Message: Worship from a Heavenly Perspective

 

Intro:  Today we conclude the teaching series on Awakening the Awe of God in our lives. This is the first series I have taught on worship and it has been a daunting task.  We began with looking at Worship is more than singing – but singing is so important in our worship. Worship is Hallelujah! We boast – brag – honor God!  We looked at the places of surrender, humble confession and confession which I called the “sweet spot” of worship. We then moved to the importance of the Word of God in our worship. The Word is how we know about God, and therefore is the foundation for all that we do here and for our understanding of why we have come together. Last week we explored how to live a life of worship. Worship is not a noun – it is a verb and we are to live our lives to the praise of God’s glory!  True worship is defined by the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities. True worship is a matter of the heart expressed through a lifestyle of holiness. Thus, if your lifestyle does not express the beauty of holiness through an extravagant or exaggerated love for God, and you do not live in extreme or excessive submission to God, then I invite you to make worship a non-negotiable priority in your life.

Today we conclude this series with a message about worship from a Heavenly Perspective.  I immediately went to Revelation Chapter 4 to see what worship looks like in Heaven – Then to Rev. 19 where the heading is Hallelujah! But as I wrestled with this message – I decided worship in Heaven will not be what we consider a huge church service. It’s so much more.  It so much bigger…  Being with God in Heaven:

C. S. Lewis observed: "All the things that ever deeply possessed your soul have been hints of heaven. Tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy because they were there to arouse, to suggest the real thing. That real thing is heaven."

“No eye has ever seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”                              1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power.”                                                                                               Colossians 3:1 (NLT)

WHAT IS HEAVEN?

1.  IT’S WHERE GOD LIVES AND RULES

“Lord, I look up to You, up to heaven, where You rule.”                                                                                                      Psalms 123:1 (TEV)

2.  IT’S   REAL

There are many homes up there where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming. When everything is ready, then I will come and get you, so that you can always be with me where I am. If this weren’t so, I would tell you plainly.                            John 14:2 (TLB)

“Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths or rust can’t destroy it, and where thieves can’t break in and steal it.”      Matthew 6:20

3.  IT’S DESIGNED FOR US

“Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”  Matt. 25:34

“This is God’s purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together from wherever we are – in heaven or on earth-to be with him in Christ forever.”                                                                      Eph. 1:10 (LB)

“For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our city in heaven, which is yet to come.”                                                Heb. 13:14 (NLT)

“God looks down from heaven at people on earth to see if there are any who are wise, any who worship Him.”                             Ps. 53:2 (TEV) 

His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!                                                                            Ephesians 1:5 (TLB)

The family of God is the church of the living God. It is the pillar and foundation of the truth.                                                 1 Timothy 3:15b

  HOW WILL WE WORSHIP IN HEAVEN?

Know, Love, Serve, Share, Sing - HONOR GOD

NOT IN HEAVEN                               IN HEAVEN  

No Sickness                                       Reunion - Hebrews 12:22-23

No Sadness                                       Rewards -   Luke 6:35

No Suffering                                       Responsibilities - Luke 16:10-12

No Sin                                               Rest - Hebrews 4:9-11

No Death                                            Rejoicing - Matthew 25:21

The bottom line is this: In Heaven we’ll do what we’ve been practicing here on Earth. It’ll be an amazing adventure! No one can fully describe it on this side of eternity.  But you won’t want to miss it.  The life we live on this Earth is just a reflection of the life we will live in Heaven.  In Heaven we will be with God and there will be no sickness, sadness, suffering, sin or death.  Heaven is a wonderful place –filled with glory and Grace, I want to see my Savior’s face, Heaven is a wonderful place!

PREPARING FOR WORSHIP IN HEAVEN

 “The Good News tells us that God makes us ready for heaven—makes us right in God’s sight-when we put our faith and trust in Christ to save us.  This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.  As the Scripture says it, ‘The man who finds life will find it through trusting God.’                                                                                                                      Romans 1:17 (LB)

 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not Perish but have Everlasting Life.                                                                                                               John 3:16 (KJV)

“You are only visitors here on earth.  Since your real home is in heaven, keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls.”                                 1 Peter 2:11 (LB)

Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping him in the right way.           Romans 12:1

“If they had wanted to, they could have gone back to the good things of this world.  But they didn’t want to.  They were living for heaven.  And now God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has made a heavenly city for them.”                                               Hebrews 11:15-16 (LB)

 “This is why we never give up....  These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long.  Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever!   So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all round us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen.  The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.”                                                                     2 Cor. 4:16-18 (LB)

“Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here.”                                              Colossians 3:2 (LB)

PRAYER