Made to Worship | Week 2

The big idea

I can't worship a God I don't know, so knowing Him through His Word and prayer is what makes real worship possible.

Worship isn't singing or showing up to church — it's connecting to God with your whole life, and that connection only happens when you actually know Him. Pastor Bill shows that daily time in Scripture and prayer is what transforms the heart so it can receive God's love, rather than bounce off it.

Point 1 of 7

Pastor Bill opens with a story about his son's Velcro dart gun, explaining that Velcro only sticks when hooks meet loops. He applies this to the spiritual life: when God tries to move in our lives, it can't stick unless our heart has the right surface to receive it.

Point 2 of 7

Pastor Bill walks through Psalm 42, where David, cut off from the temple and pursued by Saul, cries out that he thirsts for God like a deer for water. David asks why he is so discouraged, then answers his own question by choosing to remember and praise God anyway, showing that worship isn't tied to a building.

Point 3 of 7

Pastor Bill reads Romans 12:1-2 and stresses that Paul pleads with believers to give their bodies as a living sacrifice, not copying the mold of the world but being transformed by renewing the mind. He explains the Greek sense of seeing life from God's point of view rather than our own, using a doctor/patient illustration where healing comes from trusting the doctor's perspective, not self-effort.

Point 4 of 7

Pastor Bill explains that discipline without direction becomes drudgery, while direction without discipline is just daydreaming, illustrated by his wife's shift from hating workouts to loving them once she understood the why, and by his son wanting to be a pitcher without ever practicing. He ties the word discipline to disciple, arguing you cannot have one without the other.

Point 5 of 7

Pastor Bill walks through 2 Timothy 3:16-17, unpacking how Scripture teaches what is true, shows what's wrong, corrects us, and equips us for the good works God made us for. He warns against picking and choosing which parts of the Bible to accept, saying that even rejecting one percent of it makes you, not God, the authority.

Point 6 of 7

Pastor Bill introduces SOAP as a practical way to build a daily habit of Scripture reading, observation, application, and prayer, pointing to church resources and the upcoming Ugly Sweater series through the book of John. He ties this to Isaiah 40 and Psalm 42, noting that time in the Word and prayer brings strength, wisdom, and peace of mind.

Point 7 of 7

Pastor Bill tells a house-flipping show story about a beautiful house sitting on a foundation of loose stacked stones instead of solid rock, which inevitably falls apart. He connects this to Jesus' parable of building on rock versus sand, asking listeners what their spiritual life is really resting on when the storms come.

Take it into your week

Pastor Bill's plea is that connecting with Jesus daily through His Word and prayer is what actually changes you, so the question is simply: will you?