In this sermon, Bob Sorge discusses the importance of having a father figure in worship ministry. He emphasizes the unique and precious relationship that can be formed with a father. Sorge then delves into three paradigms of worship: the past, the present, and the future. He explains that God is leading worship leaders on a journey, preparing them for the ultimate goal of presenting the bride (the church) to the King (God) without blemish. Sorge concludes by suggesting that God is transforming worship leaders into spiritual eunuchs, fully dedicated to serving and equipping the bride for her encounter with the King.

He has written 14 books and he just told me that the books are available tonight and he's making them available for only $5 each. And from his very first book, Exploring Worship, his latest release, Unrelenting Prayer. And if I think of the years I've been involved in worship and worship ministry, there are many instructors, there are many stars, there are many artists. But to have a father is a very precious and special relationship that we can have. And we have a father here tonight to share his heart to us. When father comes up to this platform here, I think we should all stand and let him know how much we love and appreciate him. Would you welcome our friend, Bob Sorge. One, two, three, testing. It's a privilege for me to be with you tonight. And I recognize that most of you have never heard me speak and you're wondering about the sound right now. I'm gonna explain it in a moment, but let's pray. Holy Spirit, come, come now, Lord Jesus, in power, in grace, let each one of us know in a personal way that you are here with us now. Cause your word to impact each of our hearts, we ask, in Jesus' name. The reason you're struggling to hear me is because of a vocal injury that happened 15 years ago that left my voice very weak and very painful to use. And it's been a pretty intense 15 years. I'm a lot of former things. I'm a former worship leader, a former pastor, a former fill-in-the-blank. Now I have no title, no position. I'm just a lover of Jesus. When this happened to me, my wife, Marcie, she's, I think, over here. Honey, if you want to stand. And Katie, my daughter. When this first happened, my wife, Marcie, felt that the Lord spoke something to her and said, I saved him. No, we don't know what he saved me from. I don't know where I would have been if I had kept on the road I was going. But God visited my life and said, you will not go this way. You will go this way. One of the most frightening verses to me in the whole Bible is Ezekiel 20, verse 32. The Lord says, what you have in your mind shall never be. When you say, we will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone. Are we, can you hear me? Is it working? In the back, wave if you can hear. Is it working? Okay. Thank you. It's not very good for me, so I just need to know it's working for you. In this scripture, the Lord says to his people, you think you're going to be like the other nations, worshipping gods of gold and silver, but it will not happen. You will serve me, and you will love me, and I will have your heart. Beloved, we serve a God who is absolutely determined to have a bride. We serve a God who is resolved in heaven, I will have my people. I will have the fullness of her heart and her affections. Beloved, this is one of the most scary verses in the whole Bible. God is after you, and he is going to do whatever it takes to get you. Psalm 103, very interesting scripture for me. It says, He has not dealt with us according to our sins. I used to think that God's fire in our lives was proportionate to the issues in our lives. So, I've made the assumption, if you saw someone who was really in the fire, you could assume they have lots of issues. The verse says, He doesn't deal with us according to our issues. Beloved, He deals with you according to your cry. So, the guy with all the issues, King Saul, doesn't get any of the fire. And the guy with the heart after God gets all the fire. So, I believe that God intervened and took me down. Yes, He was after some stuff. He was after my ambition. He was after my competitiveness. He was after my pride. He was after my unbelief. I know several things He was targeting. But it wasn't just because of that. He saw my obedience. He saw my holiness. He saw my purity. He saw my cry. He saw my passion. He saw how I was coming after Him with all my heart. He saw the yes in my spirit. And He said, I'm saying yes to your yes. One of the scariest things in the world is to have God looking at you. Because He has these eyes of fire. And when He looks at you, it is real intense. David, you know, he says, search me, O God, and know me. And then when God looked at him, He changed his mind. And He said in Psalm 39, remove your gaze from me before I go away and am no more. Job said it this way, would you just remove your gaze long enough that I could swallow my saliva? So here we are saying, God, look on me. It's the scariest thing in the world. Well, no, there's one thing scarier. And that's for Him to ignore you. That's really scary. Lord, whatever you do, don't overlook me. I'm over here, God. Me, here. I have got to have your gaze. You have got to pay attention to me. It's terrifying either way. If He looks at you, it's terrifying. And if He doesn't, it's even more terrifying. But I am desperate for God. The scripture says, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of the one whose heart is loyal to Him. And I'm doing everything in my power to get His attention. I'm painting the biggest bullseye on my chest. If I can do it, I