Worship that Pleases God

Worship that pleases God has five characteristics:

1. Worship that comes from the heart.
2. Worship that is filled with thoughtful, meditative awe, and respect for God.
3. Worship that renews a dedication to serving God with our good works.
4. Worship that is joyful and spirit filled.
5. Worship that conveys thankfulness.

Humility--the Heart of Worship

The understanding that God loved us so much that he gave his son for us fills us with awe and engenders the desire to love God in return by serving him.

• We love because he first loved us.
  

I John 4:19

• God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
  

Romans 5:8

• My friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.
  

Romans 12:1

Worship

Worship of God has five parts:

• Worship increases our awareness of the holiness of God
• Worship renews our conviction to trust God
• Worship stimulates reverential respect for the power of God
• Worship opens the heart to the love of God
• Worship renews our devotion to God

A Prayer Method

A method for praying can use the ACTS acronym:

• A = Adoration

Lord, you are the power, the glory, and the truth.

• C = Confession

We confess our sins of selfishness.

• T = Thanksgiving

Thank you for the grace of Jesus Christ that we might be saved through faith.

• S = Supplication

Help us to work for your good pleasure. Help us to love one another.

Bookworm

Four levels of Meaning in Literature:

• Narrative
  
• Allegory
  
• Moral
  
• Mystical
  

ARE YOU ON THE BORDER OF SANITY?

MAKE CHECK MARK (√) IN APPROPRIATE COLUMN	LITTLE OF THE TIME 1-pt/each √	SOME OF THE TIME 2-pt/each √	A LOT OF THE TIME 3-pt/each √	MOST OF THE TIME 4-pt/each √
My life seems to be filled with chaos.
I am sensitive to rejection and rebuff.
I feel that people tend to abandon me.
When I meet certain people, I think they are terrific, but they turn out to be total jerks.
I feel empty inside.
I lose my temper quickly.
I get terribly depressed over things that seem insignificant to others.
I cut myself or burn myself to take away tension and stress.
When I get depressed or angry, I bounce back fast.
I hate people that threaten to leave me or abandon me.
Multiply √ by the value given in each column

 

Add the total for each column to get the GRAND TOTAL = ________

 

Scoring

10-14 points = Totally centered

15-24 points = Occasionally I get my feet wet in the Rio Grande.

25-34 points = Apply for dual citizenship.

34-40 points = What border?

 

ARE YOU WEIRD?

MAKE CHECK MARK (√) IN APPROPRIATE COLUMN	LITTLE OF THE TIME 1-pt/each √	SOME OF THE TIME 2-pt/each √	A LOT OF THE TIME 3-pt/each √	MOST OF THE TIME 4-pt/each √
I think people are talking about me
I have superstitious feelings that others consider odd
I have special powers that I have difficulty explaining to others
I can read the minds of other people
I can predict what is going to happen in the future
People consider me eccentric or odd
I get anxious around others because they are out to get me
I have a difficult time explaining myself to others
I can feel my body floating away from me
I feel that people can’t be trusted
Multiply √ by the value given in each column

 

Add the total for each column to get the GRAND TOTAL = ________

Scoring

10-14 points = You are normal—so why are you taking this test.

15-24 points = We all have a few oddities

25-34 points = Weird Al’s brother (For those under 30, this means you’re more than unusual

34-40 points = Let’s fit you for a straight jacket

ARE YOU A WALL FLOWER?

MAKE CHECK MARK (√) IN APPROPRIATE COLUMN	LITTLE OF THE TIME 1-pt/each √	SOME OF THE TIME 2-pt/each √	A LOT OF THE TIME 3-pt/each √	MOST OF THE TIME 4-pt/each √
I don’t enjoy being around people
I have no interest in sexual experiences
I can find nothing that gives me pleasure
I don’t have any friends
I choose activities that allows me to be alone
I don’t feel anything when people praise me
I don’t feel anything when people criticize me
I don’t feel detached from others
I don’t have any emotional feelings
Other people find me dull and uninteresting
Multiply √ by the value given in each column

 

Add the total for each column to get the GRAND TOTAL = ________

 

Scoring

10-14 points = Life of the party

15-24 points = You fit in with just about everybody

25-34 points = Go fishing (alone)

34-40 points = A paper hanger’s dream

The Spiritual Gift of Preaching (Corinthians 14:1-19)

 The purpose of preaching

§       To increase the knowledge of Christian truth.

