Five Things We Will Learn
- Why God created us—not because He needed worship, but because He desired to love and give.
- How worship is our response to God’s self-revelation and works, not a way to get Him to act.
- Why music matters biblically (Exodus 15; Ephesians 5:18–21) and how it orients our emotions toward truth.
- Why faith and obedience—not striving or anxiety—are the foundation of worship.
- How daily sacrifice (“living sacrifices,” Romans 12:1) turns ordinary life into true worship.
Opening Focus: Worship as Response, Not Requirement
I’m going to be preaching now. You’ve been announced to, and now it’s time for the next part of these things where a guy talks to you for a little bit—and that guy is me, so get used to this voice.
Let us pray.
Lord, we love You. It’s our joy to gather in Your presence and to worship You with all of our hearts. Lord, I pray that You would speak to us so that we can know You. Show us Your ways that we may find favor with You. Teach us how to live lives that are pleasing to You—that we might be mature and fully assured in all of the will of God; that we would be strong. Give us boldness, O God, to speak Your word, and give us opportunities, O Jesus, to preach the gospel. Strengthen us in Your holy power. Let us not lean upon our own strength and our own understanding, but would You bear us up by Your grace—that we would work strenuously with all of Your energy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I’m going to talk to you about worship. Worship is the most foundational aspect of the way in which we relate to God. It is not the most foundational way that God relates to us. God did not send His Son so that we could worship Him.
Some people think about worship and say, “You were created to worship God.” I disagree with that. You were not created to worship God because God does not need worship. He’s not in heaven saying, “I need somebody to worship Me right now.” There is nothing about God that He lacks. He lacks nothing. There’s nothing you can add to God that would make Him feel, “I’m so relieved; finally, that need has been met. John Mark finally scratched that itch I had.” God didn’t create us because He needed us—He doesn’t. There’s nothing you can do to help God. He is entirely capable—that’s what the word omnipotent means. You can’t do anything to add to His ability. You can’t give anything that didn’t already belong to Him.
What is it then that happens in worship? First, we need to understand why God made us, and I’m bold enough to assert that maybe I think I know an answer. God doesn’t need anything from us, so the only reason He could have made us is so that He could give something. God’s creation of you was entirely an act of His desire. He doesn’t get anything out of the deal, necessarily. We’ll talk about some caveats to that in a minute.
God didn’t need love, because He has perfect love in the Trinity. He is a community. He is self-sufficient. He has love: the Father perfectly loves the Son, the Son perfectly loves the Father, and the Spirit perfectly loves the Father and the Son. The whole Trinity is a community of perfect love. They didn’t need love; they had no lack in that regard that you could supply.
So then why did God make you? He made you so that He could love you. He made you so that He could give—because He just wanted to. You exist out of His desire. There is nothing that made God make you. There was no impelling force that compelled God to make a Marcus or a Dave. God made a Marcus and a Dave because He wanted to. He wanted there to be a Marcus. He wanted there to be a Dave. He wanted there to be an Art. He wanted there to be a Katie. Out of His desire.
I don’t think we fully understand the significance of this. If you’re like me growing up, most of the sermons you heard about worship—or about anything—had everything to do with stuff you could do for God. There’s nothing wrong with that because it’s a natural desire to want to do something for God. However, if we focus entirely on that, we miss the whole “why,” because our worship to God is a response. If you’ve lost sight of God’s love—if you’ve lost sight of God in your worship—something’s wrong. The worship you offer becomes the striving of an orphan trying to wrestle attention out of a distant Father.
How many of you have spent your time in worship trying to get God to come down to be with you? We think if we just get the music just right—hit that 4–5–6–1 progression—and someone begins to sing spontaneously, then “this is the stuff; God must really like this song.” I hope He does. I love music—I’m a musician—but I don’t think I can add much to what’s going on in heaven right now musically. I don’t think God is saying, “This music in heaven’s all right, but I just want to hear John Mark shred on the guitar for a minute.” I don’t think our music-making moves God as much as we might think.