will do it. What can I do to get the attention of Heaven? My God, look upon me. Set your gaze on me as you're searching the earth. I want you to go, there. There's my man. I'm yours. My heart is yours. I've given you everything that I am. Look upon me and show yourself strong on my behalf. Beloved, God is going to get us where we need to go. I would like to talk for a little while about where we have been, where we are, and where we're going. Three paradigms of worship that are past, present, and future. I'm going to see if we can pick up this board on the screen for you to see. The first paradigm of worship, I'm going to call it preliminaries. Can you read that? Preliminaries. You've got to go back to about the 1960s with me on this one. Back when I was a kid, worship was called preliminaries. That's what they called it. It was right in the bulletin, preliminaries. Back in those days, everything in the service built up to the one main event, which was the preaching of the word. Everything before the sermon was called preliminaries. Worship, announcements, offering, communion, baby dedications, you name it. If it was before the sermon, it was preliminaries. How many were back then? Remember that. In those days, we didn't even talk about worship leaders. We talked about song leaders. It was quite typical, at least in my tradition, you had two instruments in church. You had a piano on that side and an organ on that side. I learned to play piano in church. I was 14 years old and my mother said, you are now going to play piano in church. I said, mom, I can't play. She says, that doesn't matter. I sat at the piano. She went to the organ. She just put the pedal to the metal. Maximum volume. She railroaded that whole song service. I'm playing catch up the whole way. I was so embarrassed after that first Sunday. I practiced like crazy. I learned to play in church. In those days, there was one qualification for being a worship leader in my tradition. It was not, are you called? It was not, can you sing? It was not, are you musical? It was not, can you play an instrument? None of those questions were material. There was only one question to determine whether you qualified to be the song leader. And that was, are you on the board? That was it. If you're a board member, you take your turn leading worship on Sunday morning. We've come a long way. There's no exaggeration. That is exactly how it was in my tradition. Worship was preliminaries. Something happened around the 1970s into the 80s. A whole new breath of the Spirit moved through the church. There was an understanding that began to be taught in the body of Christ. The primary scripture was Psalm 22 verse 3. God is enthroned on the praises of his people. An entirely new paradigm of worship began to emerge in the 1970s. I'm calling it Presence. Presence Worship. When this understanding began to ignite the body of Christ. That when we praise, God responds. And his presence comes to meet with us. And it's in the presence of God. That anything can happen. So now instead of one main event. Worship, there became two main events in our services. Number one was worship. Number two was the word. There were now two main elements to every worship service. Worship became an end in itself. We realized that worshiping God was an end in itself. We said if the pastor doesn't just throw a sermon together. Why should we just throw a song service together? Maybe we should give equal seriousness to the preparation of our worship service. That we give to the preaching of the word. And so there emerged of all things. A worship practice. We actually started to practice. And we put a worship team together. And we said this is serious. We are called. We are going to do this thing. And the body of Christ throughout the 70's and 80's. Into the 90's. This has been the model of worship for the last 25 years or so. 30 years. The body of Christ. Up till the present. We are living in the presence model. It's what this institute was built on. And it's where the body of Christ in general is living right now. However. There is another model of worship. That I believe is on God's agenda for the church. And it's very near at hand. I'd like to articulate it as best I can. And I'm going to use as my word to describe what is coming. With the word habitation. In the presence model. We come together 2, 3, 4, 5 times a week. And every time we gather. We start all over again. There is coming a day. When the habitation of God. Is going to be so clear and strong. Among his people. That we won't be starting all over tomorrow. Or the next day. Because God is going to establish a habitation. Among his people. Let me give you a verse for it. Ephesians 2 verse 21. In whom the whole building being joined together. Grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In whom you also are being built together. For a dwelling place of God in the spirit. This is what happened in the ministry of Jesus. The people said. God is here. We're not leaving. They stayed one day. They stayed 2 days. They stayed 3 days. They said. There is no food. Jesus multiplied bread. They would have stayed 4 days. And Jesus said. I'm leaving. You all got to leave. But there was such a habitation of God. So much of heaven on earth. That you could dismiss them if you wanted to. But they're not going anywhere. Because God is here with us. And we aren't leaving. We want to be part of what God is doing. When habitation comes. The meeting never stops. You know. David set up a meeting like that. In his tabernacle. 