The Grove 10 Years – Week 4

All right. Good morning, everyone. It's good to see you. Go ahead and grab a seat. I'm Jason, if we haven't met. I have the privilege to be here this morning as one of our pastors and elders. It's so good to be together again. Thank you for coming. It's great to have you with us. As we get started this morning, if you have a copy of God's Word, why don't you go ahead and turn with me to the book of Colossians. Colossians 1, and if you came without a Bible or don't have one, that's okay.

We're going to fix that right now. Simply raise your hand and one of our big, strong American ushers will get you a copy of God's Word. This is our gift to you, so use it, read it, study it. Good. Colossians 1. We're going to be in verses 15 through 20 today. Over the last couple of weeks, we've been in a sermon series on our DNA as a church, and it's been good, hasn't it? To emphasize our identity as a church, and you guys know this, we have our four pillars, and of those four pillars, Pastor Scott, Pastor Robert have preached so far about our commitment to biblical preaching, and you guys know that.

You guys love that. I'm thankful for that as well. Today, we're moving on. We're going to be looking at the pillar of intentional worship, and specifically today, I'm going to preach about the heart of worship and the worshiper, okay? And so as you find your way there to Colossians 1:15, maybe as I set this up, I'm curious, when you hear the word worship, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Worship, what comes to your mind? Very good answer.

I like that. Adoration, absolutely. For most of us, it might have been music, something like that. We might think about singing. Maybe we think about the worship team. We think about the songs we sing here on Sunday morning, and sometimes, if we're not careful, we can start evaluating worship in the same way that we evaluate a restaurant. Isn't that true? After the service, we might say, "The music was good. I liked the third song. The lighting was nice."

But somewhere along the way, worship can become less about God and more about whether I enjoyed the experience. You with me? And so many Christians live this way week after week after week. They like to have worship my way. Are you like this? Are they providing worship exactly the way that I like it? That's what they think about when they come to church on Sunday. How is it that you would like your worship today? Oh, thanks for asking. I'd like my worship medium rare.

Not too rare, but not too medium either, because that's not good. I guess I like it the way that I like it, right? Medium rare, and many Christians live this way. We act this way, we worship this way, and today we're going to see that worship is so much more than my preferences. In fact, it's also more than the songs we sing. Did you guys know that you can sing every word to every song and still not worship? Did you guys know that? You can sing every word to every song and completely miss the heart of worship.

It's true. Because worship is not primarily about what comes out of your mouth. Worship is what captures our hearts, and that really matters because every one of us is a worshiper. And the question is not do I worship, the question is what do I worship? And so let me ask you, as I set this up this morning, what has your attention right now? That's the question. And even in how you receive the word this morning, it too can be an act of worship. What captures your affections?

What drives your decisions? All of these are worship questions. Or to put it another way, what do you believe you need in order to be happy? What do you turn to when life gets difficult? Because whatever captures your heart will eventually shape your life, and that's why our passage today in Colossians 1 is such an important text for us as we look at the pillar of intentional worship. In our passage today, Paul does something very fascinating. He doesn't begin by saying, "Worship more, sing louder, get with it.

Come on, let's go." He doesn't say that. Instead, Paul does something much more powerful. He actually shows us Jesus. You see, in our passage today, the Apostle Paul pulls back the curtain and gives us one of the most breathtaking descriptions of our Lord Jesus Christ in the entire Bible. And essentially, Paul says, "You want to worship? Look at Him." Look at Him. Look at Him. Behold who He is, because right worship begins with seeing Jesus rightly.

And so that's what we're going to see now. Before we do, why don't we first pray together? Can we do that? And then we're going to get to work. Father in heaven, we do thank you this morning for your word. Oh, goodness, it's so good to be together again. And God, first and foremost, we thank you for revealing your Son, Jesus, to us so clearly in your word. I'm just excited to get into this with our church family. We pray that you would give us eyes to see Jesus as he truly is.

He is the image of the invisible God. He's the creator. He's the sustainer of everything. He's the head of the church, and he's made peace with us because of the cross between ourselves and you, God. And so guard our hearts today. Guard us from small thoughts about Jesus. Protect us even from distracted hearts. And God, as only you can, through your Holy Spirit, help us see and rightly love and deepen our affections for our Lord. He's worthy to be praised.

