What Are You Worshiping? - Soul Care | Week 2 | Braden Hildebrand

Jul 06, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Training for the Eternal Race: Daily Choices as Worship

The race analogy reveals how small daily decisions shape ultimate outcomes. Just as diet, sleep, and stress management determine race performance, our spiritual habits form the foundation of worship. Every mundane choice becomes training ground – frozen pizza cravings surrendered, irritability redirected, schedules reordered. These sacrifices accumulate into a life pointed toward Christ. True worship isn’t a Sunday spigot but a daily irrigation system shaping the soil of our hearts. [01:27]

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
(1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV)

Reflection: What ordinary choice today – a meal, a conversation, a schedule slot – can become an intentional act of worship? How does this “training” differ from earning God’s favor?

Day 2: Redirecting the Hose: Worship as Constant Outpouring

Worship flows ceaselessly like water through a hose – we don’t control the flow, only the direction. The toddler’s bedtime stall tactics, the snapped response to a spouse, the postponed chore all reveal where we’re aiming the stream. Our restlessness proves we’re always bowing to something. The challenge isn’t to generate worship but to notice what’s already receiving it. [06:10]

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image...”
(Exodus 20:3-4a, ESV)

Reflection: What “leaks” in your week (irritations, procrastinations, indulgences) expose misdirected worship? How might redirecting one leak today alter your spiritual ecosystem?

Day 3: Singing with One Voice: Unity in Corporate Worship

Six “let us” commands in Psalm 95 form a communal choreography – standing, shouting, kneeling together. Like a race crew supporting a runner, corporate worship realigns individual streams into a collective river. It’s countercultural unity: millennials and boomers, introverts and charismatics sacrificing preferences to amplify Christ. The harmony of differing voices reveals heaven’s coming chorus. [07:31]

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together...”
(Hebrews 10:24-25a, ESV)

Reflection: What personal preference in worship (music style, volume, posture) have you elevated to a hill worth dying on? How might releasing it strengthen the body’s unity?

Day 4: Barefoot Before the Bush: Physical Posture as Heart Posture

Moses’ sandal removal wasn’t about footwear hygiene but embodied surrender. Physical actions – raised hands, bent knees, shouts – aren’t divine requirements but human necessities. They externalize internal realities, like a toddler’s bedtime resistance revealing hidden fears. Worship engages the whole person: creaking knees and calloused hearts alike soften through posture. [19:51]

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!”
(Psalm 95:6, ESV)

Reflection: What physical expression of worship feels most unnatural? What might trying it (or abstaining from your usual habit) reveal about your heart’s true posture?

Day 5: Sacrificing My Song: Preference for the Body’s Benefit

The “Heart on Fire” song debate mirrors ancient Meribah quarrels. Personal taste often masquerades as theological conviction. Sacrificing musical preferences – whether hymns or haze machines – requires distinguishing between biblical non-negotiables and cultural packaging. Like a runner’s family supporting early training, we endure temporary discomforts to strengthen the church’s collective witness. [11:56]

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
(Philippians 2:3, ESV)

Reflection: When has a “wrong” song or style unexpectedly deepened your worship? What current preference might God ask you to sacrifice for someone else’s nourishment?

Sermon Summary

Psalm 95 summons the church with a repeated let us to sing, give thanks, and kneel before the Lord because the Lord is a great God and a great King, Maker of sea and dry land, heights and depths. The psalm then warns against hardening the heart like Meribah and Massah, where a quarreling people put God to the test and forfeited rest. That frame sets the agenda: worship is corporate, God-centered, creation-saturating, and spiritually urgent.

Worship, as the argument runs, is a continuous outpouring. It is not a spout that turns on and off but the end of a hose that keeps pouring and can only be pointed. Romans 1 confirms the point: humanity does not stop worshiping, it trades the Creator for created things. As Harold Best writes, at this very moment everybody is bowing down to something or someone. So the live question is not if worship is happening but what and whom the heart is aiming at in the car, at bedtime, in conflict, or in chores.

Corporate worship matters because the psalm’s let us aims many hearts in one worthy direction. Other settings stage real but misdirected worship concerts, stadiums, even Disney with raised hands. The gathering re-aims the same human capacity toward Jesus, and that requires sacrifice. Preference, pride, and even tradition often need to be laid down for the body’s good, while truth, integrity, and the church’s calling never get laid down. Colossians 3 ties the gathered song to the whole of life so that thanksgiving and the name of Jesus saturate word and deed.

