One of the most life changing worship services that I was
in, involved my family around a campfire on the farm. We were roasting marshmallows.
During that campfire we learned that when you worship God you have to
worship Him where He wants you. During
that campfire, our Dad told us that he was called into the ministry.
After that God called us to worship in different churches where God had
called us to go and Dad to preach.
What are some the places were you have worshipped?
In the Lord’s house, in the woods, on retreats, by the seashore, in
your home, at the park are places where we can come to worship.
But, would God ever ask you to give up something that you loved as a
sacrifice to Him.
Where
should we worship?
Scripture
Text: Gen. 22:5 (KJS) And
Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6 And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid [it] upon Isaac his son; and
he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them
together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said,
Here [am] I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where
[is] the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them
together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and
Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac
his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched
forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the
LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said,
Here [am] I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do
thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou
hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me. 13 And Abraham lifted
up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a
burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said [to] this day, In the mount of the
LORD it shall be seen. {Jehovahjireh: that is, The Lord will see, or,
provide}
Where should we
worship? The
question isn’t should we worship for hopefully that question has already
been settled. But, now the
question is where?
Wherever God wants us
to? Can
we worship God anywhere? We can
if anywhere is where God wants us to be?
But, the problem is that we would rather just worship God where we want
and not where God wants. We would
rather worship Him so that it is convenient for us. Abraham had to go to worship his God on a mountain of
sacrifice. The sacrifice would be
Abraham’s son.
The
place of worship is:
1.
A place of sacrifice: Abraham
was going to sacrifice his son of promise.
How can we come before God without a sacrifice.
You say that He has already given the sacrifice.
He has paid for your sins, but as Paul says we must before Him as a
living sacrifice. We must give
ourselves. He wants all that we
are and ever hope to be.
2.
A place of obedience: Who
knows best? You or
God…Obedience is a result of submission of the will.
We can worship when we have given in to God.
Have you given up and given in to the Lord?
That is the place of worship.
3.
A place of decision: Will
you go as God has commanded or will you second-guess your God?
Will you try to make Him in your image instead of Him molding you into
the person He wants you to be.
4.
A place of hopelessness and helplessness.
We realize that we are lost.
We understand that unless God performs His work that we will loose all.
We have come to end of our rope. We
have tried every possible way to escape this place and we realize that we
can’t. We must come to face the
reality of the human condition. This
is your condition. This was
Abraham’s condition. We need
the Lord. When we have come to
this place then we know that we have come to worship.
5.
A place of dependence: (Jehovahjireh)
He will provide all that we need if we
will only trust Him. Do you depend on Him to be who He wants you to be?
6.
A place of trust: (Jehovahjireh)
Will He give you all that you need?
What if? What if?
Let God have all of your what ifs.
Let God be your trust.
7.
A place of worship: devoting
ourselves to God as He wishes may mean giving up more than we want to give.
But we can only worship if we put Him first.
A place of worship and devotion is a place where you give yourself to
someone or something.
8.
A place of provision. Will
you let God provide for all your needs even in the sacrifices that He
requires? Meet Him there and see
how He will take care of you and provide for all your needs.
9.
A place of rejoicing and singing.
When we come to realize that
God provides for you in the darkest of times.
He gives us all we need to worship and honor Him.
All that He wants is that we would meet Him there.
Meet Him there with an obedient heart and life.
.
Wherever God is?
God is wherever he has asked
you to meet Him. For Jonah it was
at the gates of Nineveh. For
Abraham it was on a mountain in Moriah. For
you it is wherever He has called you to go to be who He wants you to be.
This is a test of your love and devotion.
This is a test of your worship. Have
you gone there?
Gen. 22:2
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Wherever
we are? What if we aren’t where
God wants us to be?
Then
it is time to move.