Worship must be celebrative.
A celebration is an observance of an event which includes both formality and festivity.

Old Testament worship was centered around Festivals. These were all centered on an event.

New Testament worship (Acts 2)
festive- with singing and sharing
formal- devoting themselves to certain things

Fun
God wants us to delight in His presence.

Food
Sharing God's gift to us to daily sustain and strengthen us.
It binds people together.

Fellowship
We celebrate God's presence by being around other people in whom the Spirit of God dwells.

Baptism is an act of celebration.
It is an outward act that portrays an inward experience.

Mary's worship as celebration
It was literally unheard of for a woman to unbind her hair in public.

God allows us to know Him. The primary way we can know Him is through events.

The Exodus event
1. God made the promise of deliverance from bondage through a chosen deliverer.
2. There was a revelation of human need because of sin, through the plague of death.
3. There was the provision of a sacrifice for the salvation of the people of faith, through the blood of the lamb.
4. There was the entrance into a covenant between God and His people through the giving of the law.
5. There was the anticipation of the Promised Land, prepared for God's people to dwell.

The Christ event
1. The bondage is not to Egypt, it is to sin.
The deliverer is not Moses, it is Jesus.
2. The plague is not on the firstborn, but the wages of all sin, which is death for all.
3. It is not the blood placed on the doorposts, but the blood of the very Lamb of God.
4. The new covenant is not through the keeping of the law, but on a relationship with the Living God based solely on His grace.
5. It is not the land of Israel, but a place prepared for us to dwell eternally in communion and fellowship with God.


Everything we do is to relate the Christ event to the events of everyday life.
Every time we worship, we acknowledge and re-live the events that took place on those special days.
Mary was acknowledging the event of the imminent death of Jesus.
Communion “proclaims His death until He comes.”

1. Praising God is for our benefit, not God's.
Praise defines and completes your relationship with God


2. Praising God acquaints you with His work.
Our perspective is shaped to see things more the way God sees them.
Praising God changes your faith, what you believe and know about God.
It changes your perspective, what you think and understand about God's work.
It changes your behavior, how you act and live your life for the Lord.


3. If it is really important to you to praise God , you will pay a price for that to happen. (John 12:1-8)
To give generously to God may seem extravagant and impulsive to others, but it certainly honors God.
You can give of your time.
You can give of your attention.
Whatever you do, you can do your best. (I Corinthians 10:31)
Summary
1. Praise God and you will find your own faith renewed.
2. Praise God, and you will find your own perspective re-shaped.
3. Praise God and you will experience your own life energized.