He's worthy of first place in everything. And so we commit our time to you, and we ask your blessing on it. In Jesus' good name, we pray. Amen. All right, here we go. Big idea today is simply this. Intentional worship flows from a heart that gives Jesus first place, you guys see it? In everything. Intentional worship flows from a heart that gives Jesus first place in everything. That's Colossians 1. Now let's get started. Notice there verse 15. My first point this morning is this.

See Jesus for who He is. He's Lord over creation. Notice there verse 15. Paul says, "Who is," that's Jesus, "who is the image of the invisible God." He's the firstborn of all creation. And so Paul begins here by telling us who Jesus is in relation to God. You guys see that? And he says Jesus... Have you guys read this before? Jesus is the image of the invisible God. How about that? And now by way of context, if you're not overly familiar with Colossians, these verses in a strongly moving, even poetic way, some scholars, as a matter of fact, think it's a quotation from an early Christian hymn.

Paul praises the lordship of Christ in relation to both creation and redemption. This is an incredible passage. Honestly, it's such a gift to the church. And in verses 15, Paul begins by saying Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He's the firstborn of all creation. This doctrine isn't unique to the Colossians. For example, in Hebrews 1, you can see the reference even on the screen here. Let me read it for you. Hebrews 1:3 puts it this way, referring to Jesus, it says, "He," or who, "is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power, who, having accomplished cleansing for sin, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

How great is that? Jesus said something similar in John 14:9. Jesus now with his disciples, also on the screen. Jesus said to them, "Have I been with you so long, and have you not..." "Come to know me, Philip?" He's talking with Philip now. "He who has seen me has seen," do you guys see it? "The Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father?' " Such an interesting interaction. Which means, listen up, church, there's never been anyone like Jesus Christ before.

Never. Not once. Not even close. There's never been anyone like Jesus Christ. He is unique. He is matchless. He's incomparable. He makes the invisible God visible. And so when we gather on Sunday mornings, we are not worshiping an idea. We're not worshiping a religion. God has made himself known in Jesus Christ. And so therefore, this morning, if you want to know what God is like... Do you want to know what God's like? If you really want to know, look to Jesus.

Do you want to know God's character? Look to Jesus. If you want to know the glory of God, look to Jesus. That's where worship begins. And Paul keeps going. Notice the end of verse 15, he says, "Jesus is," it says, "He's the firstborn of all creation." And maybe you read that and you're like, "Oh. Hmm. He's the first... What's he saying here? That sounds a little bit off, doesn't it?" That doesn't mean Jesus was the first thing God created. Doesn't mean that.

In fact, verse 16 makes that impossible. Paul is speaking about rank here. He's talking about priority. He's talking about superiority. Firstborn means that Jesus stands over creation. He is the supreme one. He's the ruler. He's the one that has the first place. And then Paul tells us why, verse 16. Look there. "For in him," and this is so good, "For in him all things were created, both in heavens and on earth, visible, invisible." You can stop there.

He's referring to everything that you can see, everything that you cannot see. That's what he's talking about. He's talking about everything in heaven, everything on the earth, everything. Everything that's visible, everything that's invisible, everything. And then Paul even adds in the middle of verse 16, he says, "Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities." In other words, every power, every ruler, every authority, every spiritual being, everything exists.

Why? Because Jesus made it, that's why. Which tells us Jesus is not a part of creation. He is the creator of creation. Now maybe you're here this morning, and you're like, "Yeah, I've heard this before. I feel like I kind of know this." And what happens is, sometimes when we read or we hear truth like this, it's just natural, we stop feeling the weight of it. Right? Just think about what we're reading for a minute. Think for a moment about the size of everything.

Just think about the size of the universe. All right? Think about that. Think for a moment about what that means. Jesus made it. Just think about it, the universe. This morning, I was up early, like I most of the time am, and I enjoy the sunrise, and just looking out and seeing the stars still, seeing the sun coming up, and being reminded of the passage I now preach, that Jesus made it all. I read this week the sun is so large that more than a million Earths can fit inside of the sun.

Is that true? I don't know. I think it's true. That's what people say. A million Earths inside of the sun. Can you imagine what that means? No, you cannot. All right? But Jesus made it. Jesus made it. And yet our sun is only one star among hundreds of billions of stars. Really? Hundreds of billions? I don't know. That's what they say. That's a lot of stars. Yeah, it is a lot of stars, and Jesus made it. You got that? Can you imagine what that means?

