Introduction:
John 4:23
Psalm 138:1 - I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart...
Psalm 45:1 - My heart overflows with a pleasing theme…
Deuteronomy 6:5 - You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
3 Reasons I'm “All In on Spirit” in Worship (2 Samuel 6:12-23)
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My worship is FOR THE LORD. (2 Sam 6:21a)
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My worship is PERSONAL. (2 Sam 6:21b)
2 Samuel 12:20 – Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped.
Job 1:20 – Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
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My worship is a CHOICE. (2 Sam 6:22–23)
Psalm 146:2 – I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:42-00:48
Open up your Bibles to the book of 2 Samuel 6.
00:50-00:52
While you're turning, let's just pause.
00:52-01:00
I'm going to ask if you would please pray for me to clearly and faithfully communicate God's Word.
01:00-01:09
At the same time, I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us from His Word today.
01:10-01:12
Just take a moment, please, we'll pray.
01:16-01:23
Father, I believe this is a message that the church needs to hear.
01:24-01:30
God, I believe this is a message this church, this is a message Harvest Bible Chapel needs to hear.
01:30-01:39
So I just ask God that You would please let Your Spirit move in the hearts of Your people.
01:39-01:43
This would be a time of self-examination.
01:46-01:54
And that You would continue Your work in us to make us the people that You've already pronounced us to be.
01:55-01:59
Thank You, Father, ahead of time for everything that You're going to do.
02:01-02:08
Because Your Word tells us that You always accomplish the purposes for which You send Your Word out.
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We believe that.
02:14-02:16
In Jesus' name, Amen.
02:18-02:20
2 Samuel chapter 6.
02:20-02:20
Are you there?
02:22-02:27
I grew up attending a little Methodist church.
02:28-02:44
And worship in music time was sometimes, most of the time, how should we say, unenthusiastic.
02:46-02:51
But often it would sound like this.
02:53-03:08
If ever I loved thee Lord Jesus 'tis now ♪ And imagine that times like 70 or 80.
03:10-03:21
I remember one Sunday in particular, during the music time, the pastor actually stood up, and he goes, "Stop, stop, stop singing, stop singing.
03:23-03:32
I'm not going to let you ruin another one." I mean, unpack that statement.
03:34-03:47
I just remember the organist was like, like, "What do we do now?" And he's like, "Write into the sermon, like, I'm not going to let you ruin another one." We were shocked.
03:49-04:01
And you know, I didn't really get it then, but I get it now.
04:04-04:07
Like, what are we doing?
04:09-04:16
What are we doing when it's time to worship our almighty savior.
04:19-04:21
We come in 10 or 15 minutes late.
04:23-04:24
What are we doing?
04:26-04:31
What are we doing when it's time to express our love for God?
04:33-04:49
And we're just kind of looking around and kind of half singing the words What are we doing?
04:52-04:59
Can we really be content to call that worship?
05:00-05:01
Can we?
05:01-05:09
Can we be content to come in late and mouth a few words and sit down and be like, "Well, I worship today." Can we call that worship?
05:09-05:10
Really?
05:11-05:13
Let me ask you this.
05:15-05:22
Do you consider yourself to be a worshiper?
05:29-05:29
Do you?
05:32-05:34
Could we rightly call you a worshiper?
05:37-05:41
Or would you say, "Yeah, that's not really my thing.
05:42-05:47
Yeah, the music and worship thing, we're talking specifically about music.
05:47-05:49
Pastor Rich made that clear last week.
05:49-05:58
That's what this series is about." But are you like, "Well, this worship and music, it's not really my thing." Well, that's a problem because it's God's thing.
06:00-06:01
Okay, it's God's thing.
06:02-06:03
Like, well, how do you know?
06:03-06:05
Do you know what the second biggest book of the Bible is?
06:06-06:08
It's right smack in the middle.
06:09-06:10
The Psalms, you know what the Psalms are?
06:11-06:12
Israel's songbook.
06:15-06:17
Right in the center of the word of God.
06:18-06:24
Heaven is described as a place of worship, right?
06:24-06:30
And Jesus Christ himself said, God is seeking someone.
06:30-06:33
God is, God himself is looking for someone.
06:33-06:35
Who is God looking for?
06:36-06:38
Jesus tells us, here's who God's looking for.
06:38-06:54
John chapter four, verse 23, Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
06:55-07:02
For the Father is seeking such people to worship Him." You see that?
07:02-07:10
Again, this is a conversation Jesus was having with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well.