Because God deserves more than the last or the off the cuff, preparation becomes an act of love. Careful planning, song selection by committee, and rehearsals serve unity and truth. Preference bows to edification, like learning to love a song one initially resisted when it proves good for the church. Tools that engage culture lights, haze, cameras are useful but not truth itself, and must never be confused with Scripture. The psalm’s warning against quarreling exposes how quickly worship becomes a battleground when preference gets enthroned.

Expectation and embodiment belong together. God wants to meet with his people, and distraction often robs that appointment. Physical intentionality communicates spiritual reality, as with Moses removing sandals. Postures kneeling, raising hands, singing out do not inform God but train the worshiper. Some need to risk new expressions, others need to lay down automatic ones, so that the heart wrestles into real response. The invitation lands here: come before the King with nothing in the way.

Key Takeaways

1. Worship never turns off [04:26] Worship continues in traffic, in kitchens, and in conflicts. The heart is always aiming love, trust, and fear somewhere, even when no song is playing. Romans 1 names the danger of trading the Creator for creation, which means drift is not neutral. Intentional re-aiming toward Jesus restores reality rather than adding a religious hobby. [04:26]
2. Corporate worship requires costly sacrifice [08:33] Shared song unites unlike people around a single Worthy One, which means someone’s preference dies for someone else’s edification. That death is not defeat but love, mirroring the One the church adores. Yet the cost is never truth, integrity, or calling; those remain the rails that keep sacrifice from becoming compromise. Real unity grows where self-importance shrinks. [08:33]
3. Preference is not biblical truth [15:38] Volume, lights, and style can engage culture but cannot define holiness. When preference sounds like a commandment, the church starts policing taste instead of guarding the gospel. Scripture frees the body to use tools wisely without mistaking them for mandates. Maturity learns to enjoy helps without needing them to meet with God. [15:38]
4. Physical posture trains the heart [20:15] God looks at the heart, yet he tells bodies to kneel, lift hands, and sing because the body tutors the soul. Movement clarifies intention, like a parent kneeling to speak with a child. Posture can wake desire, humble pride, or steady fear when words feel thin. Embodied obedience is not performance; it is formation. [20:15]
5. Come expecting a real encounter [17:49] Distraction is not innocent when it keeps a person from the Presence. Expectation says God wants to meet, and it refuses to leave unchanged. That expectancy is not hype but hunger shaped by Psalm 95’s Today if you hear his voice. The King is near; the heart is summoned to answer. [17:49]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:18] - Race story and training analogy
[01:58] - Steep investment vs true calling
[02:48] - Psalm 95 summons to praise
[03:36] - Meribah and the hardened heart
[03:57] - Worship as continuous outpouring
[04:54] - Trading the Creator for creation
[07:12] - The power of let us
[08:33] - Worship requires sacrifice
[10:49] - Preparing worship with intention
[11:56] - When preference yields to edification
[14:48] - Engage culture, uphold truth
[17:49] - Expectancy, not distraction, in worship
[20:15] - Bodies train hearts in praise
[24:52] - Come Before the King debut

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Psalm 95:1-11 (ESV)
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Observation Questions

Psalm 95 repeatedly uses the phrase “let us” (vv. 1-2, 6). What specific actions does the psalm call believers to do together?
The psalm warns against hardening hearts “as at Meribah and Massah” (v. 8). What happened in those places, and why does the psalmist connect them to worship?
According to Colossians 3:16 (referenced in the sermon), how does corporate worship relate to daily life? [10:19]
The sermon compares worship at a Disney fireworks show to corporate worship. What key difference does it highlight about the direction of worship? [08:12]

Interpretation Questions

Why does the psalm emphasize corporate worship (“let us”) rather than individual worship? How does this align with the sermon’s point about unifying “many hearts in one worthy direction”?
The sermon argues that “preference is not biblical truth.” How does the story of initially disliking the song Heart on Fire illustrate this principle? [11:56]
Moses removing his sandals (Exodus 3:5) and the psalm’s call to “kneel” (Psalm 95:6) involve physical postures. What do these actions teach about the relationship between the body and the heart in worship?

