Why We Worship, Elder Derek Woertendyke

Todays message begins with a testimony by Logan Frazier. Elder Derek then gave a moving teaching on Vision: Why We Worship. Check in later this week for a transcription of this weeks message.

Enjoy!

Vision: Why We Worship   Elder Derek Woertendyke                       Sunday, August 15, 2010

[Following up after Logan Frazier’s testimony]

Wow! I am a little intimidated… I can give you my notes and you can finish up [up] here… You know they say [I don’t know who ‘they’ is] BUT they say that if you want to be a good public speaker all you need is a strong desire to get your vision out there and an intimate knowledge of your subject matter. [So] you keep reading whatever you have been reading [and] you keep worshipping the way that you have been worshipping [and] public speaking is not going to be a problem for you.

Wow! Thank you Logan!

I hope that I can follow that up. [Well] I’m Derek… I am going to take my jacket off… I hope that I made a good impression BUT I am really hot. Is that OK? Do you [guys] mind? I might get excited up here and I don’t want to sweat… I might spit BUT I just don’t want to sweat… this will be better.

I want to go right to Philippians 3 [if you will]. We are going to find ourselves coming back here… so I want to go right there. I want to put a ‘picture’ in your mind. How many of you know that we think in pictures? You don’t think in words or letters, we think in pictures. I want to put a picture in your mind [right now]. I am in Philippians 3… this is Paul speaking… verses 13 and 14:

 ¹³Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

 ¹⁴I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus

I want to thank you, Father. I thank you, Father that we all have this opportunity to be part of Your work [here]. I want to thank you for the vision that You have given to Pastors Dona and Wendell… thank you for including us in Your vision; this amazing, unfolding plan of Yours [Father]. I ask that today You give us a little bit more of that vision… plant in us a vision of what You have out ahead [Father]. Open the eyes of our understanding that we can see the vision [Lord] and anoint our ears and our hearts to hear the truth of your Word [Lord]. We can get out of our own way today [Lord]. We pray for Pastor Dona and Pastor Wendell as they travel… we know that they are here with us because we can feel them. I thank you [Lord] for them and for the vision that You have given to them for us… in Jesus name… amen!

We have been ministering along the lines of ‘vision’… Pastor Dona and Pastor Wendell have been ministering along the lines of ‘vision’ and they have asked me to stay in that vein. If you hear me [kind of] fall in to a ‘southern drawl’ it is because [speaking in a southern drawl] I am fired up about this message. For whatever reason I hear it in a southern accent in my head. I only want to show you… I only want to talk about two things today: The principle of ‘focus’ and focusing on ‘the right thing’; that is it! BUT I have a lot of time to do it… so I am going to slow down.

If you are to have a vision then you must focus. A working definition of this… I want to go right to the Hebrew… forgive my pronunciation. The Hebrew word [for] vision is

How do you say vision in Hebrew?  In the sense of a dream of the future: חזון (cha-ZON) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_say_vision_in_hebrew

What it means is by vision or mental pictures God gives His revelation to men. In another place I saw it defined as the redemptive revelation of God.

Proverbs 29:18… everybody is [probably] familiar with this verse… it is probably one of the most quoted verses in the Bible about vision… it says:

¹⁸Where there is no vision, the people perish

Depending on your translation I think that it is even a little bit different in the New King James… I know that it is different in the New American Standard as it says:

Where there is no revelation the people are unrestrained… the people cast off restraint.

In light of our definition I want to [kind of] put it together. Where there is no revelation of God the people perish!

If you folks want to see a miracle today… if I can make it through the rest of the day with this much water [one glass] then you will see a miracle… I dry out real fast [Rhonda gets Derek an extra bottle of water].

