'Finding GOD in your iPod' - iLearn - by Cathleen Parks

"All Because Of You" - U2

I was born a child of grace
Nothing else about the place
Everything was ugly but your beautiful face
And it left me no illusion

I saw you in the curve of the moon
In the shadow cast across my room
You heard me in my tune
When I just heard confusion

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am...I am

I like the sound of my own voice
I didn't give anyone else a choice
An intellectual tortoise
Racing with your bullet train

Some people get squashed crossing the tracks
Some people got high rises on their backs
I'm not broke but you can see the cracks
You can make me perfect again

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am...I am

I'm alive
I'm being born
I just arrived, I'm at the door
Of the place I started out from
And I want back inside

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am

I love the line in the U2 song we just heard that says, ‘You heard me in my tune, when I just heard confusion.’
I am so thankful that God ‘hears us in our tune’. He knows us so well. He looks at us and sees all of our potential. He sees what he created us to be.

LOOK AT VARIOUS SEEDS
For these seeds to be all that they hold the potential to be they have to do a lot. Now think about all that has to happen for a seed to become what it is created to be. They have to be dispersed. They have to open up, they have to take root, they have to have the right conditions for growth (the right amount of sunlight, water, soil - and seeds needs are very different) they have to be given the opportunity to grow and be given their needs during their growth.

Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23 (Message)
3-8"What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.
 9"Are you listening to this? Really listening?"
The Meaning of the Harvest Story
 18-19"Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.
 20-21"The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
 22"The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.
 23"The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams."

Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23 (NIV)

3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
  
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

The sower is anyone who spreads the Word of God

The seed is the Word of God

The soil is the heart of the person hearing the Word of God

Now as Jesus told this story he was speaking to those living in the region of Palestine and so the palestinian way of sowing and reaping a harvest would have been their mental backdrop to the picture Christ was creating through the parable. Explain the sower throwing the seed from the bag flung over his shoulder and the roads between and through the fields

The seed that falls on the road represents a hardened/calloused heart.
This is like the person who hears the word of God but because of a hardness, a critical spirit, a harsh judgmental way of viewing life - it never takes root in their heart and Satan comes and steals the Word, steals what was never able to penetrate the hardened heart.

The seed that falls on the gravel or stoney ground.
You picture this as soil w/lots of rocks, but it isn’t. In the land of Palestine much of the ground was just a bit of topsoil that was on top of rock. When seed fell on this ground it didn’t have enough earth for the roots to dig down deep enough so whenever there was any kind of problem, when the sun came out, when conditions were anything less than perfect then the seed just dried up. This is like the person who casually hears the word of God and lets it kind of get into his heart but really doesn’t think about it or ponder it too carefully. Churches all over our country are full of these individuals right now. They are in church because they keep up good appearances there or they maintain good business contacts over the weekend or it’s obligatory and they just feel like they ‘should’ go to church and so in they go and they hear the word of God and it may even catch their attention - for a minute -but they don’t take it seriously enough to let it really go deep into there spirit and it just withers away as the hours and days pass by.

The seed that falls in the weeds.
This one hits home with all of us because we’ve all experienced weeds in our lives. These seeds represent the word of God that falls on listening ears - not calloused hearers - not casual hearers, but those that want to know God in a greater way, those that desire a greater depth of relationship with Him, but our lives are so crowded with family life and business life and all the stuff that the thing that we really wanted - time w/the Word, time to hear it and time to apply it, and the Word - the very Word that is life to us and to our souls - it just gets choked out - becomes unfruitful in us.

Then there is the seed that falls on the good soil. In this soil the Bible tells us the seed, which represents Word, germinates. It takes its root and it bears fruit. Some of it 30 fold some 60 fold and some 100 fold. It is a heart that is ready to receive the Word of God. When the Word becomes imbedded in a persons heart it begins to multiply, to transform into what God designed it to be.

