Finally, the final class notes for our time together.
Part 2
= Grabbing hold of God’s call as individuals
= As individuals called to serve this body
= As individuals called to serve Christ
When asked how we discover God's call on us as individuals? Your responses were:
= Go to other who know what the needs of the church are and know you and your
skills as well.
= Figure out your gifts.
= Sometimes you are asked by God to do something 'outside' your area of
giftedness.
= 1 Corinthians 12:6 addresses these issues.
= Engage in prayer, going to God for His leading
= pray with others
= fasting
If worship is doing and being as God leads and inspires us, then the connection to Him is key!
When asked how we know we are obediently following God and His leading, you responded by saying:
= Being in God's will, flow, timing, rhythm.
= Not fighting Him.
= Having a personal kingdom orientation.
= accomplished through difficulty
= contending along with the Holy Spirit
= bearing fruit for God's kingdom
= it's also about who you are 'in secret'.
1 Peter 2:13-25 speaks completely to this end. If Romans 12 calls us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, then Peter gives us the practical application of submission, and it is a challenge!
When asked where do we go from here? We connected with James 4: 6-12 to see that humility, submission, resistance of the devil, being an encourager, not slanderer or judge are key.
The signs that we am accomplishing correct worship, drawing near, serving as a true individual worshipper? Ephesians 5:19-21 speaks clearly of this...
Eph 5:19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Engaging God and one another with thanksgiving and submission are key to this as well. This is reverence (worship) for Christ!
So finally we come to the end. For each of us it is our job to press on in individual pursuit of God in a corporate balance.
Our individual and corporate
= response to spiritual gift survey and discovery.
= pursuit of God.
= lives poured out before Him.
= placing of our hearts in the mix with the hearts of our congregation, others in the community, coworkers, friends, family, in worship before our Lord.
Worship is both individual and corporate. Our individual response or lack of engagement with the Almighty God directly affects worship in the corporate setting! We need to come together, we each need to do our part before our Lord in preparation of coming together.
Holy worship requires the whole of us, individually and corporately responding, engaging, interacting and doing the will of our Father, continuing the mission of our Savior, Jesus Christ, under the revelative urgings of the Holy Spirit. May we grow together in Christ, toward eternity!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Week 9 Class Notes
Nearly finished with this part of our journey, we arrive full circle to enfold what seems apparent through our examination of scripture and engagement with God the means to put our understanding of worship, Godly worship, into action. Is it not time to continue moving forward, pressing with all our being into His, rising to what is more than we could ever ask or imagine for His glory? Is God not doing more than we ask or imagine? Does He not desire to do even more incredible things, unleash His indescribable and unmitigated power in and through us for His glory?
Did you not see a Godly connection between the sermon and His leading in our class together this past Sunday? Is not His leading, our leading? Did God answer the questions posed in class via His pulpit? Did He not confirm our answers from class in the sermon?
So, What is God's Call for us As His Church?
Your answers were right on!
Invite people..
- to church.
- to 4th Saturday.
- to Christmas and Easter services.
- to Home Group.
- into our homes for dinner or other events.
knowing that our Lord is watching us and wants us to
- look into the hearts of those we encounter.
- minister to their lives.
- understand others are watching us.
- be a part of maximizing each other's walk with Him.
- be faithful in this season.
Where do we discover our call as a church?
By
- examining the body of Christ (our friends at New Heights) for opportunities to serve God in their lives.
- examining the lives of others we encounter for opportunities to invest in them and serve God in their lives.
- participating in corporate prayer and fasting.
- examining God's word on a regular basis, listening for His leading.
- listening to our pastor.
How do we correctly apply this call to worship as a response to Christ?
By seeking God's call, His wisdom and leading for our lives, daily and often, checking in with Him continually.
What are the signs that we are accomplishing correct worship, drawing near, serving as true worshiper?
- Our actions are consistent with God's Word, the Bible.
- The testimony of others to the glory of God working in their lives through our obedience.
- Asking Him to continually flush the wheat from the tares; His leading and divine will to keep what we offer pure and acceptable.
What should we be looking for to affirm our worship is honoring God?
- Simply His approval, independent of man's. His revelation of glory and honor above our own or anything we can take credit for.
With the final punctuation placed via last Sunday's sermon. It is not to be manipulated by us or anyone else. It is to be ordained and led by God alone! Worship is before Him, pure, honorable, true in motive and desire, and when lived as such, led by God and for His glory alone, our lives, in their entirety become Godly worship.
Now, the final question remains. Where in scripture can you find these things spoken of in this week's lesson, and how will we continue to apply them from here on, both corporately and finally individually? Our final week of class will ask us to turn the key in God's car, with the never ending full tank He has given us to drive ahead, stopping at all the divine destinations. But not just stopping, ministering with His power for His glory in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Hope to see you next Sunday!
Did you not see a Godly connection between the sermon and His leading in our class together this past Sunday? Is not His leading, our leading? Did God answer the questions posed in class via His pulpit? Did He not confirm our answers from class in the sermon?
So, What is God's Call for us As His Church?
Your answers were right on!
Invite people..
- to church.
- to 4th Saturday.
- to Christmas and Easter services.
- to Home Group.
- into our homes for dinner or other events.
knowing that our Lord is watching us and wants us to
- look into the hearts of those we encounter.
- minister to their lives.
- understand others are watching us.
- be a part of maximizing each other's walk with Him.
- be faithful in this season.
Where do we discover our call as a church?
By
- examining the body of Christ (our friends at New Heights) for opportunities to serve God in their lives.
- examining the lives of others we encounter for opportunities to invest in them and serve God in their lives.
- participating in corporate prayer and fasting.
- examining God's word on a regular basis, listening for His leading.
- listening to our pastor.
How do we correctly apply this call to worship as a response to Christ?
By seeking God's call, His wisdom and leading for our lives, daily and often, checking in with Him continually.
What are the signs that we are accomplishing correct worship, drawing near, serving as true worshiper?
- Our actions are consistent with God's Word, the Bible.
- The testimony of others to the glory of God working in their lives through our obedience.
- Asking Him to continually flush the wheat from the tares; His leading and divine will to keep what we offer pure and acceptable.
What should we be looking for to affirm our worship is honoring God?
- Simply His approval, independent of man's. His revelation of glory and honor above our own or anything we can take credit for.
With the final punctuation placed via last Sunday's sermon. It is not to be manipulated by us or anyone else. It is to be ordained and led by God alone! Worship is before Him, pure, honorable, true in motive and desire, and when lived as such, led by God and for His glory alone, our lives, in their entirety become Godly worship.
Now, the final question remains. Where in scripture can you find these things spoken of in this week's lesson, and how will we continue to apply them from here on, both corporately and finally individually? Our final week of class will ask us to turn the key in God's car, with the never ending full tank He has given us to drive ahead, stopping at all the divine destinations. But not just stopping, ministering with His power for His glory in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Hope to see you next Sunday!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Week 8 Class Notes
...and so it continues; our discussion and interaction about worship.