No, you cannot. Neither can I. Our galaxy is one among an unnumberable amount of galaxies spread across the universe. Try to get your mind around that. You can't. Jesus made it all. It's amazing. In fact, the stars in the galaxies, when we look up in the air and we see the stars and we just kind of marvel, when Jesus sees it, he doesn't marvel because he made it. All right? And so let's take this to heart. What does verse 15 and 16 tell us? I don't know.

It tells us a lot of things. One of the things it tells me is that Jesus is not small, and yet many of us live all week long like Jesus is small. But here this morning, we're reminded that Jesus is not weak. He's not limited. He's not intimidated by the things that intimidate you. And so the question is, why do we live as if our problems are bigger than our Savior? Why do we do that? Why do we live that way? In life, why do we panic as though he's lost control?

Why do we do that? Why do we live that way? Why do we act as though the one who made the universe cannot handle the details of our lives? Why do we do that? Jason, I don't know why I do that. I don't know. What should I do? What should you do? I think it starts by looking up. Lift up your eyes. See Jesus for who he is. Behold him. He's the creator of all things. He's worthy of your trust. He's worthy of your worship. That's what we're seeing. Notice the end of verse 16.

Paul is still not finished. It says, "All things," you guys see it there? "All things have been created through him and" what does it say? "For him." This tells us everything was created through him, but everything was also created for him. And now this is where the passage gets very personal, because "all things," you know what that includes? All things. And you and me are included in all things. It means that you were created for Jesus. It means that your life exists ultimately for Jesus.

It means your marriage exists for Jesus. Your family exists for Jesus. Your career exists for Jesus. Your body, your time, everything was created for him. Everything exists for him, including me and you. And by way of illustration, just imagine if after church today, right after the service, somebody hands you, it's a gift you wouldn't expect, but you try to be nice. They give you a beautiful violin. All right? Right after the service. And you're like, "Wow, I don't know what I did to deserve this violin, but thank you.

That was thoughtful. I appreciate it." And any guesses, by the way, what an average violin is worth? Anybody? 1,000, 2,000 bucks. It's pretty common. Now, if it's a classic violin, it could be hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps millions of dollars. And so let's say they give you this beautiful violin, but instead of using it to make music, what do you guys do? Now, I don't know why you would do this, but what you do is use it as a doorstop for the bathroom door.

Why would you do that? That doesn't make any sense. I don't know why you'd do it either. Would it actually prop the door open? Yeah, probably would. But as we all know, the violin is made for something greater, isn't it? Right? It's made to make beautiful music. And listen, isn't that my point? Isn't that true of your life as well? The thing about it is, church, we can use our life for comfort. We can use our life for status. We can use our life to build our own little kingdoms.

We can do that, but that's not what your life is for. You were made to worship Jesus, the Jesus I proclaimed to you from Colossians 1. When we use our lives primarily for ourselves, we take something made for the glory of Christ, and we use it for lesser purposes. You see where I'm going? And so that's why worship is so much more than singing. Worship is living according to the purpose for which you were created. Let me say it this way. Worship is not adding Jesus to your life.

That's not what worship is. Worship is recognizing that your life was made for Jesus and that your life belongs to Him. That's what it is. Now, our problem is we tend to compartmentalize life. You do it, and so do I. We got church life. We got everyday life. We have private life. We have social life. But listen, Colossians 1 will not allow us to do that. If all things were created for Christ, then every part of life is the arena for worship. Does that make sense?

And so maybe as we just kind of like, "All right. I'm with you. I'm kind of following you," as we lean towards application, maybe you're starting to wonder, like, "Okay. All right. I'm following you, but how is this relevant today," as we take this to heart? Here's something we don't do. Don't settle for singing "Jesus is Lord," while living as though you are. Don't do that. Don't give Jesus your Sunday morning and keep your ambitions yours during the week.

Don't do that. Don't give Jesus your words of affection while your heart belongs to comfort or approval or money or control. Don't do that. Remember, Jesus has made you for Himself. That's what He's saying. And that means He deserves all of you. Verse 17, look there. Paul gives us one more reason that Jesus deserves our worship, "And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." How great is that? Verse 17 tells us that Jesus did not just create the universe and then walk away.