Now let me show you this...the difference between all of these seeds growing is not the seed, not the sower, but the soil. It’s not always the sower who does a bad job of sowing, it’s never the word of God (the seed) that doesn’t produce, the Bible says that in this particular story the problem is the one who hears, the soil, the listener.
I wonder where you find yourself in this parable? Are you a calloused heart? I mean are you here because you kind of have to be, either by design or by conscience and your going to hear everything but really that’s it - you really don’t want to go any further. Are you casual about it - you know, kind of yeah I hear yah, but a little time passes and well....it’s gone. Is your life crowded so that really you don’t have time at all for the Word of God? Or are you developing a caring, concerned heart to receive God’s truth? Do you say to yourself, ‘Boy I’d really like to move to the next step here - to advance in this journey that I’m on.’ Let me direct you to one more passage in scripture to look at
James 1:21-24
"In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.
Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like."

Who here can relate to that? You read something and someone can ask you about what you just read and you don’t have clue?

A guy by the name of Mortimer J. Adler wrote a book called ‘how to read a book’. And in it he said this:
The 1 time people read for all they are worth is when they are in love and they are reading a love letter. They read every word 3 ways. They read between the lines and the margins. The read the whole in terms of the parts and each part in terms of the whole. They grow sensitive to context and ambiguity, to insinuation and implication. They perceive the color of the words, the order of the phrases and the weight of the sentences. They may even take the punctuation into account. Then if never before or after, they read it carefully and in depth.
Now I’m telling you if we learn to read the Bible like that - we will be surprised what happens. When we ask questions. Why is that there? Why is this here? What does this mean? You don’t just read it. You read it and absorb it and you work with it. But don’t just read the words. Let the Word of God get into your heart as you focus your attention on it’s truth. If you don’t do that, then reading the Bible will be a meaningless ritual and that’s not what God intends for it to be. Look at the next verse there in
James 1:25
"But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action."

'Finding GOD in your iPod' - iLove

This song, ‘Chain of Love’ is just 1 of Clay’s 5 # 1 hits.
Clay is from Beaumont, Tx. & gives much of the credit of his success to his wife, 2 daughters and his faith in God.
I don’t think there’s a better song to find God on your iPod than this one:
chorus-
You don't owe me a thing,
I've been there too
Someone once helped me out,
Just the way I'm helping you
If you really want to pay me back,
Here's what you do
Don't let the chain of love end with you

Summed up in a word - iLove
"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
1 John 3:18
(instilling mess. into children and it’s for us all) - Here’s why?
Treat everybody as if they have a need
- b/c everybody does.

We want to be people who are known by love:
Some of you have heard me say that can happen thru
sacrifice and service
 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Ephesians 5:1-2
The good news is that God gave us a model. Jesus Christ. “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” MT 20:28 Jesus taught us to give your life away in order to find it. The greatest thrill in the world is to be used by God. To put love into action.
What does it take to love like Jesus?
Three characteristics to look at.

1. IT MEANS BEING AVAILABLE. MT 20:30-32
“Two blind men were sitting by the roadside. And they shouted, ‘Lord, have mercy on us!’ Jesus stopped and called to them. ‘What do you want me to do for you? He asked’.”

Notice the word “stopped”. Jesus was willing to be interrupted.
Most of Jesus’ ministry and miracles were interruptions. -
how willing are we to be interrupted?
Pro. 3:28 “Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now.”

Servant-hearted people are ready and responsive. They say “OK, let’s do it!” There are hurting people all around us and the wounded will not wait. God gives us His power when we are willing to serve. John Wesley’s said: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, by all the ways you can, in all the places you can, and at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.”
What might make us unavailable?

a. Feeling of Self-importance. read - LK 10:30-37
The first attitude we see here is “keep your distance.” Do not get to close to people or you might have to help them. We live in a world where people do not want to be bothered. We have what is called a cocoon people. We drive through our neighborhood push the garage door opener. Climb out of our cars and go directly into our homes without having to talk with any one. Many can do their banking right from home or direct deposit. We talk to each other through e-mail. When we eat out we can go to drive up window and be alone. Many times when we use our phones we talk to an automated system or answering machine. All of these keep us at a distance and as the saying goes, “out of sight out of mind.” Another attitude is you can look but do not get involved. We see the need like the Levite and even know what has happened but fail to take action to help. We are like that if we are stuck in a traffic jam and get impatient but when we get to the scene of what has happened we drive by not giving any help. These two men felt too important to help one in need. The third man stopped and helped and his attitude was to treat this person as he would want to be treated.

