Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
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What Do You Have To Offer?
Psalm 95:1-7 February 27, 2005
Here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down, Here I am to say that you’re my
Lord…
Have you ever looked at coming to church in that way? I know that we “say” that
we are coming to worship God. But does that thought hit our minds on a regular
basis?
I remember watching Monty Hall and Let’s Make a Deal on television when I was a
kid. I always fantasized about going on that program. Everyone in the studio
audience came dressed up hoping to get picked to go up on stage. They came with
their pockets full of odds and ends with the hope they might have something to
offer Monty Hall that would please him. Do you remember that? I was thinking
that this really shows my age.
Imagine coming to church like that? What would happen if we came to worship
ready to respond to any kind of suggestion? Just for the fun of it, does anyone
have a picture of four generations of the family in their wallet right now? Anyone
here have a baby’s pacifier with them? Does anyone here have a hair net with
them?
If you had any hope of coming away with anything wonderful on Let’s Make A Deal
you had to be prepared when you got there. How many of us come to worship in that
way?:How many of us come prepared to bow down and praise God and give him our
undivided love and attention?
The truth is that many of us come to church for all kinds of reasons. Some of us
come week after week out of habit. It’s a good habit, don’t get me wrong. But
some have been coming to church since they were children and it is simply “the
thing to do”
on Sunday morning.
Some come to church because they feel pressured to be here.
Noted Pastor and speaker, Tony Evans, said that growing up he had a drug
problem…he was drug to church every Sunday morning, and drug to church on
Sunday and Wednesday night. Maybe that’s you.
Maybe it’s your parents, or a spouse that has compelled you to come by either
force, threat, or guilt. And instead of fighting it every Sunday you’ve decided to just
come to church to avoid problems in your family.
Some people come for the fellowship. Your friends are here and so this is a chance
for you to get to catch up on the week’s events, a chance to greet one another with
a hug or a hand shake, a chance to be with people you care about.
There’s no doubt that some are here today, because they are hurting. It has been a
rough week, and things aren’t going well, so you’ve come hoping to hear a solution
to your problem and find some sense of hope and healing.
Finally some come to be entertained. Someone once told me that they liked coming
because they never knew what I was going to do next. I think that is a compliment.
Maybe it’s the music. You are here today because you like the contemporary songs
or the music the choir brings. Or perhaps you like to sing the hymns.
The truth is that I’m glad you’re here and I hope you find what you are looking for.
The church should be a part of your regular weekly routine and I do applaud
parents who have the courage to make sure their kids are in church on Sunday.
And I hope you do find a rich fellowship here because that is one of the things we
need, to love and to be loved, and if you are hurting I pray that word is spoken to
heal your pain. A word of hope that will inspire you…if that’s you, I’m glad you’re
here and I hope we can minister to you, but if you are a Christian and that’s your
primary reason for being here… then you’re missing the most important part of
being here.
The primary reason for attending a church service should be to worship God. The
psalmist says in Psalms 95:6-7 , “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel
before the LORD our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of his
pasture, the flock under his care.” Worship is more than just singing a few songs,
performing a few rituals and enduring a sermon. We come to church to experience
the presence of God, to acknowledge His authority in our lives and to worship Him
as our Creator.
So what is exactly is worship? Well, the English word worship means to ascribe the
highest worth to. So when we worship we are saying , “God you’re number one in
my life. You come before anything and anyone else.” That is what is meant when
we say, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and strength.
Nothing is more important to you than God. “You are more precious than silver,
more precious than gold.” We sang those words earlier.
When we worship, we take our focus off everything else and place it solely upon
God.
I guess the best way to put it is this, Worship is when we celebrate God. We give
Him the honor the glory, and most importantly we give of ourselves.
You see worship is not just a one hour thing, it’s a way of life. Romans 12:1 says,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Our worship on Sunday is a reflection of the worship we do the other 167 hours in
the week. So understand that worship is a way of life, and the worship service is the
reflection of what we’ve done throughout the week.
Our worship needs to reflect our feelings for God. I like the story about one man’s
love for his girl. He called her and said, “I would climb the highest mountain for
you, I would swim the widest river for you, I would crawl across the burning sands
of the desert for you.” Then he said: “If it doesn’t rain Wednesday night I will be
over to see you.”