07:12-07:17
And this statement, spirit and truth, spirit and truth.
07:18-07:25
Understand for the Jews, the Jews had the Scriptures.
07:25-07:27
They had the information.
07:28-07:29
But you know what they didn't have?
07:29-07:31
They didn't have heart in their worship.
07:32-07:32
I mean, read your Old Testament.
07:33-07:34
Their heart wasn't in it.
07:34-07:38
through the motions, they had the truth, but their heart was not in it.
07:39-07:43
You see, the Jews, they had the truth, but there was no spirit.
07:44-07:46
But the Samaritans, did you know this?
07:46-07:48
The Samaritans were passionate worshipers.
07:49-07:49
They were.
07:49-07:53
They were extravagant, passionate, emotional worshipers.
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Well, there's a little problem.
07:56-08:03
They didn't believe in the scriptures, except for the Pentateuch, but the rest, they just did not believe.
08:04-08:14
So the Samaritans, like the woman Jesus was speaking to, they had spirit, but no truth.
08:16-08:21
And Jesus says to this woman, "Hey, God wants both.
08:23-08:25
Truth and spirit.
08:26-08:32
He wants both." And in our day, it's obvious, right?
08:32-08:36
We see either unbalanced extreme, don't we?
08:38-08:42
There are many churches that are like the Jews, truth without spirit.
08:43-08:58
You can go to many churches where there is a liturgy where they will recite creeds with no emotion at all behind it.
08:59-09:04
This is true, this is true, this is true, this is true, this is true.
09:07-09:08
Truth without spirit.
09:09-09:14
And you can go to other churches and you can find spirit without truth, right?
09:14-09:18
You can find people doing all kinds of bizarre things in churches.
09:18-09:23
They're babbling and they're barking and they're falling over.
09:23-09:29
and it's a lot of spirit, but there's no truth in their worship.
09:32-09:38
See, last week, Pastor Rich gave the message all in on truth, right?
09:38-09:43
And we learned you don't just worship God any old way you feel like it.
09:46-09:49
It has to be according to his truth.
09:50-09:52
Today, I'm gonna look at the other side of that.
09:52-09:56
all in on truth, yes, but today, all in on spirit.
09:56-10:03
And church, listen, we are equally dishonoring God when our hearts are not in worship.
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So write this down at the top of your outline.
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Emotion is expected.
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Just write that down.
10:16-10:18
Emotion is expected.
10:21-10:30
For example, Psalm 138 verse one, I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.
10:32-10:33
That's emotion.
10:34-10:40
Psalm 45 verse one says, my heart overflows with a pleasing theme.
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That's where the emotion comes from, the heart.
10:43-10:50
My heart is so full of the goodness and love and gratitude towards God.
10:50-10:54
It's just overflowing that spirit.
10:57-11:03
And how about probably the most famous verse in the Old Testament to the Jews?
11:04-11:16
Deuteronomy 6, 5 says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." And do you know what that includes?
11:18-11:19
Your emotions.
11:20-11:22
That's why we worship in music.
11:23-11:29
Music allows us to love God with our emotions.
11:32-11:43
And there is no one better to learn from when it comes to worship than the man who wrote so many of the Psalms, King David.
11:45-11:53
Last week, Pastor Rich talked about David wanting to bring the Ark to Jerusalem.
11:53-11:54
Remember that?
11:54-11:56
If you didn't listen to the sermon, you need to get on the website.
11:56-11:59
Not now, later, but you need to catch up.
11:59-12:07
David wanted to bring the Ark to Jerusalem and they made a previous attempt and they decided to do it.
12:08-12:11
They were going to move the Ark like the pagans.
12:11-12:13
It was supposed to be carried on poles.
12:14-12:15
Hi.
12:16-12:18
But they're like, no, we'll put it on a new cart.
12:19-12:20
A new cart.
12:21-12:23
What do I gotta do to get you in this new cart today?
12:24-12:26
We're gonna take the ark in a new cart.
12:27-12:36
I remember one of the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark and God dropped him dead.
12:39-12:48
All right, so David was like, Yeah, let's just part the ark here and back away.
12:50-12:57
And it was left at the house of a man named Obed-Edom for three months.
12:58-13:03
Now look at 2 Samuel 6, picking up in verse 12.
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And it was told King David, the Lord has blessed the household of Obed -Edom and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.
13:18-13:25
So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with rejoicing.
13:27-13:34
And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal.
13:35-13:40
And David danced before the Lord with all his might.
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And David was wearing a linen ephod.