b. Feeling of Idealism. “If you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done.” Eccl. 11:4 In America, we have a made an idol out of excellence. There are some Christians who say, “If you can’t do it first class, don’t even try.” Everything doesn’t have to be perfect for God to bless. If God only used perfect people would you be used? We all have weakness, faults, failures and limitations. God can use us all. He used a donkey that talked to keep a man from sure death. He used a big fish to turn a man around to speak His word.

c. Materialism is another barrier that keeps us from being available to serve. Jesus said, “You can’t serve two masters.” LK 16:13. “Am I going to be a kingdom-builder or am I going to be a wealth-builder?” It is a decision to only gain riches or to be blessed with What God entrusts to us. If God wants to give you wealth then it is your decision what to do with what He has given. Some are so busy taking care of things; they don’t have time to take care of their spiritual life or care for others.
How available are we to be of service for Christ?

2. IT MEANS BEING THANKFUL.
Jesus and Lazarus. “Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me.”
JN 11:41
Jesus had an attitude of thankfulness in everything that He did. He started with thankfulness, then he performed ministry. Jesus was thankful in the tough times. Jesus was thankful when He was criticized. Jesus was thankful when things were not easy in ministry. Ministry and miracles always happened with an attitude of thankfulness.
The apostle Paul was thankful. He said, “I thank Jesus Christ because He trusted me.”
(1 Tim. 1:12) Why should we serve God with thankfulness, with a sense of delight, not a sense of duty? Why should we serve with a sense of opportunity, not out of a sense of obligation? Because He’s given us life, through Jesus Christ. He saved us! If He never did anything else for us, it should make us thankful for the rest of our lives and we should love to serve Him. “It is He who saved us and chose us for His holy work, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan.” 2 Tim. 1:9 What are some things that bring us to not being thankful?

a. Comparing and criticizing. “Who are you to criticize someone else’s servant?” Rom 14:4 We’re on the same team, all His servants. God’s opinion is what matters. We are to live for God’s approval, not people’s approval. He’s given us each different abilities, different tasks. When we compare what we have, it steals our joy and gratitude. When we are thankful for all God has done, there’s no longer any need to compare and criticize. I personally would pray that Christians would compete on who could serve the best and want to be first with the helping.

b. Wrong motivations.
“When you do good deeds, don’t try to show off. If you do, you won’t get a reward from your Father in heaven”. MT 6:1
Self-promotion and servant hood don’t mix. A lot of our service can be self-serving. We serve to get others to like us. We serve to be admired. We serve to achieve our own goals, our own agenda. We serve to feel good about ourselves. (M)We think how noble we are. We serve to manipulate God. We bargain, “God, I’ll serve you if you take care of my need.” When we lose a sense of thankfulness and joy in our service, check our cause for doing what we are doing.

3. IT MEANS BEING FAITHFUL.
“The one thing required of servants is that they be faithful.” 1 CO 4:2
When we serve, we should never give up. Don’t quit in the middle of an assignment.
Jesus said this in JN 17:4,
“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work that You gave me to do.”
Jesus was faithful. He didn’t give up. He didn’t give in. He was determined. We need to be able to say, when we get to heaven, that we completed the work God gave us to do. You may retire from your job, but you never retire from ministry. God wants us to serve all of our life. Any time you serve in Jesus’ name, no matter how small, it matters. “Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort” 1 CO 15:58 There is a difference between significance and prominence. They are not the same thing. My nose is prominent. My heart is significant. The parts of your body that you don’t see are often more important than the parts you do see! And the same is true in the Body of Christ. In fact, things behind the scenes are more important. Several years ago two teenage boys tried to come into a church service. Only it was packed out and they couldn’t find any seats. So they turned around to leave because they couldn’t find a seat. But one usher said, “Come on, guys. I’ll find you a seat.” And that usher personally escorted them down to the center and set them in the middle and found them two seats. That night both of those boys accepted Christ and became Christians. One of them was Billy Graham who has now led millions and tens of millions of people to Christ. Do you think that usher is going to get any credit in heaven?
Small acts of ministry can be so significant. Real servants do every task with equal dedication because they know it all matters.
They are all important. God knows that you have something to give that will make a difference.
We have all been Shaped to serve.
What is your background, talents, skills, contacts, interests, or hobbies that God can use through you?
and meet the needs of others - b/c we are to:
Treat everybody as if they have a need
- b/c everybody does.

