Friday: Further Thought ~ Worshiping the Lord
Further Study: Read Ellen G. White, “Growing Up Into Christ”, pages 67–75, in Steps to Christ.
“The cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed through all eternity. In Christ glorified they will behold Christ crucified. Never will it be forgotten that He whose power created and upheld the unnumbered worlds through the vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, the Majesty of heaven, He whom cherub and shining seraph delighted to adore — humbled Himself to uplift fallen man;
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
that He bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding of His Father’s face, till the woes of a lost world broke His heart and crushed out His life on Calvary’s cross. That the Maker of all worlds, the Arbiter of all destinies, should lay aside His glory and humiliate Himself from love to man will ever excite the wonder and adoration of the universe. As the nations of the saved look upon their Redeemer and behold the eternal glory of the Father shining in His countenance; as they behold His throne, which is from everlasting to everlasting, and know that His kingdom is to have no end, they break forth in rapturous song: “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His own most precious blood!” – Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pages 651, 652.
Discussion Questions:
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We sometimes let the process of worship overshadow the purpose of worship. How many of us think of worship in terms of was the music appropriate, or did we have a good sermon today? Perhaps it is time to his the reset button. Church can be a very vicarious experience. We go to church, listen to others talking, praying and singing, stand up and sit down at the appropriate times, and put an offering in the offering bag. Is that worship?
Somehow we have to use our creative talents to praise God, uplift Jesus and draw others to Him. How are we going to do that?
What is Jesus doing as the High Priest in heaven? Is He trying to convince God the Father to forgive us because of His sacrifice? No, because the Father already loves us John 16:26-27, John 3:16
Jesus is through the Holy Spirit working on our hearts to reconcile us to God the Father. 2Cor 5:18-21
The whole of the Word of God is to reveal the true nature of the Triune Godhead and the Everlasting Covenant of Love and His Principles of Life, when we grasp the power, the beauty, the love we willingly bow down and worship Him!
Worship in Ezra acknowledges God's goodness and His mercy for the people. What is the basis of your worship?
When Trump was elected president many lost heart but those with faith recognized God is my refuge, my shield and my strength. If we allow external circumstances to control us, we will not have reason to praise and worship.
Purity - In 1982, he was invited to guest-host “Saturday Night Live.” He declined, telling NBC that he usually went to bed at 10:00 and he didn’t think he’d be able to stay awake until one in the morning.
Music - “We must beware lest our ears be more intent on the music than our minds on the spiritual meaning of the words. Songs composed merely to tickle and delight the ear are unbecoming to the majesty of the church and cannot but be most displeasing to God.” (John Calvin)
Sacrifice - The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love stronger than death (eternal) . In giving up His Son, He has poured out to us all heaven in one gift. Stop quarreling. Let's get the work done and go home.
Workers of God should be well supported to have calmness in their life so they can navigate the church through the rough waters to the other shore. How can they move the congregation forward if they are constantly fighting for their own survival?
Take a moment in your Sabbath School Class and divide the class into 20, 30, 40, and 50 so forth.
Ask each one to write down their favorite singer and music.
Each one will have a unique person from the time they were growing up.
Now take all of these different age group, ethnic group and other diversities added to this mix.
Worship must satisfy all of our emotional needs.
If Christ does not permeate above all we all will be losers.
We cannot move forward when we are bickering and arguing about one thing or the other.
What do we do?
Share the good seed!
There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn.
One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.
"Why sir," said the farmer, "Didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours grow good corn."
So is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all...by Anonymous.
There are many other solutions to the trap of bickering and fighting for our position or our personal deversity. One of my favorite phrases is: those who work together stay together. It is almost on par with: those who pray together stay together.
Lord Jesus I pray we will see the solution is to bind lives to God in ministry to His children, instead of bickering amongst one another we will find sweet peace in the service of others, starting in our own congregations.
the problem is that we have forgotten about reverence and concentrated more of joy,we have lost respect,music has stopped being music the way it used to be as part of worship,what we are not suppose to forget is that we are in court investigative judgement is on we need to be mindful
I am not sure that reverence and joy are mutually exclusive. Some members of our family claim that we are related to Isaac Watts the great hymn-writer of the early 1700s. He thought that the singing of his day was pretty dull.
He wrote:
He put his money where his mouth was and spent most of his life writing hymns that were easy for congregations to sing. The conformist churches of the day frowned upon his music.
Here is what the critics had to say:
Can I suggest that there is such a thing as being joyfully reverent and that may involve singing music that we are not used to. If Isaac Watts could change the perception of sacred music back in the 1700s, why shouldn't Christians today change the perception of modern music to project joyful reverence. We may even appeal to the unchurched folk.
Thank God for music! Such a gift for the soul. Thank God for the talents given to those who dedicate their lives to this wonderful mission, make music the best of worship! Thank God because by the time we get uplifted we will sing a new song, and will praise the One who has advocated for us, the One Who loves us so much that was able to take our guilt and even died for us! None has such a feeling for a fallen human creature, for a depictable world, who often chooses to be ignorant and deniable! Thank God for His Son Jesus, who is the same today and always!