In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of worship and how it is a way for humans to fully know and appreciate God. He explains that just as a computer can assimilate and make use of digital signals, humans have been created with the ability to receive and understand God's self-revelation. The speaker also highlights the role of general revelation, where the created world serves as evidence of the Creator's attributes. He encourages listeners to live a life of worship, constantly appreciating and articulating their understanding of God. The sermon references Psalm 8 and Romans 1 to support these ideas.

I want to say it's been a privilege having the Briscoes here this last weekend. And if you didn't get a tape or you haven't heard them before, you get a great opportunity. Jill was going to speak this morning, but you see she's saving her energy. And, well, she's given us, we've got second best, but I will tell you, Stuart actually, he was my dad's Bible college teacher, so he's in his hundreds now. No, he's not. He's not. I know my dad looks older than he does, but without further ado, it's a great privilege to introduce to you Stuart Briscoe. Thank you, Mike, very much. Well, it is true that I did have the privilege of working with Mike's parents years ago, and having seen Mike's performance this morning, I'm just sorry I didn't get the chance to work with him. OK, well, it's been wonderful being with you this weekend. A number of you have asked, when I say a number, I think it was two of you. Well, actually, it was a couple. The husband didn't say anything. But a number of you have asked about our webpages. For those of you who are computer literate, we do have a couple of webpages. One is called tellingthetruth.org. You can get our live radio on that if you're interested, and you can get it on it if you're not interested as well. And all kinds of other audio material and CDs and that sort of thing. And then we have another webpage called briscoministries.com, and on that we have all kinds of information about books. You can get sermon outlines, you can get sermons in written form, and all that kind of stuff. So that's for the benefit of the two people who asked. Now, I'm just delighted to have the chance to talk to you this morning, not least because no one has mentioned finishing time. But I do have a plane to catch, so don't worry too much about that. There's been a great emphasis in the first part of our service this morning on worship, and I'm very happy about that, because I feel that I'd like to talk to you on the subject of worship today. And if you have a Bible with you, which incidentally is an excellent book on the subject, particularly if you read it, I would invite you to turn to John's Gospel and Chapter 4. John's Gospel, Chapter 4. Now, this particular chapter gives us the account of a meeting that Jesus had in a place called Sychar. Actually, the modern name for this place is Nablus, and those of you who follow events in Israel, and what we now call the Occupied West Bank, will be familiar with the town of Nablus. It's the center of all kinds of tension at this time. And it was in this place that Jesus, traveling through the region of Samaria, met a woman, got into conversation with her. We won't go into details about the unusual aspects of this, because I want to focus on some aspects of the conversation. And commencing to read a few verses from verse 19, this is the information that we receive concerning this conversation. Sir, the woman said, I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus declared, Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you don't know. We worship what we do know. For salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming, and has now come, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now, there is something really quite startling about the statement of the Lord Jesus there. You see, he says that God is in the business of seeking people. Now, in recent years, particularly through the very powerful influence of Willow Creek Church in Chicago, there has been a very healthy emphasis on the church being very conscious of people who might be seeking God. And as a result of that, a considerable debate has developed in the church as to whether our worship services should be seeker sensitive or seeker driven. Now, frankly, I think that all our services should be seeker sensitive. We should be very much aware that there are people who could quite conceivably come into our worship experiences and they really haven't a clue what's going on. And we shouldn't put any barriers in the way so that they might catch on to what is going on. The Apostle Paul talked about that. You remember, right into the Quintin Church, he said, now look, if you're all speaking in tongues, nobody's interpreting, and somebody who isn't a believer comes in, they might think you're nuts. In other words, he said, be sensitive to the seekers there. Now, should a service then be seeker sensitive? I believe the answer is yes. Should a worship service be seeker driven? I believe the answer is no. Because how can somebody who doesn't know the Lord lead you in worship? So, I think we need to do a little careful thinking in this particular area. But there's something much more important than the fact that human beings sometimes get around to seeking God. And do you know what's more important than that? That God is in the business of seeking human beings. Now, we live in a day and age when tolerance is the one surviving virtue and intolerance is the only vice that's left. I mean, just as long as you're tolerant, you're a good guy. If