Ezra 3:13,"The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance."  It was loud!  Our lives are a mingling of brokenness and wholeness.  We are renewed, restored, made right. But at the same time, we are sinful, fragmented, and fractured. We are not as we should be. We very much live in a world of the Kingdom realized, but not yet. There is a tension in our worship. The picture of weeping and rejoicing is a great picture of the broken condition that we bring to our worship.

Worship Moment: Tôwdâh

Psalm 56:11-12, I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? I will fulfill my vows to you, O god, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help." while we often try to hide our brokenness, and we do not want others to know our frailty - how ironic it is that  when we confess our failure that our worship becomes a thing of praise overflowing out of a grateful heart. We should be broken (weeping) and at the same time rejoicing.

Worship Jesus: It Has Nothing to Do With Volume

Broken Praise

Ezra 3

"The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance." Ezra 3:13

What do Christians do with broken praise?

1) Take it to the cross. (Ezra 3:1-3)

a. Jesus bore it so we can bare it.

b. Jesus' death on the cross is the final sacrifice.

c. Take your brokenness to the foot of the cross, the only place you are made whole.

2) Take it to the tomb. (Ezra 3:4-6)

a. You have been raised form death to life in Christ.

b. You live in the favor of God.

c. You can see your brokenness be redeemed.

3) Take it to Jesus. (Ezra 3:7-9)

a. You are defined by Jesus, not your brokenness.

b. You are validated by Jesus, not your performance.

c. You are comforted by Jesus, not the world.

d. You are empowered by Jesus, not your own strength.

4) Take it to heaven. (Ezra 3:10-13)

a. You can live in the presence of Christ now.

b. You can live in the hope of a future with Christ.

c. You can see beyond your brokenness to the Holiness of the Lord.