Sayre Woods Bible Church

If joy is something stirred up by the possession of good or by possessing what we love or desire, who should be more joyful than Christians? We have received the greatest, most costly, most precious thing anyone could ever hope of possessing, and this should create joy in our hearts that pours out in our worship and service of the God who saves us. If our service, our worship, and our lives are not characterized by joy, something is wrong.       

2. God expects us to worship wholeheartedly.

Once again, I think the marriage analogy helps us here. Today is Valentine’s Day. If I give my wife flowers and candy or maybe some jewelry and tell her that I love her, but secretly I’m lusting after someone else, do I really love her? Similarly, if I’m singing about my love for Jesus on a Sunday morning with my eyes closed and hands raised and a big fat check in the offering plate, but I’m secretly holding on to some pet sin that I don’t want to surrender, do I really love him? Serving God is not a part-time proposition. He does not want pieces of me. He wants all of me. If I am not worshipping God wholeheartedly, am I worshipping him at all?

3. God expects us to worship out of our abundance.

There possibly has never been a culture more qualified to give abundantly than ours, but for some reason we don’t. According to both secular and Christian researchers, the average American gives between 2-3% of his annual income to charities and religious organizations. To make it worse, the higher a person’s annual income, the lower percentage of it they give. I have to believe that God is not pleased by those numbers. As Bill Weaver read on Sunday, Deuteronomy 8:18 makes it clear that God “is the one who gives ability to get wealth.” But instead of returning to God that which he has bestowed upon us, Americans hoard it and try to accumulate as much of it as possible. God has blessed us with abundance, and he expects us to serve him out of that abundance.

B. “Have not these disasters overcome us because our God is not among us?” (31:17)

In my opinion, one of the most unfortunate and sad effects of events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina is the amount of Evangelical leaders who stand up and announce that the catastrophes were God judging America for abortion, homosexuality, etc. I think this is the completely wrong attitude to take. When God pronounced judgment on the nation of Israel, the Israelites were not supposed to blame the foreigners living among them for their idolatry and adultery. They were supposed to be introspective and consider it judgment on them. God did not judge the land of Israel for the sins of the Gentiles, but rather for the sins of God’s people.

Perhaps this should affect how we look at 9/11 and Katrina. Instead of blaming unbelievers and their sin for these events, maybe these disasters should force us to look at ourselves. Maybe God was punishing America because the American Church has in large part forsaken the poor. Maybe God was punishing America because the American Church has condemned and alienated homosexuals instead of ministering to them. Maybe God was punishing America because the American Church screams about same-sex marriages and abortion while ignoring the problems of adultery, divorce, child abuse, and pornography addictions that run rampant in American churches among leadership and laity alike. Maybe God was punishing America because the American Church has begun focusing more on political goals than on missional goals like evangelism.

Perhaps we should consider the fact that because Christians are not serving God joyfully, wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything we have, God has chosen to punish Americans. If we believe that God can work and wants to work mightily through the Church, then I think we have to assume that the deteriorating state of the American Church and American society is OUR fault and not the fault of homosexuals, politicians, or any other group of unbelievers we can think of.

Have not these disasters overcome us because our God is not among us?