1/31/10 worship set

***ALL SERVICES CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER***

Alive Forever Amen (choir special)
For All You've Done
He Knows My Name
Rescue

Change My Heart, O God (Tommy w/Sherry accompanying)

the priority of praise...

God’s people have always praised him.  In one form or another, praise to our wonderful God has always been in vogue among his followers.  In Psalm 33, the opening words of the call to worship include, “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.”  Throughout Israel’s history, the people’s most shining moments -- those most pleasing to God -- were times they lifted God up in praise.  In fact, David said of God, “You are the praise of Israel.” (Ps 22:3).

Throughout God’s Word we find praise being lifted up to him.  The word praise can be found well over 200 times in the Bible.  When we include related words such as worship, sing, shout, and bow down, that number climbs to close to 500.

For all eternity God will be praised.  Revelation 4 describes part of a vision that the author, John, had of a glorious gathering in heaven that will take place at some point in the future.  It’s interesting to note, however, that everything John described was in the past tense because he was telling about a heavenly vision he had already seen.  Yet when he spoke of the praise taking place in heaven in vs. 8-11, John suddenly spoke in the here and now.  I believe John’s abrupt change from the past tense to the present tense was intentional.  John wanted to be clear that the praise he was witnessing was not a one-time event.  Praise in heaven is ongoing, both in the present and in the never-ending future!

Throughout all creation God will be praised.  According to Revelation 5:11-14, all heavenly beings, including angels, living creatures and elders will praise him.  Every created being, including people, animals, fish and all of nature will sing to him.  Praise is obviously both pleasing to God and natural for his creation.

At this very moment in heaven, God is being praised.  This is perhaps the most amazing of all.  If you’ll read Revelation 4:8 again, you’ll notice that the four living creatures never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty”.  Praise to our holy God is so important that heaven itself never stops praising him.

[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 25-26.]

1/24/10 worship set

Filled With Your Glory
Firm Foundation
My Hope (with The Solid Rock) (choir special)
God of This City

Give Me Jesus (duet special during offering)
People Need the Lord (Tommy w/Sherry accompanying)

true worship changes us...

Anyone who has a “green thumb” knows how to love and care for their plants.  They make sure they get plenty of everything they need to be healthy and happy (if plants can be happy...).  Occasionally they move a plant closer to a window if they see that it isn’t getting enough sunlight.  It’s amazing how quickly the plants perk up and look healthy (and happy) again.

Worshipping God has a similar effect on our souls.  We cannot encounter his presence and awesome glory and not somehow be affected.

One great example of the transforming power of worship is in Isaiah 6.  At the beginning of this chapter, Isaiah was mourning the death of his friend, King Uzziah.  Through a vision Isaiah found himself right in the middle of a heavenly worship service.  He “saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted”.  He went on to describe the seraphs all calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.”  Their voices were so loud that the entire place shook.  The Temple was filled with smoke, which represented the holy presence of God.

Can you imagine what that service must have been like?  Wouldn’t you love to have been there with Isaiah?  But notice that Isaiah wasn’t actually “in” the service at first.  Verse 1 says he “saw the Lord.”  He was an observer, an onlooker.  Perhaps he was like some of those who come to our worship services -- not really participating, just watching.  But even the person in the farthest corner of the room will be somehow be affected when God shows up.  That’s exactly what happened to Isaiah.  He couldn’t stay uninvolved for long.

“Woe to me!” I cried.  “I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”  Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand...  With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”  Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?”  And I said, “Here am I.  Send me!”I (vs. 5-8)

Isaiah’s first response was to recognize his sinfulness and let God cleanse him.  Then he went from a downcast and reluctant worship spectator to a willing participant in anything God wanted him to do.  That’s the amazing change God can make in people’s lives through worship.

[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 22-23.]

1/17/2010 worship set

Fields of Grace
I Am Resolved
The Heart of Worship
Revelation Song (choir special)

Break Through (Tommy w/Sherry accompanying)

worship in all directions: upward

Our final aspect of directional worship is upward worship.  It’s what most folks think of when they hear the word worship.  In Hebrews 13:15, the upward direction involves  two specific actions: praise & thanksgiving: “Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name”.  Praise is primarily acknowledging God for who he is.  Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is giving thanks to God for what he has done for us.    In a future newsletter, we will dedicate ourselves to a better understanding of praise, but today’s focus will be on the priority of being thankful.

We can be sure nothing ever happens to us that our loving God doesn’t permit.  After all, like Moses, he protects us “in the cleft of the rock” as he covers us with his mighty hand (Exodus 33:22).  His rod of protection and direction should bring us great comfort at all times (Psalm 23:4).  But let’s be honest -- we know we should be humbly grateful.  Yet there are times when we are tempted to humbly hateful!

A story is told of a young Christian couple who went into the hospital to have a baby and, upon testing due to complications, found out their baby had Down Syndrome.  As word spread throughout the hospital, doctors & nurses listened to hear anger at God for how their circumstances had changed.  What they heard was not anger but trust & thankfulness in their Lord.  They said no matter what, they knew God would work the situation out for their good and his glory.

Apparently that new mom & dad understood that God would be with them in the midst of unexpected or difficult circumstances.  Before any of us can give thanks and praise to the Father and really mean it, we, too, must accept God’s sovereignty in our hearts.

I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Notice that we are not told to give thanks for our circumstances, but rather in them.  We are not expected to be thankful for problems and hardships that come our way.

However, if we clearly understand that God reigns and that he is using our circumstances to make us more like him and to bring him greater glory, then we can be thankful to him constantly, even while we’re going through the tough times.

[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 20-21.]

1/10/2010 worship set

Let It Rise
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
I Fix My Eyes on You

Hear Us From Heaven (praise team special during offering)
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Tommy w/Sherry accompanying)

worship in all directions: outward

Think back -- way back to December 9...that was the last time we were together for rehearsal!  In that newsletter, we discussed the meaning of worshipping in an inward direction.  

Now let’s consider the outward direction of worship.  There are actually 4 distinct outward ways we can bring glory to our Lord, and they all have to do with our relationships with other people.

First of all, God is worshipped when we share our faith with someone or in some way play a part in a person’s coming to know Christ.  What a privilege!  Once we’ve helped someone become eternally transformed, we’ll be hooked on sharing our faith for life.

Second, we worship God when we help others.  These days, old-fashioned neighborly help can be hard to find.  And if we’re really honest,  most of us are OK with that trend.  We often lack the motivation to lend a hand.  We build privacy fences so we don’t see our neighbors, and then we fill up our schedules so we don’t have time to notice if they need our help.  But as followers of Jesus, we can’t afford not to be the good Samaritans he has called us to be.  Jesus clearly taught us, in Matthew 10:42, to give “a cup of cold water” in his name.

Philippians 4:16 touches on the giving hearts of the people there, “...for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.”  Paul goes on in verse 18 to describe the Philippians’ gifts as “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God”.  Giving financial aid to those in need is a third wonderful way to express our love for God.  However, it’s imperative that we be cheerful when we give, not grudging, because that represents the real motives of our hearts (2 Corinthians 9:7).  Once again, God considers our willing and compassionate hearts as the source of true worship.

The fourth way we worship God outwardly is by being sensitive to our weaker brothers and sisters.  The entirety of Romans 14 focuses on strong and weak Christians.  According to verse 13, we are to “live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall”.  In verse 18 we discover God’s view of this: “If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God”.

We’ll take a look at the final direction of worship, upward, next week.

[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 18-19.]