There is a whole lot of worship that is like that today. It will not take very much to
keep us away from God, because we don’t consider worship to be an important
event in our lives. It’s important but not just at the top of the list. When we come,
we don’t expect to have to bring anything but ourselves. We can leave our minds at
home. We can just come through the motions.
It always bothers me when I hear people say that all they ever want at church is
our money. That’s not true. We want your money. We want it because God says
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We want more than your
money, we want your heart and soul too! You see its not about what “we” whoever
that is, wants, it is what God wants. If you are coming simply to kill time, or to
perform your duty, then you are coming for the wrong reason and you might as well
get up and go home because you will never get anything out of worship.
A few years ago I was up in New Hampshire for Jimmy Strouse’s wedding. On
Sunday morning I wanted to go to church. The only church with an early service
was this little Catholic church and so I made my way there. Everything was going
fine until the priest began to speak. He was mumbling and I couldn’t hear him. As
I looked closer it dawned on me that he must have been partially deaf because he
had hearing aids on both ears. As the service progressed I became more and more
irritated because I was looking forward to a good message, a word from God to
make my day. I rarely get a chance to be ministered to in this way and I began to
feel like I was being robbed. Just as I was getting to my boiling point, we sang a
second hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” Suddenly, I was hit with a realization that
this service was not about me. It was about God. Here I was looking for what I was
going to get and not about what I was going to bring to God. Then a funny thought
hit me, until I started singing, which I did with a lot more heart, God was probably
thinking, “Here I have Cal in worship with an opportunity to get his undivided
attention and he isn’t even paying attention to me. What a disappointment. He is
too concerned about my man down there tat he forgot about me!”
If you are coming to worship God, to give Him honor and glory, then something
wonderful will happen. If you come prepared to open up and sing his praises and
think about who He is and why He deserves all of your attention, then you will be
blessed. You will leave satisfied.
Fanny Crosby wrote these words we know so well, “To God be the glory, great
things he has done, so loved He the world that He gave us his son. Praise the Lord,
Praise the Lord. We sang them a few weeks ago at Adele’s anniversary party. We
ought to sing them every week. Adele’s party was a lot of fun. We praised her for
what she has done. Well every week when we step foot inside the door of the
church we ought to be celebrating what God has done. We ought to be bringing in
our gifts and our testimonies and stand up here and declare what god has done not
just for ten or twenty years, but for eternity.
Max Lucado, who writes some wonderful inspirational books wrote this about
worship. “Worship is a voluntary act of gratitude offered by the saved to the Savior,
by the healed to the Healer, and by the delivered to the Deliverer. And if you and I
can go days without feeling and urge to say “thank you” to the one who saved,
healed and delivered us, then we will do well to remember what he did..” When we
look at the cross and see the Son of god dying for our sins we stand in awe of the
love he has for each and every one of us.
God has done so much for us. So is it to much for God to ask for you to spend one
hour on Sunday morning, saying Thank you God.
Worship needs to be a priority in our lives, because God deserves it, but let me give
you another reason…because it gives God pleasure.
I’ll tell you one of the biggest thrills of my life, is when I see one of my girls. If I
come home after a rough day and I see them smile at me, it makes me melt. Now
imagine how God feels when on Sunday morning we gather here to rush at Him and
say “We love You God!”
So what do you say…. Are you bringing something to God today? If not ,then let’s
make a deal… Hey that sounds good. Let’s make a deal. Next week let’s try to
come prepared to worship. Pray before you come so you will be ready to pray when
you arrive. Sleep before you come so you’ll stay alert when you arrive. Read the
Word before you come so your heart will be soft when you worship
Then let’s come expecting God to speak and willing to listen. Let’s axknowledge the
fact that the responsibility to worship doesn’t fall on the church or even the pastor,
it falls on all of us. And if you don’t get anything out of a service then its not the
church’s fault it’s yours and mine.
Let’s come with a humble teachable heart that is eager to see God and learn from
Him. I’ll tell you what, if you and I come to worship like that, then we will see what
a great god we have and worship will be a blessing that we will carry with us all
week long.
