Authentic worship. Is it singing a song? Is it
stained glass, electric guitar? I believe authentic
worship is one of the most misunderstood concepts
in the body of Christ today. Would you like to
hear exactly what Jesus says authentic worship
is and how to do it? Then stick around. What
does authentic worship really look like? Well,
today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram gets
intensely practical. God is actively seeking
true worshipers, people who worship him in spirit
and truth, from the heart, with an accurate view
of who he is. But here's our problem. We've made
God so small, reducing him to our buddy instead
of recognizing him as the holy, transcendent
creator of the universe. Today, Chip reveals
three essential characteristics of worship that
pleases God. Plus, he'll share practical tools
that can transform your daily time with God.
Well, here's Chip Ingram concluding our series
called Experience Breakthrough. Well, let's ask
the one question. If someone asks you, who are
you worshiping? In your honest heart of hearts,
who are you worshiping? Is it Christ or is it
an idol? Person, job, success? Could I suggest
that as I keep talking, you start having a little
wrestling match with God about what has your
best interest in mind. And what would be the
wisest thing for you to do? It's important. In
fact, your whole future depends on it. We find
in John chapter 4, verses 21 to 24, Jesus ends
up talking with a lady, a Samaritan. She was
despised woman. And the historical history is
Samaritans are kind of like Jewish half breeds.
They have about half Jewish blood and half Samaritan,
you know, blood. And they had a real tussle between
the Jews and the Samaritans. And so Jesus is
tired. The fellows go in to grab lunch. He's
sitting by a well, and this lady, we find out
later, has a pretty checkered past. Jesus looks
beyond all that, and they strike up a conversation.
Jesus declared, believe me, woman, a time is
coming when you will worship the Father neither
on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. They got talking
about worship, and she said, well, you know,
our fathers do it here, and you Jews do it over
there. You Samaritans worship what you do not
know. We worship what we know for salvation is
from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now
come when true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth. Now notice this line. For
they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
You want to be close to God? You want to experience
God? You want to see God do things in your life
about people that you read about and in the New
Testament, in the Old Testament? He is seeking.
I mean, he's got the spiritual x -rays out, probing,
looking for men, looking for women, looking for
students who would worship him in spirit and
in truth. He longs to have a relationship with
you. You are special. But he won't interfere.
You know, it's like people dancing, you know?
It's rude to rip someone else and say, I want
to dance. See, when you're polite, what do you
do? You tap them on the shoulder. And then you
step in. This is what God does. He comes to you.
And he taps you on the shoulder. He says, excuse
me, can I cut in? And you say, well, I'm worshiping
this house right now. He says, I know. He said,
not a good dance. And he taps you on the shoulder
and he says, can I cut in? Oh, I'm worshiping
my career and I have to go to school and I got
to go to grad school and then I have to do this
and I have to do that. He says, I know. Can I
cut in? See, he seeks after people who worship
him in spirit and in truth. Why? God is spirit.
And his worshipers must worship in spirit and
in truth. Now, the question is what, right? What
in the world does it look like? If the Holy Spirit
will illuminate our minds, do you realize that
the Father will be seeking you? We find in John
chapter 4, verses 21 to 24, Jesus ends up talking
with a lady, a Samaritan. It's very interesting.
In verses 21 and 22, they're talking about geography
and location. Authentic worship can happen anywhere.
Now, we're more open to that, but in that culture,
that society, hey, God is going to show up at
the synagogue. Jesus said a time's coming when
location means nothing. See, worship is not about
form. It's about function. It's not about location.
It's about purpose. Worship can happen in a church
building, nature, quiet moments, a human heart.
1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20 says, know you not
that your bodies are the temple of God and the
spirit of God dwells in you? God, we are told
in scripture, doesn't take up residence in things
made by human hands, but what? In human hearts.