13:45-13:47
So David and all the house of Israel brought up.
13:48-13:52
The ark of the Lord was shouting and with the sound of the horn.
13:55-14:09
As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord.
14:10-14:12
and she despised him in her heart.
14:15-14:24
And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it.
14:26-14:29
And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
14:30-14:52
And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, a cake of raisins to each one.
14:54-15:09
Then all the people departed, each to his house." Do you see in these verses, David worshiping in spirit?
15:10-15:10
Did you see that?
15:11-15:21
Verse 14 says that David danced before the Lord with all his might.
15:26-15:30
Tried to figure out what this actually might've looked like.
15:31-15:51
And some Hebrew scholars say this dance could be translated as, I thought this was funny, a violent effort of leaping or springing round in half circles to music.
15:54-15:58
Is there someone who would like to come and demonstrate what you think that might've looked like?
16:03-16:05
Well, I don't have my dancing shoes on.
16:10-16:14
I've so often wondered what that must have looked like.
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I mean, you could imagine it wasn't just some half effort, like, "Oh, we got the Ark up here, yay!" I mean, it was like, it was raw emotion coming out.
16:37-16:42
I mean, have you ever been so overjoyed about something that you just can't hold it in?
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Has that ever happened to you?
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Of course it has.
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It's happened to everybody.
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I mean, think about it.
16:48-16:57
Do you ever, like, you didn't study that hard, but you still got that good grade you get the test back.
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(mumbling)
16:58-16:59
It just comes out.
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You know what I mean?
17:05-17:11
Or you get the memo from work, like, "Hey, you're getting that promotion.
17:12-17:18
"You're getting a raise," and you're like, "I got the raise, I got it, I got it, yeah!" Like, it just comes out.
17:19-17:20
You just can't hold it in.
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You know what I'm talking about.
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Or you go to your kid's soccer game,
17:25-17:26
(mumbling)
17:26-17:28
their hockey game and they get their first goal.
17:29-17:33
You're just like, whoa, you're like, you know what it is?
17:38-17:40
It's involuntary, right?
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It's uninhibited and you didn't rehearse it.
17:44-17:49
You weren't like, well, if my kid gets a goal today, this is the dance step I'm going to do.
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Like you didn't rehearse it.
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You can't contain it.
18:00-18:02
When was the last time you felt that about the Lord?
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Right now somebody's like, "Oh, oh, oh, Pastor Jeff, this sounds like you're getting a little too charismatic for my taste." Really?
18:20-18:27
In our culture, Specifically this church, we're pretty secure on the truth part.
18:28-18:31
I mean, Harvest Bible Chapel, Bible is our middle name.
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Right?
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We get the truth part here.
18:37-18:39
But church, we need the spirit part.
18:43-18:51
I mean, a church like ours, we would acknowledge that making it all about emotion is a problem, right?
18:53-18:55
You see videos online of churches that do that.
18:55-18:58
We kind of laugh at them, right?
18:59-19:02
Can we acknowledge an equal danger?
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A danger that we are far more guilty of.
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And that's just being emotionally detached in worship.
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Well, church, there should be times during worship when you think of God's love for you and your heart just overflows with joy.
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God loves me?
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There should be times when you think of Jesus' death on the cross and your eyes well up with tears.
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He went through that for my sin.
19:44-19:52
There should be times when you think of God's awesomeness and you just bow your head in reverence.
19:52-20:04
Say, "God is so awesome." Maybe there should be times that you dance, right?
20:06-20:15
For that to happen, you have to be just as serious about allowing your heart to be in it as you are about making sure that the words that you sing are biblical.
20:15-20:20
And by heart in it, I mean all in on Spirit.
20:22-20:25
I mean, we saw in the passage, we read David was.
20:26-20:29
David was all in on Spirit, right?
20:30-20:33
He danced with all his might, verse 14.
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Verse 16 says he was leaping and dancing.
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And you're like, well, what made him do that?
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What made David act like that?
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Well, we get our answer in his exchange with his wife, Macau.
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I can't call her Michael, okay?
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It's Macau.
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Verse 16 says that his wife saw him dancing.
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You see that your Bible says she despised him in her heart.
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I don't think that was because David was a bad dancer.
21:28-21:34
Right, I don't think like David was out there doing the Macarena and she's like, oh, oh, I hate him.
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He's doing the Macarena, oh, I hate him.
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I don't think that's it at all.
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Look at verse 20.
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David returned to bless his household.
21:55-22:13
But Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his female servants as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself.
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Honey, I'm home.