After a hardy review, thanks to many of you, we press ahead to ponder places of worship in the Bible.
As we dove into the discussion of Biblical places of worship, your answers were numerous.
- the Temple/Tabernacle
- Mt. Sinai and other mountains
- The burning bush(Exodus 3:2)
- where altars were erected
- homes
- Wilderness/Desert
...and we could have gone on and on as we continued to think about places where worship occurred.
I pointed out some examples of places found in scripture as examples and they were:
Tabernacle and altars (Exodus, Leviticus 8, Psalms 27:5-6 and also Acts 7:44-49 pointing out that God is not limited to where we 'put' Him.
Wilderness- Isaiah 35:1-5
Cities- Genesis 22:15-18 as we act in obedience. Mark 6:56 as Jesus healed while walking and living.
Homes - Acts 2:46-47
Rooms - Acts 1:13-14
Places of work- 1 Thessaloians 4:11 living just as told by the disciples and Christ.
If we think about it, and have discussed, worshiping God is doing in obedience, sacrifice and as a response to Him, glorifying God, right? Then the simple deduced answer is that places of worship are everywhere, anywhere, at any time God is being glorified. The places and times ruled by disobedience, selfishness absent of glorifying God are places of non-worship and can be the same places where true worship occurred!
As we continued to examine the question, "What are the key ingredients to establish a place of worship?" your answers were right on!
- God's presence
- a place recognized as hallow
- Anywhere His Spirit is...with my spirit...in His truth (John 4)
- Wherever I cause My name (God's name of course) to be honored (Exodus 20:24)
- a place that remains as a place of worship
...which segued right into the next thought, that it is not the place that makes it a place of worship or even the thing (like the ark of the covenant demonstrated by Israel's defeat and capture of the ark in 1 Samuel 4:1-11).
There could be trappings in returning over and over to the same place, doing the same 'religious' things. And again, you were all right on when we discussed some of the trappings:
-our worship could change focus from God to ourselves, things or events.
-our growth could be stunted by trusting in or worshiping a time gone by.
-distraction could enter in the commoness of the place or religious act.
-we can wrongly focus on this place as the only place where worship can occur.
When re-examining the 1 Samuel passage we must understand that there is a correct application of principles as reminders to worship God. There are also things that stand in our way to move us away from Godly worship as we engage in 'religion'.
The problem with Israel's defeat was that their trust was invested in the ark, not in God. Even sacred objects do not have power in and of themselves, but because God's presence existed in them. God alone is to be worshiped, not the act, not the place.
Pastor Brian often says that 'sacred cows are for barbecuing', and it's true; there is only one who is sacred, one that deserves pure, holy, wholly worship; God alone.
So now, it is up to us to determine if our places of worship are 'at His pleasure' for His purpose, or if it is time to move on to a fresh place, a fresh remembrance, a new dwelling where He is...remembering that God does not dwell in houses made by man, but, EVERYWHERE. So where will you worship Him today? At work? At home? In your car as you drive? In your neighborhood? For surely we don't only worship God, at church.
With only two weeks remaining in our time together, First, remember that we will not be meeting this coming Sunday. Second, we will be carefully examining our call to worship God as a body, and then as individuals as part of the body of Christ to finish our study. Thank you all for your faithful attendance. Walk in worship this week, and let Christ transform our world!
After a hardy review, thanks to many of you, we press ahead to ponder places of worship in the Bible.
As we dove into the discussion of Biblical places of worship, your answers were numerous.
- the Temple/Tabernacle
- Mt. Sinai and other mountains
- The burning bush(Exodus 3:2)
- where altars were erected
- homes
- Wilderness/Desert
...and we could have gone on and on as we continued to think about places where worship occurred.
I pointed out some examples of places found in scripture as examples and they were:
Tabernacle and altars (Exodus, Leviticus 8, Psalms 27:5-6 and also Acts 7:44-49 pointing out that God is not limited to where we 'put' Him.
Wilderness- Isaiah 35:1-5
Cities- Genesis 22:15-18 as we act in obedience. Mark 6:56 as Jesus healed while walking and living.
Homes - Acts 2:46-47
Rooms - Acts 1:13-14
Places of work- 1 Thessaloians 4:11 living just as told by the disciples and Christ.
If we think about it, and have discussed, worshiping God is doing in obedience, sacrifice and as a response to Him, glorifying God, right? Then the simple deduced answer is that places of worship are everywhere, anywhere, at any time God is being glorified. The places and times ruled by disobedience, selfishness absent of glorifying God are places of non-worship and can be the same places where true worship occurred!
As we continued to examine the question, "What are the key ingredients to establish a place of worship?" your answers were right on!
- God's presence
- a place recognized as hallow
- Anywhere His Spirit is...with my spirit...in His truth (John 4)
- Wherever I cause My name (God's name of course) to be honored (Exodus 20:24)
- a place that remains as a place of worship
...which segued right into the next thought, that it is not the place that makes it a place of worship or even the thing (like the ark of the covenant demonstrated by Israel's defeat and capture of the ark in 1 Samuel 4:1-11).
There could be trappings in returning over and over to the same place, doing the same 'religious' things. And again, you were all right on when we discussed some of the trappings:
-our worship could change focus from God to ourselves, things or events.
-our growth could be stunted by trusting in or worshiping a time gone by.
-distraction could enter in the commoness of the place or religious act.
-we can wrongly focus on this place as the only place where worship can occur.
When re-examining the 1 Samuel passage we must understand that there is a correct application of principles as reminders to worship God. There are also things that stand in our way to move us away from Godly worship as we engage in 'religion'.
The problem with Israel's defeat was that their trust was invested in the ark, not in God. Even sacred objects do not have power in and of themselves, but because God's presence existed in them. God alone is to be worshiped, not the act, not the place.
Pastor Brian often says that 'sacred cows are for barbecuing', and it's true; there is only one who is sacred, one that deserves pure, holy, wholly worship; God alone.
So now, it is up to us to determine if our places of worship are 'at His pleasure' for His purpose, or if it is time to move on to a fresh place, a fresh remembrance, a new dwelling where He is...remembering that God does not dwell in houses made by man, but, EVERYWHERE. So where will you worship Him today? At work? At home? In your car as you drive? In your neighborhood? For surely we don't only worship God, at church.
With only two weeks remaining in our time together, First, remember that we will not be meeting this coming Sunday. Second, we will be carefully examining our call to worship God as a body, and then as individuals as part of the body of Christ to finish our study. Thank you all for your faithful attendance. Walk in worship this week, and let Christ transform our world!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Week 7 Class Notes
Wow! The weeks are flying by and our time together is such a joy for me. I sure hope our Lord is speaking to your heart, and opening your eyes to see His glory and the incredible privilege we have to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!!