you assure any degree of intolerance, you are a bigot. That's the way things are going right now. And accordingly, it is normative in our culture to say, well, we've got to be tolerant of what everybody believes because if they believe it sincerely, it's all basically the same. And all religions lead to the same place in the end. Now, this is delightfully tolerant and it's rather nice and wrong as well. Because all religions are not the same. There is one thing about Christianity that sets us apart from all the others. And it is this. The major religions of the world are all about human beings looking for something or someone. In very broad terms. The major religions of the world are all about human beings looking for something or someone. Christianity is all about God looking for people. It is all about God becoming incarnate. And so, it is simply muddled thinking. It is misplaced tolerance to say that all religions are basically the same. Quite frankly, they are not. And there is something utterly unique about the idea of a seeking God. Well, the question is, what's he seeking? What is he looking for? And Jesus tells us. He is seeking for people who will worship him in spirit and in truth. That's what God is busy doing in the world today. The question I want to ask you is this. If God is looking for worshippers who worship him in spirit and truth, has he found one in you? If that's what God is busy doing, has he found one in you? Well, I'm not really sure about that. Because I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. Well, I hope you will be by the time I'm through. In some considerable time. Now, C.S. Lewis in Cambridge. Brilliant man. If you're not familiar with his writings, get familiar. Sell your shirt and buy some of C.S. Lewis' books. And then read them. They are very, very helpful if you read them. Now, one of the things that C.S. Lewis did in his spiritual pilgrimage. And he started out as an atheist and finished up as an apologist. And that is a spiritual journey. One stage in his journey, he was getting over his atheism. And he was becoming a theist. That is, he believed in God. It moved into being a deist and then a theist. A deist is somebody who believes in God who is basically not involved. A theist is somebody who believes in God who is involved. And then you go on from there. He was somewhere between deism and theism. And he said one of the stumbling blocks for him was this idea that God was looking for worshippers. And he said it sounded as if God had a fragile ego. That God was sitting up there in heaven and saying, Oh, I do wish somebody would worship me. Come on folks, worship me. Tell me how wonderful I am. I really am wonderful, you don't seem to appreciate me. Come on, worship me. Now, if you'll pardon the expression, C.S. Lewis said, not me, he said, God sounded like a vain woman who can only survive on endless compliments. Well, it does sound a bit like that, doesn't it? When you hear that God is looking for people who will worship him. If people will spend all their time on a Sunday morning just telling him how wonderful he is. It's a bit odd, this picture of God, isn't it? Well, is that the right way to look at it? And the answer, of course, is no. Well, what is the right way to look at this business that God is looking for worshippers? God is looking for worshippers not for his benefit. God is looking for worshippers for our benefit. And there's a very simple reason for that. A human being, now listen very carefully, a human being will never arrive at the full potential of their humanity without worship. A human being will never arrive at the full potential of their humanity without worship. Now, that's a very bold and very dogmatic statement and it requires some substantiation. Now, human beings are part of creation. So are rocks. So are vegetables. So are animals. But we think we're rather superior. In fact, if somebody has a terrible accident and they are no longer able to function, we actually say sometimes they are in a vegetative state. They're in a vegetative state. In other words, a human being regards himself or herself as being superior to a vegetable. Animals are certainly superior to vegetables. But if we really want to insult somebody, we will call them some kind of an animal. They eat like a pig. They have got the morals of an alley cat. This sort of thing, you see. We really regard ourselves as being very superior. And yet the reality of it is this, that there's a very close affinity between humanity and the animal kingdom and the vegetable kingdom and the mineral kingdom. In actual fact, your body is made up of minerals that you can find lying around on the ground. In actual fact, you can stuff vegetables in the hole under your nose and incredibly, they will turn into electric currents, they will turn into muscle, they will turn into all kinds of things that make you, you. In actual fact, there are marked similarities between you and animals because in actual fact, before they operate on you, thank God, they operate on animals. And sometimes they operate on animals and take a little piece out of the animal and stick it in you to keep you working. So, we are inextricably bound up in the rest of creation. We are part mineral, we are part vegetable, we are part animal. You say, oh, I am human. Well, what's so great about you then? I'll tell you what's great about you. You have the ability to relate to God. The minerals don't. The vegetables don't. The animals don't. You do. That is the uniqueness of your humanity. Now, it follows, if the uniqueness of your humanity is that you have the capacity to relate to God