If you know Christ as your savior, if you've
turned from your sin, believed on his death on
the cross and his resurrection and invited Christ
to forgive you of your sin, you've trusted in
him and he's entered your life. You've been adopted
into his family. The Holy Spirit lives within
you. You are his sanctuary. It can happen anywhere.
It can happen as you walk. It can happen as you
talk. It can happen as you think. Every single
moment of every day, anywhere, worship can take
place. But it begins at a point in time when
you say, I want to worship you as a living sacrifice.
This is me. Second, Authentic worship flows from
the heart. Did you notice that phrase happened
two times? Worship in spirit. Everyone wants
to know, should there be a big S there or a little
S? You know, like in spirit as a big S, the Holy
Spirit, or in spirit, out of the human heart.
From the context, it seems clear that it's a
small S. It's from the heart because the Holy
Spirit hasn't even been given yet. But as we
read our New Testament, what we know is both
are true. It's the Holy Spirit who teaches us
how to pray. It's the Holy Spirit that leads
and guides us into all truth. So both are accurate.
But the idea here, Jesus is saying he's living
in a world with religious ritual. Jesus is saying
true worshipers have to be people from the heart.
Anytime you get honest, anytime you're broken,
anytime you say, oh, God, I need you. And you
come just as you are. God says, and I'm there.
I'll meet you. He's just looking for people who
come honestly from the heart. God has room for
people that have blown it deeply. Who have absolutely
messed up morally. And they repent and they come
back broken. And God has a place to forgive.
Are there consequences? Sure. But he meets them
where they're at. You want a father who's seeking
and pursuing you? First of all, realize worship
happens anywhere. Take advantage of it. Second.
Authentic worship flows from the heart. Third,
authentic worship is rooted in an accurate view
of God and of ourselves. Notice, in truth. It's
in spirit, from the heart, in truth. Scripture
is the standard for our worship. John 17, 17.
Jesus is in the garden. He's praying. He's ready
to check out of the planet. Remember? Sanctify
them, he prays to the Father. Sanctify them by
thy truth. Thy word is thy truth. When we wanted
to know what the object of our worship should
be, what did Jesus say? I am the way, the truth,
and the life. If you're going to have authentic
worship, Jesus needs to be the center of it.
What did Jesus say? If I be lifted up, what?
I will draw all men to myself. You see, worship
has got to be much more than an experience, an
emotional experience, even a religious experience.
All kind of religions have all kind of religious
experiences. It must be in spirit and in truth,
the truth of Christ, the truth of scripture,
the truth of the resurrection, the truth of the
character of God. What has reduced our worship
in our day is God has gotten so small because
we don't think about God as he is. God used to
be so far away that people couldn't get close
to him. And then this whole evangelical Christianity
came in and we've swung the pendulum in our day
where God's everybody's buddy. Hey, Lord. Hey,
man upstairs. Give me five, man. I got news for
you. I got news for you. He's a holy God. And
when the people of the Bible see a holy God,
they fall on their face. And every time we open
a curtain and you look at heaven, Isaiah 6, Revelation
5, anytime you get a peek at heaven, you know
what you see? You see worship and you see exalted,
angelic beings flying and they cover their eyes
and they cover their feet because they are in
awe. They are in awe of the holiness and the
otherness and the sheer power of the holy God
who created all that there is. We are so glib
with the God of the universe. And we don't think
he can do much because we have shrunk him down
to our little size and made him our little best
friend genie who will work out our life. And
we pray about parking spaces. I'm for that. And
relationships and money and this and that. And
you know what? When's the last time you thought,
who is God? And you worshipped him for who he
is. And then to think that he would grant a parking
space or a life mate or a financial need is humbling.
That one so transcendent, so powerful, even knows
you want a parking space. Let alone answers that.
But you know what he is? He's intimate and he's
caring. And he's compassionate. And so he'll
just take me and he'll take you where you are.
