In his sermon “What Praise Unlocks,” part of his “House Party” series, Pastor Ron Carpenter preached five truths about encountering God’s presence, Charisma reports:
- The church has drifted from its supernatural foundations. “When God is no longer operating in the house the way we see it in the Bible, then we start making excuses for God.”
- We build a Jesus who agrees with our sin. “This generation goes ahead and decides how they want to live and then goes and tries to find a Jesus that supports it.”
- Jesus was never meant to make everyone comfortable. “Jesus was the greatest disruptor that ever walked this earth.”
- Real praise isn’t manufactured. Using 1 Peter 2, he asked whether worship that has to be pushed and pressured is the affection God wants. His picture was a child who has to be told to hug Dad, compared with one who runs to him.
- Praise opens the door to God’s presence. God inhabits the praises of His people, and we can’t do what we were made for if we’re cut off from the Vine.
My take
Number four stung, in a good way. I know what it’s like to stand in a service waiting for the worship leader to get me “in the mood.” But praise isn’t a warm-up act, and the presence of God isn’t a concert. If He’s really my environment, I should walk in already full and not need to be pumped up. As Carpenter put it: “You ain’t coming to be revived. You are a revival.”
“Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises” (Psalm 22:3).
God Bless, and Use the Source!
