2.22.2026 Authentic Worship

Now, Suzette and I, the church that we used to attend in Chicago back in 2018 when we moved there, the average age of that church that we belonged to at the time was 25. So we were the senior citizens of that church at the time. We joked around that we were old enough to be the parents of almost everybody in that church. And I remember I was having a conversation with one of the older Zoomers. She was 27, so she was old. I was going through the pastoral candidate process at this church, and she said something to me. She said that we, as in Gen Zs, we can smell fake. [00:00:11] (40 seconds)  #GenZSmellsFake

What our triune God, what the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is calling us to is a supernatural transformation, a transformation that leads to authentic worship. What I want to do today is just unpack two things, two ideas that I found in today's passage that I hope will help us recognize and run from inauthentic, run from superficial worship. And we're going to learn how we can run to supernatural, run to a Holy Spirit filled act of worship, run to authentic worship. And the first thing that I think we can do when it comes to running from superficial and running to the supernatural is this. And something Pastor Joy mentioned last week is keep your eyes on the right thing. Keep your eyes on the right prize or keep your eyes on God. [00:01:45] (56 seconds)  #EyesOnGod

I have to say last week, I loved Joy how you pointed out that this whole thing of Peter beginning to sink. If you don't know what I'm referencing, please check out last week's message. But you use this image of Selah in the pool. And I'll tell you the picture that I suddenly had in my head was you holding Selah at the edge, just taunting her and then dropping her into the pool to prove to everyone that people do not begin to sink. They just sink, right? And basically last week, one of the things Pastor Joy was reminding us is that Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus, right? [00:02:41] (36 seconds)  #KeepEyesOnJesus

We exist to glorify God by making gospel transformed disciples. So we also have this tradition, which we just did, where Hillary shared. We remember and we pray for those from amongst us that have been sent out into the ripe harvest fields to share the gospel and the truth of Christ. This is a sunset tradition that allows us to worship God authentically. We have another tradition where we gather together to sing, to sing songs of lament, songs of praise, songs that lift God's name up on high because he alone is worthy to be praised. This is a sunset tradition that allows us to worship God authentically. [00:06:51] (41 seconds)  #MakeDisciplesForGod

The modern day equivalent of what the Corbin rule could be is deferred charitable giving or deferred charitable donation. That's basically a commitment to an organization. So back in Jesus's day, that would have been the temple, a commitment to the temple to give your assets, what like a donkey or a tent, give your assets after a period of time, typically after you die, right? So again, Corbin rule, the Corbin rule was not a bad thing. Honestly, it was a good thing. Leaving a legacy of how God's transformative work had made such an impact on you that you wanted to make sure that the resources were available for God to continue that work after you'd gone, that's cool. That's a good thing. [00:10:43] (44 seconds)  #DeferredGivingLegacy

The issue though, at the time was that the Pharisees had taken this good idea and they had twisted it. And they had made Corbin about themselves rather than about God. Corbin was less about giving to God and was much more about not giving to anyone else, like your parents. They had taken this good thing and warped it around. They basically said, you know what? I've committed all of my stuff, all of my resources to God, mom and dad, so I can't give you any of it. I can still use it for myself, but it's all for God, so I can't give you anything. And in the process of this twisting of Corbin, they were spitting on the commandment from God to honor the parents. [00:11:27] (48 seconds)  #TwistedCorban

It's so hard to see when our eyes are fixed on anything other than God. When we fix our eyes on anyone or anything other than Jesus, who is our Messiah, we begin to sink. But if we want to run from the superficial, and if we want to run to the supernatural, then our eyes must be fixed on the right thing, on Christ. See, the right thing is not your child. The right thing is not your parents. The right thing is not your spouse or partner. The right thing is not your job. It's not your hobbies. It's not your sports. It's not basketball or swimming. The right thing is first and foremost, always God. There's no compromise. [00:16:35] (54 seconds)  #TrustGodFirst

There's no compromise. Yes, we absolutely must love and we absolutely must care for our children and our family. We must do all things from our hobbies to our jobs. We must do all things well so that God will receive the glory. Absolutely, without question. But if the object of our faith is truly Christ, truly the creator of the universe, then we can and we must realize He is the creator of the universe and all creation is His. We can and we must have faith that our good, good Father, He promises that all things will work out for the good for those who love Him. We must have faith in that and keep our eyes on the right thing. [00:17:25] (52 seconds)  #WorshipForGodNotPeople

Like I said, God's bull dung meter is perfect. God knows when worship is inauthentic. God knows when worship is not worship. He knows when our actions are only skin deep versus soul transforming. God wants worship that glorifies Him. And if your eyes are fixed, here's the thing, if your eyes are fixed on people, then our worship will be all about people. If our eyes are fixed on each other, then we're going to worry more about how we look to each other. We're going to worry more about picking songs that everybody will vibe with rather than singing songs that allow us to respond to the reality of God, His mercy, His grace. See, if our eyes are not fixed on God, then our worship will not be about or to God. [00:18:49] (51 seconds)  #HeartNotHype

The church will become a place where we're going through the motions, but our hearts are far, are far from God. So when I say that we cannot forget our hearts when it comes to authentic worship, what I mean is that authentic worship is more than just the physical act of worship. It's so much more than praying pretty prayers or singing fun songs. And I'll tell you this, worship is not limited to just Sunday, gathering here. Worshiping God happens every day and every moment. So worship is also much more than just helping the poor and visiting the sick. Not that these things are not important. They absolutely are important, but when our eyes are fixed on God and when our hearts are transformed by God, then these things will absolutely come. [00:19:40] (57 seconds)  #GoodWorksNeedGod

The crazy thing is, and maybe not so crazy, but the thing that we have to realize and understand is this. All these things, praying, singing, serving, all of these things can be done without God. I remember the very first time we took teams to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I think it was back in 2006. There were so many people, not only from Sunset, but people from all over coming, people from the church. And there were so many people who could care less about the church showing up to help those who were surviving that hurricane. Because it's possible to do good things without God. [00:20:38] (43 seconds)  #HeartsNotPerformance

my heart is filled with gratitude. When I consider the supremacy and the majesty of the creator of everything, he is preparing his upside down kingdom for me. I am filled with awe. These are spirit compelled emotions. Authentic worship does not ignore emotion. Authentic worship allows the very real emotion that comes from seeing God's mercy, from seeing God's majesty. It allows that emotion to come through. Authentic worship doesn't just go through the motions. Authentic worship lets out the emotions. Authentic worship worships authentically. [00:25:20] (47 seconds)  #BalanceEmotionAndTruth

it's said that God sees the one who's humble. God sees the one who's contrite in spirit. God sees the one who trembles at the word. So authentic worship worships authentically emotions and all. Authentic worship doesn't try to hide our hearts from God. God sees it anyway. Why would we try to hide it? God sees the emotions that are coming through when we worship him. He sees the one who trembles. He sees the one who celebrates. He sees the one who weeps. God sees. Stop hiding. [00:26:11] (35 seconds)  #ChangedHeartsNotCleanHands

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise. The sacrifices, the good works that we might offer will never be enough. What God calls us to come with is our already, what God calls us to come to him with is a contrite, a repentant, a penitent heart to bring our hearts to the miracle worker so that a miracle can happen, so that our heart can be and will be changed. Because authentic worship comes when we do not forget our hearts. Authentic worship comes when we give our deceitful and desperately sick hearts to God to change and supernaturally transform by the work of the Holy Spirit. When I say we don't forget our hearts, we don't forget our hearts by giving our hearts to God because we so desperately need him to make that change. [00:29:32] (70 seconds)  #RenewedHeartsRenewedWorship