24-7. And I believe. That the reason God told David to do that. Was because David was contending for habitation. Amos 9-11. Amos says. Guess what guys. What David was contending for. Back then. God is going to resurrect it. At the last days. And the thing is going to come back. Bigger than ever. It will be 24-7. Beloved. God is not downsizing. To shorter services. God is upgrading to 24-7. And I want to be in that direction. Not the other. The mystery of iniquity. Is working 24-7. In the earth. We are not going to turn the tide. With 90 minute Christianity. We are part of a ministry. In Kansas City. Called IHOP. The international house of prayer. Which is going 24-7. 24-7 worship and intercession. And when people come to visit IHOP. They have a whole range of reactions. Some people love it. And say we are moving here. Other people are like. That was nice. Other people. Are annoyed. And other people. Think it is wrong. The thing I like. About what IHOP is doing. Is they are contending. Contending for habitation. Do we have it? No. We barely have presence. But we are not giving up. We are after something. In the spirit of God. And where this thing is going. Is the habitation of God. Among his people. The fullness of it. Revelation 21. Verse 3. The fullness of habitation. Is not going to be. Until the age to come. Jesus is going to take. A thousand years. To get the planet ready. For Revelation 21. Verse 3. Because where we are headed. Is God the Father. Himself. Setting up habitation. On planet earth. That is the fullness. I know we will have to wait. For that. But beloved. There is an element. Of habitation. That God has destined. For his church. In the last days. And I want to. Contend for it. And I want to put. A seed of faith. In your heart. To contend for it. Because the day is coming. And when it happens. You will certainly. Hear about it. God is with. His people. Some people. Are trimming back. Their worship services. To get more people. In their building. Our problem. Is not. A lack of people. In our building. Our problem is. We need God. In our building. I came to the. Brilliant conclusion. That people. Are boring. So. If you get. 300 people. In a building. That is boring. Times 300. If you get. 3000 people. In a building. That is boring. Times. But. If you get. God in your building. I am talking. Habitation. Let me give you. A verse. Paul talks about it. First Corinthians 14. Verse 24. But if all prophesy. And an. Unbeliever or an. Uninformed person. Comes in. He is convinced by all. He is convicted by all. And thus. The secrets of his heart. Are revealed. And so. Falling down on his face. He will worship God. And report. That God is truly. Among you. The litmus test. For worship. Is not. What did the. Believers say. About the worship service. Because we are all. Leaving the building. Trying to convince. Each other how good it was. The litmus. Test. Of habitation. Is when the. Unbeliever. Comes to the meeting. And. Leaves the meeting. Saying. God was there. I thought I was just going. To a church. He is at the bar. With his friends. Guys. I thought I was just going. To a church. And I got there. And God. Was there. Scared me to death. I swear. You go to that place. You will have a face-to-face. Meeting with God. That's habitation. Beloved. There is a day coming. When the praise. Angels. Are once again. Going to get involved. In our meetings. Have you ever. Wondered. How the praise. Service ever happened. At the triumphal. Entry. They had everything. Going against them. Number one. It was open air. No walls. No PA system. Acoustic. Nightmare. Nothing. To reinforce. The sound. That anybody else was praising. Furthermore. There was no leadership. No worship leader. No preparation. And get this. No. Instruments. And. With all that. Against them. They also. Had a fair. Sprinkling of Pharisees. Throughout the whole thing. Who were scowling. And grumbling. Grumbling. And resisting. The whole thing. And in the middle. Of an impossible. Praise situation. There came. Such a dynamic. Momentum. Of praise. That group of people. That the Pharisees. Were shaken. At the momentum. Of the praise service. They said. This is dangerous. This is out of control. And they said. To Jesus. You have to put a stop to this. I've asked myself. Why did that. Praise service happen. There's only one. Reasonable answer. They were. Stoking the fire. And nothing. Could put it out. And Jesus said. You don't understand. The supernatural power. Behind this thing right now. If these people shut up. The very rocks. Will cry out. Because. When angels. Get involved. In your worship service. There is nothing. Going to stop. The praises of God. I'm telling you. In the Holy Spirit. The angels. Are coming. To the church of Jesus Christ. Habitation. Is around the corner. God is going to. Come and reside. Among his people. The angels. Are going to come. And fan the flames. Of those worship services. It is going to be. So powerful. That your building. Will not be able to contain it. It will spill over. To the stadiums. Of the earth. There will be. 100,000 people. Inside the stadium. With another. 