HB 6:10 “He will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”

How do we love like Jesus?
Be available, thankful, & faithful

How do we serve the needs of people?

1. See the needs of those around me.
Let the Holy Spirit guide you. (compass) - walk Spirit
1 CO. 10:24 “People should be concerned about others and not just about themselves.”

2. Understand people in their pain.
I always pray that I can have the heart of Christ - He saw their pain - When the good Samaritan saw the wounded man he had pity on him. This also means we take time to listen to people. - it’s being available - willing to be interrupted
2 CO. 1:4 “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

3. Seize the moment and meet the need.
This is the Jonathan factor that we learned in the series,‘Chasing Daylight’

Pro. 3:27-28 “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor, "Maybe some other time," or, "Try me tomorrow," when the money’s right there in your pocket.”
You know there's difference between a LEADER and a SERVANT -
Every leader serves, but not every servant leads.
Servants are willing whenever, sometimes only when they are obligated.
Leaders take iniative - leaders see the need and fill the need.

If we are to seize the moment we must be willing to take the risk.

4. Spend what it takes.
Gal. 6:10 “Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers.”
There is always a cost to being kind and serving others.

This is one of those life scriptures I try to live by -
I want to 'Go after God', to seek Him and His ways - and I long to live
just as the Apostle Paul here in this verse by example for others -
this is Love in Action:

"Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:9

'Finding GOD in your iPod' - iConnect

Jordan Pruitt is the next up and coming disney created star. (in line w/ Hil. Loh. Alli & AJ , Miley Stew. aka H.M....) Jordan only 15yrs. old and her music was featured on the disney movie, ‘Read it and weep’. She is on the rise and very soon you will be bombarded w/ Jordan Pruitt.

This song is more prevalent than I think we really know. Look at these lyrics:
You don't know my name
You don't know anything about me
At your right to play nice
I wanna be in your game
That things that you say
You may think I never hear about them
But word travels fast
I'm telling you to your face
I'm standing here behind your back

Chorus-
You don't know how it feels to be outside the crowd
You don't know what it's like to be left out
And you don't know how it feels to be your own best friend
On the outside looking in

If you could read my mind
You might see more of me that meets the eye
And you've been all wrong
Not who you think I am
You never given me a chance

Chorus

Oh I'm tired of staying at home
I'm bored and all alone
I'm sick of wasting all my time

The yearning of the human spirit is to connect.
God has created us for community. Do you know of any other songs that has the theme of loneliness?
Of wanting & longing for companionship? Of wanting to be included and loved?
(think of some w/ neighbor) ‘I’m w/U’ Avril

In the Genesis story of creation Adam was not complete until there was Eve. The meaning is clear: no individual is
complete in himself, in herself - humanity is persons-in-relationship.
The ? is how do we complete ourselves then?
Think about all the clubs and org. we get involved in?
The Lions Club, The Elks Lodge, The Boosters, the Garden Club, the committee of fair housing, fraternities, social clubs,
book clubs, poker club, theater groups, and on and on,..on

God has created us to connect, created us for community.