Yet we’ve all had the experience: you play the song and your heart begins to resonate with the presence of God. Maybe you felt it when you walked in as Megan was singing—just the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room—and you’re like, “Something holy is happening in here.” What is that exactly? I’ve got news for you: it doesn’t have much to do with the music, at least not directly.
The First Worship Song in Scripture (Exodus 15)
The first time we see music in the Bible as worship is in Exodus. After God led Israel out of Egypt, the Egyptians said, “You can go,” and then changed their minds: “What are we doing? Get in your chariots—we’re going after them!” Israel was stuck between a rock and a hard place—at the Red Sea, with Egypt bearing down. Everyone was mad at Moses, talking about killing him: “You brought us out here to die!” Moses said, “Watch and see the deliverance the Lord will work for you today.” He was so confident, then got behind a rock: “Oh God, oh God, what are we going to do?” God said, “Why are you crying out to Me? You know that staff I gave you? Go stretch that staff over the waters and see what happens.”
Moses obeyed, the waters parted, and Israel walked through on dry ground. Egypt tried to follow—big mistake. The waters came back and drowned Pharaoh and his army. Great deliverance for Israel. Then the Scriptures say (Exodus 15:1):
“Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord:
I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song,
and He has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise Him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host He cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrow Your adversaries;
You send out Your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil;
my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.”
You blew with Your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
You stretched out Your right hand; the earth swallowed them.
You have led in Your steadfast love the people whom You have redeemed;
You have guided them by Your strength to Your holy abode.
The peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of Your arm, they are still as a stone,
till Your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom You have purchased.
You will bring them in and plant them on Your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
The narrator resumes:
For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.”
This is the very first worship song in the Bible: “The Lord is a man of war.” Was the singing an attempt to get God to do something—or was it a response to what He had already done?
Why We Sing: Orienting Hearts and Minds
Some of us have prayer lives that are completely messed up. We heap guilt on ourselves because we go to pray and don’t feel anything. “I must be doing it wrong.” We think, “If I were at an encounter night with the band playing, it would be easier to get into God’s presence.” I want to set the table for what it looks like to truly worship the Lord.
Singing is part of worship, but we need to place it in proper context, because it’s the thing that comes to mind for most of us. “We’re going to have a worship service.” “I was worshiping the other day”—we mean we were singing. Singing is integral to our experience of worship through Scripture. Part of worship is a musical event because music engages the emotions. Worship doesn’t merely come from the analytical, logical part of who you are—that’s part of your existence—but can you imagine a marriage that lacked all emotion? “Yes, I am married to my wife. I agree to that sentence.” “I love you”—what does that mean if there’s no emotion? It might mean, “I will choose by willpower to do the right things,” but it rings hollow if there’s no affection, romance, longing.
When I walk into my living room in the morning and see my wife and my son, something in my heart says, “I love them so much.” The purpose of music is to help orient your emotions and your mind in a right manner toward God. Musical worship is a response of thanksgiving to God’s self-revelation.
Music is part of the rhythm of life for a Christian:
Ephesians 5:18–21: “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.”
I’ve heard some who distrust “emotionalism.” As an overreaction to hyper-emotionalism, one pastor said, “Sometimes I wish we didn’t sing in church because it gets in the way.” Gets in the way of what, exactly? He meant, “We should worship God by believing right doctrine.” That’s true—we should worship God by believing the truth about who He is. And our singing helps us to believe. Believing is more than agreeing with true statements; it’s betting everything on the fact that this is true. You can say, “I believe in God,” but actually acting as if what He said is true is another thing. Believing in God is one thing; following Jesus is something else entirely. Our singing helps orient not just our minds on truth but our emotions and hearts as well. We are to instruct one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.
In our singing we glorify the Lord for His works and what He has done. Why do we sing in worship? It is not to get God to come; it is to celebrate that He came.