Are you getting it? Worship is praise to God, but exemplified not solely in the direct act of engaging Him with thanksgiving, offering and sacrifice, but also by expressing His love toward others, His words of encouragement, His help, His courage, His joy, His power, as we act in obedience before Him. When God's glory is manifested, it is worship! The glory of Christ is rising in the hearts and people of New Heights!!!
For those of you who check out the blog...this is a heads up!!! In the brief review at the start of class, you will be 'filling in' the blanks for each week's learning. Now, before you think about not coming until late, if you are late, you will miss out on the hugest blessing and reward for your participation. So be there early and be there often!
You can review the previous week's learning by going reviewing the previous week's blogs. Thanks for all of you who invest additional time in your spiritual transformation via this class!
This week, as we discussed what makes our worship acceptable by God, the key issue is that God lets us know that He has accepted our worship! This cannot be accomplished if we do not engage Him in conversation, listening, and just plain relationship. Thanks again to those who participate verbally and non-verbally in class. As we discussed the answer to the question, you are all 'right on'.
What Makes our Worship Acceptable to God?
-our attitude
-The condition of our heart
-humble
-selfless
-contrite
*belief in Christ as Lord!..ah, Ya
Yet it was pointed out that we know many who are humble, selfless and contrite who without the connection to Christ, are just doing 'good acts', which may or may not have eternal benefits, but for believers definitely will have eternal benefits!!
So worship requires:
1. Belief in Jesus Christ as our savior.
2. Coming before God in an active relationship
3. Pursuing the goal that everything we do will bring glory to God.
4. A responsive, contrite heart before our Lord.
5. Acceptance of one another.
6. Remaining in communion with God and fellow believers.
Practically speaking this means:
+Knowing what acts are considered by God to be worship.
+Focusing on what is true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy to and with God.
+Engaging with God truly seeking to know if He accepts our worship.
+Setting our hearts and minds on Christ.
Scripture points out, practically and directly how some of this is best worked out.
First Peter 2:4-5
4 As you come to him, the living Stone —rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
and Romans 15:7-9 clearly point this out.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs 9 so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy
In addition, in Isaiah 57:15.
15 For this is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. 16 I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me—the breath of man that I have created.
Remembering, as I pointed out the definition of acceptable there are two interesting parts of the definition...
1. capable or worthy of being accepted.
2. pleasing to the receiver; satisfactory; agreeable; welcome.
Or the other part…
3. meeting only minimum requirements; barely adequate: an acceptable performance.
4. capable of being endured; tolerable; bearable: acceptable levels of radiation.
...and you guessed it, we want to be in the first part, not the second part of the definition. God does tolerate us, but what is incredibly glorious and humbling is that He loves us and enjoys the pleasure He gets as we do what is pleasing to Him. This alone is worship!!!
So, in the upcoming week, we will be discussing places where Godly worship occurs. You may be surprised at the answer unless you are getting the big picture, of our time together. I pray for His blessing to fall on you as we go through our week with a heart of worship in everything we do.
Are you getting it? Worship is praise to God, but exemplified not solely in the direct act of engaging Him with thanksgiving, offering and sacrifice, but also by expressing His love toward others, His words of encouragement, His help, His courage, His joy, His power, as we act in obedience before Him. When God's glory is manifested, it is worship! The glory of Christ is rising in the hearts and people of New Heights!!!
For those of you who check out the blog...this is a heads up!!! In the brief review at the start of class, you will be 'filling in' the blanks for each week's learning. Now, before you think about not coming until late, if you are late, you will miss out on the hugest blessing and reward for your participation. So be there early and be there often!
You can review the previous week's learning by going reviewing the previous week's blogs. Thanks for all of you who invest additional time in your spiritual transformation via this class!
This week, as we discussed what makes our worship acceptable by God, the key issue is that God lets us know that He has accepted our worship! This cannot be accomplished if we do not engage Him in conversation, listening, and just plain relationship. Thanks again to those who participate verbally and non-verbally in class. As we discussed the answer to the question, you are all 'right on'.
What Makes our Worship Acceptable to God?
-our attitude
-The condition of our heart
-humble
-selfless
-contrite
*belief in Christ as Lord!..ah, Ya
Yet it was pointed out that we know many who are humble, selfless and contrite who without the connection to Christ, are just doing 'good acts', which may or may not have eternal benefits, but for believers definitely will have eternal benefits!!
So worship requires:
1. Belief in Jesus Christ as our savior.
2. Coming before God in an active relationship
3. Pursuing the goal that everything we do will bring glory to God.
4. A responsive, contrite heart before our Lord.
5. Acceptance of one another.
6. Remaining in communion with God and fellow believers.
Practically speaking this means:
+Knowing what acts are considered by God to be worship.
+Focusing on what is true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy to and with God.
+Engaging with God truly seeking to know if He accepts our worship.
+Setting our hearts and minds on Christ.
Scripture points out, practically and directly how some of this is best worked out.
First Peter 2:4-5
4 As you come to him, the living Stone —rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
and Romans 15:7-9 clearly point this out.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs 9 so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy
In addition, in Isaiah 57:15.
15 For this is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. 16 I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me—the breath of man that I have created.
Remembering, as I pointed out the definition of acceptable there are two interesting parts of the definition...
1. capable or worthy of being accepted.
2. pleasing to the receiver; satisfactory; agreeable; welcome.
Or the other part…
3. meeting only minimum requirements; barely adequate: an acceptable performance.
4. capable of being endured; tolerable; bearable: acceptable levels of radiation.
...and you guessed it, we want to be in the first part, not the second part of the definition. God does tolerate us, but what is incredibly glorious and humbling is that He loves us and enjoys the pleasure He gets as we do what is pleasing to Him. This alone is worship!!!
So, in the upcoming week, we will be discussing places where Godly worship occurs. You may be surprised at the answer unless you are getting the big picture, of our time together. I pray for His blessing to fall on you as we go through our week with a heart of worship in everything we do.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Week 6 Class Notes
Are you seeing the correlations between our time together and Brian's preaching in church? Is it just coincidence, or are you thinking that just as we talked about God having one will for our church, all things are rising as a response to His will and calling? The connections are divine and led by the Holy Spirit!
Quick Review: (don't just blow this off, it is slightly different from previous reviews)
Week 1
- Worship is a response to God doing and living as that response to Him.
Week 2
- ALL humans worship. It is our nature to do so.
Week 3
- As a response to our worship nature, we will erect Gods or elect to worship God, or both, which according to scripture we cannot do both.
Week 4
- Personal worship is each of our lives responding to God, between He and each of us only. It is unique and directed by Him where we are on the journey of faith.
Week 5
- Corporate worship requires individuals to give up preferences in personal worship as a community sacrifice to God. We choose to join together, in unity, His unity directing us as the larger body of Christ. We look to and respond to His will for us as a group.
Week 6
The Purpose of Worship
We started class by asking what is the purpose of man?
Some answers from classmates were:
-to acknowledge and respond to God's calling
-to be in a relationship with God
-to be in His presence
-to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (from the Westminster Catechism)
The overarching, big picture understanding is that all man is and was created to glorify God.
