Extravagant Worship

A.      We are going to talk about worship. First let’s get a definition in our minds of what exactly we are talking about.

1.     John 4:23-24:
“But an hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be worshipers. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (NLT)

                    2.     “Worship is…our response both corporate to God—for who                         He is and what He has done! Expressed in and by the things                         we say and the way we live.” – Louie Giglio

B.     Worship began when man was first created. In fact we see it very quickly in Genesis 4:26:
“When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that people began to worship the Lord” (NLT)

C.    Now let’s look at some people in the Bible who were worshipers.

II.     David: A Man After God’s Own Heart

A.     I Samuel 13:13-14, Acts 13:21-22

B.      David was called a man after God’s own heart. Considering his track record with sin and disobedience, why? What made David a man after God’s heart?

        C.    David was committed to obeying the commands of God’s heart.

1.     This is the most common principle we draw from David’s life.

2.     There is a lot more to it than this, but we’ll get to that!

3.     Psalm 119:16
“I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.”

4.     What caused David to delight in God’s law?

5.     Psalm 119:11
“Your Word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.” (NASB, italics mine)

6.     What motivated this man to treasure the Word of God?

7.     I believe a principle was operating in his life I like to call affection based obedience.

8.     In other words, David delighted and treasured because he was in love with God.

D.    David was a student of God’s Emotions.

            1.     How did David fall in love with God? It was His exploration of                     the very heart of God.

2.     David gave his life’s goal in Psalm 27:4-
“One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.” (NKJV)

3.     This was the primary motivation of his life: he wanted to be with the Lord!

4.     To accomplish this end David set up what is referred to as “The Tabernacle of David”.

5.     David literally went and grabbed the ark of God (which was the place where the presence of God dwelled in his day).

6.     He pitched a tent, stuck it in there and they sang before it. Let’s talk about this for a moment…This was so radical!! (1 Chro. 16:1)

7.     David set up perpetual worship. It never stopped day and night.

8.     This was the method in which David called his people to the searching out of the emotions of God.

E.     David was passionate about seeing the full release of the power and promises of God in his generation.

1.     David sought after the fullness of God’s power so that the Lord’s kingdom would be advanced.

2.     In David’s day it looked mostly like mighty, supernatural military advances.

3.     In our day God is calling us to the same thing: to be ones who seek to see the lost come into the kingdom of God.

4.     He is calling us to contend with Him for His power. (Acts 4)

5.     We live in a supernatural generation in which the Lord will release the “greater works then these” that He promised. (John 14:12)

6.     It will be for the fascination of His people and for the drawing of the billion people that will come into the kingdom in this generation.

III.   Mary of Bethany: Jesus’ chosen example of extravagant worship.

A.     Finally we are going to look at the example that Jesus said we would look at: Mary of Bethany.

1.     John 12:3