"I made it. Now I'm taking a break." It actually tells us that He holds it together, which means right here, in this moment, we're not thinking about it, but the universe continues to exist because Jesus wills it so. How about that? Your heart beating in your chest right now is beating because Christ sustains your life. That's the implications. And maybe you need that reminder. Perhaps this week, you've forgotten who's in control. Perhaps this week, you've been living like you're in control.

Maybe this week, your plans got changed. Maybe your relationship is strained. Health is now uncertain. Finance is perhaps tight. Your future feels unclear. I don't know. Is that where you are this morning? Maybe you've been tempted to think, "I don't know how all this is going to work out. I don't know. I have no idea. I don't know." And yeah, maybe you don't, and that's okay, but you know who does? You know who does? Jesus does. Your circumstances may be unstable, but Jesus is not.

That's the takeaway. Your emotions may rise and fall. His do not. Your plans may collapse. His purposes do not. And so, this morning, if you're feeling fearful, if you're worried, if you're bothered, if you're concerned, if you're anxious, listen up. Do not let fear sit on the throne of your heart. Do not let anxiety become louder than the sovereignty of Christ. Look up. He is before all things. He is over all things, and in Him, all things hold together.

Let's move on. Notice here, verse 18, once again, we're seeing this morning that intentional worship flows from a heart that gives Jesus first place in everything. And now my second point is give Jesus first place. It's the challenge for all of us, church. Give Him first place. He's Lord over His church. Notice in verse 18, "And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have..."

Interesting. What does it say there? You guys see it? What does it say? First place. In what? First place in what? Everything. And so Paul moves now from creation to the Church. What does that mean? It means that the Church belongs to Jesus, too. The Church belongs to Jesus. It doesn't belong to the pastors, not the elders, not the staff. The Church belongs to Him. He's the head, which means Jesus gives the direction. He gives it life. He defines its mission.

And so the Church exists why? Why does the Church exist? It's to make much of Jesus Christ, and that has everything to do with worship. Because if Jesus is the head, then worship is not about asking, "Well, what do I like? Well, what do I prefer? What kind of songs do I enjoy?" That's not it. Those questions may be understandable, but they are not ultimate questions. The ultimate question is what honors our Savior? That's the question. And so think about it this way, like this is ridiculous.

All right? How absurd would it be... Can you imagine if your body one day decided that it no longer needs your head? "You know what, head? We talked it out this week, and we decided that you're not needed here anymore." Yep. Jason, that would be absurd. I know it's absurd, but why is it absurd? Well, I guess it's because the head's pretty important, right? Yeah, that's right. It's absurd because the body only functions properly when it responds to the head.

The head gives direction. The head coordinates the body. The head determines the direction. And Paul says this is the relationship between Jesus and His church. Jesus is the head. We follow Him. That's why He gets the worship. That's why. Now, here's what we don't do. We don't tell Jesus where the Church is going. We don't make plans apart from Him and then ask Him to bless our agenda. We don't do that. We ask Him to make His agenda our agenda. That's worship.

Worship says, "Jesus, you're the head. We are not." And that sounds simple, but that's one of the hardest things your human heart can say, and that's one of the hardest things for my human heart to say because your heart and my heart love control. It's true. We love being in charge, don't we? We love it. We love it. We love calling the shots. We love making our plans. We love our preferences. And then what does it say in verse 18? It says Jesus is the head, not you.

Right? And so listen, intentional worship begins with surrender. Worship is not just, "Jesus, I sing to you." No, it's more than that. It's "Jesus, I submit to you. Jesus, I surrender to you." That's worship. And so the question today is, are you worshiping? Are you surrendering? Are you submitting? And only you can answer that for yourself. And honestly, the Lord already has the answer. And so as you sit here this morning and you're like, "Yeah, you know what?

I'm..." Yeah. The Lord knows the answer. And so your right response is to get low and to confess, "Lord, forgive me. Things are misaligned, and I'm out of alignment." Maybe for you, that means there's sin to confess. There's repentance required in your life It's between you and the Lord. Let's keep going. In the middle of verse 18, do you guys see this? It says, "Who is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead," which is remarkable because Jesus is not only the head of the church, but he's also the source of the church.

Jesus is the one who gives the life to the church. Jesus is the one who conquered death for the church. Again, firstborn points primarily to supremacy, and that part changes everything. Our hope is alive because Jesus is alive. Praise God for the resurrection. Amen. Our worship then is not sentimental. It's not wishful thinking. It's anchored in the reality of who Jesus Christ is and what he's done. And so listen, as we take these things to heart that we're looking at this morning, when you worship, don't forget you're worshiping a Savior who's alive.