Something I’ve never done b4, teach out of the Song of Songs - A book that is so descriptive in an intimate relationship between 2 lovers, a man and woman, the lover and his beloved. What some may not see is that this is a love song of God to all mankind. A message of salvation, that we are God’s beloved. A longing for us to move out of solitude into communion. Communion in an intimate relationship w/ Savior.
Ahh... but there’s more...
In this we see just how we are and have been created to connect.
Let’s look together, beginning in ch.1

Right off the bat in vs. 2 we have the words, “Kiss me”

This in the Hebrew is a direct, and passionate appeal to connect.
The appeal to connect

This person does not want a surface relationship, they do not want just an acquaintance, This is an appeal for their life to be connected to someone else.
Life to be meaningful must be joined together with others.
This is true for all of us. However,
we don’t always share that info do we? Sometimes we hide it, we don’t feel we want to burden others or we feel that we don’t want others to know of our loneliness (which is the exact opposite of what we need) So



look at the next line in v. 2
“your love is better than wine”

The meaning of wine, in this context, is that it lifts a person from isolation into shared fellowship.
For those who are lonely, those who are consumed in themselves, feeling inadequate, feelings of guilt or shame,...
wine or something of the like, can temporarily free them from such inwardness and liberate them to talk freely
(courage in a can)
It assists in communicating w/ others - you feel me?
Wine and the like is praised b/c it releases inhibitions and stimulates conversation. It banishes isolation & bridges the chasms that separate people. But, love is better than wine.

The longing to connect

B/c love does it better - love dissolves the separating wall & enables true communication of emotion, thought, and
purpose. (not only in intimate lover relation. - deep friendships, comrades, love like bro. or sis. - like family/ God’s)
There is an insurmountable # of people who tried wine or the like and have discovered it doesn’t work, as a matter of fact in the even short distance of the long run, it makes matters worse.
People are longing for something that works permanently.
That can only be found in a loving communion or
community.

v.3 “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; 
       your name is like perfume poured out.”

The need to be known

Since we have been created for community there is this deep desire w/in each of us to be known. And there is no other sound more important, more delightful, than the sound of our own name.
Dale Carnegie -
“A person’s name is the sweetest sound they hear”

All of us make an appeal to connect, we all long to connect, each of us has the need to be known.
Each of us have the same desies:
We want to know and be known
We want to love and be loved

HOW? and WHY?

Let’s read Hebrews 10 - circle every ‘let us’

22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:22-25

1. Go after God v.22
"let us draw near to God"

2. Believe v.22, 23
"let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith...
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess"

The 1st and most important connection to make is that w/God (scrip.)- We have a loving God who longs for a personal connection w/ each and every one of us. Here in Heb. we see how to connect w/ others as well as God - we are to pursue God, to go after God, to draw near - that is a prioritizing - making God # 1 b4 all else.
We then live by faith that God is in control of everything in our lives and if we pursue Him 1st we believe everything else will fall into place.
“your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:32-33

3. Gather v.25
"Let us not give up meeting together"

We cannot make it on our own. God created us for community - Adam was not complete until Eve.
There are those who occasionally attend some sort of gathering w/ other believers, be it a church service or small group or some other outing - or attend an Easter or Christmas service thinking they’ve done their duty (“I’ve put in my time”)
But Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
We need each other- on a regular basis. couple reasons why

4. Urge v.24
"let us consider how we may spur one another on"

We need others in our lives who are going to spur us on, urge us to go farther - you know what this means? We need urgers in our lives to create and bring change. And are you ready for this, we all need to change.
Our lives in Christ is all about change. That’s what God is doing - we are transforming into the likeness of His Son,
Jesus Christ
Everyone of us needs people urging us, helping us to change. WHY? B/c alone we can never live out the full capacity God has for us - we need to be challenged
(I think that’s why Dr. Phil is so popular - all we’ve had are Talk show hosts who comfort and along comes Dr. Phil who says, “You ought stop doing that, that’s just stupid!” - we’re thinking, “yeah, that’s right”) - vid
Urging gets us where we need to go and it’s the uncomfortable confrontation that you get to live out, Proverbs 27:6 “Wounds from a friend can be trusted” Why?
If we are left to our own we will never rise to a higher level than what is comfortable.

