Why Worship?
Pastor Sarah Benibo | June 8th, 2025
Listen
Transcription
Good morning, good morning, good morning. Embassy City, how you feeling? I hope you're feeling good. Happy Pentecost Sunday, y'all. I am so privileged to stand before you as a part of the home team. Y'all know we're in a series right now. And we have our own speakers and ministers in this house that will be presenting the word. And today is my turn, so let's go. If I haven't met you, my name is Sarah Benibo. I am the worship pastor here at Embassy. And essentially, my job is to provide songs for the church to sing. That's how simple I can put it. I provide songs for the church to sing, but I don't do it by myself. I do it with a whole team of people. And I'm grateful for them. Thank you. Yes, teamwork makes the dream work. Normally, the teamwork happens on Sunday mornings primarily, but sometimes we have special services where we can spend extended times in worship. We can go a little bit deeper, a little bit higher, and we got one coming up. It's called Beyond. We had our first one for Good Friday of this year, but we've got our next one this June 20th.
So not this Friday, but next Friday, June the 20th. So bring somebody. It's essentially a worship night that includes music, prayer, and a lot of creative elements to help us go beyond. All right, I have to honor good leadership. Whenever I get a chance, I want to do that. So let me honor Pastor Tim Rivers. Can we give him a hand?
[applause]
Yeah, come on, whistle. I feel like I'm going to like you this whole time. I like that. Pastor Tim is a great leader. It's easy to work for God because God is so good, but it's easier to work for God when you got a good boss. When you got good leadership, it makes it sweet to worship for the Lord. So I thank Pastor Tim. I thank Janice, his wife, and I thank Zion and Zara and Zane, the whole Rivers family. I got to also shout out my family, extended and immediate family. I love them so much. They support me in all the things I do, and sometimes it gets a little crazy. The schedule gets a little full, but I am so honored to have a husband that supports me in my ministry. He's amazing. Okay, if you're ready for the Word, say, I'm ready for the Word. All right. I want to start by talking about my son. I got a daughter and I got a son. My son is six years old. He just graduated from kindergarten. He'll be going to first... Yes! Just know you are not clapping for him. You are clapping for me. Yes, you are.
He not doing nothing. I am the one that has to sit through question after question after question. He's in that phase where he just has one question that follows the next. Just last week, he asked me, mommy, what's the longest street in Texas? I don't know, son. Not Frisco, not Dallas, but Texas. So you know what I did what every mature adult does. Alexa, what's the longest street in Texas? Apparently, it's in Sugar Land. It goes for 10 miles. It's called Highway 6. He just likes to ask questions, and I think he kind of likes to see me squirm if I don't know the answer immediately. So he'll do something like this. He'll say, Mommy, what color is the sky? Okay, I'm a little suspicious. Blue. Then he'll follow that with the one word, no answer will ever do question. Why? Why is the sky blue? Alexa, why is the sky blue? Apparently it's the sun. The sun emits all the colors of the rainbow, but blue scatters first. So when we look up in the sky, that's why we see blue. I'm learning a lot. My son is teaching me. He's growing me up. This question why is the one that gets under my skin the most.
I have a love-hate relationship with her. I hate her because she's always asking me for more than what I got. But I love her because she forces me to think deeply. She forces me to not settle for surface answers and surface solutions. Why has been embraced by many professionals and many industries. One in particular is an inventor named Sakichi Toyota. He is the father of the founder of the Toyota company. And he came up with this root analysis theory called the five whys. The five whys is a causal chain. You have to ask why five times. Each of the whys that you ask have to be directed to the previous answer of the previous why. I can show you better than I can tell you. Let's do a hypothetical. I want to start with a central why, a problem that I'm trying to solve. Maybe I'll start with this one and the tech team will help me. Why were you late to church? No, I'm serious. Why were you late to church? I'm not talking to everybody, but I'm talking to somebody. I want to know why you were late to church. And hypothetically, if I were to ask you that question, you might say something like this.
I was late because I woke up late. That's reasonable. If I was decent, I would say, I'm just glad you came, friend. I'm not reasonable. I am my son's mother. I ask why. Why did you wake up late? You might say something like, I woke up late because I went to sleep late. Ah, that's why number two. Why did you go to sleep late? I went to sleep late because I was watching Netflix. I cannot blame you, not all the way, but you do know that the same shows that are available tonight will be available tomorrow. So why were you watching Netflix? Question number four. I was watching Netflix because I was distracting myself. Now we talking. I got one more question and I got you exactly where I want you to be. Why were you distracting yourself? You might say, I was distracting myself because I can't process my emotions. Now we're talking. Is it about church? Is it about your alarm clock going off or on? No, no, no, no, no. It's about you having the tools to process the frustrations in your life. And likely, you're not just late to church. You're probably late to a lot of places.
