it's a bunch of prayers by a man named Walter Brueggemann and he writes this. He says we are people who must sing you for the sake of our very lives. You are a God, who must be sung by us for the sake of your majesty and honor. And so we thank you For lyrics that push us past our reasons, for melodies that break open our givens, for cadences that locate us home beyond all our safe place, for tones and tunes that open our lives beyond control and our futures beyond despair. We thank you for the long parade of mothers and fathers who have sung you deep and true Amen, amen. We will not keep silent ever again. Amen. You and I are supposed to make such a noise that the world around us can't help but notice, because you and I are the only ones worshiping the king who deserves it. But, as I said in the beginning, let me step away from just Sunday morning, because how you and I worship in our everyday life is just as important.
Speaker 1:I was in Walmart this week. I went to Walmart on Monday because I had to buy a trash can, because I have a cat outside that's not my cat, that won't stand in my trash can, and so I buy a trash can with a heavy lid, and I hate that cat. I don't know who it is, I've never seen it before, but I know it's there and so I went to Walmart and I bought a trash can and I bought some eye drops because I was having like an itchy eye. That's irrelevant, you don't even know that, but you do. So I went to Walmart and I ran to Walmart and I was walking up to the front of the store and the checkout lanes on this side of Walmart were closed. It's like 10 o'clock and there's like a guy standing there like opening it up and I'm like I don't know when you guys do this, but I feel like you should have done this an hour ago. So I'm already kind of frustrated because I could walk to the other side of the store it's not that far, because those ones you know you see across the aisle are the green lights and I could go over there and just self-check out. I said no, I don't want to do that because my car is on this end and I'm dragging a trash can through Walmart and people already think I'm weird. Some lady's like you want a cart. I'm like no, it's got wheels.
Speaker 1:So I find this line standing there and I step into this line and there's this young lady sitting at the register and there's another, an older woman, who's standing at the end near the bag area and they're both talking to each other. And so I'm standing there and they're not looking at me. And they're not looking at me and I'm like you guys see me, right. I mean, I'm really hard to miss, just in general. So I'm standing there with this trash can in hand and I'm getting kind of annoyed because I'm thinking, man, I could go do self-checkout. And so they're talking and all of a sudden I startout, and so they're talking and all of a sudden I start paying attention to what they're saying. And so the young lady, the register, she's talking to this lady bagging groceries and she says, yeah, she's like my youth pastor said that if you understand the Old Testament, it really helps you understand the New. And I'm like, hey, this Now I'm interested in your conversation. By the way, shame on me for my response.
Speaker 1:Initially, because there's a moment happening here that God has ordained that, for whatever reason, he's allowed me to participate in it. Am I uncomfortable because I have to wait? Yes, but do I think it's more important about what's happened? Oh, yeah, absolutely so. She's talking to this young lady and they're talking about different things and she's asking about the Bible and they're kind of going back and forth and the whole time I'm just enthralled because I'm just like this is neat and I really want to interject because I have a really hard time, not right? And so I'm just like, let me talk, like I hope you ask a really big theological question, because we're going to sit down and we're going to talk about this. Right, and of course I didn't.
Speaker 1:But I sat there and I watched this happen and she turned to me and she checked me out and I was walking out you know the older lady. I was like this is really cool and she's like, oh yeah, her and I are in a Bible study together and she's just accepted Christ, so we're trying to help her figure it out. And I was like that's worship. That's worship in its fullest extent. Here they are in the middle of the store, in the middle of Walmart, having a discussion about Jesus and how it could change someone's life. And shame on me. Shame on me for thinking that me scanning out was more important than that conversation. That's worship.
Speaker 1:Worship goes beyond Sunday morning. It has to, because when I come in here and I'm reminded of how good God is, I can't go out there and be quiet about it. I shouldn't. I worship Him with my life, with everything that I am. So that's my challenge to you this week. What does it mean to really worship God in spirit? To worship God with my heart, my soul, my mind, my strength, not in spirit and truth. We're going to get there. Cody's going to talk about that in a couple weeks.
Speaker 1:Don't want to get ahead of myself, but what does it mean to really worship God the way that I'm supposed to and it's interesting, by the way, and I love how this is connected when you learn to worship God for who he is, loving your neighbor comes naturally. There's a reason. Jesus connects them and we didn't talk about that enough. We will. We will next week. But when you learn to understand who God is and the worship that you offer him, how you live your life outside of here and how you treat the people around you matters, because you realize that all those people were created by the same God who created you, and how you love them is a reflection of how you love him. That should be convicting. That should sting a little bit, because if I truly love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, then loving my neighbor should not be that difficult. So I'll leave you with this.
Speaker 1:There was a church I was at a couple years ago and I liked how their sanctuary was set up. There's only a couple doors in and there weren't like any exit doors out the back I mean, I'm sure there were, for the sake of fire stuff but above the door of their sanctuary, as you enter into their worship time, above every door there was a sign that says as we enter, we worship. I was like man, that's cool. So I go to the service and I'm there and we go through the service. As I'm walking out the door I realize there's another sign on the other side of the door that says as we exit, we serve. I was like if that doesn't sum up the greatest commandment as we enter, we worship.
Speaker 1:As we go into the world, we serve. That's our act of worship. That's what compels us to stand in line at Walmart and share a conversation with two ladies about faith. That's what compels us to go into the world and love our neighbors as ourselves. That's what compels us to go into the world and be able to say Jesus is king and mean it. Into the world and be able to say Jesus is king and mean it. Are you really worshiping God with your heart, soul, mind and all your strength? And I think that that is a question that you and I have to ask ourselves every time we enter into this place and every time we leave it Bye. Let's pray.