PEFC Distinctives:

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We desire to be a multi-generational, multi-ethnic people gathered together in celebration of our growing appreciation of the love and supremacy of God.
This is accomplished through strong preaching and teaching of the inerrant Word of God, along with joyful singing and music, to reach the head and heart with the truths of God.

I. What is Worship?

Who is worthy of praise, ultimate value, honor, glory, rule?

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe
filled the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
And I said:
"Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6:1-5‬ ‭

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness
is unsearchable.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭145:3

“even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am
not worthy to untie."”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:27‬

“saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭5:12

“Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god.”
-Best

“I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:6-7

“so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:12‬

What keeps us from giving ourselves
away to God in an outpouring of worship?

The Rebel Heart:
Wants to be and do something different.
It decides in its own mind and wisdom
what is right.

Kingdom Amnesia:
Has forgotten its first love. Because the love for God hasn't been planted and tended to and cultivated it has been forgotten amongst the weeds and thistles.

“To feel in the heart...A Person that merely goes through the form and doesn’t feel anything
is not worshiping.”
-Tozer

“Express in some appropriate manner...It doesn't mean you will always express your worship in the same manner. But it does mean that it will be expressed in some manner.”
-Tozer

Ways we limit worship:

• What will be expressed?

Ways we limit worship:

• Where will it be expressed?

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”
‭‭John‬ ‭4:23

“For we are
the circumcision,
who worship by
the Spirit of God and
glory in Christ Jesus and
put no confidence
in the flesh—”
Philippians 3:3

II. Personal Worship

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship,
with reverence and awe,
for our God is a
consuming fire.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:28-29

No one who encounters God remains unchanged.

The Rebel Heart:
Wants to keep an identity in something else of “higher value."

Kingdom Amnesia:
Can so easily fall into monotony and lulled
to the point of
"box checking."

“The deepest
joy of love is the
joy of bringing delight to the heart of the
one you love.”
-Grudem

If we are a
lover of God and worshiper of God
there is nothing of higher value that can dictate our lives.

If we are a
lover of God and
worshiper of God
"box checking"and
mere entertainment will never be truly satisfying.

III. Corporate Worship

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭95:6-7

“And let us consider how to
stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10:24-25

What dictates a corporate worship gathering?

“In this aspect of its activity (worship), the church centers its attention on who and what
God is, not on itself.
It aims at appropriately expressing God’s nature, not at satisfying its own feelings.”
-Erickson

“I believe that we need today to take some pains to make our worship clear, understandable to people in our communities."
-Frame

What holds us back?

The Rebel Heart:
Is self-seeking and desires its own preferences.

Kingdom Amnesia:
We know what we are comfortable with and
if a formula works why change it?

IV. Genuine Worship Is:

Delighting in God and God delighting in us.

Drawing near to God in His holy presence and God drawing
near to us.

God ministering to us
in providing teaching, awareness, strength, refreshment, causing those things that are not of Him to disintegrate and His enemies to flee.

Seen outpouring from our hearts and mouths corporately and individually.

As you come to worship God every day do these truths
excite you?

How important is worship?

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