You're not living intentionally. You're sabotaging your tomorrow because you can't figure out how to process what happened today. Now we're talking. When I was here in this spot last, it was October of last year, and I preached about worship, worship costs. And I talked about how worship is like an iceberg. It's two-pronged. The parts that you can see, the singing and the giving and the serving, all of that is only worship if it is connected to a deeper reality. If there is an inward, hidden part, a commitment to the Lord, then we can consider that worship. My focus was trying to define what worship really is. Today, I'm going to step back. Not talk about the what, but talk about the why. What is our motivation? Why do we spend so much energy expending our hands and our voices? What is it all about? I want to use Mr. Toyota's technique. I want to use the five whys, and I want us to explore a very familiar story about a woman with an alabaster jar. I want us to get curious with her and not just take the first answer. I want us to go deeper and deeper and deeper so that we can really get her motivation behind why she worships the way she does.
And hopefully, in getting her why, we will also discover our why. The title of this message is Why Worship? Let's pray. We worship you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. We worship you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. You are good. Luke 7, 36 through 50. Please stand. I'm reading the NRSV New Standard, New Revised Standard version. Just read along with me. One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee had invited him, saw it, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner. Jesus spoke up and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. Teacher, he replied, speak. A certain creditor had two debtors, one owed 500 denarii and the other 50. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them.
Now which of them will love him more? Simon answered, I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt. And Jesus said to him, You have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven. Hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little. Then he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Please be seated. In this passage, we find Jesus at Simon's house. Simon is a Pharisee. And for those of us that may not be familiar, a Pharisee is a member of a prominent religious group that is very prideful.
They boast about keeping all 600 plus Mosaic laws. But not just those, they also keep the laws that they added so that they would be sure not to break the Mosaic laws. They walked around judging people, turning their nose up to people who broke the Mosaic law, but also those who broke their laws. So when Jesus comes healing on the Sabbath and sitting with sinners and tax collectors and claiming to be the son of God, the Pharisees need to take him down. He's not breaking the Mosaic law, don't get it twisted, but he absolutely is violating their laws that they added to the Mosaic law. So it's interesting to me that Simon would invite Jesus to his house. But even more interesting to me that Jesus would come. We know from the very beginning that Simon's intentions are not pure because he neglects to do some very basic things. Cultural norms he did not do like he did not offer Jesus water for his feet. This was normal because they would have to walk dusty roads to your house. And so when your guests came in, you would offer them water. It was a sign of respect.
He did not offer Jesus a kiss, which is not a sexual advance. It's a way of symbolizing unity and affection. He neglected to offer Jesus ointment, which was a hospitable practice to soothe sun-exposed skin. Simon did none of it, and Jesus stayed. Jesus is reclining at Simon's house. It's not a lazy boy. It's more like a chase, or how most people should say it, chase. He's leaning on his left arm, likely. He's using his right arm to get food from a table. And while he is laying, his body is behind him, and he feels what could be water dripping from a leaky roof. He turns around, and he sees a woman. There's a woman pulling her hair down and drying his tear-soaked feet. Then she starts to kiss his feet. And then she breaks open this alabaster box and starts to anoint his feet with expensive perfume. And I want to know why. Why was this woman weeping so profusely, weeping at the feet of a man that Simon doesn't even respect? Why? Why is she kissing the feet of a man that Simon is treating like a stranger? Why is she breaking open expensive perfume on someone that Simon doesn't even honor?
I want to know why, but first I want to know who. Who is she? Some people call her Mary Magdalene. Other theologians call her Mary of Bethany. But all of it is speculation because Luke doesn't call her a name at all. I want to name her so bad. I want to know her story. I want to know who her parents are. I want to know all of these things. But I have to assume that Luke, who is meticulous and thorough, did it intentionally. I have to assume that. Because Luke is the longest gospel of all the gospels. He's not trying to save space. He must not have wanted us to get so fixated on her story that we miss the main point. What's the main point? That she does what the Pharisees don't do. She worships. She knew something. She believed something that Simon didn't know nor believe. And so she does what he doesn't do. She worships. If we were to pull this woman aside and we were to say, why are you doing what you're doing? If we were to employ Mr. Toyota's five whys technique, I wonder what we would discover. Let's pull her aside.