100,000 people. Outside the stadium. Trying to get. In the stadium. And when they. Try to dismiss. Nobody moves. Because God. Is in the house. And when God is with us. Blind eyes are opened. And deaf ears. Are unstopped. Miracles. Signs. Wonders. Angelic visitations. The moving of the spirit of God. Jesus Christ. Taking up residence. In his church. Beloved. I am trying to put a spark. In your heart. To say. I believe it is coming. And I want to. Contend for it. In my generation. We all get excited. About that. But. Like I said. He is very. Intense. And for God. To visit us. At that level. Fasten. Your seat belts. Guess. Who he is starting with. We are here. Now. That is. My introduction. Now. That you are excited. I am going to. Put some fear of God in you. The title. For my message. Is the first time I can remember. This ever happening to me. God gave me a title. For this message. From a movie. I don't do this. But. I have a title. From a movie. Has anybody here ever seen the movie. You've got mail. There is a line. In the movie. Repeated. Several times. It is not. Personal. It is business. Let me refresh. Your memory. Tom Hanks. Decides. To open. A superstore. In a neighborhood. Of New York City. Meg Ryan. Owns. And operates. A little family bookstore. Just around the corner. Tom Hanks. Superstore. Forces. Meg Ryan's. Family store. Out of business. And as. That whole thing is coming down. Tom Hanks. Falls in love. With Meg Ryan. Who he has just. Put out of business. And he is. Trying. To figure a way. To win. Her heart. Now that he has forced. Her out of business. And the conversation. Goes like this. Tom Hanks. Says to Meg Ryan. It wasn't. Personal. Meg Ryan. Love her answer. All that. Means. Is that it wasn't. Personal to you. But it was personal. To me. Listen to this line. Because. Whatever anything else is. It ought to. To begin. By being personal. That scene came to mind. And the Lord gave me a title. For tonight's message. It's not business. It's personal. What we are about. Beloved. Is so personal. To Jesus. It's his bride. That he is. Preparing for himself. He is. Not an. Entrepreneur. Building a business. He is a bridegroom. Who is. After a bride. And it is. Absolutely. Personal to him. Now. To a hireling. It's business. A hireling. Leads worship. For the church. That pays the most. A shepherd. It's personal. For David. David didn't get paid. To watch the sheep. This was family. And you just did it. Because you are part of the family. And the verse says. He tended. His father's. Sheep. It was personal. For David. Because they were his father's. Sheep. So when the lion. Came along. The hireling says. Not in my contract. Not part. Of my job description. But. When David. Saw the lion. This became personal. To him. And he said. Over my dead body. Will you have that lamb. That's my father's lamb. And God. Looked at David. In that moment. And said. Son. You just passed. A pop quiz. Because. I'm looking. For loyalty. And I see it in you. And if you. Will. If you. Will be faithful to me. I. And if you will be loyal to me. Like you are to your father. I will establish. You. As the psalmist of Israel. Now. The ministry. Of the church. The church is personal to Jesus. But the ministry. Of worship. Is. Especially. Personal to Jesus. Here's why. Here's why. If you're taking notes. I want you to write this down. Worship leaders. Are engaging. I'm going to say it slow enough. Worship leaders. Are engaging. The mechanisms. That shape. The mechanisms. That shape. The bride's. Love exchange. The bride's. Love exchange. With the bridegroom. Worship leaders. Are engaging. The mechanisms. That shape. The bride's. Love exchange. With the bridegroom. In other words. Worship leaders. Are getting into. A very. Personal. Area. To the bridegroom. And if you weren't. Part of the bride. He wouldn't. Tolerate you. It's only. Because you're a part of the bride. That he lets you serve. In this way. Yourself. But it's very personal. And it's very important. To God. To Jesus. He is so jealous. Over the ministry. Of worship. That on one occasion. He took a whip. In his hand. And came to his house. In a massive worship. And cast the money changers. Out of the temple. And I can imagine. The conversation. Sounding something like this. The money changers. Are like. Come on Lord. Cool it now. Little intense. Aren't we? Back off a bit. I mean Lord. There is nothing. Personal about this. This is total business. And I imagine. Our Lord. With the fire in his eyes. Replying. To them. When you violate. My bride. I consider it personal. Beloved. The last thing. You want to do. In the end times. Is approach. The ministry of worship. Like a business. I want to. Go back. A few years. Talk about something. From my window. Back in the mid 80's. Going back now. 21 years. In the mid 80's. Now. If you respond to this. You will be dating yourself. Is there anyone here. That attended. An event back in the mid 80's. Called. The worship symposium. A couple brave hands. Okay. We are old brother. There was. An event. Back in the 80's. Very similar to this. And. I remember being there. And there was. A booth. In the exhibit hall. This little booth. By a company. That was there for the first time. First time I heard of them. They had. A brand new idea. That they were trying to. Propagate. They called themselves. Hosanna music. They were a mail order company. The only way. You could get their tapes. Is through the mail. Because nobody. In the Christian. Music industry. Thought they were serious. They said. You mean. You are going to put. Congregational worship. On a tape. And expect people to buy it. So none of the companies. Were interested. And so this little company. Out of Alabama. Hosanna music. They said. Well that's okay. We'll just ship direct. To the customer. And so I signed up. I said. I want to get those things. And I paid my annual fee. And every two months. I got my tape in the mail. From Hosanna music. Well you all know. That it went beyond. Mail order company. And it wasn't too long. Until you couldn't. Walk into a bookstore. Without seeing Hosanna. Tapes everywhere. Because the day came. When the guys. Realized. There's money here. And the. Marketers