The dictionary definition of the word glorify has two definitions that directly apply, and two that should cause us to raise an eyebrow as we consider worship.
Glorify-
-verb (used with an object), -fied, -fy-ing.
1. to cause to be or treat as being more splendid, excellent, etc., than would normally be considered.
2. to honor with praise, admiration, or worship; extol.
3. to make glorious; invest with glory.
4. to praise the glory of (God), esp. as an act of worship.
Definition 1, is interesting because we cannot cause God to be more splendid or excellent than he normally is or is considered.
Definition 3 is also problematic because we cannot make God more glorious than He is, nor can we invest or contribute to His glory.
Yet definition 2 and 4 fit wonderfully; to honor with praise, admiration, worship as an act, revealing His glory through us. We are created to pass on the glory of God!
Another of our classmates mentioned Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 as speaking to the relationship we should have with Jesus and the knowledge that presses us into our worship response. Make sure you read these two amazing chapters in the Bible and ponder the relevance of these truths into your life!
Other places in scripture to wrestle with the idea of glorifying God are:
Romans 15:7-9, 11:36, 12:1-2, 14:7-9
1 Peter 2:10-12
As we considered the heart and spirit of worship other verses come to mind:
John 4:22-24 God seeks those true worshipers who do so in spirit and truth.
Romans 8:9-11 We are to be controlled by the Spirit and must choose to be so as He will give us life. Noticing the ifs in these passages, (fitting in with the Sunday sermon) we have choices to make and very clearly it will be revealed in our daily lives that choice we have made..
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit,
if the Spirit of God lives in you. And
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But
if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And
if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Rom 8:9-11
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Gen. 4:7
...and what hinders our worship of God?
But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
So, how is this accomplished?
A classmate shared Colossians 3 vs. 1-17 makes it very clear (please look this up and read it?)
Phillipians 3:5-9 also shares the focus of our thinking.
So a key to offering worship to God is:
Being controlled by His Spirit.
-God’s spirit must live in us.
-We must be dead to sin and alive to Christ
-We should find life through His Spirit who lives in us.
-We should focus on the things of righteousness and absolute truth.
Remembering that there are two ways to gain entry into heaven (and I liked how many of you raised eyebrows at my near heresy)...
1. Live a completely sinless life or
2. Live a life covered in the sacrificed blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Did you hear it in the sermon? Jesus himself asked honest questions in the face of injustice. He rested in the absolute truth, abiding there and not in the 'relative truth' of the people and leaders surrounding him. He was near to his Father and unswerving in His response, demonstrating the powerful glory of God!!!
May we each find such consolation, such incredible peace and power, the holy radiance of His glory, as we walk the life of worship in a manner aligning with the unique will of our Father in heaven, given access to that will through Jesus, and doing His will as the Holy Spirit directs.
Quick Review: (don't just blow this off, it is slightly different from previous reviews)
Week 1
- Worship is a response to God doing and living as that response to Him.
Week 2
- ALL humans worship. It is our nature to do so.
Week 3
- As a response to our worship nature, we will erect Gods or elect to worship God, or both, which according to scripture we cannot do both.
Week 4
- Personal worship is each of our lives responding to God, between He and each of us only. It is unique and directed by Him where we are on the journey of faith.
Week 5
- Corporate worship requires individuals to give up preferences in personal worship as a community sacrifice to God. We choose to join together, in unity, His unity directing us as the larger body of Christ. We look to and respond to His will for us as a group.
Week 6
The Purpose of Worship
We started class by asking what is the purpose of man?
Some answers from classmates were:
-to acknowledge and respond to God's calling
-to be in a relationship with God
-to be in His presence
-to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (from the Westminster Catechism)
The overarching, big picture understanding is that all man is and was created to glorify God.
The dictionary definition of the word glorify has two definitions that directly apply, and two that should cause us to raise an eyebrow as we consider worship.
Glorify-
-verb (used with an object), -fied, -fy-ing.
1. to cause to be or treat as being more splendid, excellent, etc., than would normally be considered.
2. to honor with praise, admiration, or worship; extol.
3. to make glorious; invest with glory.
4. to praise the glory of (God), esp. as an act of worship.
Definition 1, is interesting because we cannot cause God to be more splendid or excellent than he normally is or is considered.
Definition 3 is also problematic because we cannot make God more glorious than He is, nor can we invest or contribute to His glory.
Yet definition 2 and 4 fit wonderfully; to honor with praise, admiration, worship as an act, revealing His glory through us. We are created to pass on the glory of God!
Another of our classmates mentioned Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 as speaking to the relationship we should have with Jesus and the knowledge that presses us into our worship response. Make sure you read these two amazing chapters in the Bible and ponder the relevance of these truths into your life!
Other places in scripture to wrestle with the idea of glorifying God are:
Romans 15:7-9, 11:36, 12:1-2, 14:7-9
1 Peter 2:10-12
As we considered the heart and spirit of worship other verses come to mind:
John 4:22-24 God seeks those true worshipers who do so in spirit and truth.
Romans 8:9-11 We are to be controlled by the Spirit and must choose to be so as He will give us life. Noticing the ifs in these passages, (fitting in with the Sunday sermon) we have choices to make and very clearly it will be revealed in our daily lives that choice we have made..
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit,
if the Spirit of God lives in you. And
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But
if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And
if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Rom 8:9-11
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Gen. 4:7
...and what hinders our worship of God?
But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
So, how is this accomplished?
A classmate shared Colossians 3 vs. 1-17 makes it very clear (please look this up and read it?)
Phillipians 3:5-9 also shares the focus of our thinking.
So a key to offering worship to God is:
Being controlled by His Spirit.
-God’s spirit must live in us.
-We must be dead to sin and alive to Christ
-We should find life through His Spirit who lives in us.
-We should focus on the things of righteousness and absolute truth.
Remembering that there are two ways to gain entry into heaven (and I liked how many of you raised eyebrows at my near heresy)...
1. Live a completely sinless life or
2. Live a life covered in the sacrificed blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Did you hear it in the sermon? Jesus himself asked honest questions in the face of injustice. He rested in the absolute truth, abiding there and not in the 'relative truth' of the people and leaders surrounding him. He was near to his Father and unswerving in His response, demonstrating the powerful glory of God!!!
May we each find such consolation, such incredible peace and power, the holy radiance of His glory, as we walk the life of worship in a manner aligning with the unique will of our Father in heaven, given access to that will through Jesus, and doing His will as the Holy Spirit directs.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Week 5 Class Notes
Welcome again fellow worshipers of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! The perspective of personal worship takes on a whole new meaning when we wrestle with the understanding that worship has little to do with how I feel, and everything to do with God's acceptance of the offering of worship I bring before Him, as it is my sacrifice at His pleasure. As we press ahead and think about worshiping together, as the body of Christ, the sacrifice takes on added layers of complexity in sacrifice. Now we must indeed ALL come before our Lord with one heart, in one accord. What is interesting is that just as the foot does not give up it's 'footness', the ailments and difficulties of the week or the joys it provided in getting us into church, every part, including the feet, the hands the arms, the mouth, the eyes and all parts of the body became engaged in the act of worship last Sunday in church, and we did it with other bodies engaging in the same acts of worship together.