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And she scolded him.
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You see that?
22:25-22:26
She's like, what are you doing?
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You're the king of Israel and you're out there acting like an idiot.
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By the way, David wasn't dressed immodestly in case you're wondering if that was the issue.
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It's not, that's not the issue.
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The issue was David was dressed down like a priest, not dressed up like a king.
22:58-23:07
This might make Macau the first person in the history of congregational worship to criticize someone for the way that they're dressed.
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But you know, Macau, she's in churches everywhere.
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I think Macau also attends Harvest Bible Chapel.
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You might be Macau, actually.
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I mean, while worship is happening, Macau is a spectator, not a participant.
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And she's looking down on those who are passionately worshipping.
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Is that you?
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Spectator, not a participant, but looking down on the people who are participating.
23:58-24:01
Is that you? Then you're Macau.
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Is that you? Worship is happening and you're kind of standing there and you're like... Look at him over there raising his hands.
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Look at her. Look at her. They're crying while she's singing.
24:20-24:31
grow up. Like, I can't believe how loud this guy is behind me. He's singing so loud.
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Oh, you're Macau, okay? That's who you are.
24:38-25:30
You're like, well I'm not Macau. Okay, well maybe, maybe, maybe you're not Macau, but maybe you're somebody who instead reigns your worship in because you don't want Macau criticizing you. Maybe you're somebody's like, "Oh, I kind of am excited about Jesus and everything he is and everything he's done, but I don't want to like really show it because what's so-and-so gonna think? I mean what do people see me like with my hands raised? What are they gonna think about me? What if they see me expressing emotion? What are they gonna think about me? Who cares what Macau thinks. Well, David didn't and he tells her why. Giving us on your outline, once you write this down, three reasons I'm all in on spirit in worship.
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This was David's attitude in Harvest Bible Chapel. I am sincerely hoping and praying, this is our attitude as well.
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Three reasons I'm all in on spirit in worship.
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Number one, my worship is for the Lord.
25:52-25:53
Look at verse 21.
25:54-26:05
Okay, so Michal just scolds David like, "Oh, look at you, your highness, acting like a fool." Look at David's response.
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It says, "And David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord." Stop right there.
26:12-26:15
Let's not run past that phrase because that's really it, right?
26:15-26:31
David goes, "It was before the Lord." David says, "You didn't like my dancing." Oh, that's okay 'cause it wasn't for you.
26:34-26:35
It was for the Lord.
26:40-26:43
This is a no-brainer point, right?
26:44-26:48
But I also think this is the point that most people forget when it comes time to corporate worship.
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When it comes time to worship the Lord of Music, I think this is the thing that most people forget.
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It is for the Lord.
26:57-27:08
You see the words on the screen, the instruments, the worship leaders, my participation in a all of this. Who is this for anyways?
27:13-27:15
You see, we're not just singing about God.
27:16-27:21
We are here to sing to God.
27:24-27:28
And if you struggle with that, you know something that I do?
27:29-27:35
I imagine myself in the scene in Revelation chapters four and five.
27:35-27:43
I want you to read this later, maybe make a steady diet of reading it, but it's describing the worship that's happening in heaven.
27:43-27:57
And there are times during our music worship that I just try to imagine, because someday, someday I'm going to be there and I'm going to stand before the throne and I'm going to worship God in person.
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And I think, you know what?
28:03-28:04
That's what this is now.
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I'm not in heaven yet, but I'm still in the presence of God.
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So I should be worshiping now the way I plan to worship then, there.
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Surrounded by God's people, surrounded by God's angels, telling God how awesome he is, thanking God, praising God.
28:30-28:33
It's for, this is for the Lord, okay?
28:34-28:35
So all in on spirit.
28:36-28:37
It's for the Lord.
28:39-28:43
So that's David's first rebuttal to his wife.
28:43-28:53
He said, "My worship is for the Lord." Number two, write this down, "My worship is personal." Look again at verse 21.
28:53-29:07
David says, "It was before the Lord who chose me above your father and above all his house to appoint me as Prince over Israel, the people of the Lord.
29:12-29:18
And I will make myself, excuse me, I will make Mary before the Lord.
29:22-29:24
My worship is personal, did you see that?
29:24-29:29
David's like, Yeah, am I excited?
29:30-29:31
Yeah, I'm excited.
29:32-29:36
God promoted me, God appointed me, God has blessed me.
29:37-29:41
David's like, I'm just celebrating what God has done for me.
29:44-29:49
I have personal reasons to worship the Lord, Macau.
