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!
Found it! be back later for a more intellectual post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know, Derrick. I'll be waiting for and look forward to your post!
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm looking forward to reading Derrick's intellectual post too!!
ReplyDeleteLOVED your first class, Bob. The Lord REALLY spoke to me about what I now know to be "the offering of fools" -- the perfunctory Bible reading and prayer I've been lifting up in my busyness. Instead, this week - several times already - I've been DRAWING NEAR to Him. Praise the Lord for His Scriptures - TRUE and ALIVE!
I'll miss your 2nd class because of Bring Them To Me ministries (Team meeting on Sunday @ 9:00 a.m.), but I'll be right back here to see what I missed.
Blessings as you minister to our Body,
~ Tami
Great launch Bob!
ReplyDeleteIn answer to "What does God see as worship?" I'm led to James 4:8 "Come close to God, and God will come close to you." (NLT) God wants us to focus our attention on Him. For me this is the essence of worship. Our attention can take many forms--as we discussed in class: service, singing, sacrificing, obedience, offering, etc.
If we constantly remember and acknowledge God's loving attention towards us, then our focus on (worship of) Him should be effortless.
See you Sunday,
Tom Piszkin
I'm sorry I missed the first class. I found it quite interesting that you commented that no one mentioned singing as a way to worship. I always thought worshipping was the service. I never thought of worship as music, singing until I became a christian at our church. New Heights is the only church I have ever been a member of and I feel at home here. The more you think about it worship can mean. It might be fun for the last class to make another list of what worship could be and see how it grew.Thanks in all you do!
ReplyDeleteLinda
Bob: Review, review, review. Blog, blog, blog. Looks like good parallel structure, as our English teachers used to say. Thanks for a worthwhile session. Howard
ReplyDelete