5. Love v.24, 25
“let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds... let us encourage one another”

Sometimes life just rips out the capacity to believe in what you are capable of doing - sometimes we have waited for something to happen for long we don’t ever think it’s going to happen. Sometimes it’s attempts that failed, “I gave it my best shot, it didn’t happen”
So when times get tough we just lower our stand/expect.
We need others to put the ‘courage’ back in our lives.
We need others helping us to believe that we can do all and everything God has called us to do. It’s not that profound really - we need people in our lives to say to us, ‘Y U can’
Your mind may be lying to you, circumstances may be telling you otherwise, but ‘Yes you can!’ You can do this.
“I know you, you can do it” ever notice how other people see more in us than we do ourselves?
Is there anything you’ve given up in your life?
What has crushed the possibilities of what’s supposed to happen in your life?
We need others to encourage us, to tell us, ‘Yes you can’

more on love next week

'Finding GOD in your iPod' - iWorship

This artist’s name is Matisyahu. Matt is the one who introduced me to this guy, he said, “Have you heard all the underground buzz, it’s like this jewish orthodox reggae rap, have you heard of it?” I was like, “ofcourse, I’m always on the cutting edge of jewish orthodox reggae rap, c’mon”
No - I’ve never heard of him.
We started listening to it in the car and basically what this guy has done is he’s gone back to the Torah w/ this reggae fusion rap thing w/ these phat rhymes - it began underground,
but when CD hit - it broke out on the charts and soared to 4.
then live CD moved to 36.
Pretty interesting life story - He grew up in white plains, NY - parents sent him to Hebrew school - he didn’t like it - caused problems - almost kicked out - he went beyond the typical teenage rebellion stage - started experimenting in different ways.
Thru all this he said he felt a void in life - so he went to Colorado on a life quest, so to speak - it was there and that time when he came to realization that there is a God.
He began to explore his roots - went to Israel - once back in US he met a Rabbi who spoke into his life and that’s where he (Matthew Miller) became ‘Matisyahu’ - which is basically the Yiddish pronounciation of Matthew - he is fully devoted in the Jewish orthodox lifestyle and is all over the billboard charts.

“All of my songs are influenced and inspired by the teachings that
inspire me. I want my music to have meaning, to be able to touch
people and make them think…Breaking out of slavery is definitely
a theme in my music: You're a slave to yourself and you don't even
know…I think this is a concept many people don't recognize. We
think of slavery as someone else enslaving us, but in truth, we are
often the ones enslaving ourselves. We are so busy being influenced
by money, by society, by external pressures, that our true identity
and abilities can be hidden.” - Matisyahu, Interview at Chabad.org

check out some of these lyrics:
Chorus:
What's this feeling?
My love will rip a hole in the ceiling
Givin' myself to you from the essence of my being
Sing to my God all these songs of love and healing
I Want Moshiach (messiah) now so it's time we start revealing
You're all that I have and you're all that I need
Each and every day I pray to get to know you please
I want to be close to you, yes I'm so hungry
You're like water for my soul when it gets thirsty
Without you there's no me
You're the air that I breathe …
Said, thank you to my God, now I finally got it right
And I'll fight with all of my heart, and all a' my soul, and all a' my might
Bridge:
Me no want no sinsemilla.(don’t know what that is, that’s probably a good thing - it’s a highly potent kind of pot)
That would only bring me down
Burn away my brain no way my brain is to compound
Torah food for my brain let it rain till I drown
Thunder!
Let the blessings come down
Strip away the layers and reveal your soul
Got to give yourself up and then you become whole

So what’s this about - it’s about getting your eyes off yourself and focusing on something or someone bigger than you.
To attach my life to a higher level of meaning and value.
To sum up this song in one word it would be iWorship.

