Is What We Do Worship?

I want to invite you to open your bibles with me to Psalm 84. We’re going to take a little detour today. For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at compassion. But I can’t get away from this longing in my heart to speak about worship. Now, I know what you're thinking. "Pastor, we worship every Sunday. We sing the songs, we pray the prayers, we do the whole thing." And you're right – we do. But here's my question: Is what we're doing really worship, or is it just religious routine? Let me ask you something, and I want you to be honest with yourself, not with me. Why did you come to church today? Now don't give me the Sunday School answer – "To worship Jesus!" That's true, but dig deeper. When you woke up this morning, when you were getting dressed, when you were rushing to get here on time – how much were you actually thinking about meeting with God? Did you come because it's Sunday and that's what Christians do? Did you come because someone expected you to be here? Or did you come because you were genuinely excited to encounter the living God? Here's what I've learned in 8 years of pastoral ministry: routine is the enemy of relationship. And worship, at its core, is about relationship with God.

Church, can I just be real with you for a minute? Week after week I look out at this congregation. I visit you, I spend time with you, I lead you, I serve with you, and I love you — and I see people who love Jesus. I really do. There is no doubt you love Jesus. But, I also see something in our culture and world that scares me. Because when I read the Bible, and I think about the heaviness of people making churhf a routine, I realize how easy it is for any one of us — myself included — to slip into this pattern. We come to church, we sing the songs, we check the box, and we think we’ve worshiped. And sometimes, even on Sunday mornings, we say all the right words — we say things that sound biblical, things that sound caring. But often, if we’re honest, those words don’t really carry into the week. And that scares me. And I think.. man, its so easy for God’s people to fall into this religious routine. Think about it, All throughout history – and I mean from the very beginning – God's people have had this tendency to turn worship into routine. It's true... we see it all throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. They go through the motions. They keep the rituals. They sing all the songs. But God looks down and says, "This isn't honoring Me. This isn't even close to what I want.” In fact, God has a word for this kind of worship – He calls it "vain worship." Empty worship. Meaningless worship. And friends, this should terrify us. Because we can be sitting right here, in this room, singing these songs, and God could be looking at us saying, "Your worship is meaningless to Me.

Let me show you exactly what I'm talking about. Look at Isaiah 29:13. This is God speaking, not my words, but his words to the people of Israel: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” Stop. Just stop right there and think about this with me. Can you picture it? Here are people saying all the right words – "Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Glory to God!" They're singing all the right songs. They're doing everything that looks right on the outside. They're doing everything they learned from their parents and grandparents and teachers. But their worship is false. Why? Because their hearts are not ready. Worship has become routine. In Matthew 15:8, Lok at what Jesus says, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Do you hear the warning? Listen, church… The moment worship becomes routine, it stops being about relationship and starts being performance lead. And this is the danger of empty worship. This is the difference between a heart that longs for God and a life that only imitates worship, because thats what we’ve learned and been taught. And hear me on this—I am not saying that when we raise our hands in worship on Sunday it isn’t an encounter with the Holy Spirit. I believe it can be. I believe it often is. God meets us in those moments. He stirs our hearts. He fills us with joy. But what I am saying is this: if that encounter….. that you have on Sunday morning…. doesn’t overflow beyond Sunday… if that passion doesn’t follow us into Monday morning at work, or Wednesday evening at home, or Friday when temptation comes knocking—then is it possible we’re only experiencing a glimpse of worship…… without living a life of worship. And I got to ask this question too… if that is possible… then is our hearts so hard that theres no room for transformation? Because isn’t that the purpose of the services on Sunday? To see gods people witness God, to worship him with our hearts captivated on his glory, and sense a weakening within our own hearts that we have not been who we’ve said we are… we’ve been living two lives and God is calling us deeper still. Because here's what I see that can happen in anyones life—Its so easy….. for Gods people to become comfortable with the disconnect. Where the people have made peace with living two different lives. And if… that is true,… then thats not biblical Christianity. That's not the gospel. That's spiritual schizophrenia.

So, all of this has been a real heaviness on my heart, and I want to share it with you in the way that matters most — by letting God’s Word speak. I’ve asked one of our leaders to come and read Psalm 84 for us. Would you follow along in your Bibles as he leads us into God’s Word? And when he finishes, we’ll respond together and say: Amen. and Respond, and all of God’s people said.. amen.