and you are not relating to God in worship, guess what? You are missing out on the uniqueness of your humanity. In other words, you are living at less than your human potential. And God doesn't want that. And so, He wants you to worship Him for your benefit, not His. Well, how does this work? It works this way. God is in the business of self-revelation. God is in the business of letting us know what He is like. There are two approaches to God. One is speculation. The other is revelation. Speculation starts from down here with you and tries to figure out God. Tries to unscrew the inscrutable. Speculation tries to figure out and ponder the imponderable. To know the unknowable. And people are in the business of speculation all the time. That's why there is so much confusion. Because not only do they speculate wildly, people then speculate on their speculations. And they then have to re-speculate because people have speculated on their speculations. That is why there is not only confusion, but the confusion keeps changing all the time. And it's like building on sinking sand. The alternative to speculation is revelation. That is God taking initiative and saying, Oh, please sit down and be quiet. And if you'll just try and be quiet for a little while and look in the right place, you won't need to guess who I am. I'll tell you. I'll show you. I will reveal myself to you. And that's what God is in the business of doing. He is in the business of self-revelation. Now the wonderful thing about it is this. God is not only in the business of self-revelation, but He has built into human beings receptors. This room of ours at this moment, you'll be surprised to know, is full of radio signals. They are competing with television signals. And being beaten out by cell phone signals. But, there was a notice outside which said, Please switch off your cell phones. So, that does not mean the cell phone messages aren't here. It means you're not receiving them. The receptor is switched off. But that which is transmitting is going on all the time. God is transmitting self-revelation information all the time. Human beings have a built-in receptor. It's called the human spirit. And we are able to engage with the things of the spirit. That's what makes you a human being. Rocks can't do this. Cabbages can't do this. Monkeys can't do this. You can. That's what makes you uniquely human. You have the capacity to receive what God is transmitting concerning himself. But more than that, you can not only receive the signals, you can actually assimilate the symbols, that which you are receiving, and you can begin to not only assimilate, you can begin to appreciate what you're receiving. Now, I don't understand how my computer can pick up digital signals, and these digital signals can sometimes be a written message, sometimes they can be a photograph, sometimes they can be music. I don't understand it. But my computer does, and it has the ability to assimilate these signals and to make application of these symbols. And incredibly, God, in the business of self-revelation, has built into you a receptor, so that you can receive what he's saying about himself, you can assimilate it and begin to appreciate it, and you can actually get to know God. And that's what makes you fully human. But then there's something more than that. Having assimilated and appreciated that which God is revealing of himself, he has then given you the remarkable capacity of actually stating, of actually articulating what you are appreciating and assimilating. Are you getting these words? Assimilate, appreciate, articulate. Now, what's happening? God is revealing himself to you. You are receiving the message. You are appreciating it. You are assimilating it. And now you do what a person all excited about new discoveries will do. You begin to articulate what you've assimilated, because you're appreciating God's self-revelation. And there's one word for that. It's called worship. It's called worship. Now, worship, the modern English word worship, comes from the Old English. Now, I'm very interested in Old English because I am an Old Englishman. The Old English word is worth-ship. Worth-ship. And it simply means to attribute worth to. To attribute worth to. Get the picture? God's in the business of self-revelation. You have the capacity to receive what he is communicating. You can assimilate it. You can appreciate it. You can articulate that appreciation. And as you do that, you attribute worth to God. It's called worship. Now, the extent to which you do that will show the extent to which you are being uniquely human. Because the other parts of creation with which you are inextricably bound up cannot do it. And that's why God is looking for worshipers. Well, how does God reveal himself? You know, this self-revelation thing. How does he do it? In a number of ways. Let me just identify two for you. He reveals himself in something called general revelation. General revelation. Now, one of the songs that we sang earlier this morning was from Psalm 8, where it talks about when I consider your heavens, you remember? The works of your fingers, etc, etc. It does something to me. And I begin to realize how desperately puny human beings are, and yet incredibly you're interested in them, and you have actually put them in a position of dominion in your creation. You remember this beautiful Psalm 8? Now, what's happening here? God, as David looks into the heavens, he is revealing something of himself in general revelation. Another Psalm says this, the heavens declare the glory of God. Alright? Romans chapter 1 says this, that in the created world, the