took it. I remember. A day. I don't remember the year. I'm just being honest. With you right now. It was. In the 90's. Somewhere in the 90's. Got my. Hosanna music. Tape in the mail. Brought it in. Plugged it into my machine. Alright. Hit the play button. And for the first time. I heard. Ladies and gentlemen. And then. They gave the name of the. Worship leader. Up till then. There was no. Personalities. There were no names. There was a purity. About those first tapes. When they came out. It was clean. It was heartfelt. I felt. The body of Christ said. Yes. And it just took off. And when I got that tape. And they said. Ladies and gentlemen. And they announced the worship leader. I'm not going to tell you the brother's name. Because it has nothing to do with the brother. But my heart sank. And I realized. It has now. Become. An industry. The worship movement. Is now. An industry. Names. Personalities. Marketers. Money. And I don't say all that. To say. How bad. We are. I say it. To say this. What is coming. Is going to be. A restoration. Of the purity. Of worship. There will be no names. It will not. Be a personality. Driven thing. When habitation. Comes. God is going to bring. Such a purity. To his house. And right now. I am talking about. His refining fire. Is going to come to his Levites. He is going to clean house. Beloved. I'm speaking tonight. As a man. Who is afraid of God. When his fire. Hit my life. I am. I tremble. Before my God. Because I understand. A little bit of his fire. But my heart is saying. My God. You have got to look on me. You have got to set your eyes. Upon me. Do not bypass me. I want to be part. Of what you are doing. I want to be part. Of the new move of God. Would you cleanse my heart. Would you make me a vessel. That is acceptable. In your sight. That you might approve. Of this vessel. And say. That he is worthy. Of a greater entrustment. In the kingdom. Now I'm going to. I want to try to. Express something. Here on the screen. If they can help me. With the cameras. Turn if you would. To John 3.29. I want you to have that. In front of you. John 3.29. He. Who has the bride. Is the bridegroom. But the friend. Of the bridegroom. Who stands and hears him. Rejoices. Greatly. Because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore. This joy of mine. Is fulfilled. I want to try. To draw. What I visualize. I see. Jesus. The bridegroom. I see. The bride of Christ. And then. I see. John the Baptist. Who is called. The friend of the bridegroom. And. I want you to see. The. Relationship. Of the three. There is. Something. Going on. Between the bride and bridegroom. How many have figured that out? There is something. Going on. Have you ever. Picked up. On the electricity. That moves. Between the bride and the bridegroom. It is electric. The angels. Don't have that. With Jesus. What we have. With Jesus. The angels. Look at it. And they are like. Wow. That is intense. They don't understand it. But there is chemistry. Between the bride. And the bridegroom. And John the Baptist. Calls himself. The friend. Of the bridegroom. Because he. Is ministering. To the bride. He is serving. Her. To help her. In her connection with the bridegroom. And the only. Reason. He gets away with it. Is because. He is also. Himself. A member. Of the bride. He has his own. Personal thing going. With the bridegroom. The expression. A friend. Of the bridegroom. Does not describe. This relationship. It describes. This relationship. He is a friend. Of the bridegroom. In the way. He relates. To the bride. He does not. Violate. The bridegroom's. Role. But is loyal. To the bridegroom. As a true friend. As he ministers. To the bride. And this. I would like you to see. Our role. As worship leaders. We. Want to be friends. Of the bridegroom. Who serve the bride. In her. Worship connection. With the bridegroom. While at the same time. Having our own. Personal. Connection. With the bridegroom. If I had been. A ministry. Consultant. For John the Baptist. I would have. Some counsel. For him. How to build. A stronger ministry. Number one. John. Relocate. To a population center. These people. Are coming. For days. To get to this. God forsaken wilderness. Your ministry. Would skyrocket. If you just. Went to. A city. That's my first advice. My second advice. John. You got to change your diet. You don't eat very much. You're looking kind of thin. And gaunt. And pale. And when you do eat. It's locusts. Hello. John. You're just not a very. Appealing package. When you're that thin. You got to change your diet. My third advice. Would be. Update your wardrobe. I don't know. Why you're doing this. Elijah thing. This camel hair. John. It makes you. Look austere. And foreboding. And unapproachable. And people. Are scared of you. You need to. Update your wardrobe. Finally. But more important. Than the other three. You have to. Stop. Insulting the people. That come to your meetings. They're coming a long way. And then. You call them a brood of vipers. And it's just. Not the way. To grow a ministry. Here's what I hear. John saying. I'm not. Trying. To grow a ministry. I'm after. A man. You see. I was told. A man. Was going to come. And I was going to. Baptize him. And I would recognize. Him. Because the Holy Spirit. Was going to come. And descend upon him. And my life. Has to do. With that man. And I do. What I do. For him. Because it's not a business. For me. It's personal. It was business. For John's disciples. They were like. John. They're all leaving. Our meetings. And going to his meetings. Not good. Demographics. And John says. Now my. Joy is complete. Because my. Whole