§       To interpret the Bible in a way that allows us to live the Christian life.

§       To encourage—point to the grace of God that can enable us to conquer all problems.

§       To comfort—sooth the human spirit through the word of God.

The substance of preaching

§       Preaching comes from a direct revelation of God.

§       Proclaims the truth of Christ

§       Teaches the meaning of scripture

Preaching enhances worship

§       Two broad principles regarding Christian worship

·      Worship brings us nearer to each other and nearer to God

·      Worship brings understanding of the spiritual power of God

The Special Spiritual Gift of Love (I Corinthians 13)

The characteristics of God’s love:

v    God’s love is permanent. When people we love die, God’s love remains forever.

v    God’s love is complete. Corinth was famous for its manufacture of mirrors. Because Corinthian mirrors were made from highly polished metal, they gave an imperfect reflection. In this world, just as with Corinthian mirrors, we see an incomplete reflection of God’s love. When we see God face to face, we will know perfect love.

v    God’s love, the fire that kindles faith, is also the light that turns hope into certainty.

o      Salvation is not about winning God’s approval; it’s about gratitude for his love.

The Nature of Christian Love

v    Love is patient.

v    Love is kind. Christianity engenders a sweetness that wishes everyone well.

v    Love knows no envy. Begrudging others because of their talents and possessions is even worse than coveting what others have.

v    Love is no braggart. The real lover cannot get over the wonder that he is loved.

v    Love is not inflated with its own importance.

v    Love does not behave gracelessly. Courtesy and politeness floods our countenance with love.

v    Love does not insist upon its rights. Love forgets privileges and remembers responsibilities.

v    Love never flies into a temper. One filled with love can keep his head when everyone else is losing his and blaming it on him.

v    Love does not remember a wrong. Love erases memory of a slight as the schoolboy erases the chalkboard.

v    Love finds no pleasure in evil doing.

v    Love rejoices in the truth. Love has nothing to conceal.

v    Love can endure anything. When disaster destroys fences, love mends them.

v    Love is completely trusting. The paranoid believes the world is out to do him ill. The lover believes the world is out to do him good.

v    Love never ceases to hope.

v    Love bears everything with triumphant fortitude. 

Paul’s List of Spiritual Gifts in I Corinthians 12: 1-11

o      Wisdom comes from communication with God (I Corinthians 2: 6-16)

§       Wisdom is knowing God’s plan of salvation for all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

§       Wisdom comes from the Holy Spirit and is not the product of intellectual activity

§       We are wise when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us

            Show me your ways, O Lord,

                   teach me your paths.

            Guide me in your truth and teach me,

                  for you are God my Savior,

                 and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25: 4-5

§       The only way we can comprehend God is through the Holy Spirit

·      There are things about ourselves that are so private that only we know them; likewise, there are spiritual things that only God knows and that we learn from the Holy Spirit.

·      How do we know when an idea comes from God and when an idea comes from us?

o      Knowledge, knowing what to do in a certain situation, is the wisdom of God put into action.

§       Two types of knowledge

·      The physical, the intellectual, the worldly, the material, the temporal

·      The spiritual, the Godly, the eternal

                        For we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what                         is seen             is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.                        

                                                                                                II Corinthians 4:18

o      Faith, more than intellectual conviction, is a belief that allows us to step out “into thin air.”

o      Spiritual healing comes from the Holy Spirit as opposed to medical healing that comes from specialized training. A physician can have both or neither.

o      Miraculous powers—exorcism, a spiritual ritual that requires courage and Holiness.

o      Prophesy—foresight (not foretelling) that warns and guides.

o      Gift of tongues—an ecstasy of unintelligible sounds.

§       It is difficult to tell if these unintelligible sounds are hysterical or a gift from the Holy Spirit. (To be on the safe side, I try to believe it is from the Holy Spirit, but don’t pay much attention this behavior. Does this mean that I am a blasphemer? Only God knows. I am going to avoid worrying about this, however, because God has better things for me to do with my time.)

o      Interpretation of tongues—the ability to discern whether speaking in tongues comes from God, the devil, or hysteria. If something spoken cannot be interpreted, it is probably not from God.