Application Questions

The sermon says, “Worship continues in traffic, in kitchens, and in conflicts.” What is one mundane moment this week (e.g., doing dishes, commuting) where you could consciously “re-aim” your heart toward Jesus?
When have you sacrificed a personal preference (e.g., music style, liturgy) during corporate worship? How did it affect your focus on Jesus or unity with others? [09:30]
The psalm urges, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart.” What distraction or habit currently “hardens” your heart from expecting to meet God in worship? What step could you take to soften it?
The sermon compares worship to a parent kneeling to speak to a child. What physical posture (e.g., kneeling, raising hands, closing eyes) have you avoided or relied on automatically? How could you experiment with a new posture to engage your heart more authentically? [20:15]
How might preparing for Sunday worship (e.g., praying Friday night, reviewing songs beforehand) help you approach it with expectancy rather than distraction? [10:49]

Sermon Clips

68s

#ExpectToMeetGod

“``How many of us walk into worship with a hardened heart? How many of us walk into church and go through the motions because that is what we do? What if we walk into Sunday morning not only expecting to meet with the Lord but knowing that we will? What if we refused to leave this place until we had a personal interaction with God, until we had met with him? This is what God wants for us not only on Sunday but every day. I struggle to make it through this part of the message without getting choked up because I believe so strongly that the Lord, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who knit you together and breathed life into your lungs, the one who gave up his life for you on a cross, desperately wants to meet with you but we are too busy thinking about lunch, the football game this afternoon, work tomorrow, the fight we had with our spouse or kids or sometimes both this morning?”

55s

#HeartOverRitual

“God was not interested in Moses' footwear. God was interested in his heart he still commanded that Moses remove them. Why is that? When we worship, God doesn't care about the placement of our hands but he does care about our hearts. Look back at Psalm 95 with me. In verse six specifically, we see the bending of knees as an example here in this passage but we don't bend the knee because God needs us to. We bend the knee because we need us to. We don't raise our hands and sing because he needs it though he does love it. We do it because we need it.”

53s

#WorshipTheRightOne

“The question isn't if I am worshiping. See, I'm worshiping when I drive to work. I'm worshiping when I rock my son son to sleep, when I'm tying my shoes. I'm even worshiping when I'm tired and I snap at my wife or when I choose to put off taking out the trash and when I speak harshly to my children. What changes is the object of my worship. I can worship at the altar of a job, a spouse, my children, and maybe most often myself. But the only one that is worthy of that worship is Jesus.”

58s

#PresenceOverProduction

“Having a beautiful auditorium, lights, haze and cameras are all things that allow us to engage with the culture around us and should not be confused with biblical truth. There are many many different kinds of churches out there that uphold biblical truth and it is more important now with our spiritual buffet of options to not confuse personal preference and biblical truth. It is in no way wrong to have lights. Nowhere in the bible does it say music louder than a certain decibel or that has a specific beat is sinful. You may or may not prefer certain things but that doesn't make it biblical. In the same way, all this is completely unnecessary to worship as a body before God. And if you feel you need the full works to enter into his presence, you are missing the point.”

74s

#WorshipInUnity

“We are all sacrificing and being filled up at the same time. If you look back at Psalm 95 with me, look at verses eight through 11. They discussed quarreling and infighting. Meribah literally means quarreling referencing the desert location that the Israelites fought with Moses. Massawa is where God instructed Moses to strike a rock and water flowed from it. This happened because the Israelites were testing God. They were putting him to the proof and the psalmist in this passage is pleading that we worship together rather than bicker and argue. It seems to me that this isn't a new issue, it's a human one and one rooted in selfishness. How many of us walk into worship with a hardened heart? How many of us walk into church and go through the motions because that is what we do? What if we walk into Sunday morning not only expecting to meet with the Lord but knowing that we will? What if we refused to leave this place until we had a personal interaction with God, until we had met with him?”

74s

#WorshipIsSacrifice

“Worship requires sacrifice. To bring back my running analogy, when I run, I sacrifice. I sacrifice time. I sacrifice my desired diet. If you know me, you know I love frozen pizza. It's actually a problem and I have to limit myself to only one time a week when I'm running, right, which is tough. I sacrifice energy in my total capacity but I'm not the only one that sacrifices. My wife and kids also sacrifice. I'm not home for like four hours two days a week. My kids don't see me when they first wake up but they know it's good for me and while it may not be the easiest for them, they sacrifice because they love me. In the same way, we sacrifice when we come together to worship. We sacrifice our preference, we sacrifice our pride and even at times, we sacrifice our tradition for the good of the body. Here are the things that we never sacrifice though. We never sacrifice biblical truth, moral integrity, or our calling as a church.”

