6/18/2018 Worship That’s Good To God Micah 6:8 In Context Good worship involves our entire lives, not just our religious rituals. Micah 6:6-8, NIV With what shall I come before the lord and bow down before he exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Not Religious Rituals Alone God doesn’t look only at the quality of what we offer him during the worship service. Micah 6:6-7, NIV With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?...Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 1
6/18/2018 Not Religious Rituals Alone God doesn’t look only at the quanity of what we offer him during the worship service. Micah 6:7, NIV Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Isaiah 1:11 , NIV “The multitude of your sacrifices –what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals…” It’s Bad Worship When… God can’t stand the smell of our church services! Amos 5:21, NIV “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me…” Isaiah 1:13-14, MSG & 29:13, NIV “Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings–meetings, meetings, meetings–I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning…These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” God Gets Sick Of Religious Meetings… When the church building becomes a hideout for hypocrites! Jeremiah 7:9-11, NLT Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!” –only to go right back to all those evils again? Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves?” 2
6/18/2018 It’s Bad Worship When… God can’t stand the sight of our offerings and prayers! Amos 5:22, NIV Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Isaiah 1:15-16 , MSG When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces…Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so that I don’t have to look at them any longer. It’s Bad Worship When… God can’t stand the sound of our singing! Amos 5:23, NIV & MSG Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps…When was the last time you sang to me ? Worship That’s Good To God Act justly! Love Mercy! Walk humbly with your God! Amos 5:24, NIV & TLB But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!...I want to see a mighty flood of justice–a torrent of doing good. Isaiah 1:16-17, MSG & Jeremiah 7:5-6, NLT Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless…I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans and widows… 3
6/18/2018 Worship That’s Good To God “167 + 1” We should worship God by the way we live every hour of the week, not just by what we do during the one hour we sit in church on Sunday! 4
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