Go with me to 1 Samuel 3:1… that is somewhere in the Old Testament… I have got mine marked so that I can find it real quick. There is a well established pattern in the Old Testament of how revelation and vision was received. I will get to the pattern… this will give you a hint. 1 Samuel 3:1 [is everybody there]? I need to get you involved [here]… How many of you have either heard me speak before or you have never heard me? Congregation laughs as all hands should have been up… everybody’s hand should be up right now, OK

1 Samuel 3:1… ¹ Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.

Without taking all of my time to explore this if you grab a concordance and look up ‘vision’ or ‘revelation’ in the Word… you are going to see many… I want to say at least twenty references to ‘revelation’ and ‘vision’ in the Old Testament where the Word of the Lord was scarce. The presence of the Lord was scarce. Here is what I have [kind of] put together as a well established pattern:

In Isaiah 22 [as a matter of fact] Jerusalem is referred to as ‘the valley of vision’. If you will remember this was ‘the presence of the Lord’. Where the people honored the Word of the Lord… worshipped Him for whom He is… and valued His presence… there was widespread vision… there was widespread revelation> God revealed Himself… His ways and His plans to the people where He was properly esteemed [if you will]… where His Word was honored. When the Lord wasn’t present there was no revelation… there was no vision and it was a result of the attitudes and actions of men [and] not the other way around! God doesn’t withdraw His presence… [Well] we live in a different age now.

This is good news [by the way]… it means that we have a say in this. In James 4:8 the Word tells us to draw near to God and He will draw near to you. In the Old Testament times before the Holy Spirit would come to dwell… when people pulled away from God… God pulled away from people. Where the presence of the lord wasn’t… there was no vision [and] there was no revelation. The good news for us today is that we have control of that… we get to initiate God’s presence in our life. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. We have the Holy Spirit [here] so that if you need revelation… if you need vision today in your life… it is as near as asking.

Back to the picture of Paul… you don’t have to flip back over there [BUT] I am going to flip back over there and refresh this picture…

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended BUT one thing that I do… forgetting those things which are behind and reaching towards those things which are ahead… I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Has anybody ever been to Drivers Education before? Did somebody teach you how to drive? Please tell me that somebody taught you how to drive [congregation laughs]. Hopefully the person that taught you how to drive [has] showed you what they showed me in Drivers Education. Every once in a while you check your rear-view mirror and every once in a while you [will] check a blind-spot when you are pulling out. You want to be aware of the people around you BUT what do you focus on? You focus straight ahead! Why? That is where you are going… and you don’t want to get into an accident. The reason that you have to focus straight ahead when you are driving is that you steer in whatever direction that you look at… that is what they taught me. I think that is exactly the way that he said it… you steer in whatever direction that you are looking at! If you find that you are shifting your gaze and drifting [then] your car is going to start to drift [too]… that is dangerous! [So] we steer towards what we look at. The Word [even] says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that we become like what we look at. It says [that] we are becoming like Christ as we steadfastly look at Him… as we steadfastly gaze upon the Lord. That is how we become like Him!

Proverbs 4:25-27… you can turn there [or not]… file it away because this is a really good Old Testament picture of Paul. Proverbs 4: 25-27…

²⁵   Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. ²⁶Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.²⁷             Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

It is the same picture that we get from Paul… pressing toward the mark… leaving behind what is behind and pressing forward toward the mark. As we begin to focus on the vision… leaving behind those things that are in the past and moving toward the vision that the Lord has revealed to us… moving toward that revelation that we have… this picture… this vision… stuff starts to come in from the sides. ‘Stuff’ being defined as circumstances… sometimes I like to call them torpedoes… stuff comes at you. The thing is that before we really get a head of steam… before we get moving towards this vision… if the enemy can get you to shift your gaze to the right or to the left instead of staying focused on the vision… then you are no longer moving toward it! If you haven’t had a chance to develop esteem… if you haven’t had a chance to get some momentum moving toward it… it can stop you ‘dead’ in your tracks! This is where ‘vision’ and focusing on the vision is so crucial… keeping the picture right out in front of you. Stuff is always going to happen… the stuff is always going to come in from the side BUT as long as we will keep moving toward the vision… not allowing the enemy to shift our gaze [then] we are going to be OK! Notice that I said ‘To get US to shift our gaze’… just so that you know… this is something that is an ‘arrow for your quiver’… the enemy doesn’t have any power… he only… he has to be a con-artist to [kind of] get you off of your game because he doesn’t have any real power. BUT by your agreement you give him some authority… if he can get you to shift your gaze then that is how he can pull you off… BUT he has to get YOU to shift YOUR gaze! He can’t make you do anything.