He'll meet you where you are, not where you ought
to be. Right view of God and a right view of
ourselves. That's what truth does. When you look
at yourself, you're full of dignity because you're
made in the image of God, but you are fallen
and I am fallen. And we are sinful. And the heart
is desperately wicked above all else. And when
you worship, you will find something happening.
The closer and the closer and the closer you
get to God, you will not have any problem with
humility. Because God's holiness expands. You
know what happens? Your sinfulness expands. See,
most of us, we think God grades on the curve.
He doesn't. He's 100 % pure. 100 % of the time.
All the time. He doesn't grade on the curve.
So you know what I do? In my weaker moments,
and I have many of them, I find someone who's
a little less holy than me, and I compare myself
to them, and I think, you know what? I'm doing
pretty good, you know? You know, I don't swear
anymore, and I'm doing this a little better.
You know what? Then I get before God, and then
He lets me see some of my motives in ministry.
And then He lets me see little things that come
out of my mouth that reveal a heart that is so
selfish. And then He lets me see some just junk.
And there's times when I have a great time praying,
I just think, God, how do you even put up with
me? He says, Jesus, that's how I put up with
everybody. He loves you. He died for you. He
paid for that sin that I just pointed out. And
you're in a lifelong process of him renewing
and transforming you. Well, are you a worshiper
that the Father's seeking? Do you worship anywhere?
Does your worship come from the heart? Is your
worship revealed an accurate view of God, an
accurate view of yourself? You're listening to
Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We'll return
to our message in just a moment. But first, did
you know that you can access this entire series
anytime you want? Head on over to livingontheedge
.org where you'll discover Chip's full teaching
library, along with study guides and small group
materials. Whether you want to replay today's
message or explore other topics, everything you
need to grow spiritually is available online
at livingontheedge .org. Let's get back to Chip's
message. Well, let's move on. How can you experience
greater intimacy in your worship? Let's get real
practical. Let me give you some tips, if you
will, from people who've walked with God a lot
longer than me and a lot longer than most here.
I think one of the greatest problems in our worship
is lack of balance. We tend to get into ruts
very quickly. Certain forms, whatever form we
grow up with, we think that's the way. It's amazing.
People, if you grew up with hymns and God spoke
to you through hymns, do you think hymns are
what we ought to sing? Some of us that came to
Christ through choruses, you know, choruses is
where it's at. Some of you that came to Christ
with electric guitars, you know, God couldn't
even be in the building if there's no electric
guitar and drums. Because that's how you came
to Christ. There's some of you that think that
you're not really worshiping unless you raise
your hands. And there's some of you that think
if you do raise your hands, please don't worship
next to me. There's some people that unless the
organ is playing in the stained glass and there's
that sense of absolute silence when you walk
in, then that's the way to worship. And there's
others that feel unless there's the joy of the
Lord, unless there's celebration happening in
the room, then there's not worship. And you know
what? You're all right. You're all right. But
so easily what we do is we get in a rut and we
think it's form instead of function. And then
we slide into very gradually making our needs,
our lives, our agendas, Instead of God, the focus
of our time of worship. Private worship, I believe,
is our declaration. Our declaration of driving
a stake to refuse to become little gods. To the
extent that you worship privately, you are driving
a stake and saying, I'm going to have something
in my life on a daily or at least almost daily
basis that forces me to stop. And let go of all
the plastic, all those beads, and remember who
is Lord, King, Sovereign, Boss. And private worship
is a declaration of my refusal to be God. And
when I don't have time to worship, when I'm too
busy to worship, you make the parallel. How could
we not have time for Him who made us? It's an
oxymoron, isn't it? Unless we really believe
we're God or we're worshiping something else.
