The Power of Presence

[Steve Myers] Happy Sabbath, everyone. We sure appreciated this special music. Thank you, Ayla. What a wonderful reminder. God loves us and Christ died for our sins while we were still sinners. What an amazing God we have and we serve. Especially as we think about this time of the year, so many things to be thankful for. What are you most thankful for at this time of the year? I can tell you one thing I'm thankful for. Thanksgiving is a great time for dad jokes. It's absolutely the best. They're never-ending. I mean, they could go on and on and on. And I know you just can't wait to hear a few of them. 

Do you know what the turkey said to the hunter the day before Thanksgiving? Quack, quack, quack. Okay, there's one. You obviously heard what happened to the turkey that got into the fight. He got the stuffing knocked out of him. Right? Okay. We got a few. Yeah, okay. Now, some of these, they're not necessarily funny. They're just to kind of revive your memory just a little bit. You know why they let the turkey in the band, right? Because he already had a pair of drumsticks. How about that? Nice. Okay, enough of that. This isn't a joke-telling session, but I always try to tell a few of them along the way so that you can appreciate when I stop. That's not supposed to be the funniest thing that I say either. 

Well, we are here at this Thanksgiving weekend and we come together on the Sabbath. We are commanded to be here and we come together to honor and to worship God. And I think at this time especially, we should take into consideration how can we worship God more fully, and more effectively. We know we're supposed to carefully, diligently, willingly obey, and follow God. And we recognize the fact that worship is certainly a key because when you think about that, drawing closer to God means we've got to honor Him. We have to worship Him. But what does that mean? What does that look like? I mean, is worship an experience? Is it a feeling? Perhaps we come together here on the Sabbath, we come to services and there's a special moment during services that we truly worship God. Or maybe it's when we have a deep-seated humility and fall on our knees before God and praise Him. Or maybe it's just a unique special sense that God is with me. So as you begin to think about that, is worship a certain time or a certain place? Or perhaps the presence of God? What about the power of presence? 

Now does that happen after we sing a couple of songs? We sing three hymns and now I feel I'm ready and in the presence of God. Or maybe it's after some beautiful special music that really now that's worship. Or maybe it's just the fact that we're more aware that God is present, that He's around us, He's with us. Or as we consider the idea of worship, maybe we think back to the Old Testament of ancient Israel, keeping the pilgrimage feasts. And as they got closer to Jerusalem, they would begin to go up to the temple and then they would enter the outer court of the temple. And they would finally go into the inner court and eventually the priests would come to the Holy of Holies. Why that's worship. And perhaps we think of that in our minds today that somehow that's what worship's all about. Yet we have an interesting passage over in Psalm 46. If you'd like to turn there with me, I'd like to begin there this afternoon with an interesting reminder. In fact, Psalm 46 is one of those Psalms that we sing quite often during services. Psalm 46, we'll begin right at the very beginning of this chapter. See if you recognize the tune. 

Psalm 46:1 It says, “God is our refuge and strength, a present help in trouble.” 

Does that sound vaguely familiar? One of our hymns we sing this, God is our refuge and our strength in straits of present aid. Look at that beautiful hymn. Notice what it says in verse 2.

Psalm 46:2-3 “Because God is our refuge, He's there at all times, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed.” Now what could be more fearful than that? An amazing earthquake. It says, “Mountains carried into the midst.” That sounds a little scary to me. But He says, no, “We're not going to fear. God's our refuge, even though the earth is removed.” Verse 3, “Though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.” 

Just imagine that. Scripture says, think about that. And yet, if we look down to verse 10, be still. We have the opposite side of things. From the earth shaking and roaring and moving to stillness. 

Psalm 46:10-11 “Be still and know I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”

 Think about that. That God is always near. God can always be found. He's ever present. And so how much are we truly aware that the Holy One of Israel, God Almighty, is in our midst and a help, a present help, always a help? And so when it comes to carefully and diligently and willingly obeying and following God, it's undeniable that we must worship properly. And Psalm 46 begins to give us a focus. I think as we consider this, just think about our focus for a minute. Think about our mindset. 

When it comes to worship, is it about preferences? Is it about how I feel? How inspired are you this afternoon? Is that what it's about? And I better step back and say, you know, worship doesn't revolve around me, does it? Doesn't revolve around people, how I moved or how passionate I feel or even how spiritual. Worship is not about me. It's not about you. When we recognize that, we begin to see and really understand the awesomeness of God. If you turn with me to the New Testament, notice John 15:5. You're familiar with this passage, but it certainly speaks to this fact when it comes to true, godly worship, it isn't about me. It isn't about my feelings. It's not about how moved I am. It's about God. John 15:5, Here Christ Himself sets the tone when it comes to having this focus that we need to have, this direction in our thinking. 