Was God pleased with our offering and sacrifice? I believe He was, and my body and the fullness of my soul was washed as together we basked in the presence of our Lord seeking to honor Him... and, for me, it has continued into this week! There have been plenty of pains, irritations, difficulties and struggles, in both myself and my friends; Yet God has been faithful and promises to be!
Interesting correlations can be observed in the corporate worship found in Ezra (Ezra 3:11-13) and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8, one of our classmates brought Nehemiah to our attention). It is my hope that you might take some time to compare the two accounts in similar circumstances, the people wanting to rebuild parts of the temple and the city destroyed not just by outsiders, but by their disobedience to God. Ouch. Repeatedly in scripture, time and time again, it speaks to the return of the people to God after calamity, remembering who it was that protected them, provides for them and leads them, and us.
Reading in Psalm 81 and hopefully you might also read Psalm 82, it becomes apparent that God wants us to listen to Him and follow Him. This takes on two meanings, personal listening and corporate listening. God has a will and desire for each of us, and for every church and the global church as well. Each requires a sacrifice, selfless acts and submission to God for the worship to rise as a fragrant offering to our Lord.
Remembering that in Romans 12, it speaks to the brothers that we are to present bodies as living sacrifices...all plural, as our spiritual act of worship. Worship is giving, and as one of our classmates asked...'are you coming to church with a bib or an apron?' In addition, I find that the many 'flavors' of churches out in our community speaks directly to the idea of 'sacrifice'. What am I willing to personally sacrifice in order to be in order in corporate worship? What is God asking us to give up for the good of the whole? What are we clinging to that needs to be released?
This week's homework is to submit yourself to God (an pray that I do too!). I want to, and we want to be fully found under the wing of our Lord Jesus. Now that we have covered the broader picture of worship, we will dive deeper into the details of specifics.
What is our key calling? When and where did Godly worship start? What did it look like? And, what is the heart and spirit of worship?
Was God pleased with our offering and sacrifice? I believe He was, and my body and the fullness of my soul was washed as together we basked in the presence of our Lord seeking to honor Him... and, for me, it has continued into this week! There have been plenty of pains, irritations, difficulties and struggles, in both myself and my friends; Yet God has been faithful and promises to be!
Interesting correlations can be observed in the corporate worship found in Ezra (Ezra 3:11-13) and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8, one of our classmates brought Nehemiah to our attention). It is my hope that you might take some time to compare the two accounts in similar circumstances, the people wanting to rebuild parts of the temple and the city destroyed not just by outsiders, but by their disobedience to God. Ouch. Repeatedly in scripture, time and time again, it speaks to the return of the people to God after calamity, remembering who it was that protected them, provides for them and leads them, and us.
Reading in Psalm 81 and hopefully you might also read Psalm 82, it becomes apparent that God wants us to listen to Him and follow Him. This takes on two meanings, personal listening and corporate listening. God has a will and desire for each of us, and for every church and the global church as well. Each requires a sacrifice, selfless acts and submission to God for the worship to rise as a fragrant offering to our Lord.
Remembering that in Romans 12, it speaks to the brothers that we are to present bodies as living sacrifices...all plural, as our spiritual act of worship. Worship is giving, and as one of our classmates asked...'are you coming to church with a bib or an apron?' In addition, I find that the many 'flavors' of churches out in our community speaks directly to the idea of 'sacrifice'. What am I willing to personally sacrifice in order to be in order in corporate worship? What is God asking us to give up for the good of the whole? What are we clinging to that needs to be released?
This week's homework is to submit yourself to God (an pray that I do too!). I want to, and we want to be fully found under the wing of our Lord Jesus. Now that we have covered the broader picture of worship, we will dive deeper into the details of specifics.
What is our key calling? When and where did Godly worship start? What did it look like? And, what is the heart and spirit of worship?
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Week 4
Time for a check-up. Have you been praying about, and listening to the Lord for His input as to you life as you serve Him, worshiping Him alone in and through your days? Has He revealed any idols in your life? Are there things you have always done in a particular way that God is asking you to change?
I am led to ask you these questions, as the result of what I hear God doing in some of your lives, but more compelling to me personally is what He's up to in mine. They always say, no one learns more than the teacher, and I would like to add, no one goes through more than the teacher as well. Good, hard, dramatically demonstrating the power of God, I am thankful to be called to teach, but more thankful of the transformation wrought in my life because of His calling and leading. God is calling us all and it is refreshing, challenging and most importantly life transforming as we obey His call, as our response in worship.
As we explored personal worship this week, we discussed what it is and the dangers of placing our personal God worship expectations on others. Remembering that personal worship is what God requires uniquely from ;you and me not as a static form of 'tasks' or things to do that demonstrate my/our worship of Him, but the relationship between God and us, dynamic, and ongoing is key. I believe this emphasis was clearly made through your input as to what is personal worship:
What is Personal Worship?
1. praying/talking to God.
2. listening/singing to God.
3. a place set aside to meet with God.
4. offer our bodies/ selves to God. (Romans 12:1) mentally and physically
5. Doing what God asks.
6. Serving our Lord. (Psalms 2, Deuteronomy 10:12-11:1)
I am convinced (because the Bible says so Hebrews 13:8) that Christ never changes, but also am convinced that Christ changes us. The Bible also says that "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22).
In the light of ways of personal worship discussed in class, we also must come to terms with our ways of personal worship of God, looking back on our personal journey seeing that our worship, styles and methodology, has changed through out our maturing or developing relationship with Christ. Our acts of worship change over time, and should continue to do so as a result of the deepening relationship between God and us as individuals.
There are 'dangers' in holding on to 'sacred cows' even in our worship practices. There are dangers is believing that our expectations and processes of worship are the only 'correct' ways to engage God. As we discussed the dangers abound:
Dangers of Expectations in Personal Worship
1. Our practice of worship in the presence of non-believers might do more harm than good. -We must be careful as we interact with God that we are not doing so as a demonstration of holiness in a prideful sense, but with gentleness being as Paul said, "being all things to all men".
2. Our expectations should be God's, drawing near to Him to facilitate true worship.
3. We must avoid legalisms-God wants worship to be fresh and real, not acts of repetitiveness and empty of a responsive heart of true worship.
4. We can become judgmental. -Remembering that personal worship is my response to God irrelevant of what He requires from another fellow believer.
5. We should be asking and allowing God and the Holy Spirit to lead us in new, fresh and vibrant ways of worshiping Him in spirit and truth.