And then at the end of verse 18, it says, "So that He Himself will come to have," there it is. "Will come to have," do you guys see it? First place. First place in everything. That may be the key to the entire passage. And the Apostle Paul says something similar in Ephesians chapter 1. I have it on the screen. Let me read it for you. It says in Ephesians 1:22 and 23, "And He," that's referring to Jesus, "put all things," do you guys see it? "In subjection under His feet and gave Him as the head," do you guys see it?

Once again, "over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fulfills all in all." How great is that? This is almost a direct parallel to Colossians 1:18, and he strongly supports Christ's headship and Lord headship over the church. The part that we can't miss back in Colossians 2:18 is the part about first place in everything. And so, here's the part where you and I have to wrestle with this truth. It's not picking and choosing, guys.

It's not Jesus first place in a few things. It's first place in everything, and that's really hard. Our hearts resist this. Our sinful nature resists this. Sure, you may be a Christian, but there's still unredeemed parts of us that are yet to be sanctified. We wrestle with this. It's not just Sunday mornings. He's talking about every single morning and day. Jesus doesn't want to be just one of your many priorities. God's word today is telling us that Jesus is Lord of all, and he's first.

And you guys do this, and I do this, and Lord have mercy, forgive us. We're constantly putting something else in that place, and maybe today we get in line and yeah, amen, Lord, forgive me. And I'm getting straight again. But tomorrow we forget. We're constantly trying to put something else in first place. It's part of our human condition. I don't know. What is it for you? What is it for you? For a lot of people, it's the common stuff that you would think of.

It can be money. It can be comfort. It can be leisure. It can be success for some people. It can be our approval of somebody. I want their approval. It can be a relationship. Honestly, it can be our children. It can be control. And the thing is, none of those things are necessarily bad, and that's what makes idolatry so deceptive, because oftentimes, idolatry is loving something that isn't so bad. It's loving a good thing in the place that only belongs for Jesus, and that's where we get crooked.

And so let me give you an example. I hope you don't mind me bringing this up. Let's talk about something a little bit personal. Little bit personal. Can we do that? Can we do that? Yeah. I feel like we just got to have a heart-to-heart, church. I want to talk about your phone. Can we do that? Yeah. Let's talk about it. Can we? Let's talk about how you organize the apps on your phone. Can we just talk about that? Nobody's talking about it. I feel like we should be talking about it, right?

And some of you hear that and you're like, "Organized apps? Who does that?" Well, that's the problem. Your phone's a mess, and that's why we're talking about it right now. Others of you, you have a filing system for your apps, don't you? You got folders, right? And moment of truth here, church. Whose phone is like, "Yeah, it's pretty organized." Who's, "I'm kind of that way. Everything's organized." Who's like, "Yeah, that's not me. It's chaos in my phone.

Chaos, yeah." Yeah. Yeah. Jason, why do you bring this up? Well, I've noticed that when it comes to our phones, sometimes we treat Jesus like the apps on our phones. Where do you put the important stuff? Well, that's on page one, obviously, right? Page one gets the good stuff, right? Page two, it's the less important stuff, and then there's the third page. You're like, "I don't even go to the third page anymore." The third page, that's all the stuff you downloaded during the lockdown back in COVID, right?

Let's stop the spread. And you were just downloading apps like crazy, but you don't even look at them anymore. Here's my point. If we're not careful, that's exactly how we can treat our Lord. We can live that way and not even be aware of it. It's like we have work, we have hobbies, we have our entertainment, yeah. That's page one, and then page two, we got our plans, we got retirement, we got vacations. That's page two. And then somewhere in the middle, we're like, "Oh, wait a second.

Where does the Lord go?" Paul says in verse 18, "So that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." That's the challenge. That's the point, isn't it? Jesus is not an afterthought. That's the point. He gets first place. That's where intentional worship becomes very practical because the question is not, have I found a place for Jesus in my life? It's not the corner you've crammed Him into. That's not it. The question is, is my whole life ordered around Him?

