WORSHIP: where it all started

(painting by Neal Parrow - check out his art here.)

This past weekend I picked up in a series that I had started last year. It is going to be a series that takes place on Sunday mornings and evenings here at CCH when Pastor Edmund is gone or sick. Since Edmund is currently in California with his wife grieving the loss of Martha's mom (please pray for them during this time), he has asked for me to teach in his place. In these next weeks I will be teaching on the topic of WORSHIP. We are going to be looking at the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of Worship. But before we get into those teachings, we started with the first story in the Bible where the word worship is mentioned. Genesis 22. The story of Abraham offering up Issac.
The depth of this story is absolutely amazing. There are so many biblical truths that you can look at in this story, but our aim was to look at the topic of worship.
A definition that we considered throughout this study for worship was the following:

Christian worship is when Christ is in the place of highest worth in our lives. When we exalt Him above anything or anyone else. This is worship.

WORSHIP: our faith is tested
Here in this story we see how Abraham's worship would be tested by the Lord. The Lord asked Abraham to take his son, his only son, whom he loved, and to offer him as a burnt offering. Now I want you to stop and think of the depth of this. Try to put yourself in the place of Abraham.

• Isaac was Abraham's only son
• The son that he had waited 25 years for
  
• The future of the covenant rested upon Isaac
• Isaac was a miracle child
• Abraham and Sarah loved Isaac very much
• They built their whole future around him
• It looked like God was wiping out everything Abraham and Sarah had lived for

So we see Abraham's faith and worship being put to the test. Who does he love more? Is he willing to sacrifice the very love of his life on the altar?

WORSHIP: we must give our "ALL"
As you look into the verses a little more closely you will see that the Lord tells Abraham that He wants him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. For you and I, that might not mean that much, but Abraham knew exactly what this meant. He knew he would have to do the following things to Isaac:

• First he would have to cut the offeringʼs throat
• Then dismember it
• Finally all of the body parts would be offered up in the fire and consumed by the flames, there on the altar

You can read more about the burnt offering in Leviticus chapter one, but the burnt offering was the basic sacrifice that expressed devotion and dedication to the Lord. When we surrender ourselves to the Lord, we put “all on the altar”and hold back nothing.

The Lord was asking for complete dedication from Abraham! He was asking for ALL of Abraham! He would have to put ALL on the altar and hold nothing back. With this understanding, we see more of the "dilemma" that Abraham was in.

Your love on the altar
Before we continue, I want to stop right now and ask you something...

What is the MOST IMPORTANT thing in your life right now?

Jesus put it in this way...

Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

What is it that your heart BEATS FOR right now?

What would be your response if the LORD asked you right now to...

PUT IT ALL ON THE ALTAR

Depending on how you answer that question will reveal to you where your WORSHIP with the Lord is right now

Remember this...
Christian worship is when Christ is in the place of highest worth in our lives. When we exalt Him above anything or anyone else. This is worship.

To be continued...