Worship is... Community

June 25, 2006 AM

Pastor Brad Dyrness
Sparks Nazarene Church 

Family Vacation…  Are we there yet? 

When you are on a really long voyage, you have to get beyond asking, "Are we there yet?" and instead start asking, "Are we making progress?"  Brian McLaren "A New Kind of Christian" p. XXII

"Exactly, preach about them!"

There are two very important elements of worship both dealing with the Who of worship.

The 1^st  Who is: God.  Exodus 3-20

God wanted the people to worship HIM and HIM alone. 

Exodus  3:12 ~ Exodus 7: 16

Worship me alone - no others.

We are to worship God not the tools of worship!

The 2^nd Who is: WHO WE WORSHIP WITH. 

Worship is not about me… it's about you! 

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Paul emphasizes how we treat one another! 

Paul is teaching us the principle that we can't really worship God when we ignore community. 

We are people on a journey together. You don't have to go this alone. 

The word together shows up a lot in the New Testament, Jesus taught His disciples what it meant to be together and the New testament church was trying to live that out. 

We are called to these 4 things as we worship together:

Consideration  vs 21-22 &33

Unity 18 &20

Intimacy  26 & 28

Ministry 34

Instead of experiencing the joy of worshipping God they were trying to meet their own needs at the expense of others. 

Worship Wars are about one thing!  ME wanting what I want and not considering what you may need in the process!

"Are we making progress together?"