existence. Is for him. You know. John could have had an attitude. He could have been like. What. Is wrong. With this picture. I've been. Eating locusts. And wild honey for you. I've been living. In the wilderness for you. I've been. Spilling my guts. For you. And you show up. And they all forget about me. And go off with you. And he said. No. Now my joy. Is complete. He was a true. Friend of the bridegroom. Because when Jesus showed up. And the bride. Forgot John's name. John said. Now my joy. Is complete. Beloved one day. The bride. Is going to forget. Your name. And the true friend. Will rejoice. In that day. Beloved. It is so important. To Jesus. How you serve. The bride. He is so. Jealous for her. And he's watching. To see. If you will be. A true friend. To him. As you serve his bride. This is. Intended. To be terrifying. The question. That I've. Asked myself. This is a. Heart searching question. For me. After. I have finished. Serving the bride. Is she. Talking about me. Or is she talking. About him. If you can hear that. It was worth your registration. Do you. Conduct yourself. Worship leaders. Around the bride. In such a way. That when. You're finished with her. She is more. In love with Jesus. She is drawn to Jesus. She is talking about Jesus. She is enamored. I've never seen him. Like that before. And her eyes. And her affection. And her heart. Are drawn to the bride room. Because that's the friend's job. The friend's job. Is to get her eyes. Not on the friend. But on the bridegroom. Paul said. We do not preach ourselves. But Christ Jesus. I have discovered. It is possible. To preach Jesus. And proclaim myself. I've discovered. It's possible. For me to lead. I lead worship. Singing about Jesus. Talking about Jesus. Pointing to Jesus. And the whole time. I'm proclaiming myself. When you're good. At this role. When you have an anointing. To lead worship. And you're skillful. At it. The bride. Starts to notice. And she's like. I like it. When she. Leads worship. Because when she. Leads worship. I know we've got other. Worship leaders in our church. I appreciate them. Bless their hearts. But when she leads worship. The bride will notice. When you're skillful. And when the bride. Starts to pay attention. To you. Jesus. Is watching. What will you do. With her attention. Come with me. To Esther chapter 2. Esther chapter 2. Back in the olden days. Kings. Had. Many. In their court. Serving. That were called. Eunuchs. Kings. Had lots of eunuchs. And the reason. They had eunuchs. In their court. Is because. A eunuch. Is safe company. For the bride. Are you tracking with me? A eunuch. Is safe company. For the bride. Esther. Chapter 2. Verse 15. Now when the turn. Came for Esther. The daughter of Abahel. The uncle of Mordecai. Who had taken her. As his daughter. To go into the king. She requested. Nothing. But what Haggai. The king's eunuch. The custodian. Of the women. Advised. And Esther. Obtained favor. In the sight of all who saw her. Now this verse. Is describing. My diagram. You've got. The king. You've got. Esther the bride. And you've got. The eunuch. Who is serving. The bride. Haggai's job. Is to get. The bride ready. For the king. So that when the king. Lays eyes on Esther. His eyes. Light up like the sun. And so. Haggai says to Esther. Esther. I'm going to get you ready. For the king. I realize. There's some chemistry. Going on here. And I want. To help this thing happen. So Haggai says. Esther. You need to wear. Lace. Because the king. Loves lace. So he's putting frilly things. Lacy things. And he says. Esther you've got to let down your hair. We're going to maximize your hair. Okay let's just get it all out there. And he's. Messing with her hair. And Haggai says. Esther. I want you to wear. This fragrance. Just trust me. Okay just trust me. This is the one you want to wear. And he's putting. The fragrance on her. And the whole time. Haggai is. Serving the bride. Get this now. There is nothing. That Haggai. Wants from the bride. For himself. That's. What a eunuch is. Hear it. A eunuch. Is someone. Who wants nothing. From the bride. For himself. Why? Because. The mechanism. That would have caused him. To want something. From the bride. Has been cut away. Did I say it okay? And so. Haggai. He gets everything. He wants. From the king. And he is. Totally free. To serve. The bride. Totally free. To prepare her. Equip her. Serve her. Help her. Get her ready. So that when she. Comes before the king. And the king's eyes. Light up. The friend says. Now my joy. Is complete. I laid my life. Down for her. I tried to serve. And equip her. And prepare her. And now that she is coming. Into the presence of the king. Pure. Without spot or wrinkle. Or any such thing. Now that she is being presented. To the king of the universe. And she has forgotten. My name. Now my joy. Is complete. Beloved. I believe. That one thing God is doing. In this hour. Is he is visiting. His worship leaders. And he is turning us. Into spiritual. Eunuchs. You shouldn't clap. That was not the time. To cheer. Because. For the Lord to deal. With this area in our life. Beloved. We don't. Lose it. Easy. That thing in us. That feeds. Off the bride. That thing in us that enjoys. The attention from the bride. That thing in us that wants her. To remember our name. That thing in us that lives. Off of something. We are trying to get something out of the bride. And the Lord is saying. I'm looking for true friends. In this hour. That want nothing from the bride. But get everything. They need from me. Beloved. You have got to sit at the feet of Jesus. For yourself. It has got to be personal for you. You