invisible attributes of the Creator are clearly seen. Are clearly seen. So, we are surrounded by general revelation. And as we are surrounded in this created world of ours, which incidentally is fallen, so we don't get a totally accurate picture, but it's not so totally fallen that we don't have residual evidence of who the Creator is. As we move around in this created world, we can see evidence of who the Creator is. And we walk around with our eyes wide open. And as we walk around with our eyes wide open, we look at creation and we see Creator. And as we see Creator, we begin to appreciate more and more of who the Creator is. And we begin to articulate our appreciation. G.K. Chesterton, one of my favorite authors, on one occasion said, this world will never starve through lack of wonders, only through lack of wonder. You got that? This world will never starve through lack of wonders, only through lack of wonder. You know why? Because this world of ours is in the fullest sense of the word, wonderful. And the wonder with which our world is full is the wonder of God's self-revelation. But the problem is this. This world will never starve through lack of wonders, but it may starve through lack of wonder. Human beings' unwillingness or inability to wonder at the wonders. Human beings' inability to worship at what they are seeing on every hand. I love the poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush aflame with God. He who sees takes off his shoes and worships. The rest sit round plucking blackberries and daub their natural faces, unaware. Do you move around in God's creation? Do you understand it is a revelation of Creator? Do you see it as full of wonder? And do you live a life of glad wonder? It's called worship. It's called worship. And it should be your daily employ. It should be your hourly activity. Little Dutch boy, one day was standing by the tulip fields in the Netherlands. They are a magnificent sight. I flew over the Netherlands not long ago. It was in the dead of winter. It was grey and dismal and very, very unpleasant. But as I flew over, I noticed that there were brilliant strips of colour. I suppose it was early spring, not winter, but it looked like winter over there. And I realised what these brilliant strips of colour were. They were the tulip fields, which stretch for hundreds of acres, just millions of brilliant yellow and red tulips. Little Dutch boy was standing by them one day. Not the little boy who stuck his finger in the dike. This was his younger brother. And as this little boy stood by the tulip fields, he was heard to exclaim, Well done, God. That's worship. Well done, God. But too many people, you see, they just sit around plucking blackberries and daub their natural faces unaware. And they live at a level less than they were created to live. Now then, that's general revelation. So much more we could say about that. But then there's special revelation. You can get a picture of God from creation, but it would not be a full picture of God, obviously. But we get a fuller picture of God in special revelation, and special revelation is found in a remarkable book called the Bible. And in this book, if, as they say in the Anglican prayer book, we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it, we will see remarkable revelation of the character, the being, the purposes, the promises, the commands, and the expectations of God. So, a worshipper is not only somebody who revels in the wonders, but a worshipper is somebody who is an assiduous student of the book. For that worshipper knows that if God is in the self-revelation business and they have the capacity to receive what he is transmitting, they better get switched on to the transmitter and make sure they're getting the message. You get the message? You got a well-worn Bible? Is it more important to you than your daily bread? Is it more than your necessary food? We say, give us our daily bread, and we also say, man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. But here's an amazing thing, that whilst we would not think of living without our daily bread, unless we're on the Atkins diet, and look what that did for him, we would not think of living without our daily bread, but I am amazed at how many Bible-believing Christians get along very nicely without their daily word. How do they do that? How do they do that? So what do we do? We recognize that we have the capacity to receive what he's transmitting in general and special revelation. So we become very, very careful lovers of the word, in order that we might know him and respond appropriately to him. Now, is this important? Yes. Because you see, Jesus said to this lady that God is looking for worshippers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. Those are two very, very significant defining aspects of worship. True worship, genuine worship, real worship, when you see true in John's Gospel, it means genuine or real, as opposed to phony and fake. True worship, genuine worship, real worship, has two characteristics. It is in spirit and it's in truth. Now, why did he say that? Well, you see, the lady has brought up the issue of the way the Samaritans worship and the way the Jews worship, and there was a difference. The Jews were very meticulous in dotting their I's and crossing their T's. And Jesus said, quite rightly, that the Samaritans had got all screwed up in their worship, but the Jews hadn't, basically. They still had fundamental truth. But the problem was this. Whilst they had fundamental truth, it was correct, they were dotting all their I's and crossing all their T's, the life had gone out of it. Somebody