62s

#ChooseUnityOverPreference

“What songs do we sing? How much production should we have? Where are all the hymns? Some people love all the production and some hate it. Corporate worship requires sacrifice. We are all sacrificing and being filled up at the same time. If you look back at Psalm 95 with me, look at verses eight through 11. They discussed quarreling and infighting. Meribah literally means quarreling referencing the desert location that the Israelites fought with Moses. Massawa is where God instructed Moses to strike a rock and water flowed from it. This happened because the Israelites were testing God. They were putting him to the proof and the psalmist in this passage is pleading that we worship together rather than bicker and argue. It seems to me that this isn't a new issue, it's a human one and one rooted in selfishness.”

46s

#WorshipWithoutFear

“Maybe you always always always raise your hands and you need to put them down because you don't know why you even have them up but you are scared that you won't look like you were worshiping unless they are. Maybe you need to raise them even though you feel foolish and surely everyone will be looking at you. After all, that stuff is for emotionally immature kids. Maybe you need to sing for the first time. Maybe you need to wrestle with wrestle your heart into response not for responses sake but because God deserves all of your praise.”

63s

#RedirectYourWorship

“In what other context do we have any kind of similar experience? We have all kinds of worship experiences. If you've ever been to a concert, that's a worship experience. If you've been to an NFL game, that's a worship experience. I'll never forget going to Disney with a friend who's not a believer and at the end of the night, they do the whole like fireworks show and like Tinker Bell comes over the the castle and it's this incredible experience and we look over and there she is raising her hands. Interesting. It's a worship experience. Right? But they're pointed in the wrong direction. This is a chance for us here together to point our worship in the same worthy direction but that requires sacrifice.”

46s

#BodyAndSpiritWorship

“What if we tried engaging with him in a new way this morning both in spirit and in body? Because I think those two things are inseparable when it comes to our worship. I believe that physical intentionality communicates spiritual reality. One of my favorite stories recently is the story of Moses and the burning bush. And Moses approaches the burning bush and God begins to speak to him but before he lays out his plan for Moses' life, Moses' very purpose, what does he do? He asks that Moses remove his shoes.”

39s

#KneelFromTheHeart

“When we worship, God doesn't care about the placement of our hands but he does care about our hearts. Look back at Psalm 95 with me. In verse six specifically, we see the bending of knees as an example here in this passage but we don't bend the knee because God needs us to. We bend the knee because we need us to. We don't raise our hands and sing because he needs it though he does love it. We do it because we need it.”

42s

#SeekGodDaily

“This is what God wants for us not only on Sunday but every day. I struggle to make it through this part of the message without getting choked up because I believe so strongly that the Lord, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who knit you together and breathed life into your lungs, the one who gave up his life for you on a cross, desperately wants to meet with you but we are too busy thinking about lunch, the football game this afternoon, work tomorrow, the fight we had with our spouse or kids or sometimes both this morning?”

57s

#WorshipWithEmotion

“Why should our personal worship be any different? I've talked to many people that describe their worship as more contemplative and I think that's fine. You can't but you can't always be contemplative. You also experience joy, sadness, anger, excitement, and fear. Why wouldn't why would your worship not show these emotions as well? It seems to me that we often hide behind a comfortable emotion or mode of expression locking us into a stagnant rut. Maybe you always always always raise your hands and you need to put them down because you don't know why you even have them up but you are scared that you won't look like you were worshiping unless they are.”

57s

#UnitedInWorship

“That's why I think this is so important, what we get to do right now on Sunday mornings. If you look back at Psalm 95, it says six times, let us in regards to worship. Why is The Us so important? Corporate worship is one of the most unifying experiences we can have as a body of believers. Together with one voice singing the same melodies, declaring the same truths, we turn our hearts in unison towards the only one worthy. In what other context do we have any kind of similar experience? We have all kinds of worship experiences. If you've ever been to a concert, that's a worship experience. If you've been to an NFL game, that's a worship experience.”

