Outline of message I gave at Cavite on July 24. Much of this is inspired by JD Greear's book Gospel: Recovering The Power That Made Christianity Revolutionary

1. The Fuel of Worship

2. In our worship we are like one of
these two men:

3. The Farmer
Once upon a time, a very poor carrot farmer lived on a small
farm in rural England. During one harvesting season, he
unearthed the largest carrot he had ever seen. He thought,
“Now that is a carrot that befits a king.” So he traveled to
the king’s palace, obtained an audience, laid the carrot
joyfully at the king’s feet. “Oh king,” he said, “you have
always been such a wonderful, fair and gracious king to me,
and I love you very much. As a token of my love for you, I
want you to have this carrot. It is a gift which you truly
deserve.” The king, touched by this man’s simple offering,
responded, “Thank you for this gift. I happen to own the
farmland that surrounds your farm and I would like to give
you that land as a gift. Please know that it also is a small
token of the affection that I have for you, my son.”

4. The Nobleman
One of the king’s noblemen, standing in the court that
day, thought, “Wow! If the king would give all that
farmland in response to a carrot, imagine what he
would give for a real gift!” So the nobleman went that
night and found the most majestic horse he’d ever seen
and brought it to the king the next day. The crafty
nobleman said, “King, you are a wonderful and worthy
king. As a token of my love for you, I want you to have
this horse as a gift.”
The king, being very wise, saw through the ruse, and
said to the nobleman, “Yesterday the poor man was
giving the carrot to me. But today, you are giving the
horse to yourself.”

5. Consider this as an analogy to how we
approach God
Do we come to give? Or to get?

6. The Gospel (the Good News) of Christ is what
brings us into proper worship:

7. Matthew 3:16-17
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he
went up from the water, and behold, the
heavens were opened to him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and
coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice
from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased."

8. In the light of God’s love for Jesus, we
have reason to rejoice
But God has a way to make people right, and it
has nothing to do with the law. He has now
shown us that new way, which the law and the
prophets told us about. Romans 3:21
There is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

9. JD Greear
In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would
make God love me more, and nothing I have
done that makes God love me less.

10. The gospel is a pardoned thief on a
cross
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you
begin ruling as king!"
Then Jesus said to him, "I promise you, today
you will be with me in paradise."
Luke 23:42-43

11. The gospel is a pardoned son
"The son realized that he had been very foolish… So he
left and went to his father. While the son was still a
long way off, his father saw him coming and felt sorry
for him. So he ran to him and hugged and kissed him.
The son said, 'Father, I have sinned against God and have
done wrong to you. I am no longer worthy to be called
your son.'
"But the father said to his servants, 'Hurry! Bring the best
clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his
finger and good sandals on his feet. And bring our best
calf and kill it so that we can celebrate with plenty to
eat. My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He
was lost, but now he is found!' So they began to have a
party.
Luke 15:17-24

12. The gospel gives us power to worship
God rightly

13. Satan’s Primary Strategy
To try to get your eyes away from your identity
in God and base your standing before God on
something else.

14. Matthew 4:1-3
Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert. He was
taken there to be tempted by the devil. Jesus
ate nothing for 40 days and nights. After this,
he was very hungry. The devil came to tempt
him and said, "If you are the Son of God…

15. The strategy has been very effective
since time began
Gen. 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the
man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree
of the garden but…
Gen. 3:1 …[The serpent] said to the woman,
"Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any
tree in the garden'?"

16. Our enemy can try to use our failures
Our enemy can try to use our pride

17. Louie Giglio
Satan starts with what you did, and tears down
who you are. The Holy Spirit starts with what
Christ has declared over you, and helps you
rebuild what you did.

18. The way to combat it is to always go
back to the Gospel
The Good News is not the ABC of being a
Christian, it is the A-Z of being one.
The gospel is not just the springboard from
which we jump into the Christian life. It is the
swimming pool itself.

19. Imagine if you could say this to God
“God, here is why I think You should hear my
prayer: this week, I concluded a forty-day fast,
and during that time I met Satan in the flesh,
stared him down, and resisted all his temptations.
And then I suffered unjustly at the hand of
sinners, but did so without complaint or the first
flash of selfish anger. The only time I opened my
mouth was to forgive those who were doing that
to me. Also, I walked on water, healed a blind guy
on the spot, and fed five thousand hungry men
with a loaf of bread.”

20. Well in Christ we can say that