Focusing on the vision is what will see you through the stuff… focusing on the revelation will get you through the circumstances. [Well] let’s say that we maintain our focus… we are able to get over a few humps and… I don’t want to say ‘ignore the circumstances’ BUT we are able to not let them steal our focus; we are able to keep our eyes on the vision. We get a little momentum going… Have you ever walked through a crowded room? Excuse me… pardon me… excuse me… pardon me. Try this sometime… if you will walk swiftly, confidently, purposefully in a straight line then people will start to get out of your way before you have to ask them to! I am serious… have you ever tried that? Have you ever been in a hurry? When you are in a hurry moving through the airport and some other people aren’t [in a hurry] they will get out of your way! It is probably better that you put your baggage in front of you… you move faster… BUT once you start to build some momentum the torpedoes [as I call them]… the circumstances are still going to come at you from the side. If you stay focused on the vision ahead they can slow you down and it looks like this [Elder Derek demonstrates]

Patty… if you can picture this I am moving forward and I am getting hit in the side… I am getting bounced a little off course BUT my eyes are still focused on what is in front of me. [So] as I am walking forward the torpedoes are coming in… I am getting hit BUT I am still focused on what is in front of me.

 Incidentally… if you really like pain… if you like to ‘wallow in the mullygrubs’ [as Pastor might say] then turn your gaze and make circumstances your focus every time that they come in… then instead of the torpedoes coming in and hitting you from the side and trying to knock you off course and slowing you down a little bit… they are going to hit you ‘dead on’ and stop you in your tracks!

If you stay submitted to God’s vision and focus on the prize… you will find that the circumstances will submit to the vision! Don’t start looking for it! I am not making some lofty promise that if you will [just] spend three hours per day in the Word that the circumstances will stop affecting you… that is NOT what I am saying… BUT I am saying if you are following… submitted to and following God’s vision for you then the circumstances will start to submit to the vision… and they will also stop being as important to you! There is always going to be circumstances… you can’t ignore [and] you can’t avoid them… you [just] shouldn’t be ruled by them.

When you have [got] the vision that the Lord has given you… and you are able to focus on it… the circumstances won’t consume your focus! What happens when you are consumed with the circumstances around you… it is called ‘double-mindedness’. I am not saying that this is the only definition of ‘double-mindedness’ BUT it is definitely a definition of ‘double-mindedness’. I believe that it is in James 1:6 where the Word talks about ‘double-mindedness’… He says that a man that is double-minded is unstable in all of his ways because he is constantly blown around by every wind of doctrine… or let’s say by every circumstance. If you are ruled by circumstances… or ruled by your emotions… am I stepping on somebody’s toes ... [Then] you are constantly going to be pulled in different directions. It is really hard to maintain your focus… it is really hard to move toward a vision when you are being pulled in several directions at the same time. BUT the thing is [is] that these circumstances don’t ever stop… they are always going to be there.

When somebody gets up… God bless the work of the evangelist… sometimes [however] some evangelists paint a rosy picture of salvation as a means of escaping your worldly trouble. It is NOT true! Jesus didn’t come to get you out of trouble… He came to get into trouble with you! It is not mine… I didn’t make it up… I wish I did BUT Jesus didn’t come to get you out of trouble… He came to get into trouble with you! He came to give you a peace that surpasses understanding so that in the midst of circumstances… you show ‘this’ peace… you ‘walk’ in this peace!