My life is personally challenged each week as we meet together. I heartily believe that the Holy Spirit and the presence of our Lord meet with us each week, and carries us into the next. How about you? Are you eager to return and engage with your fellow disciples? Do you continue through the week as well in the same spirit?
Worship of our Lord begins individually inside each of us through a dynamic, diligent and faithful walk with our savior. Proverbs 3:1-6 says:
[3:1] My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,
[2] for length of days and years of life
and peace they will add to you.
[3] Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
[4] So you will find favor and good success
in the sight of God and man.
[5] Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
[6] In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
(Proverbs 3:1-6 ESV)
As we press ahead to examine corporate worship this next week, I believe that God makes it clear that sacrifice is made beautiful when we apply it to the 'together' aspect of glorifying and honoring God. Being in submission to God, as a body of believers is the only way to ensure His complete working, bringing glory, His glory lavished upon our world this and each day. May our lives impart such glory and honor due to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and through eternity!
I am led to ask you these questions, as the result of what I hear God doing in some of your lives, but more compelling to me personally is what He's up to in mine. They always say, no one learns more than the teacher, and I would like to add, no one goes through more than the teacher as well. Good, hard, dramatically demonstrating the power of God, I am thankful to be called to teach, but more thankful of the transformation wrought in my life because of His calling and leading. God is calling us all and it is refreshing, challenging and most importantly life transforming as we obey His call, as our response in worship.
As we explored personal worship this week, we discussed what it is and the dangers of placing our personal God worship expectations on others. Remembering that personal worship is what God requires uniquely from ;you and me not as a static form of 'tasks' or things to do that demonstrate my/our worship of Him, but the relationship between God and us, dynamic, and ongoing is key. I believe this emphasis was clearly made through your input as to what is personal worship:
What is Personal Worship?
1. praying/talking to God.
2. listening/singing to God.
3. a place set aside to meet with God.
4. offer our bodies/ selves to God. (Romans 12:1) mentally and physically
5. Doing what God asks.
6. Serving our Lord. (Psalms 2, Deuteronomy 10:12-11:1)
I am convinced (because the Bible says so Hebrews 13:8) that Christ never changes, but also am convinced that Christ changes us. The Bible also says that "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22).
In the light of ways of personal worship discussed in class, we also must come to terms with our ways of personal worship of God, looking back on our personal journey seeing that our worship, styles and methodology, has changed through out our maturing or developing relationship with Christ. Our acts of worship change over time, and should continue to do so as a result of the deepening relationship between God and us as individuals.
There are 'dangers' in holding on to 'sacred cows' even in our worship practices. There are dangers is believing that our expectations and processes of worship are the only 'correct' ways to engage God. As we discussed the dangers abound:
Dangers of Expectations in Personal Worship
1. Our practice of worship in the presence of non-believers might do more harm than good. -We must be careful as we interact with God that we are not doing so as a demonstration of holiness in a prideful sense, but with gentleness being as Paul said, "being all things to all men".
2. Our expectations should be God's, drawing near to Him to facilitate true worship.
3. We must avoid legalisms-God wants worship to be fresh and real, not acts of repetitiveness and empty of a responsive heart of true worship.
4. We can become judgmental. -Remembering that personal worship is my response to God irrelevant of what He requires from another fellow believer.
5. We should be asking and allowing God and the Holy Spirit to lead us in new, fresh and vibrant ways of worshiping Him in spirit and truth.
My life is personally challenged each week as we meet together. I heartily believe that the Holy Spirit and the presence of our Lord meet with us each week, and carries us into the next. How about you? Are you eager to return and engage with your fellow disciples? Do you continue through the week as well in the same spirit?
Worship of our Lord begins individually inside each of us through a dynamic, diligent and faithful walk with our savior. Proverbs 3:1-6 says:
[3:1] My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,
[2] for length of days and years of life
and peace they will add to you.
[3] Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
[4] So you will find favor and good success
in the sight of God and man.
[5] Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
[6] In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
(Proverbs 3:1-6 ESV)
As we press ahead to examine corporate worship this next week, I believe that God makes it clear that sacrifice is made beautiful when we apply it to the 'together' aspect of glorifying and honoring God. Being in submission to God, as a body of believers is the only way to ensure His complete working, bringing glory, His glory lavished upon our world this and each day. May our lives impart such glory and honor due to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and through eternity!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Week 3
Quick Review-
Week 1
Worship is doing in response to God.
Week 2
ALL humans worship.
Week 3
There are potentially many god(s) of man (us).
We briefly discussed the trappings of our worship nature. Two things rose out of our conversation.
1. We choose and determine who or what we ultimately worship.
2. We will tend to elevate or allow things, people or ? to worship status.
We then discussed what are, or could be or have been god(s) in our lives. Here is the list submitted by our classmates:
Money (and how we spend it)
Nature
Charisma
"Toys"
Job
Calendar (our scheduled 'obligations')
Appearance (how good we look before others)
Extra Sleep (someone pointed out 'therefore missing this class')
Personal Perfection (ouch...this one boinks me)
Education
NASCAR
The statement that put the nail in all this was posited by one of you:
"Whatever rules my spirit". Thank You Lord!
One of our classmates came up to me after class speaking of portion control, relating diet and eating to our spiritual lives. Together we confirmed that the key to keeping our temple healthy is to control the portions we consume, not letting food, or any of the things or kinds of things listed above rule my spirit and life! Which then raises the interesting question...Do we also apply this to Christ? Meaning, do we only give God a portion of our lives in fear that He will make us out of balance, make us give up some things we love or require too much from us?
You see, how many of us are afraid to fully give Jesus our lives because we think He will expect us to give up the things we love? When, while He may ask us to give up some, what He wants is to let Him be Lord, balancing our portions, placing the things we love in submission to His leading. There is nothing wrong with anything on our list of "gods". The problem is when we let them become gods in our lives.
God will use the money He blesses us with, our charisma, appearance, personal striving for perfection, education, calendar, job, even NASCAR and sleep when fully submitted to His leading.
We looked at scripture and discovered:
Ge 35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.
That while God told Jacob to destroy all the foreign gods, the people gave the to Jacob and he buried them. They were removed, but destroyed? Even so, when they removed the foreign gods, terror fell upon all around them and no one pursued them to destroy the people of Israel.
Then in Exodus 12:12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn —both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
God demonstrates His jealousy here. Anything taking the place of Him will receive His judgment, and there is no God except God himself.
Finally we finished by discussing complacency:
Definition of complacency
a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.
Using 2 Corinthians 10:1-5 we discover that one key to battle complacency is to "take every thought and make it obedient to Christ"..
One way to accomplish this is stated in 2 Corinthians 11:1.
11:1 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5 But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” 6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. (NIV)
We must be diligent, not letting ourselves be deceived, led astray or 'put up with' teachings of a false Jesus (a god appearing to look like Christ, close, but not Him).
We must battle complacency with diligent, Holy Spirit directed induction into the Bible! If we are not reading, how can we know God, and elevate Him to be God of our lives?
