Sunday Sermon
A New Beginning
Date: January 14, 2007
Speaker: Ptr. Vince Alcaide
Reference Text: Psalm 27:4

How many of us would like to have a new beginning this year ? 
        
A New Year brings for you a New Beginning. But for this new beginning to work in your life, you have to decide today to make some new changes in your life with a determination  not to give up.

As a Christian , this is a time that we can evaluate our walk with God for the past year

* Did you give your best to God last year?
* Did you pray like you should have?
* Did you witness like you should have?
* Did you read the word of God like you should have?
* Did you attend church faithfully  and were you  faithful to God as you should have?
* Was God number one in your life?

I want to preach this message  to three different types of people today.

1)The first are those who can say “Yes I have done everything I could, last year for God”. I lived for God the best I could. Therefore I would like to maintain that attitude”

2)The second are those that can say there are some areas that I did well and then there are some areas in my walk with God that did not go so well. This year I want to improve in that area that did not go so well.”

3)Thirdly are those that did not do well at all in their walk with God.

          In Psalm 27, even David  as the king of Israel was faced with the pressures of his responsibilities like all of us. I would say  that the responsibilities he faced  was even greater than most of us are capable of bearing for he was leading the nation Israel.  So how was he able to hold it together , his responsibilities without affecting his daily walk with God? 

           It begins by expressing his desire and longing to be closer to  God. This declaration of faith is written in verses 1-3,  "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek," he says, "that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple."  He does so by maintaining an attitude of worship. Let’s take a few moments and break down what David has to say about this all important pursuit.

A NEW BEGINNING REQUIRES

I .  DISCIPLINE OF  PERSONAL WORSHIP.  

To be a person who is a true worshipper of the Lord Jesus Christ requires a substantial commitment to personal discipline. In a day and age when so many things compete for our worship and devotion, believers are often forced to make choices. David resisted the temptation to be consumed with his many duties in leading a nation and chose instead to make God his number one priority. This single-minded pursuit is what made him such an effective leader.

APPLICATION    :  David understood the priority of worship. 
We should learn from him about his devotion to worship and imitate his discipline in worshipping God before doing any of our responsibilities .. We must be careful not to lose the perspective that we exist to glorify God

 II.  DESTINATION OF WORSHIP

"...That I may dwell in the house of the Lord."
      David was not referring here to the tabernacle, the temple built during his son Solomon’s reign.  David was speaking here of an ongoing and intimate relationship with God where we live in His very presence.
      Worship is meant to bring us to the throne of God that we might grow in our understanding of Him.  If worship doesn’t bring us into the presence of God through His Son, then one of two things has gone wrong: Either we are worshipping the wrong thing or we’re worshipping for the wrong reason.  Let me explain this clearly.

      1. The object of our worship.

The very first commandment given to Israel was to "have no other gods before me (See Exodus 20:3). He alone is to be the One we worship. God is clear on this. Whatever we do, it is to be done to His glory (See 1 Corinthians 10:31).

APPLICATION: He is so central to our existence that the most routine things can and should be done to His glory! This is how God intended for us to live.  No matter what we are doing should be done to His glory.  We only get it wrong when we fail to worship God and begin to worship created things (See Romans 1:18-25).

     2. The motivation for worship. 

ILLUSTRATION :  What was the reason why the Lord did not receive Cain’s sacrifice?    It was not the sacrifice itself that was wrong, there was nothing wrong with offering grain  to God . It was a matter of the heart..

III. THE DURATION OF WORSHIP -   "...all the days of my life."

David could think of nothing better than to spend the rest of his life dwelling in the very presence of God.
Worship is not a momentary experience, it is a life-long pursuit where we give all that we are to honor all that He is.

How close was David in his relationship and walk with God?

THE CLOSENESS OF RELATIONSHIP

               “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life”

ILLUSTRATION  :  In Psalm 34:1-3, David provides for us a model of what this looks like:

1. We worship God willingly (I will bless the Lord at all times...). Worship is a free-will offering to God!

2. We worship God continually (I will bless the Lord at all times...). There is never an inappropriate time for worship (See 2 Chronicles 20:18-21).

3. We worship God personally (My soul shall make its boast in the Lord...).

4. We worship God corporately (O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together.) We are meant to worship God with others.

IV. THE DESIRE OF WORSHIP. "...to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple."

        It is possible to engage in the worship of God in a way that is not pleasing to our Lord.

QUESTION : What is the  motivation of your worship?  For what reason ?  Is it because you want to seek God  or to know Him more in your life? If that is not your reason then your worship is not pleasing or acceptable in God’s sight  

David had  only 1 desire in his life . This one thing had to do with the depth of intimacy in his relationship to God. David had a deep passion to know God as intimately as he could. He constantly called out and cried out to God. He wanted an intimate relationship with God more than anything else in life. 
David’s desire in worship  is 
                                           
1. To see the beauty of the Lord.
The Hebrew, "to behold the beauty of the Lord," is a saying expressing the absolute delight which gazing continually at God’s glory brings to us. It is beyond words and must be experienced to be understood.

2. To seek Him in His temple.
The idea is to actively and passionately pursue God that we might know Him better and enjoy Him more. It is the desire described in Psalm 42:1 -- As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

DESIRE TO WORSHIP THE LORD !

Luke 10:42  says only one thing is needed .   Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
What about us? Do we desire that one thing ?  Do we desire to worship the Lord and not just for God’s blessings?

CONCLUSION :

Weekly worship is not meant as some lullaby to the soul.
It is not meant   as a social gathering point every week
It is not meant  just to be a habit and tradition  that we do every Sunday.

SEEK GOD’S FACE. ! ..WORSHIP  SHOULD BE A WAY OF LIFE...

Ask God  today for a relationship with Him that is deepening, maturing, and growing.