have got to find. A place in him. Where he satisfies. The cry of your heart. Where he is the fullness. Of your appetites. Where everything in your life. Is satisfied. And filled by the kisses. Of his word. And of his mouth. And if you can find that place. Where he fills. Every part of your being. Then he might. Find you suitable. For the next move. Of the spirit of God. He might say. Then I might be able. To trust you. If you will not violate. My place in her life. Perhaps. I can trust you. For what is coming next. Because beloved. If we violate. His role. In the life of the bride. And when she starts. To pay attention to us. If we start giving. Attention back to her. And start living. Off of her attention to us. We are no longer. A friend of the bridegroom. We are now. A competitor. There is a popular. Prayer in the body of Christ today. Lord. Enlarge my territory. What we are saying is. Lord. Give me more authority. With your bride. And he says. You violated. My sphere. With what I have given you. I was like. This is incredible. I hit that first chord. I don't know what song we sang. The thing exploded. Kaboom. The place was electric. The leaders were trying to stop. The worship service. So they could bring John Wimber on. It was electric. It was incredible. When I was 29. I thought to myself. I know it is not me. But. They were smart. In asking me. They were smart. That is all I am saying. I felt the power of that moment. I look back on it now. And I realize. What was going down. It was angels. If anybody here. Knows anything about the ministry of John Wimber. The guy had a troop. Of angels. Following him around the country. And when he came to the meeting. The angels just came with him. It was my first time. To encounter. Angelic activity. In worship. It was electrifying. I could feel. The power of the moment. And the jealous bridegroom. Is watching the thing. And he is saying. What are you going to do. With the power you are feeling right now. I am saying Lord. I need some help here. I need help. I want to be a eunuch. In your court. I want to be useful to you. But would you help me. I've got some stuff. I can't help myself. I need your intervention in my life. Beloved. If you are going to be useful. In what is coming. In the body of Christ. You are going to need. Some divine help. God himself. Has to make eunuchs. You can't make yourself. Into a eunuch. You need divine help. But I believe. The spirit of God. Is about something in this hour. I'm articulating something. That some of you are having lights go off. Right now. That's what's going on. God is jealous for you. He wants you. He is inviting you. Into the most intimate. Entrustment of his kingdom. And that is. To serve. His worshiping bride. And to help her. In her worship life. To open her heart. And come into the presence. Of the king. That the bride of Christ. Might be prepared for him. Would you. Close yourself in with the Lord. I'm wanting to. Say two things tonight. Very clearly. The glory. Of God. Is coming to the church. Number one. And number two. Fasten your seat belt. We serve. A jealous God. And he is. Preparing his people. In this hour. It's a fearful thing. But beloved. It is a glorious thing. To be chosen of God. I have said God. Would you put your eyes upon me. Would you look on me. Lord I need your eyes. Searching my heart. I need you to go past. What I see about myself. I don't even know. My own heart. But Lord would you be kind enough. To visit me in your fire. Would you be kind enough. To come to me. In your jealousy. And purify my heart. Of every selfish agenda. That I might have. That I might be gold. Refined in the fire. Prepared. Unto every good work. Abba I want to be. A eunuch in your court. I want to be a friend. Of the bridegroom. I want to be faithful to you. In this hour. To serve your bride. And to help her. I want her. Talking about you. I want her eyes. On you. And so Abba. I present myself to you tonight. Look on me. Abba do not pass me by. Do not. Look at the next one. I'm over here putting a bullseye. On my heart tonight. Would you look. Upon your servant. Would you search me. With your fiery eyes. Would you send your fire. And ignite my heart. Would you put a flame. Inside my spirit. Abba I want this thing. To be personal. I want to burn with a fire. For the Lord Jesus Christ. I want him to be the center. Of my life. I don't want to come to church. To do a job. I don't want to come to church. To try to get hurt. To do something. I want to have my own. Personal fire with you. It's not a business for me. It's personal. It's you and me. I'm saying yes to you Lord Jesus. I want to be yours. I want to be given to you. With all my heart. Let me just. Close with. One final illustration. Can I do this. Quickly. A man in the bible. That I believe. God made. A spiritual eunuch. Controversial guy. In the bible. His name was Job. Not everybody. Knows what to do with Job. But. I think God. Set his eyes. On Job. And said. By the time I'm finished with you. I will have changed. Everything inside of you. And I'm. I'm not going to take time to. Give the story of the book of Job. I'm going to assume you know about it. His three friends have this. Long discussion. And finally. You know Job. He gets on the ash heap. And he says. I have nothing more to say. I can imagine somebody saying. Come on Job. I mean you had all this stuff. And your business is really. Falling by the wayside. You're just sitting on the ash heap. And don't you think you need to. Be about some business. He says. There's no more. Business left in me. He says. It's now personal. It's me and God. I don't