If the only joy that you experience in this life… if the only happiness [I am off of my notes now… I am sorry]… BUT if the only happiness that you experience in this life is dependent upon your circumstances… that is the word ‘happiness’… ‘happenings’… then how much of the time are you going to be truly happy if you are only happy when all of the circumstances in your life line up? I know that I would be miserable. Do you know what? We can turn little, tiny circumstances into a reason to be miserable [too]. I know because I have at different times been a ‘master’ of it… making ‘mountains out o molehills’! That is all about your focus… that is all about what you are giving your attention to. It is all about either focusing on the vision that comes from the revelation of God or just opening up your eyes [and] waking up in the morning… turning to whatever first draws your attention and running in that direction. I ‘vision’ will help you NOT do that… a vision will help you keep focused upon what you are supposed to be focused on!

If you haven’t figured it out part 2… what you are supposed to focus on… I am sure that you have… I am going to stay on part 1 then…

Double-mindedness… I will get back to my notes…You are going to be like a boat in a storm, constantly pulled in different directions. Every new situation is going to be a reason to ‘give up the ghost’ [if you will]… a reason to ‘quit the fight’; that is what the ‘power’ of ‘vision’ is… the power of focusing on the vision. If your gaze is fixed on the prize [on Jesus] you can maintain that peace that surpasses understanding and you can be calm in the midst of the circumstances.

All of this talk of focus… what are we really talking about? We are talking about your worship. You might not have thought of it like that before. You might think that worship is raising your hands in the middle of the service or singing a song… BUT worship in its very essence is something that everybody out there is doing… everybody does it. You are hard-wired to worship; you can’t even help it! Worship is what you esteem… it is what you prize… it is what you give your attention to. You show it [worship] in your check-book… you show it in how you spend your time… Oh [incidentally] don’t you be thinking that I have ‘arrived’… I should have been working on this message yesterday and I know that I was watching a movie at least once… Your worship is how you spend your everyday life. That is why the Word says that your rational worship… your reasonable worship is to make yourself a living sacrifice… stop crawling off of the altar.

So, I have a problem… a mental problem with this word ‘worship’… not just the word ‘worship’… Understand me [that] I never had a mental issue with God being worthy of our worship… I never had any kind of problem since I was a kid; I was brought up in the church. I never had a problem with Jesus being the One who deserves our worship. I had a mental problem with Him commanding it! [Because] why does He need it? He is the self-evident one… He was around before us… in eternity before us. How did He ever get around to making us… does that mess you up? He was around and complete before He made us> Making us was an expression of His love because I think that He was so full that He [just] wanted to share it! My problem with worship was ‘Why do you need it?’ Of course the answer is that He doesn’t! He was [just] fine before us… there was enough love in the Godhead that He knew He was God and was fine with that. God’s only motive is love… it is the thing. Think about that! God’s only motive is love! [So] why does He command us to worship Him?

Finally… in a moment of brilliant clarity… after struggling with this mental question I asked him [congregation laughs]. You wouldn’t believe how fast I got an answer… I couldn’t write fast enough. When He downloaded this He said, “Unless you esteem Me and value Me for who I am you won’t hear Me … or you won’t value what I tell you!” Think about that! Until you get your worship in line… until you recognize God for who He is and tell him… [then] you won’t hear Him or at the very least won’t value what He says and you won’t obey it! What happens when we don’t obey him? How much frustration do you want in life? Really! [So] we are all worshipping all of the time… everybody is. We are showing what we value by the words of our mouths… [certainly] the meditations of our heart… what we spend our money on… all of these things… what we give our attention to… what we gaze upon… what we meditate upon.

I am going to go back to the picture in Philippians 3… right after Paul tells us that ‘I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus’… right over in chapter 4 he tells you how he does it… how he maintains his focus. He says, ‘Finally brethren in whatever things are true… whatever things are noble’… this is the New King James… it reads a little bit different in other versions BUT… ‘whatever things are noble… whatever things are just… whatever things are pure… whatever things are lovely… whatever things are of good report… if there is any virtue… if there is anything praiseworthy… meditate on these things.’ [You see] most people don’t steadfastly focus on any one thing. Most people… the best of us… we get thrown off course… BUT most people are constantly off course. They will focus over [here] for a little while… hey will focus over [there] for a little while… to the left or to the right. Do you every find yourself focusing behind? How painful is regret?