It is my prayer, and even more so, the prayer of Jesus Himself (have you been paying attention to the weekly sermons?), that He wants us to place Him as Lord of our lives, fulfilling our sacrifice of worship to God. He wants us to live together in unity of His spirit as the sweetness of His presence in and through us on earth.
In the next class we will discuss this act of personal worship. Will you search the scriptures to find acts of personal worship so we can together build a small list of things God's servants have done between they and God alone as personal acts of worship?
Thanks for the many of you, who come to class prepared, and especially to the Holy Spirit, who has clearly spoken in class, our time together has been rich and sweet. Isn't it wonderful to share together at the feet of God? I am trusting Him to see even more of His gracious and power unleashed as we spend some quality time together with Christ!
May He bless your week as you walk in worship, diligent and not complacent.
Week 1
Worship is doing in response to God.
Week 2
ALL humans worship.
Week 3
There are potentially many god(s) of man (us).
We briefly discussed the trappings of our worship nature. Two things rose out of our conversation.
1. We choose and determine who or what we ultimately worship.
2. We will tend to elevate or allow things, people or ? to worship status.
We then discussed what are, or could be or have been god(s) in our lives. Here is the list submitted by our classmates:
Money (and how we spend it)
Nature
Charisma
"Toys"
Job
Calendar (our scheduled 'obligations')
Appearance (how good we look before others)
Extra Sleep (someone pointed out 'therefore missing this class')
Personal Perfection (ouch...this one boinks me)
Education
NASCAR
The statement that put the nail in all this was posited by one of you:
"Whatever rules my spirit". Thank You Lord!
One of our classmates came up to me after class speaking of portion control, relating diet and eating to our spiritual lives. Together we confirmed that the key to keeping our temple healthy is to control the portions we consume, not letting food, or any of the things or kinds of things listed above rule my spirit and life! Which then raises the interesting question...Do we also apply this to Christ? Meaning, do we only give God a portion of our lives in fear that He will make us out of balance, make us give up some things we love or require too much from us?
You see, how many of us are afraid to fully give Jesus our lives because we think He will expect us to give up the things we love? When, while He may ask us to give up some, what He wants is to let Him be Lord, balancing our portions, placing the things we love in submission to His leading. There is nothing wrong with anything on our list of "gods". The problem is when we let them become gods in our lives.
God will use the money He blesses us with, our charisma, appearance, personal striving for perfection, education, calendar, job, even NASCAR and sleep when fully submitted to His leading.
We looked at scripture and discovered:
Ge 35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.
That while God told Jacob to destroy all the foreign gods, the people gave the to Jacob and he buried them. They were removed, but destroyed? Even so, when they removed the foreign gods, terror fell upon all around them and no one pursued them to destroy the people of Israel.
Then in Exodus 12:12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn —both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
God demonstrates His jealousy here. Anything taking the place of Him will receive His judgment, and there is no God except God himself.
Finally we finished by discussing complacency:
Definition of complacency
a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.
Using 2 Corinthians 10:1-5 we discover that one key to battle complacency is to "take every thought and make it obedient to Christ"..
One way to accomplish this is stated in 2 Corinthians 11:1.
11:1 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5 But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” 6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. (NIV)
We must be diligent, not letting ourselves be deceived, led astray or 'put up with' teachings of a false Jesus (a god appearing to look like Christ, close, but not Him).
We must battle complacency with diligent, Holy Spirit directed induction into the Bible! If we are not reading, how can we know God, and elevate Him to be God of our lives?
It is my prayer, and even more so, the prayer of Jesus Himself (have you been paying attention to the weekly sermons?), that He wants us to place Him as Lord of our lives, fulfilling our sacrifice of worship to God. He wants us to live together in unity of His spirit as the sweetness of His presence in and through us on earth.
In the next class we will discuss this act of personal worship. Will you search the scriptures to find acts of personal worship so we can together build a small list of things God's servants have done between they and God alone as personal acts of worship?
Thanks for the many of you, who come to class prepared, and especially to the Holy Spirit, who has clearly spoken in class, our time together has been rich and sweet. Isn't it wonderful to share together at the feet of God? I am trusting Him to see even more of His gracious and power unleashed as we spend some quality time together with Christ!
May He bless your week as you walk in worship, diligent and not complacent.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Week 2 Class Notes
Welcome back!
Last week our focus was trying to sort out what acts and more importantly motives of the heart, define worship. To key on offering, I introduced Cain and Abel, but this week pointed out 1 Samuel 15:1-26 as an additional point to lead us into this week's lesson.
This week our focus is on human nature and design. Every person has been designed by God to worship something or someone. We can see it in every person we know, including ourselves (who we know best). Scripture supports this as well and is filled with lessons about this.
We looked at Exodus 23:23-33 where it points out that all the Amorites, Hittites, Jebusites etc. all who did not recognize God, did worship other gods...and what is most exciting was to hear that people in the group 'got it' when it came to this passage. The points are two:
1. God told them to destroy them probably because He knew their hearts would never turn from what they (the 'ites') were entrenched in worship toward.
A member of our class pointed out (and I hope you understand it is important to me that others, led by the Holy Spirit, contribute to the learning) Romans 1:21-25 as possible support for God's action here, and while 'new testament' if we understand that God has never changed and opportunities to find Him have always been present, this does seem to stand as support.
2. As he knew his chosen people (another group of ites...the Israelites) , He also knew that if they invited these people (the other 'ites') into their homes and families with tolerance, they would become snared by what the 'ites' chose to worship, and it wasn't God himself.
Another classmate shared Deuteronomy 4:15-19 to support this statement and it is right on!
The key issue here is NOT the destruction of others, but rather the dangers of inviting other gods into our lives, or being enticed into worship of things or people who are not God.
The conclusion?
We need to be careful as to whom or what we invite into our lives, knowingly or 'unknowingly' placing it or them in a place of worship. We are to worship none other than God alone.
So the questions for this week are:
1. What are the trappings of our worship nature?
Let's think about this for a moment. If ALL humanity is designed to worship, and if ALL of us will worship something or someone, how can this nature 'trap us' into incorrect worship?
As we examine our life:
2. What draws you?
To what or whom do you draw near?
Hold in high esteem? (not always bad unless it moves into legitimate worship of them or it)
3. Does your time, priorities and expenditures reflect your response to worship of God alone?
4. What actions should be taken by us to reflect whose we are?
So now it is up to you and I to explore this, wrestle with it and most importantly seek scriptural answers and direction from God himself, prompted by the Holy Spirit.
I look forward to seeing you next week as we talk about the many gods of man and the most dangerous aspect of living that supports why God tells us (like the Israelites) to be careful what or whom you invite into your life.
Please try to be early and prepared for class. I hope you find the material engaging and thought provoking, but most importantly that God is directing your thoughts and heart as we all continue to walk down the road of faith together. May our Lord bless you as you set Him and He alone as the one whom you worship and whose you are.