Psalm 95:1-7 February 27, 2005
Here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down, Here I am to say that you’re my
Lord…
Have you ever looked at coming to church in that way? I know that we “say” that
we are coming to worship God. But does that thought hit our minds on a regular
basis?
I remember watching Monty Hall and Let’s Make a Deal on television when I was a
kid. I always fantasized about going on that program. Everyone in the studio
audience came dressed up hoping to get picked to go up on stage. They came with
their pockets full of odds and ends with the hope they might have something to
offer Monty Hall that would please him. Do you remember that? I was thinking
that this really shows my age.
Imagine coming to church like that? What would happen if we came to worship
ready to respond to any kind of suggestion? Just for the fun of it, does anyone
have a picture of four generations of the family in their wallet right now? Anyone
here have a baby’s pacifier with them? Does anyone here have a hair net with
them?
If you had any hope of coming away with anything wonderful on Let’s Make A Deal
you had to be prepared when you got there. How many of us come to worship in that
way?:How many of us come prepared to bow down and praise God and give him our
undivided love and attention?
The truth is that many of us come to church for all kinds of reasons. Some of us
come week after week out of habit. It’s a good habit, don’t get me wrong. But
some have been coming to church since they were children and it is simply “the
thing to do”
on Sunday morning.
Some come to church because they feel pressured to be here.
Noted Pastor and speaker, Tony Evans, said that growing up he had a drug
problem…he was drug to church every Sunday morning, and drug to church on
Sunday and Wednesday night. Maybe that’s you.
Maybe it’s your parents, or a spouse that has compelled you to come by either
force, threat, or guilt. And instead of fighting it every Sunday you’ve decided to just
come to church to avoid problems in your family.
Some people come for the fellowship. Your friends are here and so this is a chance
for you to get to catch up on the week’s events, a chance to greet one another with
a hug or a hand shake, a chance to be with people you care about.
There’s no doubt that some are here today, because they are hurting. It has been a
rough week, and things aren’t going well, so you’ve come hoping to hear a solution
to your problem and find some sense of hope and healing.
Finally some come to be entertained. Someone once told me that they liked coming
because they never knew what I was going to do next. I think that is a compliment.
Maybe it’s the music. You are here today because you like the contemporary songs
or the music the choir brings. Or perhaps you like to sing the hymns.
The truth is that I’m glad you’re here and I hope you find what you are looking for.
The church should be a part of your regular weekly routine and I do applaud
parents who have the courage to make sure their kids are in church on Sunday.
And I hope you do find a rich fellowship here because that is one of the things we
need, to love and to be loved, and if you are hurting I pray that word is spoken to
heal your pain. A word of hope that will inspire you…if that’s you, I’m glad you’re
here and I hope we can minister to you, but if you are a Christian and that’s your
primary reason for being here… then you’re missing the most important part of
being here.
The primary reason for attending a church service should be to worship God. The
psalmist says in Psalms 95:6-7 , “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel
before the LORD our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of his
pasture, the flock under his care.” Worship is more than just singing a few songs,
performing a few rituals and enduring a sermon. We come to church to experience
the presence of God, to acknowledge His authority in our lives and to worship Him
as our Creator.
So what is exactly is worship? Well, the English word worship means to ascribe the
highest worth to. So when we worship we are saying , “God you’re number one in
my life. You come before anything and anyone else.” That is what is meant when
we say, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and strength.
Nothing is more important to you than God. “You are more precious than silver,
more precious than gold.” We sang those words earlier.
When we worship, we take our focus off everything else and place it solely upon
God.
I guess the best way to put it is this, Worship is when we celebrate God. We give
Him the honor the glory, and most importantly we give of ourselves.
You see worship is not just a one hour thing, it’s a way of life. Romans 12:1 says,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Our worship on Sunday is a reflection of the worship we do the other 167 hours in
the week. So understand that worship is a way of life, and the worship service is the
reflection of what we’ve done throughout the week.
Our worship needs to reflect our feelings for God. I like the story about one man’s
love for his girl. He called her and said, “I would climb the highest mountain for
you, I would swim the widest river for you, I would crawl across the burning sands
of the desert for you.” Then he said: “If it doesn’t rain Wednesday night I will be
over to see you.”