said one time when I was a banker that the church was like a banker's dinner, cold and correct, decorous and dead. Many people's worship is like that, cold and correct, decorous and dead. It lacks spirit. It lacks life. It lacks reality. It can mouth the words. It can go through the motions. It can communicate things that are absolutely true, but there is a disconnect. There is not spiritual reality there. God is not looking for worshippers who mouth the words, who go through the motions, who say all the right things. He is looking for people for whom that which he has revealed of himself has become spirit and life and inner dynamism that drives genuine appreciation of who he is. That's why you see, because the Jews were doing it cold and correct, decorous and dead, they needed to worship in spirit. But what about the Samaritans? Well, the problem with the Samaritans was this. They came from the northern kingdom of Israel. Their people had been overcome by the Assyrians. They'd been carted off to Assyria. The Assyrians had then settled Assyrians in Israel. And some Assyrian boys had noticed some rather pretty Israeli girls, and they'd married, and they had produced something that was kind of between an Assyrian and an Israeli, which over the years they had decided, well, we'll keep a little bit of Israel religion, and we'll keep a little bit of Assyrian religion. And they hadn't made the mistake of the Jews, which was nominalism, that is, going through the motions, worshipping name in name only. The problem with the Samaritans was not nominalism. It was syncretism. Syncretism is the incorporating of mutually contradictory things. And what they needed was truth. What they needed was truth. The Jews needed spirit. The Samaritans needed truth. Other dangers in our contemporary church in America today, yes. Do you know what they are? Nominalism and syncretism. Nominalism goes through the motions in name only and lacks the dynamism of the Spirit of God, the reality, the genuineness of the Spirit of God. Syncretism is that which comes from a life that mixes truth and error, righteousness and unrighteousness, claims to holiness that are mixed with outright disobedience. That's not what God is looking for. He is looking for worshippers who worship in spirit and in truth. So here's the question. Did he find one in you? Now, there are a number of words that are translated. By the way, I won't keep you much longer. I could go on for a long time on this. But you've just about had enough. I know, I can see your eyes glazing over. Some of you are looking at your watches. I don't mind you looking at your watch. I don't even mind if you listen to see if it's still going. It's just when you take out your day timer to see if it's still the same day that I get a little nervous. There are a number of Greek words. And I'm not going to lay Greek on you. But I would, you know, I knew it if I didn't say it. But there are a number of Greek words that are translated worship. And the most common one is pros kuneo. It's a lovely word. Pros kuneo. Now that comes from two words. Pros means towards. Kuneo means to kiss. To kiss. So the basic word for worship, the most common word for worship in the New Testament means literally to kiss towards. I'm so glad I came this morning. That has blessed my soul. What's the point of pros kuneo, of kiss towards? Well, in those days they had kings. And sometimes the servant of the king, the subject of the king would be required to come before the throne, kneel down before the throne, lean towards the king and kiss his feet. A picture of submission. Sometimes the master would require his servant to come before him in the morning, kneel down, lean towards him and kiss his hand. Pros kuneo. Kiss towards. That is the fundamental meaning of worship. Now we are in danger in the contemporary church of saying more and more about worship and meaning less and less by it. I am hearing more talk about worship now than I've heard in the almost 60 years that I've been actively involved in ministry in the church. I'm hearing more and more about worship. But usually when people talk about worship now, listen carefully, they mean praise. They usually mean praise. And usually when they're talking about praise, they usually mean musical praise. And if they regard it as worshipful worship, they usually mean musical praise with the kind of music I like. Now I hope I'm not being unkind there. I'm just trying to show you, this is my observation. Now praise clearly is a significant dimension of worship. But worship must never be limited to praise. Praise is a significant dimension of worship. Worship must never be limited to praise. It must never be limited to musical praise. And we need to be very, very careful that we aren't deciding if we're worshiping or not by whether we are in music we like. Proscuneo has everything to do with the will. It's about submission. Now you can spend a lot of time praising and go out and be disobedient. You can spend a lot of time articulating all kinds of wonderful things about Jesus and go out and do what he's told you not to do. So what's the issue here? The issue here is that we may be confusing what worship is. Worship is about proscuneo. It is all about submission of heart and mind and will. The true worshiper, the genuine worshiper, is the one who says, Lord, I am so enthralled with who you are. I am so excited about what you've done. I am so invigorated by what you're planning to do. I am so exhilarated by the fact that you've called me to be part of it that I just want you to know that I am your man, that I am your woman, and that I will be what you want me to be, and I will do what you want me to do, and I will go where you want me to go. In fact, I can feel a whole lot of worship coming on. It's called worship. It's called worship. And that's what God is looking for. People who will worship him in spirit and in truth. Now, the other words I mentioned, very, very quickly. I've got just a few minutes left. I'm going to take them all. Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. I beseech you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your what? Well, I heard some people say reasonable service, and I heard some other people say spiritual worship. And I wish you'd make your mind to. Which is it? Well, in actual fact, it's both. Because in the Greek, the word, one of the words there, can mean either service or worship. It can mean either. It is used interchangeably. They are synonymous. Now, here's an interesting thing. You can go into some parts of the world, and they don't have two words, one for worship, one for service. They just have one. German, for instance. The verb, dienen. Dienen means to worship or to serve. In fact, if you go to a service in Germany on a Sunday morning, it is called Gottesdienst. And it is God's worship of God's service. They don't need two words because they understand something. You cannot say you're worshipping if you're only praising and not serving. You can't say you're worshipping if you're praising and not serving. Because to worship is to serve, and to serve is to worship. That's why I can never understand why I go to churches so often, and it's full of, quote, worshippers, that the pastor has to get up and say, we desperately need somebody to work with you. We really need people who are going to do something about some of the social concerns. Oh, and there's such a need on the mission field, and we're praying that God might send somebody there. And it's amazing. There's no shortage of, quote, worshippers. There's just a terrible lack of servants. What does that say? They don't know what worship is. They don't know what worship is. Now, there's another word for worship. I won't give you the Greek words here because it's, well, you don't need them. This one, this one is the word for priestly activities. And the priests were involved in sacrifice. So if you're going to worship, what do you do? Well, you articulate your appreciation of God. That's praise. You bow down and submit before the Lord. You make yourself available to Him. You engage in activities called service. And because there's a priestly dimension to worship, guess what? You engage in a sacrificial lifestyle. It's called worship. It's called worship. I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? Do you know what God's looking for? He's looking for people who understand God. And they understand one very simple thing. God's God and I'm not. And there's a terrible danger of confusing that. That I'm God and He's there to serve me. No, no. He's God and you're there to worship Him. Oh, there's one more. And then I'll stop. Won't finish. I'll stop. Duleo. It comes from the word dulos, which means servant or slave. And do you know, Paul was writing to the slaves and he said, listen, he said, whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord. For you serve the Lord Christ. Duleo. And when he said you serve the Lord Christ, he was letting us into a wonderful, wonderful insight. Do you know what it is? That the way you go about your daily work is intended to be an act of worship. The way you go about your daily work is intended to be an act of worship. Now, there's a franchise. I hope I'm not standing on anybody's toes here, but you'll get over it if I am. There's a franchise of restaurants in America called Fridays. Do you have them out here? Anybody own a franchise here? Well, actually the full title of Fridays is what? TGI Fridays, which means Thank God It's Friday. What does that tell you? I hate my job. I live for the weekend. Right? Right? I hate my job. I live for the weekend. Thank God it's Friday. I want you to know something. A person who has that attitude about their job, and I don't care what their job is, does not understand worship. I'm going to say that again. Anybody who has a Thank God It's Friday attitude does not understand worship. Because, you see, the worshipper goes to work on a Monday morning and says, what an incredible privilege I have today to go and put in my hours, expending my energy, and utilizing my skills. That's what you do when you go to work, isn't it? You put in your time, you expend your energy, and you utilize your skills. And the worshipper says, and the wonderful thing about it is this, all this time I've got is a gift. I didn't manufacture a moment of it. And all this energy I've got is the most amazing thing. I stuffed food in my mouth and energy came. It's a miracle. And I have some skills, and I've honed them and developed them, but they were a gift. So when I go to work, do you know what I do? I utilize my skills. I expend my energy. I put in my time. And my time, and my energy, and my skills are all gifts. And the way I fill my time, and the way I exert my energy, and the way I exercise my skills glorifies God. So I don't say, thank God it's Friday. What I say is, thank God it's Monday. And now I can go and worship. And in the very way that I conduct myself in the workplace, I bring glory to God. I tried to explain this to some of the men in our home church one day, and they said, yeah, well, we often say, thank God it's Monday, Stuart, because that means Sunday's finally over. Truly is amazing. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.