The Foundation of Worship: Faith (Not Begging)
What is prima facie for worship—the thing you need before anything else? Faith. For many of us, prayer has been reduced to begging. When Jesus taught us to pray, He said, “You are not orphans. You have a Father who knows what you need before you ask.”
Jesus echoes Psalm 127: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor do so in vain… in vain you toil and spin and eat the bread of anxiety.” What is the bread of anxiety? The sustenance you eke out for yourself apart from trusting your Father.
To start at square one with worship, fix this in your heart: I have a Father, and He has chosen me and purchased me by His blood. I am one whom He has redeemed, and I have been made right with Him by the blood of His own Son. My sins have been cleansed. I have been purchased. For me, prayer starts with preaching the gospel to my own soul. Prayer is a lot easier right after you’ve done that, because suddenly you pray from faith—not from trying to twist God’s arm.
Even as I talk, I can’t help but worship Him. In the shower I begin to say, “I have been redeemed by the blood of God’s only Son. He loved me so much that He sent Jesus for me. I am holy and blameless; I stand before Him without fault. I am redeemed.” And not only that—I rehearse the things He has done. Remember in Exodus 15: they weren’t singing about a theory or something that happened hundreds of years ago; they had just seen it. How many times have you taken the testimony you’ve seen God do and turned it back to the Lord in song? “My God is my Provider—He saw my need and answered.” “My God is the Healer—He healed that little girl of rheumatoid arthritis she suffered for two years; in one moment my merciful Jesus stretched out His hand and by His mighty power redeemed her and healed her body.”
This is worship: recognizing what He is doing and getting a little happy. Music is how the community of God in one voice can shout, sing, and express our gratitude, thankfulness, and deep love for our King. It’s how we teach one another and celebrate together.
Worship Is More Than Music: It Is Obedience and Life
In worship we sing, “Lord, I give You my heart; I give You my soul; I live for You alone.” The thing on my mind the most when I speak to the Lord is: “God, I want my life to please You. I want the way I live, think, treat my wife and son, lead my church, and treat the stranger on the street who needs the gospel—the sick who need healing—to be worship to God.”
Jesus said in John 14:
John 14:27–31: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on Me, but I do as the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”
Why did Jesus go to the cross? There are many right answers: to redeem us, to show us His love, because of God’s mercy and grace. But Jesus singled this out here: “I do as the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” The cross was Jesus’s act of worship to the Father.
I have wonderful news: you’ve been invited to participate in that beautiful act of love. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be My disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
What does it mean to take up your cross? It means to endure unjust treatment by wicked authorities and tyrants. It means to suffer so that somebody else can benefit rather than yourself. It means to endure shame and reproach from the wider community. Someone carrying their cross through town was being publicly shamed—so everyone would say, “I don’t want to be like that criminal.” Jesus is saying, “Do you want to follow Me in My worship of the Father? Do you want to join Me in this worship service?” How many would like to have a worship service with Jesus leading? This is what it looks like: take up your cross.
Worship That Costs: Testimonies of Sacrifice
I’m going to embarrass Dave and Paula. For two and a half years, they took their four kids and moved into Dave’s parents’ house so their own house could be used to house people recovering from addiction—so they could disciple them. That looks like taking up your cross to follow Jesus. They poured their lives into these guys—through withdrawals, middle-of-the-night phone calls, people going missing. I got some of those calls from Dave when relationships weren’t going well, and his response wasn’t, “I’m having a bad day,” but, “I hurt for this person.” That is grabbing a cross, putting it on your shoulder, and marching.
I look at Marcus and Jennifer. They have served the Lord in Dearborn, where people are super receptive and always excited to give their lives to Jesus—plenty of people patting you on the back—right? Then they say, “Wouldn’t it be great if we left here and went to Egypt, and then from there, to a really difficult Middle Eastern country where nobody knows the name of Jesus, and we plant ourselves and preach the gospel and make disciples?” They’re not signing up for superstardom. They seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness. I believe the Father looks at that and says, “Now that’s worship—that’s a sweet incense to Me.”
