As we near Easter Weekend and wrap up our “Jesus Is” message series, we wanted to hear more stories from those in our Liberty Community about who Jesus Is to them. Here is Tyler Pines’ story about how Jesus Is…Worthy.
Worship music captivated me from a very young age, which I find is a testimony in itself. I grew up trained to play and listen to almost exclusively the “fine arts” of musical genres - classical, jazz, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, etc. These are wonderful pursuits that I still value highly, but by high school I was waving off simpler or more popular music within seconds of pressing the play button. My policy tended to be: if there’s nothing musical in it that I don’t understand, why bother? There was just one exception to this pattern: worship music. However basic, however simple, however manageable … it just got to me. Listening to Matt Redman sing “Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?” would stir my soul in a way that no other sound could. But it took the better part of a quarter-century for me to figure out why: Jesus is worthy.
I grew up in a church culture that understood worship as 20 minutes of song every Sunday morning. My experiences during worship typically ranged from mildly tiresome to reluctantly enjoyable. Granted, my attitude was the main factor standing in the way of God’s presence and voice during these times. But nobody ever told me that my entire life - everything I do - could be worship unto the Lord, or why it should.
After stumbling into Liberty in 2010 through a very strange and timely friend-of-a-friend connection, I was floored by the presence of God during worship. That very day, I re-dedicated my life to Christ and went up front after service to join the team. At that point, I was practically catapulted into a life of running after Christ. I found freedom, fellowship, and purpose within weeks. More importantly, I found a Savior who could reach into the depths of my heart and pull out passions I didn’t know I had, soothe wounds I had long nursed, and inject into me supernatural power and strength I didn’t know was available. I couldn’t quite grasp why Jesus would want to have anything to do with a neglectful, short-tempered, prideful, and deeply troubled me. But that’s the thing. God loves first, because that’s His nature. He just loves His kids.
The only natural response to such unconditional, perfect love coming from the Author of the stars is worship. It’s bowing. It’s raising your hands. It’s jumping, clapping and dancing. It’s singing. And it’s more! It’s being an excellent employee, because God is excellent at everything He does (look around). It’s tangibly showing your coworkers that you deeply care about their success and wellbeing. It’s caring for the poor. It’s prayer.
It’s all different ways to place worth on the King of Kings, and it’s all because he’s worthy.
Revelation 4:10-11 (NIV) says:
The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
Today, I serve on the Liberty Worship team and lead a Community Group that is studying the book “How to Worship a King” by Zach Neese. I’ve seen the love of Christ result in so many life transformations at Liberty that I’ve lost count long ago. I’ve seen people miraculously healed of injuries and sickness, relationships repaired, priorities reordered, prophesies declared and fulfilled, and so much more.
Most importantly, I love being able to say with full confidence: Jesus is real, His Kingdom is here now, within reach, and He’s worthy of every ounce of our adoration. Jesus. Is. WORTHY.