60s

#SacrificeForTheBody

“This is a chance for us here together to point our worship in the same worthy direction but that requires sacrifice. Worship requires sacrifice. To bring back my running analogy, when I run, I sacrifice. I sacrifice time. I sacrifice my desired diet. If you know me, you know I love frozen pizza. It's actually a problem and I have to limit myself to only one time a week when I'm running, right, which is tough. I sacrifice energy in my total capacity but I'm not the only one that sacrifices. My wife and kids also sacrifice. I'm not home for like four hours two days a week. My kids don't see me when they first wake up but they know it's good for me and while it may not be the easiest for them, they sacrifice because they love me.”

55s

#InvestInYourCalling

“Running is not what God built me for. Arguably, I'm not even that good at it, maybe just a little better than Spencer. And yet, I put all this time and effort into a single day's run. It required steep investment. I invested mentally in my training methods, physically by running around 30 to 40 miles a week, financially by buying shoes, pack, and then the actual race ticket. How much more effort should I put into doing the things that God has created me to do? On an even deeper level, how much more effort should I put into something that I do regardless of whether I want to or not? Psalm 95 is all about worship but what does it really mean to worship?”

69s

#WorshipOverPreference

“And a couple of weeks ago, Tim brought to me this song, Heart on Fire. And right at first, I was not a fan. I'll tell you that. I as I was listening to it, was like, the melody is kinda hard. There's like some wording and phrases that, like, are a little bit odd. And I was like, I don't know. Well, at first, didn't like it. I grew to love it because I see how it benefits the body. It's not about me so I sacrifice my preference. This brings me back to sacrifice. Rachel sacrifices for me to run though it isn't the easiest thing for her. Right? Even though it makes two mornings a week more complicated, she loves me and knows that I love to run and so she loves it too. In the same way, I now love Heart on Fire because it's good for our church to sing and when I hear our church singing that song as loudly as you did last week, I fight to not get choked up. I was totally wrong about Heart on Fire, but I'm glad that I was.”

77s

#StayInHisPresence

“I asked this earlier but I think that it bears repeating. What if we walked into Sunday morning not only expecting to meet with the Lord but knowing that we will? What if we refused to leave this place until we had a personal interaction with God, until we had met with him? Today is a day of firsts for me and I'm almost finished giving my first sermon and I'm not even shaking that bad. Thank you. I'm also very excited to introduce our first PBC original song. Very cool. Very exciting. And it talks about this very idea. It's called come before the king and it comes out of Exodus 33. In this chapter, Moses had just finished meeting with God and leaves the tent to address the people of Israel but it says that Joshua did not leave the tent. He didn't go. He was in the presence of God and he was not going to leave.”

42s

#PrepareToWorship

“Here, we see Paul encouraging the Colossians to worship together while tying that worship to everything they do. One of the things that I want to mark PBC worship is preparation that we think through, that we process through, that we pray over everything so that nothing is flippant. I think the Lord deserves more in our worship than the last or the off the cuff. So I wanna give you a little look behind the curtain to what it kinda takes to make a weekend happen here.”

46s

#WorshipTeamCommitment

“Again, back to preparation. We rehearse for two hours or an hour and a half. In the last time we go through it, I like for us to take that opportunity and use it to worship as a team when we don't have anyone else in the room, when we can focus on just the Lord, not leading, no performance, we just worship together. It's one of my favorite times of the whole week and then on Sundays, we show up at 06:45 and run through the entire set two times with the last run being a dress rehearsal. And on days like today, I don't even have to be on stage. What a testament to their commitment and passion to see our church worship together.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Phoenix Bible Church This sermon · AI assistant

What determines whether my life is worship

Why is corporate worship especially important for unity

How should physical posture reflect spiritual worship

What Are You Worshiping? - Soul Care | Week 2 | Braden Hildebrand

Devotional

Day 1: Training for the Eternal Race: Daily Choices as Worship

Day 2: Redirecting the Hose: Worship as Constant Outpouring

Day 3: Singing with One Voice: Unity in Corporate Worship

Day 4: Barefoot Before the Bush: Physical Posture as Heart Posture

Day 5: Sacrificing My Song: Preference for the Body’s Benefit

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

What Are You Worshiping? - Soul Care | Week 2 | Braden Hildebrand

Share