John 15:5 Christ says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit.” Yes, we need to be growing, no doubt about that. But do we recognize the focus we need to have? That's that next phrase that Christ gives. He says, “For without me, you can do nothing.” 

Nothing. It's not about me. It's not about how inspired I feel. In fact, 2 Corinthians chapter 3:5, Christ mirrors, or the apostle Paul mirrors Christ's words here in 2 Corinthians chapter 3:5. Because being capable people, we sometimes feel we can handle these things. We can worship properly in the way that we want to. And if I'm not feeling moved, if I'm not feeling spiritual, something's wrong with them or something's wrong with that. The sermon's not inspiring enough. The music isn't inspirational. I just don't have that sense. 

2 Corinthians 3:5 Paul says, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves.” 

Can I of myself be spiritually sufficient? Paul says, no. Our sufficiency is from God. Our competency, our abilities, our value, our adequacy, all of that stems from God. And it points to the fact that acceptable worship doesn't start with me. It doesn't start with us. Where does it start? With God. It starts with God. Our ability to come before God starts with Him. It starts with Him. He acts first. We know that. We know that too. We probably memorized John 6:44. We know Christ said, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws Him.” Doesn't start with me. Christ said a very similar thing, John 14:6, where He said, “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” We can't come to Christ unless the Father draws us. We can't come to the Father unless we come through Jesus Christ. It doesn't start with us. And so we must experience the power of God's presence. And it causes us to step back and recognize He created us. He made us with the ability and the capability of responding to Him. And He's revealed Himself to us, whether we grew up in the Church or not.

No matter where we're from, He revealed Himself to us and He provides eternal life. He gives salvation through Jesus Christ. He drew us into a relationship with Him. And so we have that pattern that God always initiates and we must respond. That's our calling. And our response then, our primary response should be worship. It should be worship. Yes, it turns into a careful, willing obedience, no doubt about that. And in worship we praise and we honor and we glorify God and His greatness that He's revealed to us. And we respond with thanksgiving for what God does and what He will do. And so we come before Him in awe, in a relationship that God initiated. 

And even that response to God, where does that start? Where does our response to God... Oftentimes when I think, well, I chose to follow... When I found God, when I chose to obey Him... Wait a second. He initiated this. Even our response to God doesn't depend on our own strength, but by the power of God's Holy Spirit working in us, working in us. There's a beautiful passage in Galatians 3:3. Those poor Galatians got into this idea that somehow they were capable, that they could initiate this, that they were the ones that were responding of and by their own power and their own abilities. But notice what Galatians 3:3 says. It certainly speaks to this aspect that God is the one that even initiates our response. Paul wrote to the Galatians.

Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” 

We recognize even God draws us and leads us to repent when we get off track. God initiates that and without Him, we would be lost. And so this concept of we can't be perfect by our own effort. Yet we can, as God initiates this response, we can submit to God. We can submit to His calling and we can ask God and ask Him to lead us and guide us. In fact, we did that this afternoon, didn't we, as we began services. We asked God to bless this service and lead this service, to make His presence known. Certainly we come together and worship and that is an obedient response. It's a, this is a commanded assembly. We must come together and worship. But don't get me wrong, we really can't invite God to be present in our worship. Well what do I mean by that?

Well we read Psalm 46, He's already here. He's already here. We need to be ready. We need to have our focus that God is present, that God is with us. And it reminds me of a man who was living his life. He was feeling good about his… In fact, he was so blessed that it just seemed like nothing ever went wrong in his life.

But then there was this emptiness that he felt that something was, he felt distant from God. Where was God? You know, if God had been with him and had blessed him, why didn't he feel near? Why wasn't he there any longer? And he prayed to God and he said, God, where are you? Why? Why, why have you left me? Do you know what God's response was? Who moved? Who moved? You see because God is always present and it speaks to the fact that we're the ones and whether it's in good times or whether it's in difficult times, times of distress, God, where are you? And yet scripture speaks so strongly to this. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Those are rhetorical questions in Psalm 139:7. We can't. God is ever present. It is his nature. It is his nature. He is omnipresent. He is everywhere. And so instead of us asking God to be present at our service, we come before God who calls us to worship, who initiates worship and he reveals himself and he's established the beginning of this relationship by his power, by his mercy, by his grace. And so we recognize the focus needs to be in God's direction. Colossians chapter 1 verse 29 certainly is one of those passages that recognizes God's revealing to us his greatness, his plan, his purpose. And our response is to worship, to worship. Colossians chapter 1 verse 29, just a short little one off here that Paul writes to those in Colossae as Paul had that focus. 