I look at Joe and Emily. You may know some of the sacrifice they’ve made. Opening their home was a bigger deal than you think. Every week, for four years, they opened their home to make disciples—to seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness. The Lord looks at that and says, “Now that’s worship.”
Jason Hiliker isn’t here right now, but when he worked for Waste Management, he never once considered Waste Management to be where his provision came from. Because he was free from serving money, he understood, “I’m here to be a light. I’m seeking first the kingdom.” Jason called me a few years ago and said, “John Mark, will you come with me? One of my co-workers has cancer. I’m going to her house to pray.” We drove to Waterford, sat in her home, heard her story—this is a relationship Jason intentionally cultivated so he could minister to her. She worked behind the desk while he drove a garbage truck. Every interaction was about Jesus. It wasn’t a surprise to her that he wanted to pray, so he invited me along. We prayed for this woman.
Later, when we were moving into our home, I had a bunch of garbage from the previous owner to drop at the dump. I walked into the office and there she was. She said, “I know you—you came with Jason to my house.” I asked, “How are you doing?” She said, “I’m cancer free.” Isn’t that wild? Jason made sure everything was about Jesus at work. The way he worked was worship.
Living as a Temple: Holy to the Lord
Romans 12:1—many of you can quote it: “I urge you therefore, brethren, in view of the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, for this is your spiritual act of worship.”
What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? It’s something that can never be taken back. When you put something on the barbecue, you cannot uncook it. It is forever changed. It’s never going back to being a raw burger. When you present your body as a living sacrifice, it is offered.
You are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6). Can you imagine going to the Lord’s temple—imagine Solomon’s temple, beautiful, gold, cedar, massive cherubim wings across the inner sanctuary—everything testifying to God’s glory and majesty—except there are football posters everywhere, a TV in the corner playing HGTV, another showing cartoons, someone gaming over here? Something is wrong. This place is holy and dedicated to the Lord, and yet most of it is being used for other stuff. Jesus got miffed when He went to His Father’s house and found the place dedicated to prayer being used to sell things.
What is your life oriented around? Is entertainment wrong? No. But if entertainment begins to dominate your life and draws your affections away from the One to whom your whole life is dedicated—if it robs your affections—it’s an idol. It does not belong in the temple. The Lord is purifying His church. He’s looking for a church that considers itself a holy temple unto the Lord. The eyes of the Lord roam to and fro throughout the earth seeking a heart completely devoted to Him so He might strengthen them. Will He find you, or pass over you? Will He find someone whose heart is completely devoted? This is your spiritual act of worship.
“So You Worship Me, But You Won’t Obey Me?”
When I was 17, I was going to lead worship for my youth group. During the day I went to get some junk food at the grocery store a couple blocks away. On the way home I saw a guy playing hacky sack behind an abandoned building. I’m pretty good at hacky sack—I dabbled back in the ’90s. I heard the Holy Spirit telling me to go speak to him and talk about Jesus. I ignored that voice because I was scared. He was intimidating. I didn’t want to talk to him about the Lord. So I pretended I couldn’t hear God. “God, is that You? I just can’t tell.”
I got home to practice worship songs: “I’m just going to get in God’s presence—feel my Holy Ghost feelings.” I played the first chord and the Lord spoke to my heart as loudly as I’ve ever heard Him: “So you worship Me, but you won’t obey Me?”
I put my guitar down, went and found the guy, and resolved in my heart: I never want to sing a lie to God. When I kneel on my knees, lift my voice, and weep in His presence—you haven’t seen me when no one is watching; you haven’t seen the fool I become when I worship my God—when I remember I’ve been redeemed by His blood and washed clean of every sin, I want to bring a smile to His face by the way I live and the song I sing. He’s not pleased with a song that’s not backed up by a life that’s laid down.
Everyday Life as Worship
In our worship as we sing, in our worship as we preach, in our worship as we serve—and we open our homes to people who can’t seem to aim when they go to the bathroom—it’s worship to God. It’s also worship when you aim. It’s also worship when you hit the target.