Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:01]:
Hey. Don't we all want that? You know, that, this week is Valentine's Day, and and I'm not sure what Valentine's Day is in our culture. Maybe it's more about romance, but I think God's view of it is more about love. Romance waxes and wanes, but love keeps growing. And so some of us, you know, maybe unless we're newlyweds. You know, we kinda understand the the fact that that, you know, you can have the romantic take infatuation stage, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's a that's a wonderful time. But to be honest, for most of us, I think, that marriages and relationships that last, that they're based not on romance, but they are based on love.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:46]:
And so our hope, our prayer for you this week, this Wednesday, whatever your, whatever your kinda dating life, whatever your married life, whatever your marital state, status, whatever that is, we pray you would be growing in love and being experiencing his love. And, hey. This this evening, we're gonna, change gears a little bit, and we're just starting a very short series. It's gonna just be at 3 weeks. And, we're gonna talk a little bit about something that maybe some of us might think, oh, we do it all the time, and it's on worship. And we do gather corporately. We just had a a musical kind of a worship time, a corporate worship time, and that's, I think a critical part of, the gathering of God's people. But, I'm not talking necessarily about that, but worship is what God wants and what we need.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:46]:
So when I say worship, obviously, it goes beyond singing. It goes beyond the music. It goes beyond what we do in our corporate time together, although that is an important part of it. And so this evening, would you be kind enough? We're gonna just, read a few couple verses together, and we'll jump in our our our new series this this evening. Because sometimes I think there's misconceptions about worship, what worship is, what what God wants, and what we need. And so we're gonna read together beginning in Psalm 100, and we're gonna be reading in verses 12. So would you be kind enough to stand to stand in reverence God reverence for his word, and then let's hear what it says. Ready? Begin.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:27]:
Shout with joy to the lord. Lord all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him singing with joy. And this praise that he talks about is it it it actually literally means where it says shout for George. It says make a loud noise. Right? It it's saying that be exuberant. It's saying it it's saying, be deliberate in this aspect.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:52]:
And when we think in terms of praise and worship, there's a number of terms the Bible uses. Some of those, are meant to give honor and to bow down and worship. Some Greek words are literally meaning to get on your knees before and to kinda kiss the hand. But what all of those things try to say, it's to ascribe some sense of worth, of value, of honor, and that worship, we understand, is the language of heaven. It's something that we will do for all of eternity, not just in this life, but the things in the next life. The angels worship, people will worship, but but it it's not dependent on your musicality. It's not dependent on your talent. It's not dependent how long you've been Christian.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:43]:
But it's something that God desires deeply, and it's something that we need. Let's read 1 more verse, and then we're gonna, we're gonna that you guys sit here. It it says it like this. Psalm 117. Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin. Praise the lord, all you nations. Praise him, all you people of the earth.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:04]:
And so God wants the people of God to praise him. God wants the believers to praise him. God wants the the nation of Israel to praise him, but he says it's not limited to that. Right? He wants everybody to praise and so before you're seated, do me a favor. Just turn to your neighbor who says, god wants you to praise him, and then you can have let's see. K. You know, when it comes to giving honor and it comes to giving ascribing worth, and it comes to ascribing value. We worship for various reasons, and and one of the reasons we worship is simply because of who he is.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:44]:
And and that when we worship him for who he is, it's a it's an acknowledgement that God is is God, that God is is different than all of us. He's above all of us. He's he's not cut from the same cloth that we are, that he's good in all he does. Right? There's all these things. And so it says in Psalm 100, the the following verse, it says, acknowledge that the lord is God. Let's just say that. Acknowledge. Acknowledge.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:11]:
Yeah. Now acknowledge is not just simply a a mental oh, yeah. Yeah. God God made us. Right? But he says that he made us and that we are his. There's he starts talking about the relationship to his people. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. And God talks in terms of this aspect of not just simply standing who he is, but us understanding our relationship to him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:38]:
And that when we worship, that sometimes it's it's it's spoken of in different ways. It's spoken that we could do it quietly. We could do it with music. We could do it with a sense of exuberance. We could do it in a moment of reflection. We we could do it on our knees and our and prostrate before God, and we can do it kinda in the midst of, of the toughest times in life. But it says it like this in Mark 12:30, and it says this very familiar passage for many of us. It says, you must love the lord your god with can we just say those last parts? All your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:20]:
The old, pastor Warren Ruseby said it like this, that worship is the response of all of man to all of God. Right? And and when it says this that verse, it talks about that there's different components by which we can worship God. We should worship him, he says, with all of your heart, right, with all of your feelings. And he says that you ought to respond and worship him with all of your soul and all of your mind. Right? And so, typically, we see, I think, people who kinda respond to God. I I see it like this, and sometimes I know personality tests might, kinda put it out. You guys heard of the the 2 types of thinkers and feelers? Right? That some of us, we we want to worship God with our mind. And some of us that we tend and see is to worship God with our heart, to worship God with our feeling.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:13]:
