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Saturday, October 16, 2004
Sometimes I can "get lost" in the trees that make up the forest. What I mean is, I can start focusing on day-to-day lessons in the Bible verses I'm studying and lose sight of the big picture of what it is that I'm studying. And we've spent almost four weeks and 20 devotions in what it means to worship God.
We started in Psalm 122 and what sparked this whole thing was the very first line in which David was glad when he was told they'd be going to Jerusalem for one of the prescribed festivals. They were times when he and his family would join others who loved God and celebrate His faithfulness to them. Lots of late nights. Lots of food and drink. Dancing. Fun. No wonder he was glad. He was doing life with people he loved and focusing on God and His faithfulness...and that's an element I think we might have lost in our current culture. I mean, how often do we view going to our modern churches the same way as David viewed going to the festivals? We're more likely to say "I've got to go to church" than "I get to go to church."
So the first step in worship is understanding what we're doing, and rubbing shoulders with God's people should be exciting for us.
We then looked at the four elements that made the early church such an exciting church. These members of a wicked and perverse generation were saved and started doing life together. There were four key elements they were involved in that helped them move from head to heart:
They were getting authoritative teaching.
They were involved in fellowship (one we all too often discount)
They were involved in eating together, likely celebrating the Lord's Supper.
They were involved in prayer...and I'd imagine that was both personal and corporate.
Part of doing life together looks very practical in light of those things. No wonder they had a sense of awe.
Next we took a look at Nehemiah to give us instruction on a few specifics.
First, Nehemiah had a reason to celebrate as he and his nation rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and, in effect, brought Israel together as a nation over a 7 month period of time. This was after almost 400 years of dispersion...failing to be salt and light, which Israel was supposed to be.
When they read the word of God, the people stood up. Pretty amazing how much reverence they had for the Word, even if they were a little fuzzy on the details, they knew that it was living and active and able to change their lives.
The celebrated God's faithfulness to them. They bowed low in worship at the giving of the Law. Then, when they realized their lack of faith, they started to weep and mourn...to which the leaders told them this was a time for celebration...which they did, and included everyone.
Then, on the 8th day, they held a time of confession. Corporately. How they had tried to be God when they weren't worthy of being God. We then saw Psalm 51 as an example of how personal confession should be a part of our worship as well.
We then saw how the Israelites viewed giving of their time, money and resources were a part of their worship lives. Their refusal to neglect the house of their God and to give joyously to that process is inspirational.
Finally, last week, we saw four realities of worship. That there is a way to worship Jesus in a true manner; that there is a relationship with God that makes true worship possible; that hope in God gives us a proper perspective on this life; and finally, that worship is really putting God at the center of our lives.
Think about that, as it might be the most important element in moving from head to heart: Really having God at the center of our lives rather than in orbit around the fringes.
We'll be moving forward in our series, but if we can apply the reality of God at the center of our lives, my suspicion is that it'll move from head-to-heart rather quickly.
Brent 6:47 AM
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