Now I know when i say the word worship and you saw when you came in that today is about worship - immediately our thoughts go to this churchified mindset, primarily religious connotations. I wonder what’s the 1st word that pops into your mind?
Tendency to lean towards formal religious kind of stuff - singing, prayer, church service... maybe something like this
(video - Mr. Bean goes to church)

Some people quite comfortable w/ that - they understand it, grew up in it
For others it’s a very Mr. Bean type scenario that’s foreign and uncomfortable and maybe disconnect. Worship, “That’s not me, that’s not about everyday life, it’s maybe something I can squeeze in an hour on the weekend.”

What I’m not going to talk about is adding more spiritual activity -
ultimately I don’t believe that’s the primary goal of worship.
Singing and prayer and other activities are an important component of worship but it’s a very small portion of it - Worship is much more than religious or spiritual activities.
You see worship can include a vast # of act. you’re already doing day after day -

Worship all depends on mindset and heart attitude.
Instead of defining it as activity, what if worship meant being a better employee, boss, spouse, parent, friend, butcher, baker, candlestick maker - what if worship meant everything we do, even the mundane, mow the lawn, do the laundry,
answer email, meet deadlines.
What would happen if worship could enter into my everyday life and change my life?
Worship is way of Life

Now worship is primarily for God and we give it to God, not to get anything back, but b/c He is worthy and b/c God is sooo good and in that it changes us. Thru worship our hearts are filled w/ joy, we become grateful for what we have, we become more confident b/c we are loved just as we are and assured of that. In worship I remember I am not alone, God is w/ me and that creates new levels of peace, comfort and security. I am humbled in God’s greatness, I realize it’s not all about me - remember, I’m not talking about just singing here, it’s a way of life - here’s what i noticed - when I don’t worship I get attitude problems, I become anxious about tomorrow and other stuff, I envy other people and what they have, I get this sense of entitlement that destroys gratitude and I think you get the picture - you see we were made to worship - it’s like Matisyahu said, “it’s like water to my soul, like the air that I breath” and it’s alot bigger than maybe we thought it was.
We’re going to unpack 1 scripture that’s really going expand the traditional mindset we have of worship - Romans 12:1
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, (like Matisyahu said, got to give yourself up to make you whole) holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.”
I love the Message tranalation - “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life
and place it before God as an offering. Romans 12:1 (MSG)
That is worship.
That tells me worship is a way of life, it means I get up in the morning, worship is when I eat breakfast, and going to work, laughing w/ friends, playing w/ my kids, and dealing w/ difficult situations, it’s way of life. (gona come back to that)
That’s the summary of what Paul is saying in Romans 12:1
Now he breaks it down w/ 2 ideas - here’s the 1st one

He says, “in view of God’s mercy”
Worship is a new perspective I view life from

If I could describe worship w/ 1 word it would be perspective.
We all know perspective can change everything.
I have a letter here from a young college girl writing to her parents: Dear Mom and Dad,
Just thought I'd drop you a note to clue you in on my plans. I've fallen in love with a guy named Jim. He quit high school after grade eleven to get married. About a year ago he got a divorce.
We've been going steady for two months and plan to get married in the fall. Until then, I've decided to move into his apartment (I think I might be pregnant).
At any rate, I dropped out of school last week, although I'd like to finish college sometime in the future.
Your loving daughter
P.S. Mom and Dad, I just want you to know that everything I've written so far in this letter is false. NONE of it is true. But,
I did flunk Chemistry - I just wanted you to keep it in
perspective.

Perspective can change everything.
Perspective changes the way we see something, when we see something differently it profoundly changes the way we react to it. (like glasses - w/out blurry, w/ clear)
We have all seen people face very similar circumstances that were difficult and one person got bitter about it while
another got better.
One person, “I’m the victim, everything’s going wrong, and nothing is good”, yet the other found a way to find hope in it.
To find opportunity in the challenge. What’s the difference -
Perspective
Worship is a new Perspective
Jesus didn’t come to give us a new religion, He came to create in us a new perspective, He said, “If you live according to my teachings, it’s like having a house that’s built on a firm foundation and it will withstand the storms.”
He helped change our perspective - that there is a loving
Father who longs to be w/ you - a relationship w/ you.
How does this happen? this new perspective -
“I have set the Lord continually before me.” - Psalm 16:8