Colossians 1:29 He says, “To this end, I also labor, striving according to his working which works in me mightily.” 

And so even coming before God, he's the one that empowers us. He's the one that initiates our response. Paul says that very thing. His working works in me. It wasn't that Paul was such a great apostle on his own. He was submitting to God the Father and to Jesus Christ. And so if we feel distant from God, it's not because he moved away. It's not that at all, but because we've moved, we've shifted our focus away from him. And whether that be through sin or whether that be through neglect or whether that be through distraction, those things move us away from God. And yet God's perspective is He's always ready to draw us near when we turn to Him. And He gave us a Savior, the means to come before Him, the means that we can be acceptable to God. And so if we are truly to be diligent and careful in following and obeying Him, willingly obeying and keeping His commandments, that means we've got to have that focus and stay close to God and grow in that relationship with Him. So it begins with our focus. And that worship then is a complete act. It's a way of glorifying God, dedicating ourselves completely to Him, aligning ourselves, moving ourselves into His presence and making that the forefront, making that the focus of our life. And so it's a great reminder that when you think about worship, it's not only what we're doing this afternoon here at services. Worship applies to all of life.

I think it's an important point to remember, worship is a lifestyle. So we need to change our focus from just an afternoon service on the Sabbath to worship is a lifestyle. It is a lifestyle. We only think of church services, you know, we fall into a wrong frame of thinking. You know, you've probably heard it. Well, you know, if we update our music in the Church, services would be so much better. Boy, people would hang around. Maybe we'd get more young people if we just updated our music. Okay. Certainly, music is a worshipful act before God. And I don't want to discount that at all. It's an important part of our worship service. We have to be careful how we relate that to worship. How does that relate to worship?

If you do a study, there aren't too many places where music and worship are actually mentioned in the same passages. Many times music is mentioned as being worshipful. Praise the Lord. We know all of those passages. Certainly, we can praise God and worship Him through music.

What we begin to find is that worship and music aren't synonymous. In fact, when you look up worship, whether you look it up in the Old Testament and the Hebrew or you look it up in the Greek and the New Testament, worship is connected to bowing down. It's connected to reverence. It's connected to falling down on our knees in respect and humility before God. It's about submission and it's about honoring God. And passage after passage throughout Scripture focuses on that very thing. Whether you talk about Moses bowing his head to the earth and worshiping God, Exodus 34:8 focuses on that. If you fast forward to the Israelites coming into the Promised Land, Joshua comes before the one who would become Jesus Christ and he falls on his face and worships. Joshua 5:14, he comes before the commander of the Lord's army. Yes, he falls down in worship. He doesn't sing a song, but he falls to the ground and bows his head. In fact, we sing many songs that certainly praise and worship God, but they focus on that aspect. Oh, come and let us worship Him. Let us bow down with all and on our knees before the Lord. Right? That's Psalm 95:6.

It's about worship. Yes, singing, songs, instrumental, certainly a part of worship. But what I think we find that is not the core of worship. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a musician. I love music. I love praising God through music. Absolutely, no doubt. But do a study and you won't find those things interconnected with the worship and singing. Yes, it's implied in the singing, certainly. But the act of bowing down and falling before God, it's not just a matter of words. It's not just songs. But I think it points to a greater whole that you can't have one without the other. That's where it gets to be important. And that's where it ties into worship because worship is an entirety. Worship is about a completeness. Falling down before God and honoring Him, coming before Him in humility, it points to our whole being. Not just one aspect, not just one way. And so, no wonder, even in our worship services, yes, we have music. We have speaking. We have the whole package that comes together. And so when we recognize that, it takes all those parts and they all speak to true worship. 

And I think it also then helps us to recognize that God is supreme. And in life, wow, that's hard to keep that focus. It's hard to recognize worship as a lifestyle because life pulls us this way and then it pulls us that way. And we get focused on this and we get distracted by that. And yet if we think of life, you might imagine life kind of like a great big cabinet with all these various drawers. And all those drawers could symbolize our life. And we've got our job drawers. This is my occupation. And I pull that out and I use that when I got to go to work. Well then there's my husband drawer and there's my relationship with my wife. And I've got my kids drawer over here, my dad drawer, or my papa drawer over here. And all those different roles and responsibilities that we have. And we kind of open and close drawers as we fulfill all these various duties and responsibilities. And that's normal. And it's, yeah, it's necessary as we do that. But what about God?