Most people don’t [just] focus steadfastly on any one thing… and I would say that most of the people that do out there focus steadfastly on one thing are focusing on what we would call ‘wood and hay’… if you catch my meaning. They are steadfastly focusing on things that aren’t going to matter in eternity… money… toys… stuff like that. These things aren’t evil… these things are here for us to enjoy BUT they are like the circumstances… they can consume you. They are not worthy of your focus! You have heard it said from this pulpit before ‘where God guides God provides’… His provision flows to His vision. If you are focused in the right place… if you are focused on the right things… the stuff is going to come [anyway]… the stuff that matters. You will find that some of it… it just doesn’t matter anymore. We all have to some degree or another a vision of somebody who is worldly successful that has it right. I would tell you that [that] person probably is focused… probably has a vision of something that they are chasing… a lot of times it is [just] not going to be the right vision.

To wrap this up… I blew through that real quick… someday every one of us is going to focus on the same thing. We are going to focus on the one who is standing before us to whom we must give an account for our life. In that moment we will either realize our tremendous quality for never having made Him the focus of our life while we were here or we will reap a reward that we can’t even imagine beyond our wildest dreams… for having made Him the focus of our life while we were here.

Today… if you want to exchange double-mindedness… being double-minded… being confused… If you want to exchange this confusion… this double-mindedness for the peace that passes understanding… the peace that rules in the midst of the circumstances… you can do that today! You are going to have to shift your gaze… alter your focus and get focused on…

It is another message and probably a separate seminar all together for me to go through the 1-2-3’s of how to do this… BUT let me [just] go back real quickly to the picture that I had in the Old Testament [as music begins to play softly in the background]… of the well established pattern of where God’s presence was… God’s revelation… God’s vision flowed. Where the people honored the Word of the Lord… where they worshipped Him for who He is and valued His presence… there was vision! God revealed Himself… His ways… and His plans to them.

I have got to tell you… this Book is the Word of the Lord… BUT these are words on paper. The letter kills BUT the spirit gives life… you have heard that? Without the spirit these words will not be life to you. I am convinced… I am completely convinced that if you are sincere… if you are not carrying around idols in your own heart things that you want… BUT you are really seeking the Lord with all of your heart… that if you will get in this Word… read what it says… and do what it says to do… you will have that vision… you will have that revelation. You will also have a basis to know when you hear voices… what is His and what is anything else. If you don’t immerse yourself in this Word… at best what you will probably end up with is a ‘cult’… you will have a little bit of a piece of ‘truth’ that somebody turned into a pet doctrine and makes everything else submit to the pet doctrine. This is why in Hebrews 10:24-25 He says, ‘Don’t forsake the assembling of the brethren’. When people get away from getting together with people like minded who are in the Word together [then] error sets in. False doctrines… crazy stuff… Nobody has all of their doctrine [just] right. We are one body… many different parts of the body… some of whom believe some crazy stuff… some of who [just] don’t believe everything that we believe… BUT the Lord is going to pull this together; He is going to pull His church together. The church does have to get together around His Word… this is the only basis by which we can either refute or accept things as ‘truth’. If you will [just] start by getting in this Word with a sincere heart toward doing what it says… you will find that your gaze will start to shift. You will find that your picture of God [is] coming into focus. If you will esteem Him for who He is… I don’t know another way that without this spiritual mirror… a picture of spiritual things. I don’t find it in TV… I don’t find it in movies no matter how well meaning they are… no matter how nice their message sounds… If you will get rid of those idols in your heart and seek God for who He is [then] He will reveal Himself to you…

Proceeds with what becomes an altar call…