That’s profound, that’s the goal. that’s the perspective of worship. That doesn’t mean I sit in lotus position all day chanting scripture and hymns.
It means thru all the activities of my day, I try to develop this way of bringing my mind back to God’s goodness, greatness, faithfulness - I become aware again and mindful again on purpose. (God compass)
Some may say, no way, can’t do it - we do it all the time - phone conversation w/ one person yet simultaneously you’re
thinking about another convo. or...
you walk in home from work, play w/ kids, yet not really there b/c mind is thinking about project needs to be done at work.
or... at work typing on computer, but not there, thinking about lunch.

We do this all the time, kinda 2 places at once. So instead of drifting, instead of wandering mindlessly into another place - like ever read a page or article get to bottom and not know what just read - ever sit in a room listening to someone speak then realize later you have no idea what they were saying, are you doing that now?
it’s like auto pilot, just drift - this mindlessness is totally fatal to my experience w/ God. find myself stressed, fatigued, tense
We are can purposely draw ourselves back to God. To keep Him continually b4 us - it’s a lifestyle of worship, we live and act and work and play from this God perspective. (ask Holy Spirit to keep us aligned)
Discussion Questions:
• Which part of the day do you find the hardest to share with God?
• What is one thing you can do to be intentional about keeping the flow of thoughts upward during that part of the day?

“in view of God’s mercy” getting a new view, perspective

“Take your everyday, ordinary life … and place it before God
as an offering.”
Worship is a lifestyle that includes every area of my life.

‘Take you everyday life’ - it’s a lifestyle and you place all it b4 God - he repeats this in - Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were
working for the Lord and not for people.
This is revolutionary stuff guys, look at ‘whatever’ underline that. That word in the greek, whatever, you know what it means... whatever.
You see he’s not saying, when you pray or when you do
religious activities - whatever you do - he says it again
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 whether you eat or drink (all the ordinary and mundane of life) or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Ethical boundaries - can’t say, I’m gonna hot wire a car for Your glory Lord”
The vast majority of the stuff we do can be an act of worship.

Think about your vocation for a minute, col. 3:23 - you get this and you’re headed down God’s path.
In life it’s not what you do that matters;
it is who you do it for.
God is not into what you do for a living, it doesn’t matter if you’re a truck driver, CPA, student, or Pro football player - His 1st concern is, “are you doing it for ME?”
Here’s a thought - If Jesus were to show up at your work dressed for the same job, would things go differently?

We can learn a thing or 2 from Jesus, even in the workplace.
When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the
synagogue, and many who heard Him were amazed.
"Where did this man get these things?" they asked.
"What's this wisdom that has been given Him, that He even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter?” - Mark 6:2-3
Yes He was. That’s what most people knew Him as.

Remember at His baptism w/ John and the dove and the Voice from heaven, which was Father God saying, “this is my servant whom I am well pleased.”
Pleased w/ what? Not His preaching, He hadn’t started that yet - what was He talking about? He’s been in the carpentry shop for about 20 yrs. now making chairs, making tables - Father God was saying He’s just as much in my will there as He will be teaching and preaching.
How do you think Jesus was at work? Do you think He did shotty work? Do you think He was ever ticked at His boss, “Man, working for Joseph really sucks” Do you think He ever bad mouthed other employees? “James you’re a lousy bum!”
How do you think He did His work?
Jesus is our model. A christian is to be Christ-like.
So much so that Father God is pleased with us even on the job - not just on Sunday. God is not saying, “I sure am happy Joe goes to church every Sunday” - You know why?
B/c worship is a lifestyle that includes every area of my life.

review: worship is new pers/ lifestyle includes every area life
(rem. compass)

Discussion Questions:
• What can I do to take my everyday work and place it before God as an offering or worship?
• If Jesus were to show up in my workplace looking just like me,what would the execution of my job look like? What adjustments would He make? Where am I getting it right?