And what about worship? It was God, one of the drawers. You see, all too often I think we may consider it that way. But God cannot merely be a drawer. I mean, He's the cabinet. He's the cabinet that makes it all possible. And sometimes I think we lose that perspective, that all those other aspects of our life have to be shaped by a relationship with Him. And so we have to ask ourselves, where does God fit in? He can't be just a place in our life. God has to be first place in our life. And so it speaks to this fact that worship applies to all of life, all of life. And when you begin to recognize the importance of God being in all, that should remind us, when we walk out of the doors this afternoon, does worship stop? Worship shouldn't end. Worship shouldn't end.

You see, when we change our focus and recognize worship applies to all of life, worship should not end. Yes, the Holy Convocation comes to an end, no doubt about that. We finish the Holy Convocation, the Son will set, Sabbath will be over. But worship shouldn't end. When do you stop worshiping? Every day, every hour of the day we direct our attention somewhere. We direct our allegiance either toward the one true God or to all that stuff out there, all those other things that can't satisfy, all those things that never really encourage in the end, never can truly offer help.

I certainly don't want to forget Isaiah 55 where it tells us, “why do you spend money for what's not bread? Your wages for what doesn't satisfy?” You see, that's the thing. All that doesn't satisfy, which I think in one way, when we came into services today, we were already worshiping something. We shouldn't have to wait for hymns to start, opening prayer, the right words in the sermonette or the right songs or the right feeling because it's not just a special moment at church services.

Because if we're going to be carefully and diligently and willingly obeying and following God, we recognize that true worship and honoring God is a state of our hearts and our minds throughout our daily life, throughout every day and should be in every hour. Paul reminded the Corinthians of this, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. Here's Paul speaking to that very point as he considers this concept of a complete relationship with God, one where worship shouldn't end. It shouldn't end. So notice what he reminds the Corinthians of here.

1 Corinthians 10:31 He says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 

So whether we're having a Thanksgiving dinner, spending time with the family, walking down the street, coming into services, going to whatever, do we recognize those are moments of opportunities to worship God? Now, the challenge is that means I've got to have the right perspective. I've got to change my mindset. And so, yeah, today I can worship God. I can worship God by greeting people at Sabbath services.

I can worship God by listening intently to the sermon. Yeah, I can worship God that way. I can pray for others. I can certainly encourage and have meaningful conversations with others. But I can continue to worship after leaving services. I could have some people over for dinner tonight. I could even worship God by going home and taking a nap. Is that possible? Why? I think so. Because it speaks to the fact that worship doesn't stop. Because if I'm going to faithfully honor God at all times, in my home, at work, at school, when I'm having fun in the neighborhood, in my marriage, in my family, that means I've got to have that perspective. I've got to have that mindset. Whatever I do, I'm in that perspective of worship.

And God is on my mind. He isn't just a place. He is first place in my thinking. And in a way, God's called us to this beautiful opportunity. We could even think of it as God calling us to this beautiful pristine river. You think of the river of life, right? The river of life with life flowing through it, a pristine, beautiful stream. If you can imagine, water is just pure, always moving, living water, never stagnant, constantly available. And here we are standing by this amazing stream of beautiful life-giving water. We're holding a cup. And with that cup, we could dip it into that beautiful water.

And we can take a sip of that beautifully clean, cool, satisfying wetness. And we can drink. We can drink deeply. What do you think it does? Certainly quenches our thirst. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. It refreshes us instantaneously. And as we think about that beautiful, beautiful stream and that life-giving water, it's like God's presence. It's there with us. It's always flowing. It's always pure. It's always available. And in a sense that cup can represent our worship. The question is, how often do we dip that cup into that life-giving stream?

We only take a sip on the Sabbath during church services occasionally, once in a while, if I remember during the week. I think it just is amazing that we miss out. We miss out on the constant flow of the presence of God in our life. That's available every single moment of the day. He's always present, ever present. And so worship itself should be that continuous stream, making that daily, hourly, moment by moment choice to connect with God, no matter what it is we're doing, whatever we're doing, and whether we're working or eating or relaxing or spending time with family, every action can be connected to an act of worship.