In your private worship, so that you don't get
in a rut, this was taught me early on, but it's
been very effective. In fact, when I do, sometimes
I have a hard time concentrating and I have a
really hard time praying and I feel like my prayers
aren't getting anywhere. The other big problem
I have in worship and time with the Lord is I
lie a lot. I lie to myself. I pray prayers I
don't mean. I say things that sound good. And
then I hear them and I think. And so I write
them down. I don't know why, but when I see it
in print, I'm thinking, oh, Ingram, who are you
fooling? That's not true. Then I write down what's
really true. And often in my journal, I'll write
down the letters A, C, T, and S. Because if I'm
under a lot of pressure, all I do is S, supplication,
supplication, supplication. The A stands for
adoration. In your private time with God, read
some passages about who he is or think thoughts
about his character. Second is confession. This
is an easy part to skip in a hurry. And every
time I skip it, my spiritual skin gets thicker
and then it's harder to hear God's voice. But
I'll write C on my paper and then I'll sit quietly
and I'll say, God, will you bring anything to
my mind that I need to confess? Anything that's
produced a barrier between me and you or me and
another person. And I say it quietly. And I assume
that what God brings to my mind, not vague. Now,
if you get a vague feeling like you are a jerk,
that is not God. No, it's true. Because the scripture
is very clear. The Holy Spirit's job is to what?
He illuminates in order to draw you near. That's
what conviction is. Conviction is the opposite
of condemnation. Condemnation makes you feel
bad and what makes you want to go away from God.
Conviction is, hey, I really love you. And there's
this little problem between us. Why don't we
get this taken care of so we can get closer?
And you sit quietly and he'll show you. Third
is T for Thanksgiving. I find that multiple mornings
I don't feel like I don't feel like being ship.
I don't feel like being a pastor. I don't feel
like doing anything. And maybe you can agree.
And, you know, then you think, well, it's a cup
of coffee. And then after my second cup of coffee
and I still feel the same way, I realize maybe
I have an attitude problem. And it's amazing
to sit down and fill half of a page. God, I'm
thankful today for. And then I start with my
wife and I start with my kids. And I begin to
list things that I'm thankful for. And in about
five minutes, my attitude changes. And I offer
them up to him. This little acronym, ACTS, A
-C -T -S, I think it's a great way to learn to
worship. The final one is S, supplication. And
what I do is I just take my concerns. I write,
I'm concerned about, and then I list them. And
then at the end of them, I turn them into prayers.
God, would you take this one? Would you take
this one? Would you take that one? Now, you don't
need to write all that out. I'm just a slow learner,
and it helps me. Because the other thing I've
done is life gets complicated, and it is a joy.
Sometimes when I'm feeling really even less motivated
than when I talked before, then what I do is
I just flip back on my journal. three days ago,
and I see the check marks, the dates, the answers
to prayer. Then I flip back a week. Check mark,
check mark, check mark, check mark. Dates, answers
to prayer. And you know what it reminds me? God
is still on the throne. Ingram, you're not the
center of the universe. Lighten up, buddy. I
got it all under control. I had it controlled
last week, got it now, got it next week. If you
get hit by a milk truck, life will go right on.
And you know what? That's a healthy thing to
remember. In public worship, let me give you
three Ps by way of practical experience. The
first one, And take this from a winsome heart,
okay? Take this from, because we don't practice
this well, I'll kind of warn you, is preparation.
If you come to Saturday night, slow down earlier
in the afternoon. If you come on Sunday, the
night before. You can't stay out until 2 o 'clock
in the morning and have effective worship at
9 or 11. See, what you've got to ask is, this
is the most important thing you get to do all
week. You know, this is it. I mean, it's like
the NBA championship game, the NFL Super Bowl
game. Those guys are not running around the hallways
at 3 in the morning, you know, playing cards.
Man, they're on a special diet, and they're thinking,
they're focused, because that day's the big day.
You know why? Because that's what they worship.
Now, what we worship, man, we ought to prepare.