Thank you… Man, so much imagery here…. Psalm 84…. really breaks into three sections — and what we can do is this… we can almost take verses 1-4 and make it one book end, and then verses 9-12 and make it another… and then theres this amazing section in the middle that shows a worshipers overflow into the hardship of life. The first bookend is verses 1–4. Here we see a worshiper who is longing to stay in the presence of God. He’s been in the temple, he’s encountered the living God, and his heart has been changed. And now he can’t imagine leaving. Right.. get this… he’s more excited about staying in God’s presence than going to eat pot roast after church. And now, Look with me… in verse 2.. Verse 2 gives us these verbs that are past tense… he longed… he yearned. He’s saying, “Oh how I loved being in this place." It’s special to me, it’s what we would say, this place is near and dear to my heart. It’s important that I be there. It’s important that I stay and cherish everything that I am experiencing. To breath in the grace, and to exhale praise. And I can’t help but to think of grandparents and grandkids. How theres so much longing and yearning to see them. To love on them, to see how much they have grown, and to hear of their adventures, and be caught up in their stories. Then we find in Verses 3-4, and he begins to get jealous. Right? Like, he sees the birds nesting on the porches and the eaves of the temple. And he imagines. “what it would be like, or how amazing it would be to remain there forever.” And so, what we see is that he is longing to stay in in the very presence of God. And he ends this first book end with these words, Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise. Do you hear the longing in that? Do you feel the ache in his heart? He's looking at these birds—these simple sparrows and swallows—and he's thinking, "They get to live here. They get to wake up every morning in the presence of God. They get to make their nests in the very courts of the Almighty." And there's this beautiful jealousy, this holy envy, where he's saying, "I wish I could be like them. I wish I could stay here forever. And here's what breaks my heart as I read this: The psalmist recognizes something that many of us have forgotten—that proximity to God should produce perpetual praise. Lets put this in practical senes… if God is living within you… should not there be praise overflowing out of you… This is what authentic worship does to us. It ruins us for ordinary living. It creates in us a holy homesickness for heaven, a deep dissatisfaction with anything less than God Himself. And the question for us is: When we leave this place today, will we carry that same longing? Or will our cup run dry by the time we enter our cars?

Now, The other bookend, or the ending part of this Psalm goes from longing to stay, to longing to return. Look at Verse 9 with me: “Look upon the face of Your anointed.” In my notes, I wrote, don’t look away Lord. Also, we have a tendency to get back to our own life after church and forgot that we just spent a few hours looking for and to GOd. But seeking is the heart of worship, ….wanting to be seen, known, and loved by God. Then verse 10: “Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” Here’s the bottom line: One day with God is better than a thousand without Him. The psalmist says, “I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” Even the lowest place in God’s presence is better than the highest place without Him. Verse 11 tells us why: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Circle those words: sun and shield. Sun means He gives me life. Shield means He gives me protection. Favor means He lifts me up. Honor means He gives me worth. And then He promises: no good thing will He withhold from His people. Man… what promises. The sin, shield favor and honor. And it all comes together in verse 12: “Blessed is the one who trusts in You.” Here’s the key: worship isn’t about performance — it’s about presence. And presence is sustained by trust.

