Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness;
It is the nourishment of our mind with His truth; It is the purifying of our imagination by His beauty;
It is the opening of the heart to His love; It is the surrender of our will to Jesus purpose… all of this gathered up in adoration,
There is much debate concerning worship in our day. I spoke with my Church Youth Province President like two weeks (Baba Ode)
is one of the people that cherish Good Worship in the church because of his encounters with God on a weekly basis regarding corporate worship.
It seems that most of the grumbling that you encounter in the “worship wars” is over the style of music.
My brother in the Lord Bro Isreal gave me an apostle simon material that said “The Ultimate Priority that “the crucial factor
in worship in the church is not the form of worship, but the state of the hearts of the saints.
If our corporate worship isn't the expression of our individual worshiping lives, it is unacceptable.
If you think you can live anyway you want and then go to church on Sunday morning and turn on worship
with the saints, you're wrong.
Let me ask you a question that have been trying to ask my church choir JESUS HOUSE,
what is your view of worship?
Is worship what happens in church on Sunday? Do you identify it with an emotional experience, spiritual thoughts, or maybe performing certain rituals?
The fact is, true worship is not defined by a place, a feeling, or a ritual. God set the standard for worship in His Word, and
the standard is much higher and more rewarding than most of us ever imagine.
One of my daughter in my church choir(Esther) was whorhiping God in the children church one day and the presense of God was so powerful till the extent that
where i was, i can see the angels of God in the church, I CALL THAT ACT OF WORHIP.
I would like to look at an act of worship in the life of Lazarus’ sister Mary.
In John Chapter 11 we find one of the most amazing miracles that occurred during Jesus’ time on this earth.
Word had been sent to Jesus that His beloved friend Lazarus was sick. Jesus had a purpose and a plan and as a
result Jesus delayed His response until after Lazarus had died. Jesus arrived at Bethany and was confronted by
Lazarus’ sisters Mary & Martha. These ladies were completely devastated and their hearts were filled with sorrow.
Jesus said “take me to the tomb”. Once Jesus arrived and the stone was rolled away Jesus spoke the words “Lazarus come forth”.
Lazarus came out of the tomb alive.
There is no way for us to fully grasp the joy that must have filled the hearts of Mary and Martha.
I can guarantee you that Mary, Martha, Lazarus and anyone else who witnessed this event NEVER FORGOT WHAT THEY HAD SEEN.
As we arrive in John chapter 12 we find a beautiful picture of worship offered to Jesus by Mary. She comes before for her Savior,
bows down before Him and anoints His feet with a very costly perfume, and then wipes His feet with her hair.
The actions of Mary paint a picture of the kind of worship that we should offer our Savior today.
Let’s take a little while and walk through these verses and consider the thought “Worship At The Feet Of Jesus”
.I would like to begin by examining… “The Place Of Worship”
The Place Of Worship
I. THE PLACE OF OUR WORSHIP - Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom
he raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
In Mark 14:3 we find that this event took place in the “house of Simon the Leper”
Gathered in this house was:Simon the Leper, Lazarus, Martha, Mary, Judas Iscariot & the rest of the Lord’s Disciples.
Though there were several followers present, each one had different things on their mind. Martha (once again) was
concerned with serving with the Lord. It seems that Lazarus & Simon were enjoying fellowship with the Lord.
The Disciples were there listening to the Lord and Mary was there offering worship to the Lord.
The scene here illustrates a very important fact concerning worship. You can be gathered among other believers,
you can even be in the presence of Jesus and still miss out on worship! Worshipping the Savior is a personal action!
But in this moment of worship we can see something important about the “proper place” of worship. Mary was not in a temple,
A church or cathedral… she was in Simon’s house. The key was not the place where she abode but rather the fact that she was in the presence of Jesus.
The proper place of worship is “in the presence of Jesus”. This means that our worship is not limited to a certain time or location.