Nameless woman. Out of all the things you could have done with Jesus in your presence, why worship? I believe she would have answered quickly. I think she would have spoke up immediately and say, I worship because I believe Jesus is God. I accept this response from her. I accept it because of what the Bible says. That she simply hears that Jesus is reclining at Simon's house. And she didn't ask nobody for permission to go. She just shows up and doesn't show up empty handed. She shows up with an alabaster jar. An alabaster jar is a container made of precious stone. And it's made to keep expensive perfume pure and completely contained. She showed up with intention. She showed up with a purpose. But you know why I know she believes Jesus is God? It's because of what Jesus says at the very end of this passage. This passage ends with Jesus saying, woman, your faith has saved you. What faith? The same faith that Abraham had when he was walking up Mount Moriah. Fully intending to sacrifice his son just to obey God. It's the same faith that Mary had when she agreed to carry the son of God.
It's the same faith that we see in Hebrews chapter 11. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. Further down in that same chapter, it says, without faith it's impossible to please God. For they that come to God must believe that he is God and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. That's the faith that this woman had. That's the one that Jesus commended. Is there anybody here that has faith that Jesus is who he claims to be? Do you believe that he is the bread of heaven? Do you believe that he is the great I am? Do you believe that he is the son of God?
Then you've got reason to worship. But we can't stop there. We got four more wives to go. Okay, nameless woman. I get it and I believe you. You believe that Jesus is God, but why? Why do you believe that Jesus is God? I think she'd answer that just as quick. She would say, because he forgave my sins. We see this in the text. This text is supported by Jesus's response to Simon's thoughts. As Jesus is eating, he's being worshiped. He looks back, it's a woman. Simon is thinking if he was a prophet, he wouldn't let that happen. Jesus responds, Simon, I got a story to tell you. Two debtors, one owed 500 denarii, another owed 50 denarii. They both couldn't pay. Somebody say they both couldn't pay. So when their debts are canceled, Simon, who do you think would love the lender most? Simon says, likely the one that owed the most. Jesus says, you have judged correctly. Now upon hearing that parable, it's kind of tempting to think that Jesus is saying, if you sin little, then you worship little. He says that her sin is much and so she worships much. So Jesus, are you saying that Simon was cool because he wasn't really sinning like that? So he doesn't have to worship like that?
The only way you come to that conclusion is if you don't know any other scripture. How many of you all know that scripture interprets scripture? In order for you to understand scripture, you got to read scripture. In order for you to interpret scripture, you got to know something else about scripture. If you know that Romans 6 says the wages of sin is death, then that can't be what Jesus means. If you know that Isaiah 59 says that sin separates us from the Father, then that can't be what Jesus means. Because no matter if it's big sin or little sin, all of it separates. No matter if it's a lot of sin or a little bit of sin, all of it has a wage of death. What Jesus is saying is this, the more you understand the depth of your depravity, the more you understand that you were lost in your own sin, the more that you understand that if it had not been for the Lord Jesus on your side, you don't know where you would be, the more you will worship deeply. It's your understanding. It's your perception that makes the difference. I think I need to remind some of us that it doesn't matter what kind of sin it is, all of it separates.
Whether you having one night stand every single night, or you lust over your celebrity crush in your head, both separate. Whether you smoke to deal with the frustrations of life, or you eat past the point that you are full, both separate. Whether you murder somebody or you're gossiping in the group chat, both separate. Whether you're lying under oath or you're lying about the time you clocked into work, both separate. Whether you're racist against ethnic minorities or you just hold pride in your heart, both separate. The wages of sin is death. No matter where you are on this sin spectrum, you were lost, but now you are found. We have to confess our sins and the Bible says he is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Is there anybody here that's been forgiven for small sins, for big sins, for sins that you never even said out loud? Are you forgiven?
Then you ought to worship. Third why. My dear nameless lady, I get it, he forgave you for your sins, but why? Why did he forgive you of your sins? I think she'd take a little bit more time with this one because for this one, she's got to step outside of her story. She got to step out of that one and she got to step into a much broader story. The story that Pastor Crystal preached about last Sunday. The one about the gospel? That Jesus came and he lived and he died and he rose? Why did he do all that? All of that was for redemption. All of that was for reconciliation, to bring us back to the Father. All of it was for restoration. If that nameless woman knew that, then she would say this, the reason that he forgave me for my sins is because he restored me to my purpose. He came to restore me to my purpose. Luke chapter 4, just a couple of chapters before this one. Jesus is fresh out of the wilderness. The Bible says he's filled with the Holy Spirit. He goes to the synagogue and he stands up with a scroll in his hand.