By the way, did you like how the Holy Spirit 'dove tailed' the class with the sermon today? Did you also like how He led the class? I sit back amazed and grateful to be included in the 'seeing' of His power and direction unleashed as we sit together before Him. It is these kinds of things that, I believe, caused the early church to explode! (in a good way of course).
Last week our focus was trying to sort out what acts and more importantly motives of the heart, define worship. To key on offering, I introduced Cain and Abel, but this week pointed out 1 Samuel 15:1-26 as an additional point to lead us into this week's lesson.
This week our focus is on human nature and design. Every person has been designed by God to worship something or someone. We can see it in every person we know, including ourselves (who we know best). Scripture supports this as well and is filled with lessons about this.
We looked at Exodus 23:23-33 where it points out that all the Amorites, Hittites, Jebusites etc. all who did not recognize God, did worship other gods...and what is most exciting was to hear that people in the group 'got it' when it came to this passage. The points are two:
1. God told them to destroy them probably because He knew their hearts would never turn from what they (the 'ites') were entrenched in worship toward.
A member of our class pointed out (and I hope you understand it is important to me that others, led by the Holy Spirit, contribute to the learning) Romans 1:21-25 as possible support for God's action here, and while 'new testament' if we understand that God has never changed and opportunities to find Him have always been present, this does seem to stand as support.
2. As he knew his chosen people (another group of ites...the Israelites) , He also knew that if they invited these people (the other 'ites') into their homes and families with tolerance, they would become snared by what the 'ites' chose to worship, and it wasn't God himself.
Another classmate shared Deuteronomy 4:15-19 to support this statement and it is right on!
The key issue here is NOT the destruction of others, but rather the dangers of inviting other gods into our lives, or being enticed into worship of things or people who are not God.
The conclusion?
We need to be careful as to whom or what we invite into our lives, knowingly or 'unknowingly' placing it or them in a place of worship. We are to worship none other than God alone.
So the questions for this week are:
1. What are the trappings of our worship nature?
Let's think about this for a moment. If ALL humanity is designed to worship, and if ALL of us will worship something or someone, how can this nature 'trap us' into incorrect worship?
As we examine our life:
2. What draws you?
To what or whom do you draw near?
Hold in high esteem? (not always bad unless it moves into legitimate worship of them or it)
3. Does your time, priorities and expenditures reflect your response to worship of God alone?
4. What actions should be taken by us to reflect whose we are?
So now it is up to you and I to explore this, wrestle with it and most importantly seek scriptural answers and direction from God himself, prompted by the Holy Spirit.
I look forward to seeing you next week as we talk about the many gods of man and the most dangerous aspect of living that supports why God tells us (like the Israelites) to be careful what or whom you invite into your life.
Please try to be early and prepared for class. I hope you find the material engaging and thought provoking, but most importantly that God is directing your thoughts and heart as we all continue to walk down the road of faith together. May our Lord bless you as you set Him and He alone as the one whom you worship and whose you are.
By the way, did you like how the Holy Spirit 'dove tailed' the class with the sermon today? Did you also like how He led the class? I sit back amazed and grateful to be included in the 'seeing' of His power and direction unleashed as we sit together before Him. It is these kinds of things that, I believe, caused the early church to explode! (in a good way of course).
Monday, July 12, 2010
Week 1 Class Notes
In our first meeting we discussed several things...
1. How many times the word 'worship' appears in the old and new testament (153 times in the NIV) and that doing a word study doesn't tell us very well what worship is, only that it is to be done.
2. The word translated as worship in the Bible has many roots in Hebrew and Greek, some of which are, serve, and to draw near.
3. We also discussed how presenting an offering is worship to God and how Cain's offering (in Genesis 4) could have been the right thing, done with the wrong heart (demonstrated by Cain's response to God at His Lord's lack of acceptance of Cain's gift).
We determined that what makes an offering or presentation of a gift worship to God is that it is accepted by God.
Then we came up with other words that could be related to 'worship'. I was delightfully surprised that no one said singing to Him! While singing to our Lord is definitely worship, it is not limited to this singular act.
The words were:
Offering
Service
Obedience
Attitude
Sacrifice
Receptive/Reflective Response
Witness/Testimony
Available
Sowing 'seeds'
Then we discussed where in scripture God gives light to our understanding.
For service, Romans 12:1 and Ecclesiastes 5:1. Nice job class!!! But part of your job this week is to find support for the other words and possibly find more words that describe worship.
What does 1 Samuel 15:22 have to do with worship and a few of the words we related to worship? How are the other words linked to a scriptural foundation of worship?
What other words did we leave out of our list of 'similar terms' for worship?
Did Jesus worship the Father? How does the following scripture support and demonstrate this? What other scriptures explain obedience and sacrifice as worship?
[5:1] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
(Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV)
Come prepared to quickly share your discoveries in the first few minutes as we get started this next Sunday! Feel free to leave your comments here for all to see! I need to 'approve them' before they post, so be a bit patient.
Also be thinking about next Sunday's lesson. Do all people worship? Why do you or do you not think so, and where is your understanding of it found in scripture? Thanks for visiting the blog! Hope to see you and others in class next week!
1. How many times the word 'worship' appears in the old and new testament (153 times in the NIV) and that doing a word study doesn't tell us very well what worship is, only that it is to be done.
2. The word translated as worship in the Bible has many roots in Hebrew and Greek, some of which are, serve, and to draw near.
3. We also discussed how presenting an offering is worship to God and how Cain's offering (in Genesis 4) could have been the right thing, done with the wrong heart (demonstrated by Cain's response to God at His Lord's lack of acceptance of Cain's gift).
We determined that what makes an offering or presentation of a gift worship to God is that it is accepted by God.
Then we came up with other words that could be related to 'worship'. I was delightfully surprised that no one said singing to Him! While singing to our Lord is definitely worship, it is not limited to this singular act.
The words were:
Offering
Service
Obedience
Attitude
Sacrifice
Receptive/Reflective Response
Witness/Testimony
Available
Sowing 'seeds'
Then we discussed where in scripture God gives light to our understanding.
For service, Romans 12:1 and Ecclesiastes 5:1. Nice job class!!! But part of your job this week is to find support for the other words and possibly find more words that describe worship.
What does 1 Samuel 15:22 have to do with worship and a few of the words we related to worship? How are the other words linked to a scriptural foundation of worship?
What other words did we leave out of our list of 'similar terms' for worship?
Did Jesus worship the Father? How does the following scripture support and demonstrate this? What other scriptures explain obedience and sacrifice as worship?
[5:1] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
(Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV)
Come prepared to quickly share your discoveries in the first few minutes as we get started this next Sunday! Feel free to leave your comments here for all to see! I need to 'approve them' before they post, so be a bit patient.
Also be thinking about next Sunday's lesson. Do all people worship? Why do you or do you not think so, and where is your understanding of it found in scripture? Thanks for visiting the blog! Hope to see you and others in class next week!
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