29:52-30:16
And listen, you are never gonna get there in on spirit, you're never going to get there until you take your worship from general to personal. We have way more reasons to worship the Lord than even King David did.
30:17-30:18
Do you realize that?
30:19-30:50
Just by where we live in history. We live on the other side of the cross of Jesus Christ. We live on the other side of the empty tomb. We live on the other side of hearing all of these glorious promises that Jesus spoke. David had none of that that we have in the New Testament under the New Covenant. We have way more reason than David to worship. But church, you've You've got to get from general to personal.
30:52-30:54
Your heart's never going to be in it until you do.
30:56-31:01
What I mean is you need to go from, Jesus died on the cross.
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Yes, he did.
31:02-31:03
That's true.
31:03-31:09
He died on the cross, but you need to take that to, Jesus died on the cross for me.
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He suffered and died for me.
31:18-31:26
General to personal, how about we sing, "Jesus forgives sins." That's true.
31:27-31:32
That was what the whole ordeal on the cross was about, the forgiveness of sins.
31:32-31:45
You need to move from "Jesus forgives sins" to "Jesus forgave my sin." "He forgave my sin." I'm such a dirtball and I don't deserve anything.
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He forgave my sin.
31:53-31:56
We sing these songs about God's love.
31:56-31:59
Jesus loves his people and that's a true statement.
32:00-32:01
But you know what?
32:01-32:02
You go from general to personal.
32:03-32:09
If you are one of his people, then it goes not just Jesus loves people to Jesus.
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Jesus loves me.
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We sing about God's provision.
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God is a provider.
32:19-32:21
God takes care of His people.
32:21-32:22
Yes, that's true.
32:24-32:25
Want to get your heart in it?
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You've got to make it personal.
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He's taken care of me.
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God has always taken care of me.
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You're gonna go from general to personal.
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And I'm sure right now there's people sitting here, there's people watching this stream that are like, yeah, I hear that.
32:48-32:50
I hear that pastor Jeff, but I'm gonna be honest with you.
32:52-32:58
I'm not feeling it right now because I'm going through some stuff, right?
32:59-33:00
I hear you, I hear you.
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I know my heart should be in it.
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It's hard for my heart to be in it right now, Jeff, because I'm going through some stuff, all right?
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I'm in a season in my life right now where I've been suffering with, maybe it's a health issue or the health issue of someone close to you or a job issue or whatever it is.
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You're like, I'm just not feeling it.
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I'm going through some stuff, man.
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Listen, going through suffering is not an excuse to stop worshiping.
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Let me give you a couple of examples.
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2 Samuel 12 20 says, "Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes.
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And he went into the house of the Lord and," say it, "worshipped." Yeah.
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All right.
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Now let's jump to Job 1.20.
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It says, "Then Job arose and tore his robe "and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped." You know what those two passages have in common?
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You're like, "Oh, I know, they both worshiped." Yes, but they have something else in common.
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You know, in both of those passages, Both of these men worshiped after receiving the news that their child died.
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In both cases, these men heard about their child's death and responded by worshiping.
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Hear me, worship is emotion.
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Yes, yes, yes, yes, but it's not just one emotion.
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It's not just happiness.
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In other words, we think worship has to flow from happiness.
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It has to flow from joy.
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It should, but it shouldn't only.
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If you think worship can only come from a position of happiness, that is unbiblical and an immature view of worship.
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Because worship is the joy of the Lord that transcends whatever is happening to me right now.
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So listen, gosh, this could be a whole sermon series, but I gotta say this.
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For those of you maybe who are suffering right now, and it's hard to feel it right now, you're like, what do I do?
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What do I do?
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I come in here and I'm supposed to have my emotion and worship when I'm going through this stuff.
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How do I do that?
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Here's how.
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When you're suffering now, you need to lean on the past and the future.
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I mean, have you ever read the Psalms?
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There are so many Psalms that have this theme.
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I'm suffering now, but I'm praising now.
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Do you ever notice that?
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I'm suffering, but I'm praising.
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And if you study those Psalms, do you see why they're praising?
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It's always the same thing.
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I'm praising because of what you did for me in the past, Lord, and I'm praising you because of your promise of what you will do in the future.
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Look, your present circumstances are always going to change.
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But there are two things that will never change.
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One is God's past goodness to you.
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Even if you're having the worst day of your life right now, you can come in here and when the music hits, you can think of all that God has done for you to protect you and to provide you and to bring you to this place right now.
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Thank you, God, for that.
