CHOOSING INTIMACY WITH GOD
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Sunday, November 20, 2022
(Hebrews 12:28, GN) “Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe;”
(Romans 12:1, GN) “Because of God’s great mercy to us … offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.”
Worship is responding to God’s love by offering Him my life.
The heart of worship is the worship of the Heart.
1. Worship is directing my attention to God.
(Psalm 139:1–3, CEV) “You have looked deep into my heart, Lord, and you know all about me. You know when I am resting or when I am working, and from heaven, you discover my thoughts. You notice everything I do and everywhere I go.”
(Romans 8:7, Message) “Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing.”
A. Establish a daily quiet time.
(Matthew 6:6, Message) “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”
B. Be in constant conversation with God.
(Psalm 105:4, GN) “Go to the Lord for help; and worship him continually.”
(Isaiah 26:3, NLT) “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
2. Worship is demonstrating my affection for God.
(1 John 4:19, NKJV) “We love Him because He first loved us.”
(Matthew 22:37, NKJV) “Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
“They do not love who do not show their love.” -William Shakespeare
3. Worship is deploying my abilities for God.
(Colossians 3:23, NLT) “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”
(Romans 12:1, The Message) “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life … and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”
(Revelation 4:11, The Message) “Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power! You created it all; It was created because you wanted it.”