There is a whole lot of worship that is like that today. It will not take very much to
keep us away from God, because we don’t consider worship to be an important
event in our lives. It’s important but not just at the top of the list. When we come,
we don’t expect to have to bring anything but ourselves. We can leave our minds at
home. We can just come through the motions.
It always bothers me when I hear people say that all they ever want at church is
our money. That’s not true. We want your money. We want it because God says
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We want more than your
money, we want your heart and soul too! You see its not about what “we” whoever
that is, wants, it is what God wants. If you are coming simply to kill time, or to
perform your duty, then you are coming for the wrong reason and you might as well
get up and go home because you will never get anything out of worship.
A few years ago I was up in New Hampshire for Jimmy Strouse’s wedding. On
Sunday morning I wanted to go to church. The only church with an early service
was this little Catholic church and so I made my way there. Everything was going
fine until the priest began to speak. He was mumbling and I couldn’t hear him. As
I looked closer it dawned on me that he must have been partially deaf because he
had hearing aids on both ears. As the service progressed I became more and more
irritated because I was looking forward to a good message, a word from God to
make my day. I rarely get a chance to be ministered to in this way and I began to
feel like I was being robbed. Just as I was getting to my boiling point, we sang a
second hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” Suddenly, I was hit with a realization that
this service was not about me. It was about God. Here I was looking for what I was
going to get and not about what I was going to bring to God. Then a funny thought
hit me, until I started singing, which I did with a lot more heart, God was probably
thinking, “Here I have Cal in worship with an opportunity to get his undivided
attention and he isn’t even paying attention to me. What a disappointment. He is
too concerned about my man down there tat he forgot about me!”
If you are coming to worship God, to give Him honor and glory, then something
wonderful will happen. If you come prepared to open up and sing his praises and
think about who He is and why He deserves all of your attention, then you will be
blessed. You will leave satisfied.
Fanny Crosby wrote these words we know so well, “To God be the glory, great
things he has done, so loved He the world that He gave us his son. Praise the Lord,
Praise the Lord. We sang them a few weeks ago at Adele’s anniversary party. We
ought to sing them every week. Adele’s party was a lot of fun. We praised her for
what she has done. Well every week when we step foot inside the door of the
church we ought to be celebrating what God has done. We ought to be bringing in
our gifts and our testimonies and stand up here and declare what god has done not
just for ten or twenty years, but for eternity.
Max Lucado, who writes some wonderful inspirational books wrote this about
worship. “Worship is a voluntary act of gratitude offered by the saved to the Savior,
by the healed to the Healer, and by the delivered to the Deliverer. And if you and I
can go days without feeling and urge to say “thank you” to the one who saved,
healed and delivered us, then we will do well to remember what he did..” When we
look at the cross and see the Son of god dying for our sins we stand in awe of the
love he has for each and every one of us.
God has done so much for us. So is it to much for God to ask for you to spend one
hour on Sunday morning, saying Thank you God.
Worship needs to be a priority in our lives, because God deserves it, but let me give
you another reason…because it gives God pleasure.
I’ll tell you one of the biggest thrills of my life, is when I see one of my girls. If I
come home after a rough day and I see them smile at me, it makes me melt. Now
imagine how God feels when on Sunday morning we gather here to rush at Him and
say “We love You God!”
So what do you say…. Are you bringing something to God today? If not ,then let’s
make a deal… Hey that sounds good. Let’s make a deal. Next week let’s try to
come prepared to worship. Pray before you come so you will be ready to pray when
you arrive. Sleep before you come so you’ll stay alert when you arrive. Read the
Word before you come so your heart will be soft when you worship
Then let’s come expecting God to speak and willing to listen. Let’s axknowledge the
fact that the responsibility to worship doesn’t fall on the church or even the pastor,
it falls on all of us. And if you don’t get anything out of a service then its not the
church’s fault it’s yours and mine.
Let’s come with a humble teachable heart that is eager to see God and learn from
Him. I’ll tell you what, if you and I come to worship like that, then we will see what
a great god we have and worship will be a blessing that we will carry with us all
week long.
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