There will be times in our lives when we will be scared to death not knowing where to turn or what to do. There will be times when we will hear a little voice in our head that tells us that God isn’t able to help us or that God isn’t interested in helping us.
There will be times that things won’t work out the way you hoped they would. The girl says “No” when you ask her out, or the guy doesn’t ask you out even though you gave him every hint that if he does it would be a definite yes. Your grades begin to struggle even though you are giving it all you’ve got. Your parents are fighting at home, or one of your grandparents gets cancer or some other life-changing disease and you will get discouraged.
We are at war.
We have an enemy.
He wants to destroy you.
It's time to fight.
Whether you know it or not, you and I are in a spiritual war and our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking to devour us. Jesus said that Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy your life. He wants to take every good thing from you and he wants you to play the part of the fool. The good news is that God did not leave us in this battle defenseless. He gave us weapons to use to not only fight but to win the battles that we face every day.
We need to recognize that we are in a battle, and it requires us to fight.
Fight 1: Armed vs. Unarmed
When you are going to war, you need weapons. If you are going to win the fight you need to be armed. Some of you are trying to fight these battles without weapons and you are losing.
John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
One of the ways the enemy does that is to make you fearful and discouraged. Have you experienced some fear this past year? Maybe you were fearful about what the future might hold. What about discouraged? Maybe you tried really hard at something and things didn’t work out the way you hoped they would. If we are honest with ourselves, we have all experienced fear and discouragement.
So what weapons do we have to combat these powerful feelings? You might be surprised to hear that our worship of God is a weapon against fear and discouragement.
WORSHIP IS A WEAPON
Now, this shouldn’t surprise you because you know how powerful music can be. The right song can get you pumped up. Let's take a minute and think of some songs that I know move you. What about songs like “Eye of the Tiger”? That’ll get you pumped up to fight. If you listen to a song by Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo, you might be in your feelings. But if you listen to a song like “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, everyone will be dancing.
Isn’t it crazy how music changes the atmosphere for us? Isn't this what pro athletes do? They listen to music that inspires them and prepares them for the game ahead. When you workout what's the first thing you do? Put on music. Some people listen to music while they study because that music calms them down and helps them focus.
The right song at the right time can change the way you feel and the way you look at life. What you put in your head and what comes out of your heart has the power to affect real life.
Worship is a weapon and we can’t expect to win these battles if we walk in unarmed. When we worship God, when we praise Him, when we have His Word in our hearts and on our tongues, it puts our focus on Him. It takes the fight out of our hands and puts the fight in His hands. This brings us to our second fight…
Fight 2: God’s Hands vs. Our Hands
That is what worshiping God does for us. Worship is saying, “God, I give this to You. I give You control. You are God and I am not.” It takes it out of our hands and puts it in God’s hands. In the Bible, there is an entire book called the book of Psalms. This book is the songs that people gathered together to sing when they got down and discouraged.
So the question is, what do you put into your brain when you are feeling down? Have you ever made a playlist of songs that inspire you and help you get your focus back on the Lord?
The great thing about worshiping God is that you can do that anywhere and at any time. Worshiping God isn’t just something we do on the weekend or at church, but you can worship God every day. Just put on a song that puts your focus on the Lord and guess what? You are worshiping God in that moment. When we do that, we get our focus off our problems and on our God. You are putting your problems in God’s hands and focusing on Him. I am telling you that whatever you're facing begins to not have the same power over you that it once had. All of a sudden you and I remember that there is nothing that our God cannot do. Whose hands do you want the battle in? Yours? Or God’s?
Let’s shift here for a second because I want to talk to you about what worship looks like here at church when we come together to worship the Lord, which brings us to our 3rd fight…
Fight 3: The Spectator vs. the Worshiper
Jesus tells us that it is possible to come to church week after week and just go through the motions. It’s possible to say with our mouths that we love Jesus but our hearts are just not that into it. It’s possible to come to church and listen and think about how Jesus means everything to us, and then leave the church building and live like He doesn’t mean that much to us at all. In fact, Jesus phrases it like this.
