Lift your Hands
Come to Worship • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Friend got a job as a conductor…. Said there was a lot of training
Used to be in a band called Varnish, we covered the doors…
coop thanks
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
Approach Christmas—Birth of our Savior—4 messages on worship
2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
Why are they here? they came to worship him...
Not coming for what could get from God—God would do for them—Worship.
Western Christianity often puts us at the center… its all about what God can do for us… if we say the right prayer if we do whatever he asks he will have no choice but to get what we need...—Cosmic coke machine.
Post about it… talk about how great he is… like every good statement… then god will give you whatever you want because he exists for us...wants us to be happy...
God is not here for us—We’re here for God!
WE were created to please God… to glorify him… to worship him… to make him known… to bring him honor
one thing we can learn is that not just on Sunday but all days to be worshippers of God…. we are created to be worshippers of him from the depths of our hearts… I want to help us worship him intimately… and love him more than anything..
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God is pleased with our hearts of worship
4 postures of worship, Bring gifts * Pour out heart * Bow knees
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LIFT YOUR HANDS TO GOD
In a heart of worship...
if you are new to church you don’t understand what is going on when people are lifting their hands...
You realize it may be real to us, but you don’t think it fits in for you….
Let me show you this really cool video...
Tim Hawkins * Carry tv, Big screen
Fish was this big
Hold my baby—Mofassa, regular, Mofassa
#1, High 5 Jesus, Pageant girl, I’m single, Block the shot
All kinds of ways to worship with your hands… lets look at scripture and see why we do something with our hands as a reflection of what is going on in our hearts...
Psalm 63:1-4
David in Wilderness at a very low point in his life.
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
How many of you are in a place like this in your life, you feel alone, rejected, you don’t feel like life would turn out like this, we are moving into the holidays and for some people this is the worst time of year… it tends to be a magnifier… of the good and the bad… David is crying out… I need you god… nothing on earth can satisfy me right now...
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.3 Because your love is better than life,
The love of God is better than live its ever lasting… never fades away… and because of that….
my lips will glorify you..
I didn’t deserve it so I have to praise you...
4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
This isn’t because things are going well, David is in the wilderness remember….
and in your name I will lift up my hands. Ps 63:1-4 (David in wilderness)
Because of who you are I will praise and glorify you.
I wasn’t raised to worship this way… I grew up in a stuffy baptist church… man, if you winked too many times you got in trouble… but as I sought God I realized there had to be so much more… I didn’t understand why people weren’t worshipping God the way I saw in the Bible… why didn’t they do that...
Can’t experience God and not show gratitude.
Men, let me show you something….
Paul is writing this letter, and was giving Timothy instructions to help Xians worship—remember Paul hated Xians
8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.
Interested that it says men… this isn’t mankind… and its interesting because men are the last to do this… and I thought it was interesting… because I think Paul is telling us we need to be the leaders.. Guys… God wanted you to lead your children… don’t let your wives out worship you… Don’t dare let your kids out worship you...
At the end of worship today I am going to ask all of you, Christian or not to lift up your hands in worship, and guys you better be the first ones...
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Why lift hands?
1. God loves when we do.
Some guys don’t care about babies… don’t lie...
Guys… don’t tell me you don’t like when your kids… Dada. Frankenstein walk. Hands lifted.
No loving father would turn from the lifted hands of his child. And our heavenly father loves when our hands lift toward him…We just read about it a few weeks ago in James...
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Ja 4:8 NAS
As we draw near to our heavenly father, he draws closer to us… why do we do this, because God loves it..
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2. Offering of praise
Lifting your hands can be an offering to God...
1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help!
2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
(David—lowest point of life.)
Accept my up raised hands as an offering… for some of you today this will be the first time that you have raised your hands as an offering to God… you will feel a little out of your comfort zone, but you will know that is what you are supposed to do… and just tell him, God I am offering my heart to you..you may not feel like it… but do it anyway… not because of what I see… but because of what I know….
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Worship * Reaching out to God * Offering of praise *
3. Declaring Battle
Some of you may be in a real dark place… and you are lifting your hands to declare battle and say I need God with me to go to this battle...
Example Ex 17
Amalekites attacked Israelites
Moses said to Joshua—choose some men and go to battle
They declared war… we are going back...
Tomorrow I’ll stand point on top of the mountain and raise my hands to God.
10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Winning, close, losing.
Some of you are battling
Losing—on your own! It may be time to lift up your hands and say I trust you no matter what… I will praise you in spite of what I see and trust in you… I lift my hands because I know that greater is he that is in me than one that is in the world…I lift up my hands….look at the next verse...
12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Not only do you need God—need each other.
Worship together together we will press in to him… when you can’t do it, I will help...—two or three gather
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Lift hands—throughout history—symbolized 2 things
VICTORY Go crazy at games. People get crazy religious at games….
SURRENDER
In God it means both simultaneous…. in the moment that you surrender to him… you find victory in him...
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You lift your hands to crazy stuff all the time...Take a moment—sing—NOT XIAN—sings songs you don’t believe all time.
Chew tobacco chew tobacco spit...
Lift your hands in an act of worship to God
Can we do king of kings again here
EXTRA SONG HERE
Pray….
IF yu truly want to be a worshipper all 7 days… you’re in a battle and you want to worship him through the battle just raise your hand...