Sermon by Kenny Foster, Associate Pastor, Isaiah 44: 9-20 & Revelation 15:3-4. This week we begin a sermon series about the worship of God. The title of the series is: "Worship: Learning to Love God and Love His People." The worship of God is the ultimate purpose for the existence of every person who has ever lived at any time. To fail to worship God is to fail at being human since the very purpose of our being is to express the value and worth of God.

Now, in the first sermon of this series we want to learn that worship is formational. In our text we can see this clearly using the negative contrast of false worship. We can see what worship is, what power it has, and who deserves our worship. The last verse of our Old Testament reading shows us the impact of false worship saying, "He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" The only way to break the power of the deluded heart and bring it back to the reality for which it was designed is for God to intervene and draw us back to the worship of the Lord. True worship begins with embracing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through him, God shows us his power to turn our hearts back to God.