He unrolls the scroll and says this, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind. To set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Jesus' purpose was to restore her purpose. Somebody said he did that. In forgiving her sins that was cemented on the cross, he does just what he came to do, which was to restore her purpose. And that makes me wonder, who was she? Who was she before she was known as a sinner? Who was she before she was the woman in a city? Who was she when she was just a teenager hanging out with her friends? Who was she when she was just a little girl playing with her toys in the backyard? Who was she when she was just a little, little, little baby in her mother's womb? What was God's purpose for her? And that makes me think, who were you? Who were you before your father left? Who were you before the trauma happened? Who were you before all of the bad habits start stacking up on top of bad habits?
Who were you when all the thinking, thinking set in? Who were you when you were just a little boy? Who were you when you were just a baby? Who were you when you were just a thought in God's mind? What if I told you it's not too late? It's not too late to live that purpose that God had for you from the very beginning. It's not too late to be fully who God has called you to be. That's why I consider worship an act of resistance. I consider it an act of resistance because every time I lift my hands, I'm telling the enemy, nothing you can say can stop me from maintaining my purpose. No sin that I've ever committed could stop me from fulfilling God's plan for my life. Nothing that you can ever accuse me of could ever steal my joy. Because if I am born in Christ, I am a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are new.
He restored your purpose. He restored you. But we can't stop there. We gotta keep going. We gotta keep asking her to get to the crux of the matter. Why, woman, did he come to restore your purpose? I believe she'd say this. Because I was created to worship God. Where'd this come from? She would have had to know a little bit about the Pentateuch. Just the first book, Genesis. She'd have to see nature and animals and Adam and Eve before sin corrupted everything. She'd have to see them communing with God in the cool of the day. She'd have to know that they were given one law, and that was to not eat off of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And as long as they obeyed that law, then they were fully in worship. Because they were fully obeying and submitting and responding appropriately to God's position as God and their position as created. She would have to know that, to know that she too was created to do the same thing Adam and Eve did before sin took over. But now we are in a fallen world, where our innate desire to worship God has been contaminated by sin, causing us to worship lesser gods that leave us unfulfilled.
Hands that were created to be lifted in total adoration are now more readily lifted in praise of our favorite musician. Knees that were created to bend in reverence to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords now more readily bend in submission to law enforcement. The wind in our bodies that was created to support shouts of acclamation to the goodness of God now more readily erupts at the accomplishments of athletes. None of this is bad. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying it's second. I'm saying it's second. It comes second to the first purpose. The first purpose of lifting your hands, the first purpose of shouting out. Worship is the highest purpose of our physical bodies. No other act can compare. And she knew this. She knew this, so she used her tears. She uses her hair. She uses her hands. She uses her lips. She bends her back. She takes out her treasure, and she gives it to the one that needs it and that is owed it the most. She uses what she has because she knows that's what she was ultimately created for.
And now we are here, our fifth and final why. And I am exactly where I want to be. I want to ask her. I want to say, you've answered so many questions. Thank you. But my fifth why is why were you created to worship God? I think she'd have a hard time with this one because I did. I think she'd have to solicit some advice from some really smart theologians because I did. Why were you created to worship God? I think she'd have to think about the character of God, his generosity, his self-giving nature. She'd have to consider the love of God and how it encompasses everything. And once she considered those things and maybe talked to a few theologians, she'd say this, worship is the consummation of love. I know that consummation is not a word that we often use, but it's the only word that really hits the spot. Usually when we use the word consummation, we're talking about the wedding night of newlyweds. The wedding has happened, check. The license has been signed, check. But not until intercourse happens is that union cemented. Not until that moment of intimacy happens is that oneness complete.