If it's done with a heart to honor and please God. And so it speaks to the fact worship isn't just an event. It's a lifestyle. It's about offering every moment to God in whatever we do in gratitude and in reverence, constantly dipping our cup into that life-giving stream and drawing from the presence of God throughout the day.

All day, not just on the Sabbath day, but throughout the moments of our life. Worship shouldn't end. And so it speaks to the fact that worship is about living in that presence of God, living in the presence of God. And if we're living in the presence of God, it reminds us that if you're there, you can't help but worship. You can't help but worship. Revelation 5, verse 13 speaks to this fact. Let's notice that as we think about how worship focuses us and changes our focus, and that it applies to all of life as choosing to be our lifestyle, recognizing worship shouldn't end. We realize that worship is about living there, living in the presence of God. Revelation 5, verse 13, here we've got those that are right there at the throne of God. And what's their perspective? Let's read about it. 

Revelation 5:13 It says, “Every creature which is heaven and earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them I heard saying, ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and the lamb forever and ever.’ Then the four living creatures said, amen, and the 24 elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever.” 

And so the very presence of God brings about this state of gratefulness, this state of awe and reverence and worship and wonder, all of those things are a result of being there in the presence of God. And when can we be there? Any time, all the time. And if we don't feel the presence of God, remember what the Psalm said, where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? We recognize the fact that God has brought us close to Him. By the power of Jesus Christ, we can come to the Father. And we've been given God's Holy Spirit and we are a temple of the Holy Spirit. We can house the very Spirit of God so we can always be in the presence of God. We can always be there. And so that should change everything. That should change the way we think. And so Christ emphasized that over and over and over. Remember what He said in Matthew 28? He said, well, I'm with you once in a while. So maybe if you're really nice, I'll be with you till the end of the... Oh, no, He doesn't say that. 

Matthew 28:20 He said, “I am with you always, always, even to the end of the age.” 

And so it speaks to that very fact. Maybe we could just remind ourselves, there's so many passages that tell us this very fact. Hebrews 13 verse 5 is one that really jumps out at us. You're very familiar with it, but one that, well, sometimes we just need to be reminded of this presence that we can always be in no matter what. No matter what. And so here we're reminded, Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 5, what are we reminded of? He tells us very clearly. Have you forgotten the exhortation? Oh, not 12, chapter 13 verse 5.

Hebrews 13:5 He says, “Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with the things you have, for He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’” 

And so we can trust His promises. And when we recognize that, we realize, yes, we worship God. And yes, we come together at services and we can rejoice and we can be convicted by the Word of God. We can choose to strive to follow Him even closer. We can ultimately deepen our love and respect in a relationship with God, especially when we gather on the Sabbath. But we also recognize that's not the only time we're worshiping God. Worship is about living and choosing to live in God's presence because worship goes on. Worship goes on. Colossians chapter 3 verse 17 is much like that passage we read in Corinthians. And it certainly speaks to a lifestyle of worship. And so as we consider this, notice what Paul wrote to the Colossians. Chapter 3 and verse 17, here it speaks to that fact of drinking continually from that beautiful life-giving stream of the presence of God. We worship God. 

Colossians 3:17 “In whatever we do, in word or deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” 

So by what we say, by what we do, we worship. And what an amazing, wonderful calling we have that we worship because we can be thankful and live in that state of mind and approach Him. As we were reminded this week about having a heart of gratitude and praising Him, we can show that we worship and honor Him by obeying, obeying, and following His commands. And of course, responding when He calls us to repentance because repentance is a form of worship that we have a right relationship with God when we seek His forgiveness and we look to have our sins forgiven. 

And of course, prayer is a vital part of worship as we pray and ask God for His guidance, this continual communication, seeking His presence, petitioning God on behalf of others and just studying His word, reading and meditating on His word and then putting it into practice. Edifying others, giving generously, encouraging others, helping build them up, extending kindness and love, all of those things are aspects of worship as we use the gifts and the talents, the abilities that God has given us. And we change our focus and our mindset to a heart that is willing to serve and to give to God and to others as well. 

So hopefully as we consider this aspect of worship, we realize it's a continual response to the very presence of God, that we've been given the power of God's Holy Spirit. We can have the mind of Christ. He's in us and can be working through us. And so worship is never just limited to the realm of feelings. And so with God's direction and with God's help, we can change our perspective. And through worship, we can choose to live in the power of God's presence as we offer Him praise and consistent worship. And by doing that, it changes everything. We are transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. So let's recognize the fact, that we can carefully and diligently and willingly obey and follow God as we continuously worship anywhere, anytime, but most importantly all the time.