But here’s the question: what does that kind of worship actually look like? How do we live it out, not just on Sunday but every single day? Thats what I wan too know…. Pastor, its true.. its easy for my mind and heart to wonder. For that, I want us to turn to one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible: Isaiah chapter 6. Because every time I read it, I’m reminded of our eternal calling — to be true worshipers. You and I were made for this. We were designed by God, fashioned in His image, created with this purpose written into our very souls: to worship Him. And Isaiah 6 shows us the pattern. Within chapter 6 and in verses 1-8 we find three transaction that misuse happen when a worshiper engages in worship. Three holy transactions. If you witness these three things… they are… an indication that you truly worshipped. Transaction number one — God wants us to see the sheer awesomeness of who He is. He says in verse 1, “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Just stop, and drink this image in. Isaiah doesn’t say, “I saw heaven.” He doesn’t even say, “I saw glory.” He says, “I saw the Lord.” The Sovereign One. Seated. Not pacing the floor. Not wringing His hands. Sitting. Ruling. Reigning. High and lifted up. And then Isaiah notices His robe. Not His crown. Not His face. Just the hem — just the train — and it fills the temple. Do you feel the weight of that? In Isaiah’s culture, the length of a king’s robe displayed the measure of his victory. Every time a king conquered another, he cut off a piece of the defeated king’s robe and sewed it onto his own. The longer the robe, the greater the king. And here is God — His robe doesn’t trail behind Him. His robe doesn’t just cover the floor. The train of His robe fills the whole temple. Which means: He has conquered every rival. Every power. Every enemy. Every kingdom. Every king. There is no one above Him. No one beside Him. No one who can threaten Him. He is absolute. He is sovereign. He is the King of kings. And Isaiah says, “I saw Him.” That is worship. When the eyes of your heart are opened to the greatness of God, when you see Him in His majesty, and everything else in your life shrinks down to size — that’s worship. That’s the beginning. The second transition is the one we all struggle with. And one that I believe so many chrisitnas coming to church doesn’t see worships overflow out of the church. Isaiah sees the holiness of God, and what’s his first response? Verse 5: “Woe is me! For I am lost; I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” This is so important. He doesn’t clap. He doesn’t cheer. He doesn’t even sing all the heavenly host are singing praises…. Why doesn’t that lead him to do that… why does Isiah… collapse. Why does he come undone. His life is literally a the majesty of God’s presence, he’s unraveled — like the threads of a garment coming apart. When the holiness of God shines in, Isaiah sees the darkness of his own heart. And church, that’s true worship. It’s not just singing louder or raising your hands higher. It’s when the greatness of God’s purity collides with the reality of our sin, and all we can say is, Oh God, I’m ruined. I can’t stand before You. Peter did this at his calling… DO you remember.. depart from me for I am a sinful man. But watch what God does. The seraphim takes a coal from the altar, touches Isaiah’s lips, and says, “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for Oh, don’t miss this: the God who should have destroyed him, remember, no king… not even the king of my life, my greatest idol, myself… can not even stand in his presence… and God, cleanses him. Isaiah should have been consumed. The Bible says, “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). Holiness and sin cannot coexist. Isaiah knows this. That’s why he cries, “Woe is me, I am undone!” But instead of consuming him, God cleanses him. The angel touches his lips with a coal from the altar and says, “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7). Do you see it? The very God who should have destroyed him forgives him. That’s grace. That’s the gospel. The holy God takes guilty sinners and, by His atonement, makes them clean. “The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). And that’s why Transaction Number Two is this: worship always leads to repentance. Always. You cannot see His holiness without seeing your sin. You cannot see His beauty without confessing your brokenness True worship always includes, authentic repentance.

Look what happens next in verse 8: “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’” Do you see the flow? God reveals His glory — Isaiah is floored. God reveals Isaiah’s sin — Isaiah repents. God reveals His mission — and Isaiah surrenders. That’s the rhythm of true worship: awe, repentance, mission. Because, listen, you can’t miss this… worship is not complete until it overflows. It’s not just “I saw the Lord,” it’s also “Here am I, send me.” Jesus Himself said in John 20:21, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” Real worshippers always become real witnesses. So here’s another bottom line: If your worship doesn’t send you, it hasn’t changed you. True worshippers are sent ones. Now let’s get real for a moment. Every Sunday… is that what you witness? Awe? Repentance? Mission? That’s the rhythm of true worship. And listen — God’s church was never meant to be a church of maintenance. We don’t gather just to keep things running smoothly or polish what we already have. Worship is about overflow — the overflow of our encounter with Him.