Not until that night is the union fulfilled. And I want to submit to you this morning that our love for God is made complete through worship. CS Lewis, one of my favorites, wrote a book called Reflections on the Psalms. I love the book because I love him because he's not just smart, he's honest. Don't just be smart, be honest. And in one of those chapters, he talks about how frustrated he is about the Psalms always telling him what to do. Shout to the Lord with a voice of triumph. Sing a new song unto the Lord. Enter his gates with thanksgiving. Enter his courts with praise. What is this? Is giving egotistical? That's what he said. That's not what I said. CS Lewis says, is God like a vain woman that just wants compliments over and over and over again that he never gets sad? He said this. Read it. He's frustrated. But sometimes naming and voicing your frustration is where you find revelation. I want to encourage you. If you're frustrated about something, say something. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Don't be too scared to be honest. He already knows what you're thinking. I'm frustrated about this.
Why do I got to keep saying the same thing? Every time I come up here, I got to say hallelujah, thank you. He sits with that frustration. I don't know how long, but eventually he gets this revelation that has rocked my world. He says this. The world rings with praise. Lovers praising their mistresses. Readers their favorite poet. Players praising their favorite game. Praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, colleges, countries, flowers, politicians, or scholars. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses, but completes the enjoyment. It is its appointed consummation. This is it. The delight is incomplete till it is expressed. I need you to go home with just that. If you don't remember nothing, go home with this. The delight is incomplete till it is expressed. Worship is not for God's benefit, as if he has this desire that only your hallelujah can satisfy. Worship is an invitation from the Lord. The Lord is inviting you to experience the fullness or the completion of God's love through our divine interaction. That's why the Bible says in the presence of the Lord is the fullness of joy. There's pleasures at his right hand when? Forever. The Bible says that he opens up his hand and he satisfies the desire of every living thing. When you refuse to worship, you refuse joy. It's for you.
When you refuse worship, you refuse pleasure. When you refuse worship, you refuse peace. When you refuse to worship, you refuse the completion of love. I am encouraged by Luke not naming her because leaving her anonymous allows her to represent any of us and all of us. She being a woman, we being the bride of Christ. She believes in God, so do we. Her sins are forgiven, so are ours. She was restored back to her purpose through Jesus Christ, so were we. She was created to worship God, and so am I. But this is where I feel like our paths might separate. She takes all of that information. She bottles it up. And with all of that gratitude, she expresses her love so that it could be consummated, so that it could be made complete. And I believe that some of us do that, but not all of us do that. Likely because we haven't thought hard enough about where we've been and what God has done and how he did it. And so I wanted to trim my sermon down just to where it is for us to create some space to do what that nameless woman did.
Yes, right now. I want to invite all the nameless people that resonate with this story. I want to invite you up here, right up here to the front so that we can worship God and consummate the love that we have for him. Come on, come on, come on. I love you. I see you.
When you see yourself rightly, your response has to be like her response. When she hears that Jesus is reclining at Simon's house, she does not wait one moment. She don't care what everybody else has to say about it. She gets to Simon's house with her valuables, and she says, I want to pour my love all out on you. There was no organ. There was no drummer. There was no worship leader giving you lyrics to sing. All it was was gratitude pouring out from her heart. If you're grateful, you ought to have something to say. If you have nothing, I'll give it to you. Say thank you. Thank you for seeing me when I was dead in my sins. Thank you for seeing me when I was lost and out of my mind. Thank you for giving me a second chance and a third chance and a fourth chance and a fifth chance. My sins were many, so my worship is much.
Is there anybody here? If you don't have space in the front, just find a place to kneel. If you don't want to kneel, just lift your hands. That's why God gave them to you. If you don't want to lift your hands, then open up your mouth. That's why God gave it to you. It's not for God. It's for you. It's not necessarily for God. It's for you.
It's for you to experience his goodness fully. It's for you to experience his greatness fully. God, we open up our mouths and we say thank you. Oh, God, we pour out our love on you. I know we don't have music like we normally do, but I wonder, do we have anything in our hearts? I wonder if we have anything in our hearts. I wonder if we have a reason to praise you if we don't have a lyric that's given to us. I wonder, oh God, if you would meet us here just like you met with the woman with the alabaster box. I wonder if you would encourage us and remind us that we have been forgiven for much. I wonder if you would remind us that our faith is what saves us. We lift our hands in total adoration because that's the best thing my hands could ever do. I lift my voice in praise because my voice does not have anything better to do. I lift my feet and I jump because my feet does not have a better purpose than to lift it and jump in excitement because of you. I don't need an organ because I ain't got no organ when I'm at home. When I'm in my bedroom, all I got is me.