And if, you know, if we're not careful, sometimes that you can tell you can tend to think that the way you worship God is the right way. You guys know what I'm talking out. Like, how many of you guys know that what how many of us are here are you would consider yourself a thinker? Raise your hand. Okay. Well, you know, fair amount. Right? How many of us you would say you're a feeler? Emotion. Right? That's not the whole okay. We're pretty pretty evenly split, actually and so sometimes I think that, if you're a thinker, right, and you it's it's more natural for you to worship your mind, sometimes when you see people who are more heart driven, emotion driven, it's maybe easy to think that, you look at them, and they're so emotional.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:57]:
Right? Kinda like so feeling lovey dovey or ooey gooey kind of a a sense sometimes we can think that. And maybe at times that, you know, maybe we can look down if you're the feelings driven person and you see the person who's more the thinkers, like, I need the reasons. I need to know what the the scriptures. I need to know the theology behind this. I need to know all of those things. And it's like some of us, the the feelers, we're more like, I I like the tune. I like that I like that the turn of that that note or the turn of that phrase, and and so we can kinda look at each other differently. The feeler can look at the thinker and think, like, man, you guys you don't want a holy spirit.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:37]:
You need the holy spirit. Like, that kind of a kind of a situation. And and so to be honest, we all know that we need both. Right? And the scripture is imploring us that not just that if you're a thinker, just worship God with your thoughts. He says, but you too have to worship God with all your soul and all your and all your heart, all your emotion. And if you're a feeler that you're not saying, okay. You just worship God with all your emotion and with all your feeling, he's saying you too now. You have to worship God with all your thoughts.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:11]:
Right? And that all your your soul, that we're we're both called to kinda stir up parts of us to to worship. And that when we when we come to this part, like, I think that, you know, that if you're, need to understand about stirring up that sometimes, you know, that you need to stir for some of us, if you're feeler, you're probably your tendency is to stir up your thoughts. And if you're in a a feeler, you have to stir up your thinking. You know, the other day, I was, we're watching a movie at at my house, and I had an opportunity to kinda stir something in my son. We we just turned on the movie. I had no idea what it was about really You guys heard on I guess it's on Amazon. Everywhere Everything All at Once. Are you guys like it's, like Michelle Yow.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:10]:
Right? The couching tiger, hidden dragon lady, and the the whole, kind of a thing. She's in this. And I didn't understand in the beginning. But pretty quick, when you watch the movie, you can understand that they're talking about the multiverse, and the multiverse seems to be a huge deal in all the Marvel kind of a movies and and other movies tend to talk about that. Are we familiar what we talk about the multiverse? And that whole concept is the the theory is that there are multiple universes or multiple realms that are parallel. And so, do me a favor. Look at your neighbor. Look at your neighbor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:47]:
So, like, in this world, right, you looked at your neighbor and maybe looking at your spouse or maybe you're looking at, you know, your your your friend or whatever the case. But in another world, they would be different. They might look the same. Right? They might look the same, but maybe it would be totally different personality. They would have a totally different job. Because the issue is that whenever you face a, a decision, there's always a branch. Right? Whether you will do a or b. Right? You'll make decision 1, you make decision 2.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:19]:
And they say that every time you make that decision in the different in the different universes that are out there in the different dimensions that are out there. Those changes, those decisions would kinda work out to a different kinda outcome. And over time, you become different. Right? So there's this aspect. And so we're watching the movie, and, my son asked me, so, dad, do you think, like, that the multiverse is real? Right? Is it anywhere in the Bible about the multiverse? And I I just said, not as just from the pit of hell. Like, no. I just I didn't say that. But I said yes and no.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:01]:
I said yes and no. He said, what do you mean yes and no? Well, I think the Bible is very clear that it talks about possible worlds. Worlds that you don't live in but are possible. And what do I mean by that? And there's a portion in in first Samuel 23 and some of you guys might be familiar with this story where in the Old Testament, David, who is not yet king, he's actually on the run from Saul yet at this point, but he has his cadre of guys. Right? He has his 600 men, and and they're kinda running around with him, and and and God tells him that there's a village that's gotten invaded by the Philistines, this village called Keilah. And God tells David, go to Kayla and rescue them from the Philistines. And so he does. David is obedient.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:56]:
He's the hero. He's the conquering hero. They're oh, happy and, you know, they're they welcome him. They love him. They provide for him. And then it says that it becomes apparent that Saul hears that David is in Kayla, and David Saul is very jealous of David, wants to kill David. And so he starts making his way. That news comes back to David in Kayla, and he comes before the Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:20]:
And says, lord, if Saul comes and demands my head, will the people of Kayla turn me over? And God says, yes. They will. Right? So what does David do? He gets out of Dodge. Right? He gets out of Kayla. Right? Now what is it saying in that? That is that the is that evidence of the multiverse? No. It's saying that there is god knows all the possibilities that are out there. Right? And that if you do stay, they will turn you over. God can tell not just what happens, but what could happen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:02]:
He knows that all about your life. You ever look back at your life, what woulda happened if I did something different? Right? One of those things is that I I think about this, and we're talking I was talking with Kyle, I guess, on Sunday, Wednesday or whatever. We're talking about that, we we're same age, same graduating class, that I'm the same graduating class of, Obama. Right? Same graduating class as Obama. And during high school, when I was in high school, my mom or before I went to high school, my mom and dad asked me, Glenn, do you wanna go to Punahou? Right, instead of Lelehua. Right? My because I grew up in Wauhiwa. And and I was just thinking, well, I know it's a better school. I know it's, you know, it it is supposed to be good.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:50]:
My sister went and and the whole thing, it's my grandfather was willing to pay for me to go to Punahou, but then I thought, nah. No need. You know, it's just that kind of a it's probably more work. I gotta get up early. I gotta come home late and the whole thing. And and then, you know, I just I didn't think about it. Right? But when Obama became president, you know, and it just they show all the, like, Hawaii guys and all this stuff. My friends and my wife even said to me, like, oh, if, Glenn, if you went to Punahou, maybe we could have Barry over at our house too.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:22]:
No. But, like right. You know, the thing is right? And I I you think about that. Right? Maybe in an alternate universe, we think the multiverse that I would have been in the White House go and visit, but that's not reality. You see, God knows the peace. But it's not the same thing as saying it's a multiverse that there are all these things that exist coexist. Right? And so we had this discussion with my son, and he was saying, hold a deep. Yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:52]:
That kind of a thing. And I I said the scriptures are easy so that a child could understand them, but to know them fully it's it's a lifetime and beyond. Right? There is depth. Right? And so when we had that conversation, I knew I was able to challenge my son and kinda round out his thinking. Right, and and and to think about this as possible worlds is not the same thing as multiverse worlds. Right, so maybe multiverse, like, it's, you know, the the subject of reality. I said that it says that this world is contingent on the spiritual world, not the opposite. Right? Scripture talks about that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:40]:
And so we said there are different worlds. There are different realms. There's the spiritual realm and the world that we live in. Right? And there are different possibilities. And so we had that kind of a discussion, and that was helpful for him, I think, to learn how to love god a little bit more with his mind. Now how do we stir up loving God with your mind? I think you gotta still be in the scriptures. If you want to love God with your mind, you gotta get in this book. You you cannot be someone who is unfamiliar with the revelation of God in the scriptures.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:21]:
And then at the same time, you might you might love God with your heart, but it'll be hard for you to to love God with your mind because you just don't know the information. Right? So we need this the scriptures, or maybe we to grow in our understanding and our theology. And maybe sometimes it's helpful to read a book and maybe the different challenges. I I I love that. I'm reading a book currently, that's that's it's called the unseen realm by a guy named Michael Heizer. And he used to be the, the theologian in residence for Faithlife Ministries. And those are the guys who they make this. It's a top selling Bible software, that seminary students, bible college students all over the world, they use that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:07]:
And so that's actually a pretty high kinda accolade. And and he talks about some of these, somebody my understanding. He challenging me on some of my understanding of the Old Testament, but at the same time, it's validating things that I have struggled with with a more, if supernatural answer, if not necessarily a Sarah Lee, a more kind of a rational answer. Some people this is how they read they try to find a rationalistic explanation. So how did the Red Sea get split so Moses could go through it. Or maybe there was an earthquake, and there was a a a crevice that opened up, and then it swallowed. And so they have to look for a natural explanation by which they can have a spiritual belief. Right? But to be honest, if you read scriptures, it clearly explains to us a supernatural worldview that the God of the universe acts it moves in our realm in ways that sometimes just do not make rational sense.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:20]:
It's not the subject of of the physics of our world. And so if we read the scripture only believing the things that you can have a rational scientific explanation of, you will miss. Your your ability to worship God will be cut so small. It's really based on the fact that, to be honest, when we even think in terms of of Jesus being both God and man, how does that work? To be honest, we don't understand how it works. Theologians don't really have a understanding. We just know it's true, and we see it played out. We don't know the mechanics. I don't really know all the mechanics.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:05]:
I know some of that, but there's mystery in there. God doesn't ask you to figure him out. But he does want you to grow in your understanding and grow in your thinking. And so let's be willing to to be stretched in some of those ways. And we'll talk about some of those things in the future. But when we understand that who God is, when we understand that he's he's the God of the universe, we understand at the same time, not only is he mighty, but he is loving. Now we come to experience that. Right? That it's very easy to love him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:43]:
When we understand that that he's good. And we experience his goodness. It becomes very easy to love him. Right? That when we understand his nearness and we experience his nearness. It's very easy. Right? But but here's something. Another way that if you're gonna grow kinda in your intellectual understanding, you loving God with your mind. Ask questions.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:06]:
Ask questions. You know, there was a a high school student that on Christmas the the day of Christmas service, the it was actually Christmas Eve on the Sunday morning, morning came up to me after the message, and he had 2 pages of questions. So the first thing he came up to me, he came up. He say, hey. Morning. You know? How are you doing, Jim? And then he goes like, oh, pastor, can I ask you a question? I go, yeah. Absolutely. And he pulls out his notepad, and he goes like this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:37]:
And he goes, I have 2 pages. And I said, we're not gonna get to 2 pages today. Right? But I gave him 1. I gave him the first one. But you know the thing is, we got together in the beginning of this in the beginning of January. And we sat down, and he had 5 pages of questions by then. And we sat down, and we talked about all kinds of things about the problem of evil. We talked about the the the the foreknowledge of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:07]:
We talked about all these kind of theological concepts. How how can we know that Christ is the only way? How can we all these kind of things. And and literally, we talked for 3 hours. He recorded some of them. He wrote notes. Right? And I just was wondering, where is this kid coming from? A little bit. And, let's pray for him. But, you know, like, the next week, he came, and he was, like, ready to worship.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:34]:
He was engaged prior to that. You know? I could see his spirit was he was there. You guys ever seen it? He was there, but his heart was somewhere else. But when he understood to how to love god with his mind. He didn't have to throw out his mind that that he was engaged. He's been much more involved. He's there every week, we see that. So some of us, to be honest, there there are things like that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:02]:
If you have questions, you're not the only person. I was listening to a a short kind of a YouTube clip from a a pastor named, John Piper. I don't know if anybody knows John Piper, theologian, pastor. And he he started reading a quote of someone. And he it was really a question that this guy had about the faith and about worship. Because he says in this he says, if God is God, right, it's the same and by the way, I had the same question as a as a young believer. So that's one of the reasons why I listened to it when I when I heard that thing. He says, if god has got an omnipotent omnipotent being, why should we worship him? We didn't ask to be created, and our lives are often troubled, and we have our own issues responsibilities and busyness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:56]:
Why would God want us to worship him? Right? If God is God, what does he need my worship four. He's still god whether I worship him or I don't worship him. Why would God want to worship? Because we know human tyrants, right, who are puffed up with pride and crave adulation and, adoration and and and homage. But if God is morally perfect, he wouldn't have those defects. Right? So why then do people have to worship every Sunday? Now in other words, this guy is saying, if God is God, why does he want worship? Because the only reason I can think of is he has some moral defect. He somehow needs to be reassured. He somehow needs his insecure that he needs this aspect. Like, if I if I were to ask you today, like, in this in this setting, whether you're at home or you're and we just say this, is that I need you to to worship me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:02]:
1, you would think I was crazy, probably. Right? But you would also think there's something of a defect in me. Right? Something of a insecurity. Right? Something of a right? Would we say and and I think that's that would be true talking about me. And I had this question as a young believer, but one of the things is God needy for your worship? Is that why God commands us to worship him? CS Lewis, Christian writer and theologian as well, struggle with the same question. And this is what he said. You know, the most obvious fact about praise, whether of God or anything, strangely escapes me. I thought of it in terms of compliment and approval and giving honor, but I never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:01]:
He says, unless someone even if shyness or a fear of boring others is somehow brought into check, he says that that the if you look at the world, the world is filled with praise. In other words, if you have a a a boyfriend and a girlfriend, and they're kinda in the midst of infatuation. 1 will sing the praises of the other. Unsolicited. Right? Have you noticed my girlfriend? Isn't she awesome? Have you met my boyfriend? He's so great kind of a thing. He says that readers might tell about our favorite poet. Walkers might praise the countryside. Players Mike, praise their favorite game.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:46]:
Praise of the weather. Oh, the weather is beautiful today or the wine or the food that you eat, he says, or or a movie that you saw or your children. Right? How many of us ever been kinda caught where somebody has to show you pictures of their new baby, and after you've seen 1 or 2, you were satisfied. Right? But but but they keep on selling showing you more and more. Right? The praise praise, he says, is is continual. Right? It's it's out there all the time. But then he goes on, and he says this. I never noticed though that how the humblest and, at the same time, balanced and capacious minds praise the most.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:27]:
While the cranks and the misfits and the miscontents or the malcontents praise the least. I had noticed either that just as main men spontaneously praise what they value, so they spontaneously urge us to praise it as well. Man, wasn't that a great game? Wasn't this a great service? Wasn't that a great meal? You guys ever been in that thing? You just kinda say. Nobody's had to to to prompt you, but it comes spontaneously. The psalmist, in telling people to praise God, is doing what all men do when they speak of what they really care about. My whole more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying that as regards to the supremely valuable, what delight do, he says, indeed, what we cannot help to do about everything else we value. In other words, he's saying this. We all tend to worship.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:28]:
We all all tend to praise the greatest power. Right? The highest good. The thing that we enjoy the most. Our deepest love. We naturally do that. Right? How many of you guys gave a a recommendation to go eat at a certain restaurant, to go eat this certain thing at a favorite restaurant. How many of you got a great deal and you tell your friend, oh, man. You gotta go to this place because this is a great deal.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:52]:
He says, this is a natural thing. But he says, it's not just we do it to and and then want to tell about it. He says, I think we delight to praise because what we enjoy boy, that the praise not nearly just expresses that, but it completes the enjoyment. In other words, when you praise something, it makes you more joyful that not only you experienced it, but that you were able to give it what it deserved. And so why then, if that's the case if that's the case, why does god want us to praise? Because it's for your greatest joy. It's for your greatest good. It's so that you could have the fullest life. God doesn't call us to praise him because he needs it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:52]:
He calls us to praise him because we need it. And so some of us, we need to stir up our minds, and some of us, you need to stir up your hearts. You need to stir up your emotions. The the the prophet Isaiah said, it's possible for the people of God, he says, to praise him with our lips, but our hearts are far from him. And so sometimes we need to stir our hearts. Right? Now I I was talking with a a bunch of friends. It says, hey. Do you guys have kinda what are you guys doing anything for for Valentine's Day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:32]:
And and some some guys would, you know, hey. They're gonna go on vacation. They're gonna go out to the hotel. Some of them are gonna for dinner, 1 guy's gonna go out to a special movie that to take his girlfriend. He they've never gone. And then sometimes, to be honest, like, maybe some guys that you're like me and my wife. We never go out on on Valentine's Day because it's the most crowded. Right, it's the poorest service.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:59]:
Right? It's it's kinda like just the busiest time. So we we've done it before, and then we just said, let's not do it. But part of it is because our anniversary is just the next week. Right? So we can do that. But but we'll always do something. Right? We'll do something at home. I'll I'll make something special. We'll do all of these things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:16]:
But here's the thing. You don't have to great Valentine's Day the way that, you know, like, oh, flowers and candy, the way the culture says. But can we just say this? That that you should stir if you're married, stir your heart. Stir your heart toward your spouse. Because we all know that you can stir your heart toward your spouse or choose not to. Right, that we can look for reasons why we can be thankful for our spouse. We can look for reasons why we're together. We can look for reasons is why I can respect them, or we can choose not to.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:55]:
So this is what God is saying. Same way, stir your hearts toward me. You know, sometimes maybe it's it's by a song. One of those things that's stirring my heart. I I I I've been listening to just a worship song. Somebody told me one of my friends told me, hey. You ever heard this song? I go, no. I said, man, it was so powerful.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:14]:
I listened to the song just called thankful for the blood. Thankful for the blood. And it it just it's not a super complex musically song. It's like kinda like, don't you play? I think I know how to sing this already. I never heard it before. But he says, it's the blood. It made the difference. It gave the world redemption's plan.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:33]:
There's no greater love than this. That love laid his life down for a friend. The blood, it made the difference that the world redemption plan. There's no greater love than this that has laid his life down for his friend. Lord, I'm thankful for the blood. It came streaming down for me. Lord, I'm thankful for the blood. When I think of Calvary, if it had not been for Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:56]:
I don't know where I'd be if it had not been for mercy and the blood he shed for me. I would play this song for you if it wasn't gonna get strikes from YouTube. But but, because we stream, you guys these are the reasons why we cannot play songs live in the service. But, but there's the this aspect that, to be honest, when I I listen to the song and go, man, it it just leads me, stirs my heart. It brings me back. I remember how much I need Jesus. Do things that stir your heart. Let let not your music cool worship.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:34]:
Be only when we gather. Right? Let it let it be a daily thing, but it helps me to stir my heart because we all love and worship the greatest powers, the greatest skills, the highest good, the deepest love. But have you ever found yourself at times kinda misaligned in the things that you you praise? You might praise your friend who kinda brought you something poke from some place. And when your wife kinda slaved over a whole meal, and you kinda praise, hey. This poke is good. You never say anything about the meal. You guys ever been in that kind of situation? I I've been in that, and I learned not to do it. But but one of the things that God says to us as well, I think, is that he challenges us to worship him faithfully.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:32]:
He challenges us to worship him faithfully. In Exodus, he says it like this. He says, you must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself any idol or any kind of image or anything in heaven or on earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the lord your god, am a jealous god who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. Now when I read that in the beginning, I was thinking, like, I thought jealousy was bad. Right, is God a jealous God? I think what God is saying in the midst of that is that God desires faithfulness. And do we all not desire faithfulness? If you're in any kind of a long term relationship, we all desire, inherently desire faithfulness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:24]:
To be honest, even if you have been tempted to be outside of that, if you were to learn that your partner was unfaithful, you would still be hurt. Right? Because we all crave faithfulness even if we are struggling at times to be faithful. Because what God's looking for is loyalty. Would you do me free? Would you turn to your neighbor? God values loyalty. Right? Many ways, that's what faithfulness is. God like, how many of you guys value loyalty? You're very loyalty in a friend. You're very loyalty in a in a company setting, you value loyalty from your spouse. You value loyalty from your your children.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:08]:
Right? You we value. We all value loyalty. God values loyalty too. Now when we value when he values loyalty and we worship. To be honest, it's one of the ways that we engage in spiritual warfare. I don't know if you guys, understood that part of that loyalty, I I really believe, is a spiritual warfare element. Now some of us know that Jeff had mentioned, tomorrow, there's some kind of game tomorrow. It's called a super something.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:40]:
No. It's getting right. But, right, we all know that tomorrow is gonna be Super well, right, 1:30, Hawaii time. Right? Over a 100,000,000 people, they say, are kinda gonna be watching this game throughout the world. There's, like and those of you guys who football fans, you guys know this is a repeat. Right? So, the Chiefs and the, 40 niners played before. Right? Was it 2019? Right? And the Chiefs came out on top. And so there's it's the grudge match.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:08]:
Right? So we we kinda understand this aspect. And during that time, there's gonna be households tomorrow. Like, I don't know where you live, all of us, where we all live, where you all going tomorrow, if you're going to Super Bowl party or but there will be spontaneous moments where, like, a group of friends, they're gonna just stand up and right? Is that gonna happen tomorrow? And it's like, somebody's going to be scooping the the nachos. Then when that play happens, go and get food somewhere along the floor, and then they're gonna make apologize. Right? This is gonna happen tomorrow. Right? Nobody is commanding it. Right? But because we kinda love the game. Or even if you don't love the game, why do you watch the game? Because it's the best of the best that are playing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:57]:
Right? Or some of you guys love the commercials. I understand that you may there's all that. Now when I say that, god is saying is god saying, by the way, that it's not good to love football. No. But if your love for football eclipses your love for god. He calls it an idol. Right? And it's it's the same. It's it's anything.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:27]:
What is an idol? It is anything that we value more than God. My job could be an idol. My my sometimes my family can be an idol. Sometimes it could be a a a friendship could be an anything can be an idol. So this is what, though. You know? And we get temptations. Right? Yes. We're we're all human.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:54]:
There's nobody here who doesn't here who doesn't get tempted. Right? Do me a favor. Turn to your neighbor who says, if you're not tempted, you're not human. Right? Right? If you're never tempted, you're not human. Right? Because human beings get tempted. Right? So this is what God is saying about those things. When you say, I'm not gonna put my temptation. No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:15]:
We struggle. We struggle. But I when I'm not gonna give into that because I'm gonna honor I'm not gonna worship anything more than my god. What do we do? We are telling the spirits that tempt us in sensuality, tempt us to give in to our anger, tempt us to give into pride, that tempt us into just being, you know, obsessed with kinda materialism, that tempt the the the spirits that tempt us in those things, we say, you are not my god. God is my god. It becomes a form of spiritual warfare by which we place the enemy under the feet of Jesus. So tomorrow, I hope you still enjoy the game. Right? You can still enjoy the game, but that that means better come church first.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:11]:
No. I'm just kidding. I'm just joking. That's not the the whole point. But here's this aspect. God desires faithfulness. God desires loyalty. Because it's at the feet of Jesus that when we bring all things before the feet of Jesus, that we we just it's it's like what it says in 2nd in chronic sorry.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:32]:
Colossians 2 where that at the cross, he says that that that certificate of debt that was against us was nailed to him. Right? All of our sins. And he says it's because of that that he triumphed over the principalities and powers of this world. And when you crown Jesus king, you do the same thing in a spiritual warfare. If you wanna have victory, just love God faithfully. That's part of it. This is part of it. And so God does it for who? For for himself.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:11]:
No, that you might have victory, that you might have a a sense of overcoming. And then we praise God for and worship him for what he's done. In Psalm 104, it says this. Let's read what it says. Ready? Let's read. Enter his gates with thanksgiving. Go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:38]:
For the lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. Right? And so what does that mean? He says that when we come, would you remember how he saved you? Right? Would you remember how he helped you? Would you remember how he answered said your prayer. What has God done for you that we we ought to be remembering that? We ought to be thankful for that. Remember how all his wisdom and his goodness displayed itself beyond what you were able to imagine. You guys ever been in that place? You go you had a way to work it out. Right? Don't most of us that when we ask god for something, you already have a way to figure it out? I I've had that kind of a thing. That when we were praying for a new building in Kapolei, we were looking at the old Timur.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:33]:
That was really at the end, that's where it came down to. And we did the measurements. We started working on the drawings. We we started, we we're trying to we're negotiating the the terms. We came to pretty favorable terms, and then all of a sudden, some things kinda got in the way. Right? Some things that they promised that didn't you know, they they started to backtrack, and then we started saying, well, if you do that, then we have no we there's no way we can have a timeline. Right? We if you back out on that stuff, now there's no way that we can figure out, like, is could this be years before we get our permit? Could this be there was it kinda got to that point. Right? And, you know, when that happened, I can I tell you? I was so discouraged.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:17]:
Right? Because we had invested so much time. We had invested so much effort, called in contractors, got people to kind of figure out design, kinda workshopped shopped it in the office and kind of looking at all those things. And it the space was the right size. It's not that far right in like, not far in in Barbara's Point right off in the main road. We're kinda in that place. Now I was so discouraged. And then all of a sudden, I was driving through. And I just looked at Ho'okele, and I just said, maybe we just go back to the school.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:53]:
Why did I go wanna go back to the school in the beginning? God is prideful, to be honest. I thought, you know what? We're done doing schools. We're done being portable. We did portable for for 20 years. I mean, you guys, like I'm not the same age as I was when we started 20 years ago. Right? And a lot of us too. We're not the same age. 20.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:16]:
That's what like, we're this has been a long time, and we've been in this space for a bit just because of the pandemic. But I that wasn't my goal. But, you know, like, as being in that place, we spend a fraction of the cost. We could go in immediately. We're much more visible in the community. Some of the people that are coming are because they just basically live right next to Chad's neighbors and and Anel's day. They're just people that they drive by. They see the signs.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:47]:
They see that and people are coming, and people are making decisions, and people are wanting to grow, and some people are wanting to get involved and get to serve. And you know what? I have to say, lord, you know what? Your way is better than my way. It's just your way was better than my way. And and and the whole Proverbs 5 and 6 is, you know, 3 verses 5 and 6. You know, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Right, and lean not on my own on your own understanding. Sometimes I lean on my own understanding. Right? But that wasn't god's plan.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:23]:
That wasn't God's plan. And maybe in the future. Right? Maybe in the future. But but in this time, in this season, it allowed us to get so quick when that happened. And so trust trust him and be thankful. Be thankful for the things he's I'm thankful for that school. Even some of you guys how many of you guys freeze in every once in a while? Be thankful that you can bring blanket if you like. But, be right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:51]:
Be thankful that there's it's not perfect, but but it's it's a great location. But it says this in James 17, 117. It it says every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of the heavenly lights who does not change light shifting shadows. Every good thing in your life, he says, everything that is truly good was birthed in God's heart. Right, before it was your plan, before it was your dream, it was in in God's heart. Right? You know, when we moved into this community, when we moved into Kapolei, one of the things we wanted to do is, obviously, we wanted to have a house. And and a lot of you guys know that, you know, what, being a missionary, I kinda gave up the idea of ever owning a house when I went into the ministry. And, and some of it is pragmatics because when you're making $11,000 a year, it's impossible to buy a house, as a missionary.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:54]:
But when the time came that when we could buy the house, and I was working outside, and family did help in in all of these things. It it it opened up the door. Right? And so, we've been really grace grace given this house. We I we didn't earn it. I didn't earn it. We, it's it was a blessing. And when we before we took ownership of the house, before we when we picked up the keys, before we ever went into the house, we're excited. They said, hon, let's stop before we go in the house.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:32]:
And we just laid hands on the door, and we said, lord, this is this house is a sign of your faithfulness. It's a sign that there's nothing like the song saying that nothing that our god can do, but we dedicate this house to you. We we know that I gotta pay the mortgage, but but it's really your house. And I understand, god, that that our name might show up on the line, but it really belongs to you. And because of that, that was the 1st ministry center where we sit for a life group. That was the office. They had computers and desks and and and people would stay till sometime 11 o'clock at night making videos. And my wife was, like, 6 months pregnant, and she never complained once.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:23]:
My wife is such a blessing to me. She's such a woman of God and more than I deserve. But since then, we've tried to honor that. Right? We've tried to honor that. So we have we've had life groups and meetings and all those things in our house, and it's a joy to do it. But I remember this 1 season when the kids were young and when home improvement shows were just kinda, like, you know, kinda rolling, and then we would watch those home improvement shows and say, we gotta paint this room, we gotta do this thing. Gotta change where these shelves are and take out these built out you know, move them around. And and then we started today.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:03]:
We went to renovations. We're gonna fix up the master bath. Are we gonna expand the house? And we did all that stuff. But then you know what I realized? It's like, I think I'm making this house an idol. I'm putting so much energy into the house. So now I don't do nothing for no. I'm just kidding. That's not the but but I needed to say that the most important thing is is yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:32]:
Are there things that we'd love to do for the health? Yeah. But it's more that what's the function of it? It's a great home for us, but I'm glad it's young adults come. I'm glad that our our friends come on on Thursdays for kinda like our age life group. Right? And, I I'm I'm grateful that we we have meetings and and stuff. And we have people over. I I'm I'm grateful for or all that. But I thank him because that's what he did. But it's important that when God gives you something, that you honor him with it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:13]:
Oswald Chambers, the old kind of a spiritual leader said this. He said, worship is giving God the best he has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to him as a love gift. This is what we tried to do. Take time to meditate before God and and offer the blessing back to him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will only turn into dry rot just like manna did when it was hoarded. God will never let you hold a spiritual thing simply for yourself.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:55]:
It has to be given back to him that he may make it a blessing for others. It's the same with financial blessings. That's why we take tithes and offerings. It's the same with skills and talents and and abilities, and that's where people serve. Right? So that these kinds of things. And so we need worship because these are the things that align our hearts. That we don't just get to spend time with God, but we can actually become more like him and filled with his presence and filled with his joy. I don't know how many of you guys anybody you guys know Bose speakers.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:36]:
Right? Well, when they make equipment, they sound checked the equipment. And so Bose engineers have a playlist that they play on the speakers as quality control. And so it's not just like, hey. Whatever kinda, what's popular, but they have these songs that they play. Part of those songs, is Bruno Mars' 24 k Magic. It's Tom Petty's Learning TO Fly live. It's Dave Brubeck quartet take 5. That's kinda more like my speed music.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:16]:
But why do they have these songs? Bruno Mars, it says because it has a lot of instruments from the highs that that's how they check out the the the quality of the tweeters. Right? And and Tom Petty's things that there's a lot of crowds singing along, and so Petty's voice drops out, and you get a sense of of presence by the speaker. They use the quartet, the the take 5, because they listen for the symbols on the intro because it's hard to reproduce. They use straight no chaser, Homeward Valentine. It's all acapella, and it spans the stage. And so they can tell how each person is singing. And so sometimes, what what they use this aspect for is to attune to kind of and make sure that we're in alignment of what we were designed for. And God uses worship in the same way because it tunes our hearts it's for the God who made us and the God who loves us and the God who is for us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:22]:
But when the worship is out of key because we're not worshiping him for who he is, or maybe we just we we are trusting too much in the emotion, or we're just so overly intellectualizing our our hearts are far from him, or we're not thankful. We have we're not loyal. These are some of those ways by which god says, let's align, not just to be with him, but to become like him. Right? And to do the things he did. That make sense? Hey. This bar has we're closing a word of prayer. Father, I'm thankful worship is more much more than music. I'm thankful worship is much more than singing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:06]:
Lord, although we can worship in those moments, I thank you. It's anytime we want to honor and respond, lord, that we want to respond to your goodness, and we wanna respond to who you are. We wanna respond to your character. But even this this evening, it's some of us that praise is when we declare it. Worship is when we respond to it. Right? And so you may be declaring God's praise, but is there a place that God's asking you to respond? Maybe to see stir up that you might love God more with your mind. Stir up that you might love God more with your heart. Stir up that you might be more faithful and be more loyal.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:56]:
Stir up that you might be more thankful. If that's you, just would you we're gonna just be silent for a moment and let you hear from God. God, we want our hearts to be aligned with you. And we're thankful that worship is not because you're insecure. It's because you wanna reproduce joy in us and that you want us to align with the highest good and the and the highest power and the greatest love that we might not just experience that, but we might be changed by it, that we might be responsive to it, that we might become more like you. And so, father, as we're you're putting your finger on different places in our life. If you're here this evening and you just sense god speaking to you about something, and you're saying, god, I'm willing to respond to that. Would you just raise your hand saying that's yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:13]:
God's god's doing that in my heart. Yeah. Father, thank you that you're so faithful. Thank you that you want us. You love us as we are, but thank you that you're calling us higher. Thank you that you're calling us deeper. Thank you that we can become more like you when we respond to you, when we see you, when we honor you, when we worship you. Bless those who come tonight.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:41]:
Bless those who are tuning in today. And, father, those who are right now, maybe you've never said yes to Jesus yet because you're afraid that why do I need to give my heart to God? It's not because God needs it. It's because you need it. And if you've never said yes to Jesus, we're gonna I'm just gonna pray a very simple prayer. And if you're home or you're in the house and you're just saying, man, I I recognize it's not that you need me. I need you. If that's you today, just would you pray alongside? Lord, thank you that you came for me. Thank you that you've chosen me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:16]:
Thank you that you're calling me. I give myself to you today. I surrender my heart today because the greatest love is you. The greatest joy is you. Would you forgive me of my sin? Thank you that Jesus died in my place. I surrender and trust him. Would you lead me today and grow me today that I might know you more and more. In Jesus' name, amen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:48]:
Hey. God bless you guys who prayed. Hey. Thanks for joining us today. Have a great evening,