So why am I sharing all of this? Because Psalm 84 isn’t just about longing to stay in God’s presence (the opening verses). And it’s not just about longing to return to His presence (the closing verses). The middle section — verses 5 through 7 — shows us what happens in between. And here’s the theme I want you to see: “True worshipers are called to pave blessings out of the harsh conditions of life so that others can experience the life-giving presence of Jesus.” That’s the missional call. The worship you express here in the sanctuary — it’s meant to overflow into your daily life. But here’s the question: what happens when that worship collides with reality? When the Monday morning grind hits, when the valley feels dry, when life doesn’t feel like a temple but more like a wilderness? Because we know it’ll happen. I would bet, there some kind of wilderness meeting you right now out those doors. Some life event. Some struggle. Im not trying to sugar coat it… Jesus said, in this life there will be trouble. That’s a promise, but he also gives us another… he tells us in John 16:33, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” And remember, how he started Pslam 84? , “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord!” But now, he’s back in the real world with real problems. So what does he do? Here’s what I love about this passage: instead of getting discouraged, he does something practical. Since his strength is in the Lord, he starts paving highways — highways in his heart that lead himself and others back into the presence of God. Look at verse 5: “Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.” Now let me explain that in simple terms. Zion was the hill in Jerusalem where God’s temple stood. Zion represents God’s presence. So having “highways to Zion in your heart” means two things. First, it’s personal. The psalmist wants a straight shot back to God’s presence. Not a detour, not a back road — but an express lane. He’s saying, “When life wears me down, I want the quickest road possible back to the place where my soul finds peace.” And I can’t help but think of driving up I-25 to Denver and seeing those HOV lanes — you know, the fast lane, but you’ve got to have 3 or more people with you. Now, That image leads right into the second point. Second, it’s about others. The psalmist isn’t just thinking about himself. He wants others to find the way too. It’s like he’s saying, “If I can’t live in the temple forever, then I’ll spend my life helping others get there.”\ hink about it — when you find a great restaurant, you don’t keep it to yourself. You text your friends. You post about it. You want them to taste what you’ve tasted. When you encounter something good, the natural response is to share it. The same is true when you’ve truly encountered God. And here’s the joy: Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.”There’s something special about not walking alone, about sharing the journey, about saying to a brother or sister, “Come on, let’s go together.” And I know…. Friday nights are hard…. I see it in the eyes of everyone who shows up… but there can be joy in it all. Because were together. So here’s the principle I don’t want you to miss.: Worship is not complete until it overflows and invites others to join you in treasuring God’s glory. Now, comes verse 6, and this is where it gets real. “As they go through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs.” Now, what’s the Valley of Baca? The word Baca isn’t some Appalachian way of saying tobacco… Like, im going to use some chewing baca. baca means “weeping” or “barrenness.” It was a dry, arid, lifeless place. The psalmist is saying: this is what the journey is like sometimes. Life isn’t always temple courts and songs of praise. Sometimes it’s dry valleys. Sometimes it’s tears. Sometimes it’s barrenness and hardship. But here’s the miracle: true worshippers don’t just endure the valley — they transform it. Looks at what ot says “As they go through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs.” Do you hear that? They make it a place of springs. How? Because they carry the presence of the living God with them. Jesus said in John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” That’s what Psalm 84 is describing. When worshippers walk through the dry places, the Spirit of God within them turns barrenness into blessing. So here’s the truth: True worshipers don’t just survive the wilderness — they bring refreshment into it. I think about moments in our lives when we’ve had misunderstandings. Maybe with a friend. Maybe in your marriage. Maybe even here in the church. And in those moments, you feel hurt. Offended. And if we’re honest — bitterness feels justified. You think, “I was wronged. I have every reason to hold onto this. Every reason to walk away.” But here’s the thing: bitterness is a barren valley. It dries you up on the inside. It poisons relationships. It turns the Valley of Baca into a desert. And its like the dead sea, just salty. And its easy to carry bitterness. It takes no effort at all. But it takes faith to say, “Lord, I trust You enough to forgive. I trust You enough to let grace flow here instead of anger.”And when you do, you don’t just refresh yourself — you create a spring for someone else to drink from too. How can I explain this in a practical way… how can we live this out here in community. What if I said this… what if, That circle of people you meet with during the week — that’s not just a Bible study. That’s a well in the wilderness. A place where someone who’s dry and discouraged can come and drink living water. I was talking to a mentor of mine yesterday and they were talking about their small group and how they invite people on the edge of life… people needing grace. And I’ll be honest with you — my first thought was, “Well, did you invite them to church?” Because that’s what we do, right? We want people here, in this room, singing these songs, hearing God’s Word together. But as soon as I thought that, I realized something. For someone who’s broken, someone who’s hurting, someone who’s been burned by church before, walking into a room full of us crazy Jesus-loving people… that might be overwhelming. Maybe too much too soon. And after my mentor left, I got convicted. Because the Spirit whispered to me, “Matthew… this isn’t about growing the church. This is about creating a well — one place at a time — where people can drink.” Church, that’s the mission. Every single one of you is a part of that. Wells aren’t just built in sanctuaries; they’re built in living rooms, coffee shops, break rooms, and kitchen tables. And listen — if you’re not in a small group yet, let’s change that. Because this isn’t just about what you get; it’s about what you help create. When you’re in community, you’re helping dig wells all over this city, places where people who are dry and weary can come and taste the living water of Jesus. And finally as our worship team comes up and prepares, look in verse 7… And then look at verse 7: “They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.” I love that line. The psalmist is saying, “This journey isn’t about running out of gas — it’s about being renewed at every step.” When you walk with God, you don’t just collapse in the valley. You move from one well to the next. From one strength to another. Can I just say somehtigh… going fro well to well isn’t about planting churches.. its not that we plan this church, and then we plant another and another… a missional church is a church that digs wells wherever we are… in our homes, in our workplaces… at ball games..and why not… we are carrying living water within us..

