Pastor Ray Park

Oil Retreat is coming to South.  I will be leading a seminar on “Worship”.

For more info., check out the OIL website.

Last Sunday, we had a special worship service.  When I say that it was special, I don’t mean that other services aren’t  so special.  Each service is prepared with much prayer.  However, Due to the limited time that is given for our Sunday service, praise portion of the service seems always too short.  We designed a worship service that expanded the time of praise and included two video clips and a skit.  I also kept my sermon under five minute, which was harder than giving a sermon for 40 minutes.  Please feel free to make comments.

Is God Enough? from Journey Of Faith Church on Vimeo.

¹⁴ This is what the LORD says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon
and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, ^[b]
in the ships in which they took pride.

¹⁵ I am the LORD, your Holy One,
Israel’s Creator, your King.”

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,

¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

²⁰ The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the desert
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,

²¹ the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.

²² “Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob,
you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.

²³ You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,
nor honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with grain offerings
nor wearied you with demands for incense.

²⁴ You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
and wearied me with your offenses.

²⁵ “I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my own sake,
and remembers your sins no more.

²⁶ Review the past for me,
let us argue the matter together;
state the case for your innocence.

²⁷ Your first father sinned;
your spokesmen rebelled against me.

²⁸ So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple,
and I will consign Jacob to destruction ^[c]
and Israel to scorn.

Reflection:

What is the true worship?  The true worship is placing God where He belongs to acknowledge Him for who He is.  Glorifying God does not mean we add more glory to the glory that God already is or has.  Magnifying the Lord does not mean that we make God bigger than who He really is.  We can only glorify and magnify God, as we empty our expectations and preconception of God and admiring Him as who He is.  In this text, God spoke to Israelites about what He is about to do, however the promise that God makes to Israelites are only valid because God is who He says He is.

When God said in verse 21 how He formed people for Himself, we may feel that God is saying that He has created us for His selfish needs.  God is not saying that He needs to have people giving Him praise and complements, but rather His promise to reveal His glory to His people.  As John Piper said, “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him,”  we can only find true joy and happiness when we can clearly see who God is.

We often appoint ourselves to judge the quality of worship services.  It is mostly based on our preference of music/worship songs and the message that we hear.  If the worship leader sang songs that I like, I would add a point or two to that worship experience.  When we like the message that we hear, then we say the worship was good.   What we often fail to do is to empty ouelves from wanting to hear what we prefer to hear, but to seek God for who He is.

Being able to give God praise is a special privilege.  It says in v. 20 that the “Wild animals honor Me and Jackals and owls…”.  The animals may be able to honor God, but cannot praise God.  We are given this privilege to respond to God’s greatness.

Lastly, God does not force us to worship.  If we are worshipping because we feel that we have to, then that may not be worship. We can sing praise songs with the best vocals and best instrumentalists, but if it is not a voluntary act, God will not accept that praise.  We can give an astronomical amount of money as an offering, but if it is not done with the right heart, God will not accept that offering.  We don’t give praise and offering to please God.  When we see God for who He is, then we can’t help but to respond with praise and offer what we have to show that nothing in this world compares to the Giver of everything.