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I praise you for that.
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And God, you have promised a glorious future for those who believe in Jesus Christ.
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You have promised us that our best days are ahead of us.
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You have promised us all the glory of your presence in eternity in heaven.
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And God, I'm praising you for that.
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I'm praising you that things will not always be as they are now, but they will be infinitely greater in glory.
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So you see, whether it's past, future, either of those, let alone both of those, move me to be all in on spirit and worship.
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Make it personal.
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And finally, number three, my worship is a choice.
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Why am I all in on spirit and worship?
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Because my worship is a choice.
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Look at verse 22.
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David says, "I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes.
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"But by the female servants of whom ye have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor." And Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death.
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There's a phrase David used.
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Oh, I think I counted three times.
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He says it in verse 21.
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"I will make Mary before the Lord." Verse 22, "I will," make myself yet more contemptible, "Again, I will be a base in your eyes." You see that?
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David didn't say, "I might.
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I'm thinking about getting my worship on.
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Probably, likely." No, he says, "I will.
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I will." When it comes to worshiping God with everything that's in me and dancing like that, that's what I'm going to do.
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You're telling me, "Hey, why don't you turn it down?" I'm turning it up.
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The choice is made.
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Right?
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Psalm 146 verse 2, "I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
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I will sing praises to my God while I have my being." Sometimes, especially in the times of not feeling it, the declaration has to be made.
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"I will." When you walk in the doors, you should see this time, congregation coming together, you should see this time as a reset.
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That when you walk in here, my focus, my shift, my whole mindset is moving from the temporal to the eternal.
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I refuse to hold back, I refuse to phone it in.
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I choose to be all in on Spirit and worship.
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You know, when you talk about worship, a lot of times people say, like skeptics, scoffers, say, "Why does God need worship?" Have you ever heard somebody say that?
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Like, "Sounds like a bit of an ego trip, huh?" "God wants us to tell Him how great He is? What kind of a God is that?" "Why does God need our worship?" Have you ever heard somebody say that?
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First of all, God doesn't need anything.
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You realize He's not more God when we worship, and He's not less God when we hold our worship back.
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He doesn't need anything.
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But here's a fair question.
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Why does God delight in worship?
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Why does God delight in worship?
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I read one author put it this way and I can't stop thinking about it ever since I read it.
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Why does God delight in worship?
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It's like a child saying to his mother, you are the best mom ever.
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Mom's in the room.
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Why do you love hearing that from your kids?
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It's not an ego trip.
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Excuse me, when your child says you're the best mom ever, you're not like, yeah, you know what?
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Kinda am.
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Moms don't say that.
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So why do you like hearing it?
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Here's why this moves mothers.
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Because when that child says you are the best mom ever, that mother realizes you are acknowledging how much I love you.
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That means the world to me, that you would acknowledge how much I love you.
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And it's the same with God, church.
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God delights in us acknowledging His love for us.
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God delights in worship the way a mom delights, and you are the best mom ever.
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As our worship team makes their way up front, I'm going to ask you to bow your heads for a moment.
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You know, sometimes we do come in late and music is happening.
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By the time we try to catch up, we've hit the last note.
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We missed it.
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We're not going to miss it today, church.
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We're gonna pause our hearts right now and we're gonna prepare ourselves.
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I want you right now, and I'm going to do the same, right now, we bow our heads and say, I am making the choice to worship.
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Well, maybe I've had a rotten week.
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God's always been so good to me.
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He's given me glorious promises.
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I'm making the choice right now.
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When I, in just a minute, I'm gonna stand up and I am choosing to be all in on spirit.
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With your heads bowed, can you say right now, you know what, I have personal reasons to worship.
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I'm not here today to sing about what God has done for Pastor Jeff or what God has done for Bob Brown.
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I'm not here to sing about that.
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I'm here because God has been good to me personally.
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And I'm going to stand and I'm going to sing and I'm going to give everything I have because this, I'm not singing for Ashley.
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I'm not singing for Kelly.
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I'm singing for God.
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This is for Him, so I am all in on Spirit.
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Now church, let's stand, and this is your opportunity to tell God what you think about Him.
Small Group Discussion
Read 2 Samuel 6:12-23
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your heart for worship (10 = on fire, 1 = dead)? What do you have to personally do to rate higher?
What personal reasons do you have, right now, for worshiping God?
How would you respond to someone saying, “I don’t see why God needs us to worship Him.”?
Breakout
Pray for one another to be ALL IN on SPIRIT during worship time.