We don’t have to bow down facing the east a certain time of day. We don’t have to take a yearly trip to a specific destination;
we don’t have to enter into a church building in order to worship our Savior. We don’ have to wait until 9:00 on Sunday Morning to worship Jesus!
This also illustrates a problem in the lives of many believers: Some fail to worship the Lord Monday - Saturday.
Some fail to “assemble themselves together” on Sunday. TRUE worship should occur in the life of a believer, each and every day of your life!
THE PURPOSE OF OUR WORSHIP
There are countless reasons that our Savior is worthy of worship! I think we can sum up the purpose of worship in two phrases…
Worship Jesus because of who He is and worship Jesus because of what He has done! Let’s consider for a moment:
A. Who Jesus Is
1) He is the Messiah: “the promised One from God”
2) He is Christ: “the anointed one”
3) He is Jesus: “Jehovah is Savior”
4) He is Savior: “our Deliverer”
5) He is Lord: “the Supreme Authority”
6) He is Emmanuel: “God with us”
Jesus Christ is:
The Son of God
The First begotten of the World
The Eternal God
The Creator of The Universe
The Second Person in the Trinity
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that JESUS IS WORTHY OF WORHSIP BECAUSE OF WHAT HE HAS DONE!
I don’t want to insinuate that the only reason that Mary was worshipping Jesus was the fact that He had
raised her brother from the dead. But I do believe that this may have been one of the motivations for her worship.
In the previous chapter we witnessed the grief and sorrow that Mary possessed.
We saw her as she cried in agony over the loss of her brother. Then Jesus showed up
and performed a miracle and now Lazarus is sitting at the table right next to her.
Worship reveals a heart of gratitude. Are you thankful for who Jesus is and what He has done? Then come to RCCG JESUS HOUSE TO
bow before Him and offer Him the worship He so rightly deserves!
There is anther important factor that is seen in Mary’s worship… we see that she gave all
she had and she gave the best that she had. Consider:
III. THE PRICE OF OUR WORSHIP
MY WIFE AND I dug deep concerning this this lady Mary.
Mary had a box that contained 12 ounces of ointment or “perfume”. She broke this box and used
this perfume to anoint the feet of Jesus. This was an extremely valuable box of perfume. It was made of “spikenard”
which was a very rare plant found only in India.
It was difficult to acquire and very costly. In verse 5 Judas assesses the value of this ointment at “300 pence”.
A “pence” was the daily wage of the average worker. So the approximate value of this one box of perfume was nearly
a year’s wage. This box of perfume was a part of the Jewish burial ritual. After a person had died their body would be washed,
the box of ointment would be broken, the spices and perfume would be used to anoint the body, the broken
fragments of the box would be buried with the deceased.
No doubt, Mary had this in mind as she worshipped her Savior. It is possible that she had saved for many years to purchase
this box of ointment for her own funeral. It is probable that this was the most valuable material good that she possessed.
And she gave it all to her Master! Mary’s worship cost her something!
We find in Mark 14: 3 that she broke this box and poured out its contents.
She didn’t just pour out a little and keep the rest for herself… SHE GAVE ALL SHE HAD TO JESUS!!! Mary's sacrifice was costly!
It was the ultimate expression of her love and worship of the Lord Jesus. She gave all she had… WILL YOU??
Worship is much more than simply attending a church service, It is more than praying and studying together, It is more than sitting back
and listening to a sermon, It is more than bowed heads and raised hands, It is more than mumbling through some songs on Sunday morning.
WORSHIP IS A LIFE THAT IS OPENED UP AND POURED OUT TO JESUS CHRIST!
Have you come to a place where you have broken your box and poured out everything to Jesus? When you do, then you will understand TRUE
WORSHIP! Not only did Mary understand the price of worship, she grasped the proper posture of worship.
JOIN US EVERY 3 MONTH (QUATERLY) AT RCCG JEUSUS HOUSE ILORIN TO WORSHIP AT THE FEET OF JESUS