I don't have Elijah. I don't have Jay on bass. All I have is my heart full of praise saying thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your love. I thank you for your grace. I thank you for your compassion. It fails not but is new every morning. Great is your faithfulness to me. Oh God. I owe you way more than I could ever give you so I would give you my everything. So I would give you my everything. I owe you way more than I could give you so I give you my love. I owe you way more than I could give you so I give you my obedience. I owe you way more than I could give you so I give you my allegiance.
And it was on this day in church history that 120 people went up to an upper room and they. Were doing just like we were doing right now. There was no organ. There was no saxophone. There was no CD player. They were worshiping and waiting. They were praying and waiting. They were waiting on the fall of the Holy Spirit and Jesus and God fell down on them. And they started speaking in other tongues that they had never learned. And I believe that is possible today. I believe that is possible today. If you're wanting the gift of spoken tongues, then you just open up your mouth and let Him feel you. You just open up your mouth and tell Him to speak through you. Oh God, oh God, oh God, speak through us. Oh God, oh God, oh God, let's have a Pentecostal experience. Oh God, oh God, oh God, let us have a moment with you. We don't need no help from nobody else. All we need is a testimony. All we need is a testimony. It don't matter what you did. It doesn't matter what you said. You have been forgiven.
Your debts have been canceled and so in response, we give you glory. Speak, speak, speak, speak to your father. The delight is not complete until it is expressed. The joy will never be complete until it's expressed. Your peace will never be complete until you express. Express, express, express. I know this might be new for some and that's okay. It's new for all of us at one point. It was new for me at one point too, but one day I just said I'm gonna try it out. I'm gonna see what it feels like to fully extend my hands. Normally, I just lift my hands like this, but what would it feel like for my hand to be fully extended?
Would I feel more at joy? Would I feel more at peace? Would I feel more like myself? Would I feel like more of the person that God created me to be? Fill me up, God. Fill me up, Jesus, with more of you, with more of you, fill me up, God.
[music]
Express your love to the Father. Express your love, and watch your love be made complete. Watch your love be made complete. Watch your love. Watch your love be made complete. In Jesus' name, healing, salvation, Holy Ghost, fall down. Holy Ghost, fall down. Fall down. Fall down. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Nothing can satisfy my heart. Nothing can satisfy my heart. Fill me up, God. Sing. He gave us our lungs, not so that we can sing and make a whole lot of money.
He gave us our lungs so that we can sing to him. So sing. He gave us our bodies, not so that we can sell it and make a lot of money. He gave us our bodies so that we can worship. Fill me up, God, yeah. Fill me up, yeah. To worship you, I live. To worship you, I live, I live, to worship you. This is our lifeline, y'all. It's not the vegetables and the nutrients. To worship you. That is just a symbol. It's a shadow of what actually satisfies. To worship you, I live. Can we say, oh, oh, oh.
[music]
I'm encouraged. Y'all, we could... If you didn't matter, I could do this whole thing by myself in my prayer closet. If I didn't matter, you could do this whole thing by yourself in your prayer closet.
But there's something that happens when we gather together and all worship, one object of our affection, the object of our affection. It's something that happens. Your faith increases my faith, and my faith increases your faith, and there's this exchange, and there's this building, there's this glory to glory, and that's why we do it every week. I'm aware that there's another service that comes after this, but I want to give you a special invitation. If you're like, I got more to give, I need to sit at Jesus' feet just a little bit longer, I'm gonna invite you to the 11:45, because that's the one service that doesn't have a service afterward, and I don't want there to be disorder, I don't want there to be a mass exit and a bottlenecking situation. So I have to dismiss, but there might be some, maybe not all, but some that says, ah, I still got more stuff to consummate. I still got more stuff to make complete. I want to invite you back at 11:45 so that we can worship in community one more time. Let's pray. God, I thank you for your love. It is your love that we're actually responding to.
And in responding to your love, we actually receive more of your love. I don't know how you do it, but that's why you're God and I'm not. I don't have to understand everything. I've gotten to the point where I know that worship consummates love, but from there on, I'm out, and you're in, and you do all of the miracle working. You do all of the heart fixing. You do all of the way making. While we lift up your name, you work on us. And so I just want to say thank you for this exchange. Thank you for this interaction. Thank you for this divine design. Oh God, that worship is an invitation for us to experience you more fully. I pray that as we leave this place, we absolutely never leave your presence, that we make worship a lifestyle, that it's not just singing and serving and giving, but there is an inner commitment to align our hearts with yours from this day forward. In Jesus' name I pray, amen and amen.