And this brings me to a very important question for our closing: What kind of worshiper are you? Are you digging wells, or are you digging pits? Are you just going with the flow, or are you on mission? There are really only two types. Type 1: are what I call, Maintenance-Mode Christians. These are people who show up to church, sing the songs, listen to the message, and go home. They think, “I got my weekly dose of God, I’m good until next Sunday.” But their faith is all about them. And if that’s true — if worship is just about consuming an experience — how will they ever build highways for others? How will you ever help your small group leaders dig wells? The second Typeare this… Mission-Mode Christians. These are people who encounter God and can’t help but overflow. They think, “God has been so good to me, I can’t keep this to myself — I’ve got to tell others!” They don’t just attend church, they become the church. They build highways to help others find God. These are the people in awe of God… repent and too the mission. So which type are you? Paul said in Romans 1:14, “I am a debtor.” What did he mean? That he owed a debt he could never repay for what Jesus had done. And the only way he could live in response was gratitude — gratitude that overflows into mission. Think about it: if someone saved your child’s life, you’d never stop telling that story. You’d never stop honoring that hero. Jesus didn’t just save your child’s life — He saved you for eternal life. How could we not share that? So how do we get “highways to Zion” in our hearts? Let me give you three simple steps: Start with worship that leads to gratitude. True worship always awakens gratitude for what God has done. Look for opportunities to serve others. In your Valley of Baca — in your hard times — ask, “How can I turn this into a well for someone else?” Share your story. You don’t need a theology degree. You just need to open your mouth and say, “Here’s what God has done for me.” So here’s my challenge: Don’t settle for maintenance-mode Christianity. God hasn’t saved you just to have a good church experience once a week. He’s saved you to be a highway builder — someone who makes it easier for others to find their way to God. He’s saved you to be a spring in the valley — someone who brings life and hope into the darkest moments. This is not just for pastors and missionaries. This is for every Christian. Every single one of us who has been touched by God’s grace has the responsibility — and the privilege — of helping others find that same grace. Having highways to Zion in your heart means your worship doesn’t stop when the music ends. It means you walk out of church looking for opportunities to build bridges that lead people to God. It means when you go through tough times, you don’t waste your pain — you use it to become a source of strength and hope for others. If you remember.. thats compassion. That’s what it means to walk in the strength of the Lord. That’s what it means to be blessed. Not because life gets easier, but because your life starts making an eternal difference. So the question is: Are you ready to move from maintenance mode to mission mode? Are you ready to let God use your life to build highways and dig wells that lead others to His amazing grace? Lets’s stand…. “Church, the Word is clear: God is not looking for maintenance-mode Christians. He’s calling for mission-mode worshipers. People who say, ‘Here am I, send me.’ So today, I want to give you a chance to respond. If the Spirit is stirring your heart, if you’re saying, ‘I don’t want to just sing songs. I want to live sent. I want highways to Zion in my heart,’ then I want you to come and kneel before the Lord. Don’t wait for someone else to move. Step out in faith. Say with your body what you’re saying in your heart: ‘Lord, I’m Yours. Send me.’” This is not about growing a church. This is about building wells — one heart at a time, one life at a time. Don’t settle for maintenance mode when the King of glory is inviting you into mission. So come. Come while there’s time. Come while the Spirit is calling. And let’s say together, ‘Here am I, Lord. Send me., so that, we, together can bring the gospel to every heart, every neighborhood, and every generation, one relationship at a time.*