have anymore. Business in me. He said. I'm going to sit here. Until God talks to me. God. What's going on? I don't get this. Why am I in so much pain? Why has my life come apart? Why. Is the fire so intense in my life? I don't understand you right now God. What is going on? Talk to me. And he sat. On that heap of ashes. Scraping his wounds. Until. Chapter 38. When God came to Job. In a whirlwind. And visited him. And Job uttered those famous words. I had heard of you. By the hearing of the ear. But now. My eye sees you. And here's what I want to look at tonight. At the end of the book. Chapter 42. His three friends. Come to him. Eliphaz comes and he says. Now. I'm going to embellish the story. From my angle. Okay. I can imagine Eliphaz saying. Job. You know how you said. You were terrified of God. Well guess what. He came to me. And he talked to me. And I'm terrified too. Job is like. I'm not the only one terrified here. Okay. Well Eliphaz. What did he say? Job. I'm serious. God. Talk to me. And he said. He's angry with us. He's angry with me. And my two friends. Because we didn't talk right about him. But you did. And we're in trouble. With God. And so we brought. These seven bulls. And these seven rams. To offer a sacrifice to God. And we want you to come. And be with us in the sacrifice. And then pray for us. Because God said. If you don't pray for us. He will deal with us. According to our folly. And Job. I am scared out of my mind. Would you pray for us? And Job is like. Yeah I'll pray for you. And here's the part. Of the conversation I imagine. Job says. Eliphaz. Let me ask you something. When God talked to you. Did he say my name? Eliphaz goes. Yeah as a matter of fact. He did. He said Job. Yeah. He said your name. Four times. He said my name. Four times. Eliphaz says. Yeah. That's not all he said. He said. My servant Job. And he said it four times. And I can imagine Job going. He said my name. And he called me. His servant. That's all I wanted to hear. Thank you. I just wanted to know. That he said my name. And he called me his servant. Because Eliphaz. It's not business for me. It's personal. Personal. This whole thing. Has become so personal. Beloved. When you share the cross with Jesus Christ. The thing becomes personal. The cross is personal. And when you share it with him. It becomes personal. And Job just wanted to know. Did he call my name? I want it to be personal with you Lord. It's not business for me anymore. It's business for you. Until. The cross. Comes in your life. And that business thing. Gets burned away from you. And the whole thing becomes personal. And now. All I want to know is. Does he know my name? And am I his servant? God. What do you think about me? When you're looking at me. Lord Jesus. What do you think? What do you see? I don't care. It's not business for me anymore. It's about you. And me. I want you to call my name. Abba. When you're looking at me. What are you thinking? When your eyes of fire. Are upon me. What are you seeing? Would you call my name? And would you call me. Your friend. Would you call me. Your servant. It's personal. It's about you. And me. Would you make it personal with him tonight? Make your seat. An altar with God. If you want to come forward. You're welcome. We don't have room. For everyone here. But tonight. Lord Jesus. It's personal for me. I'm not in this. For business. I'm not in this. To sell CDs. I'm in it. For you. I'm not in it. For them to put my song. On the album. It's about you. Lord Jesus. It's personal. For me. Lord I'm asking you. I'm begging you. Put your eyes of fire. Upon me. Set me ablaze. With a holy flame. Purify every part. Of my being. And make me. Your servant. Make me. Your friend. I'm yours. Jesus. It's about you. And me. I love you. I long for you. I burn for you. You are the center of my heart. The center of my life. The center of my universe. If I never stand on another platform. The rest of my days. It's about you. And me. I love you with all my heart. Fire of God. Come and burn now. Holy Spirit come in this place. I pray. Lord Jesus would you come in your fiery zeal. Would you come tonight. In your passion. Would you come tonight. In your jealousy. Would you set your eyes upon me. Lord here's the bullseye. On my heart. It's me. I want you to come after me Lord. I want you to visit me. Set my heart aflame. For you I pray. We need. We need to respond. We need to respond. To this word tonight. We need to respond. Don't pass us by Lord. Don't pass us by. I know we don't have much room up here. But let's come to the front here. And let's just. Cry out of our hearts. Do not pass us by. Do not pass us by. The Holy Spirit is saying come. Come. That we would be marked tonight. Somebody tell him in the house it's man. I'm the one. Worshipping. Worshipping. Bow down before. of God enter in. Oh, enter in. Consuming, firing, sweet person presence is longer than life. The Lord worship you. Oh, worship you. Bow down before our God. Oh, enter in. Consuming, firing, sweet person His awesome presence fills this room. This is holy ground. This is, this is holy right now. This is, this is holy right now. So come and join. Saints and angels. Saints and, saints and angels. Saints and angels. Here we go. Let the Lord hear your heart cry. Oh, consuming fire. Oh, we repent of all. Oh, cleanse us. Holy flame. Fear of God. Fill our hearts. Fill our lives. Oh, sweet person. His awesome presence fills this room. Fill, oh my heart. Oh, my heart's the Lord. We want to be your habitation. We want to be your dwelling place. 24-7, the dwelling place of heaven. Lord, we bow down. We bow down.