And that's a very big difference. What has first place in your heart this morning? What is first place? What's first? Mm. I don't know. What is it that you think a lot about? When you wake up in the middle of the night and there's just something on your mind, what is it that's on your mind? What do you daydream about? What do you fear losing? What comes to mind? Whatever it is, that's probably the thing getting first place. Maybe to put it another way, what do you believe you just got to have, I just got to have, I just got to have in order to be happy?

It could be that that thing is becoming first place. Maybe for some of us it's a number, right? What's your number? How much do you really need to be happy? What's your number? How much do you really need to feel safe? What's your number? How much do you really need to feel in control? How much needs to be in the savings account? How much needs to be in the retirement account? How much needs to be in your brokerage account? If you have a number, if you're like, "Well, I know my number," it could be that that number is getting first place in your heart.

It's between you and the Lord. Now, this is where worship becomes intensely personal, okay? Because once again, we can sing "Jesus Lord" on Sunday while comfort, while leisure, while finances are actually Lord all week long. And we can sing "Jesus is enough" on Sunday while living as though we really need somebody's approval all week long. We can sing "I surrender all" on Sunday while anxiety governs every decision we make. And that's the difference between singing worship and living worship.

Now before we look at our last two verses, isn't it the question? The question is what would change this week if Jesus was actually first place in everything? What would change for you? That's the question, isn't it? I got two verses left, but that's really the question. If Jesus really had first place in everything, what would that mean for you? You mean everything? Like first place in my schedule? Yeah, in your schedule. First place in what you worry about.

First place in what is it for you? Because the heart of worship is not just a heart that sings about Christ, it's a heart that gives Christ first place in everything. Two more verses. Verse 19, you guys are doing amazing. Once again, we're seeing that intentional worship flows from a heart that gives Jesus first place in everything. Last point, point three, worship Jesus for what He has done. He's the Lord of redemption. Verse 19, "For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell."

Another massive statement about who Jesus is. Jesus is not partially God. Paul is making this so clear. He's not partially God. The fullness, it says, of God dwells in Him. And church, that matters because of what the apostle says next. Look at the first part of verse 20. This is so good. "And through Him," you guys see this, "to reconcile," you see it, "all things to Himself." That word reconcile is incredibly important. Honestly, it's a treasure.

To reconcile is to bring two alienated or two warring parties back into peace. It's a beautiful word, and it tells us something about our condition apart from Christ. We weren't just confused when we were apart from Christ. We were alienated from God. We were separated from God because of sin. And so we needed God to act, and that's exactly what He did. Maybe as I say that, you could think about some relationships right now that are hard for you or maybe relationships that have been a little difficult in the past.

I'll bet most of us in some way have been betrayed in life. We know the sting and the pain of that. We're walking several families even right now here at the church through that, where trust was compromised, maybe shattered. You guys know the pain. It's devastating. Somebody that you know and love, what do they do? They betrayed you. Maybe there's regret, maybe there's tears, maybe there's apologies, but reconciliation is not cheap. Real reconciliation means pretending the wrong didn't happen.

That's not what it means. Reconciliation means the wrong has to be dealt with, and that's what makes the gospel so glorious. And so what does God do? God does not reconcile sinners by pretending sin is small. Sin is a very big deal, and so God deals with sinners by dealing with sin fully. And that's how reconciliation is possible, even in life, in our interpersonal relationships. And so Paul tells us how to look. Look at the middle of verse 20. It says, "Having made peace."

Oh, goodness. Is there anything sweeter than peace? "Having made peace through the blood of the cross, through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven." And that right there, that's the heart of the gospel. Peace with God came at a price. The price was the blood of Christ. Have you guys heard this before? The one who created all things shed His blood for us, which reminds me of what the apostle said in Romans, chapter 5. You guys know it.

He said something similar. Let me read it for you. Romans 5:1. It says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God." How? It's through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how. Praise the Lord. And that connects beautifully with Colossians 1:20, doesn't it? Jesus having made peace through the blood of His cross. And so are you at peace with God today? Are you at peace with man today? Regarding your relationship with God, is it one that includes faith and repentance and obedience?

That's if this kind of peace is possible. Are you at peace with God? Have you been justified by faith in the Lord Jesus? Some of you aren't sure. I don't know. I couldn't say for sure. And typically, what I have found is if you're not sure or if you don't know, chances are you're not. But you can be. One of the things I love about our church is that every Sunday after the church, there's our pastors, there's elders that stand up front. Many of them are happy to pray with you.

