Text: Isa 6:1-8                                                                                                                      Calvary 060709
Title: “Here Am I”

A Pastor stood up before the congregation one morning. It was a large sanctuary -- but it was almost empty. The pastor looked at all of the empty seats and surveyed the 4 lonely people in the congregation -- one young man, and three elderly women.
The minister begins to speak.
"I give thanks to God that there are at least a handful of us who have made the effort to come to worship, who have come to feed on the Word of God, and who don’t believe that God is less important than the football game on television."
Suddenly, the young man in the back pew jumps up. "Oh no, I forgot about the football game." And with that he runs out of the sanctuary.

I am glad that you are all here this morning. I know we all have lots of other things that we can be doing, but you chose to be here this morning.
And I want you to ask yourself this question, Why come to worship? Why did you decide to come to worship this morning as opposed to being somewhere else?
I suppose for some it might be;
Habit? Or because we’re struggle? Or Against our will?
The story is told of a man who was enjoying a pleasant sleep in bed when his wife suddenly yanked the covers off the bed and announced, “Time to get up and get ready to go to church.”
Meekly, the man told his wife, “I don’t wanna go to church today. Just let me stay here and sleep in this one day.”
Without any compassion, his wife looked at him and said, “Look Bozo, you have to go to church today. You’re the pastor.”

1. First, true worship is not an escape from reality. It is something that happens in the midst of life. Isaiah begins this passage with an interesting statement. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.”
   
2. It’s like saying, “In the year the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, I worshipped God. In the year that Kennedy was assassinated, I worshipped God. In the year of Hurricane Andrew, I worshipped God. In the year that I was married, in the year that my daughter was born, in the year my friend died, in the middle of life, in the midst of experiences good and bad, I was worshipping the Lord.

3.   Worship in the Sanctuary can never be oblivious to what is happening out there.

Why do we worship God? It is not to escape life out there, it is to deal with life out there.
(Ps 86:6-7), “Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.”
a. John 4:23 – “True Worshipers will worship in Spirit and in Truth.” Both Emotion and Knowledge.

True worship also focuses on God. This is where many of us make a mistake. We assume that worship focuses on us.
Many times we turn our worship service into a performance. Those in the congregation are the audience and the preacher and music director are the performers.

That is not the way God intended worship to be. God is the audience and we are all the performers. It is God who should be blessed from our worship.

Sense of 4 things
- To Worship the way God desires we must have sense of four things. Isaiah is a good example of someone who knew these four things.

1. A Sense of God’s Presence (Isaiah 6:1-4)
a. Isaiah experienced God’s presence in a powerful way.

2. A Sense of Our Sinfulness (Isaiah 6:5)
a. When we worship the way God desires we see ourselves for what we are. SINNERS!
Story Jesus tells of the rich man who shows off and the tax collector who asks for forgiveness.

b. Isaiah saw how ruined he was when he stood in the midst of a HOLY God.      “wow, Lost, King”

3.  A Sense of God’s Grace (Isaiah 6:6-7)
a. Isaiah felt the sense of God’s grace when God forgave him.

4.  A Sense of Our Transformation (Isaiah 6:8-13)
a. When Isaiah sensed God’s grace, he was immediately transformed into God’s servant.

5.  Conclusion
a. Romans 12:1 – We don’t stop worshipping when we leave the church building.

God may be saying today, “Whom shall I send. God may be saying, “Whom shall I send to prepare and teach lessons for vacation Bible school?” Several of you have already said, “Here am I. Send me!” But God may want more of us to join in.
God may be saying,
• “Whom shall I send to speak to the kids at Youth Group?”
• “Whom shall I send to encourage the single mother?”
• “Whom shall I send to hold the hand of the dying?”
• “Whom shall I send to befriend the lonely?”

God is sending you somewhere. It may not be to a foreign land. He may not be sending you to save the whole world, but He is calling us to serve
 
Understand that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

He will help us as he sends us. We know that God went with Moses on his mission. He went with Isaiah as he spoke to Judah. He was in Jesus as He came to save the world. Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

God is still asking you, “Whom shall I send?” What is your answer?                        AMEN.