You ought to come emotionally low -keyed and
focused in. You ought to come rested. You ought
to have prayed for the service, the people involved
in it. You ought to realize that the first 15
minutes is not fluff time. It's when we sing
in adoration to God. So coming here not on time,
but five to 10 minutes early to interact and
maybe share what's going on and encourage someone
and actually being here when it starts. And see,
you're going to come with an attitude to hear
from him. He's going to meet you. Second, P is
for purpose. The purpose of worship is not to
evaluate if Chip had a good night, if you like
the music, and if so -and -so is here that you
hope would be here. The purpose is to not get
anything. It's to come to give. It's your opportunity
in community to focus on The sovereign living
source of all life and tell him how you feel
about him, how much you love him, how much you
thank him. And so your purpose is to come to
give, to offer yourself and your praise to him.
That would change then how you listen. That would
change how you sing. Third P is participation.
Church is not a spectator sport, nor is it a
spectacle to come and observe. Now, we know that
many people that don't yet know the Lord and
God is bringing, they can spectate, and that's
fine. But if you're a part of the family, it
may be hard to sing at first. Singing out loud
was like weird. I never did that in my life.
And then I became a Christian. I found out all
these Christians sing. And I used to go, and
little by little, I warmed up. And I realized
the Spirit of God works as we sing. It's a place
to pray for, reach up, reach out. And listen
with an ear to say truth. I must obey the truth.
See, real worship always ends in participation.
Once you see who he is, you're changed. Now you've
looked into the mirror, the perfect law of liberty.
What specifically are you going to do and am
I going to do to put into practice the truth
God's revealed to us? Until we've done that,
we have not worshipped. Jot down for your own.
Luke chapter 5, 1 to 11. Read that through with
eyes of worship and see how Peter worships and
how he ends up following Christ. Conclusion,
worship is not a service you come to or an activity
you practice. Worship is a life focus, an expression
of your deepest longings, passions, and devotion
to whom or what you love the most. This is Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a powerful message
about worship that transforms everything. Chip
will share one final thought in just a moment.
If you'd like to revisit or share any part of
this series, everything is available at livingontheedge
.org. Now, as this series on experiencing breakthrough
concludes, I want to point you toward a resource
that can anchor your spiritual life. It's Chip's
free 10 -day devotional called Psalms of Hope.
Here's the format. Chip provides 10 minutes of
biblical teaching each day from Psalm 1, Psalm
15, or Psalm 23, three psalms that have sustained
believers for millennia. Then you spend 10 minutes
in personal reflection and prayer. Just 20 minutes
daily, 10 transformative days. Today we explored
what it means to be a worshiper that the Father
seeks. Psalms of Hope will deepen that practice,
helping you develop the kind of authentic, consistent
worship we've been discussing. If you want worship
to become more than an occasional feeling, if
you want it to become the pattern of your life,
these Psalms offer the pathway. Start today by
going online to livingontheedge .org, search
for Psalms of Hope, and begin your journey completely
free. Friend, this teaching exists because listeners
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Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call us
and give over the phone at 888 -333 -6003. Well,
now here's Chip with today's Talking Point. As
we wrap up today's message, I just want to remind
you that boredom isn't bad. Boredom is simply
the evidence that we're trying to scratch an
eternal itch with a temporal backscratcher. You
see, the reason we have music and noise and we
stay busy, busy, busy is because we don't want
to get alone and realize that we're worshiping
something far less than the God who created us.
And so authentic worship we learn today, it can
happen anywhere, not just in church, it's your
life. We learn authentic worship, it's got to
flow from your heart. It's not external. It's
not just form. And we learn that authentic worship
is rooted in accurate view of God in ourselves.
So by the way, let me give you just those keys
I gave on private and public worship, because
this week I want you to give that a whirl. Remember
the ACTS acronym, A -C -T -S. I'd like you to
set aside 15 or 20 minutes just this week. And
adore God, confess your sin, give thanks, and
then supplication. Pray for some others. Have
you got that? A -C -T -S. Do that for 15 or 20
minutes every day this week and see if it doesn't
superpower your worship to a new level. I'm Dave
Drouille, inviting you back next time for a lesson
on how to build lasting relationships. Join us
Monday for Living on the Edge. Today's program
is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.