In Matthew 15:8-9 Jesus said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”
It’s possible to just be a spectator and watch the service rather than truly participate in worshiping Jesus. How does a person know if they are a spectator or a worshiper?
A spectator is someone who is:
A worshiper is someone who is:
When we leave our services we should be asking these types of questions–
Did I give God my best today?
Did I give God my best attention?
Did I listen intently to hear a word from God, or did I drift in and drift out?
Did I make the people I sat by feel welcomed?
Was I distracting others around me because I was on my phone the entire time?
What we do in our services matters. Eternity is at stake. Heaven and hell are in the balance. Some people brought a friend with them today and they are hoping that something is done, something is said, something happens that would cause their friend to want Jesus in their life, and we don’t want to do anything that would get in the way of that. So when we come to church to worship the Lord, we want to give Him our best. Let me give you a few pointers on how we can give our best worship to Jesus.
Step 1: Come prepared.
In sports history, there is perhaps no basketball rivalry quite as intense as that between Duke and North Carolina. Some of you may remember the historical Final Four from this year's March Madness. The campuses are only eight miles apart. Both teams have different shades of blue for their primary color, so North Carolinians are told, "Choose Your Blue!"
Duke fans take their allegiances seriously. Every fan is a cheerleader. When the two teams recently played each other in Duke’s Cameron Arena, home fans (or "Crazies") were given instructions–
“This is the game you've been waiting for. No excuses. Give everything you've got, and we will walk away the victors. Cameron should never be less than painfully loud tonight. At Coach K's request, please focus on our team tonight. Better to bring our team up than put theirs down. Especially coming out of timeouts, we need to be incredibly loud. During their free throws in the second half, forget the novelty stuff, just be unbelievably loud. This is a huge game. Stay in the bleachers and go nuts.”
They were prepared. They were ready to give their all.
This is the worship service you have been waiting for all week. Give God the best that you have got. No excuses. Come prepared.
Step 2: Engage in the service.
Ask God to speak to you through what is being said and done. Be ready to write down what you hear Him say to you and make a commitment to act on what He asks you to do.
If we are playing a game, if we are making an announcement, if we are watching a video, if we are listening to the talk; engage in what is going on. When the student pastor prays, don’t just listen to his prayer but pray to God and pour out your heart to Him.
Step 3: God is worthy of our best worship.
Praise God like he is worthy of your worship, because He is. He deserves our best. God created you. He knows the number of hairs on our heads and His thoughts of us outnumbers the grains of sand on every seashore.
God is powerful. There is nothing that our God cannot do. All He has to do is say the word and it happens. There is no problem too big for Him, there is no situation that brings fear to His heart.
Our God is consistent. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever; which means you and I can count on Him. He is never late and never early.
Our God loves us with a never-ending love. There is nothing you can do today that will cause God to love you a little bit more and there is nothing you can do today that will cause God to love me a little bit less.
He has forgiven us for every foolish thing we have ever done. For every sin, for every habit, and for every addiction. And our God will never give up on us.
So let me ask you a question: Do you worship God like He deserves? Do you truly believe that God deserves your best worship? If we are honest with ourselves, we don’t always give God our best. But all that changes today.
Pray this prayer with me.
Dear God,
When I come here I will give You my very best.
I will not be a spectator but I will be a worshiper.
I will give You my best attention.
I will be eager to hear Your voice and I will be moved by Your presence.
I will get here early and I will come prepared.
I will get here consistently and I will show God my love and devotion. God, you are worthy of the best that I have.
Decision time:
If you worship God like this...fear and discouragement won’t get the best of you. It's time to start training. Here's your mission if you choose to accept it.
We are doing a 4-week worship challenge. In service, we handed out cards. On the front, you can easily track your progress and on the back is a QR code to our Spotify worship playlist. Your challenge is to listen to worship music every day for 4 weeks. See how your life changes. If you do it, you keep track, and you show your student director, they will buy you lunch. We’re doing this because we believe the power worship can have in the battles you face.
©2024 Sagebrush Church