Many of us are also here to counsel you, to encourage you, and to point you to Jesus. And so today, like every Sunday, we're going to have some of our pastors and elders available if you have questions about this. But right now, if you're wondering, well, how do I get reconciled to God? It's simply just taking what you've heard this morning and taking it to heart. And so I have proclaimed to you a savior that's perfect in every way. And if you were honest, you would understand that you are not perfect in every way.

You fall short just like me. I'm a sinner. Sin is what I do. I'm a sinner by nature, I'm a sinner by choice, and you're the exact same way. And you're in need of a savior. And part of this is just simply kind of recognizing that, admitting it, and it's believing in the Jesus that I've proclaimed to you today. He's high and lifted up. He's perfect in every way. He's the image of the invisible God, and it's believing in Him. It's believing that Jesus died for your sins.

It's believing that Jesus conquered death for your salvation. It's believing, it's cherishing, it's recognizing, it's meditating, it's reflecting, it's taking hold of that truth for your own self. And it's confessing Him as Lord. Lord, I don't have it all figured out and I don't know the answer to everything, but I know enough to know that I need you and I want you and I want to follow you, and I don't really know how to do that even, but would you help me?

We worship not just because Christ is great, even though He is very great. We worship Christ because His greatness has stooped down in grace, and that's why we worship Him. When you think about it, the one who created the trees... Who created the trees again? Jesus. The one who created the trees allowed Himself to be nailed to a tree. How about that? The one who made the iron allowed the iron nails to pierce His hands. The one who makes blood allows His blood to be shed.

I can't even comprehend it. And that's why, church, our worship is not to be cold. It's because the cross and the resurrection changes everything. When you understand what Jesus has done, worship becomes gratitude. It becomes wonder. Worship becomes appreciation. Worship becomes gladness. Worship becomes surrender. Worship becomes love. Worship becomes appreciation. Do you understand? Because peace with God does not come cheaply. And so this morning, first part of the service, maybe your worship felt a little bit cold.

Your response today is not, "Well, muster it up. Muster up the emotion." That's not it. The response from the passage is go back to the cross, look again at the empty tomb. Think again, remember again, behold again, rehearse again, reflect again, meditate again. The deeper we understand grace, the deeper our worship becomes, because God's word, this truth, changes everything, including the way that we worship. We don't worship so that God will love us.

We worship because in Christ, He already has. We don't sing so that Jesus will accept us. We sing because Christ has reconciled us. We don't obey to earn peace with God. We obey because Christ has made peace, and that matters because that changes everything. And so this morning, right now, what is it that fuels your worship? What stirs your heart? Is your worship intentional? Is it from here? Because if Christ shed his blood to reconcile sinners to God, and he has, then he's worth everything, including our best worship.

He's worthy of our lives. He's worthy of our worship. He's worthy of our all. Our worship should be intentional from the heart, and that kind of worship matters. And so with that said, everyone go ahead and close our Bibles there. We've been examining a pillar of worship today, and the pillar of worship is intentional worship. Intentional worship is a heart that sees Jesus for who He is, and it gives Him first place. We've seen that Jesus is worthy of first place.

And so the final question today is not, did I worship at church today? That's not the question. The better question is, does Jesus have first place in my heart? Does Jesus have first place in everything? I'm going to pray. We're going to close in song. Of course, sing. Of course, worship. But then when we leave this place, would our worship continue all week long? Father in heaven, we do pray. We do thank you. Thank you for this reminder. Today, we've seen that Jesus is Lord over creation.

Wow. He's made all things. He sustains all things. Everything exists through Him and for Him. Wow. We've seen that Jesus is Lord of the church. He's the head. He's risen. He's first place. He's the Lord of redemption, and it's because of His blood that we now have peace with God. Wow. And so Lord, we give you thanks. We confess, I confess, we confess that our hearts are easily captured by lesser things. Forgive us, Lord. Too often, we give our attention, our affection, our trust, our devotion to things that can never satisfy.

Have mercy on us. Help us. Sanctify us. Holy Spirit, help take this word in our thoughts, in our desires, in our relationships, in our decisions. Would every part of our lives once again be surrendered to you. Grow our gratitude, increase our praise, strengthen our obedience, and stir our hearts once again to worship you. God, we give you thanks. We worship you in Jesus' good name. Amen.