Tag: Worship

Six Aspects of Prayer

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Six Aspects of Prayer: a service of prayer at The Well, October 23, 2011, facilitated by Scott Chafee and Rick Heil.

Today is going to be a little different. Our focus is on prayer, and we will look at six aspects of prayer that you may have not considered before today. Oswald Chambers once said that, “prayer does not equip us for greater works, prayer is the greater work.” How often do we rush through prayer because we have more important tasks to get on with? If we are intent on living our lives free from God’s influence and direction, perhaps prayer is not all that important. But if we claim to be one of his children, how can we neglect such a necessary activity?

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

So, as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, when you pray…

1. Forgiveness: we must be in touch with God daily because we sin daily. We are a part of a curse that beats us down in bondage to sin and the guilt it brings. God desires to set us free. Just as we need food daily; we pray that God would give us our daily bread. This is not future bread, since tomorrow has enough trouble of its own. So we pray today, daily, for the Lord of the present to give us strength to carry on through this life. We pray for forgiveness and victory so that we may walk in a manner worthy of being one of God’s children.

Personal Reflection: Let us silently reflect upon our own sinfulness; confess that sin and receive the assurance that God’s grace forgives us, cleanses us, and restores us. Jesus, hear our prayers of confession to You. We thank You for forgiveness and do not take it lightly. Help us to be as repulsed by our sin as You are. As we rise to walk in newness of life, we thank you for Your amazing grace.

Sing: Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

2. Perspective: it is essential that we see life from God’s perspective, and that only comes through prayer. Prayer is not only talking to God, it is listening to him. As we pray, we go beyond our needs and often selfish prayers and become advocates for the needs of the “least of these” all around us. When our perspective changes, we begin to see the world differently. Sometimes our problems are not as earthshaking as we first believed when we compare our situation with others around us. We will often complain of having no shoes until we meet someone with no feet.

Pray: A guided prayer for God’s perspective on the needs all around us. “Who are the least of these that you see each week? How have you met the needs of lost people in your circle of influence? Ask God for the ability to look out for the interests of others more important than yourself. Put into your mind the face of someone you know is hurting, and ask God to reveal how you might help them.”

3. Guidance: we cannot walk through this life on our own, we will always make a mess of our lives when we try to go through life being in charge of our own spirituality. We need the guidance of God and to allow him to show us the way we should go. We are very poor at making unselfish decisions, so what we need right now is a heart transplant; we need to open our hearts and develop a desire to know God…

Sing: Open the Eyes of My Heart
Sing: A Heart Like Yours

We must pray every day for guidance. How else will we get a heart like his? James tells us that if anyone lacks wisdom, he should “ask God, who give generously to all without finding fault, it will be given to him” (James 1:5). Third Day has a song with a tremendous message on guidance; it’s called “Revelation.” The lyrics go like this:

My life, Has led me down the road that’s so uncertain, And now I am left alone and I am broken, Trying to find my way, Trying to find the faith that’s gone.

This time, I know that you are holding all the answers, I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances, On roads that never seem, To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation, Show me what to do, Cause I’ve been trying to find my way, I haven’t got a clue. Tell me should I stay here, Or do I need to move? Give me a revelation, I’ve got nothing without You, I’ve got nothing without You.

The point is that we all need prayer to orient our lives. Part of that new orientation is allowing God to direct our paths, to show us the way to go, after all, Jeremiah tells us that, “the heart is desperately wicked, who can trust it,” so we desperately need a heart transplant. Then we begin to understand the importance of Christian community.

4. Community: we do not live out the Christian faith in a vacuum, we live in community. In this individualistic and self-centered society, we value privacy more than a sense of community. When we attempt to life a Christian life outside of the community of faith, we slowly begin to burn out, like a log removed from a bonfire.

When it comes to prayer, we may pray individually but we are a part of a larger praying church. When we pray, we build relationships not only with God but with each other. Jesus said, “where two or three gather together in my name, there I am with them” (Matthew 18:20). Just as in the early church, we gather together to pray and to worship; which affects us much more deeply than when we are just by ourselves. The fellowship of prayer helps us to grow, and it helps the church become the community that God intends.

Pray: for God’s guidance (individually and corporately) and for the community of faith.

Offering: this is not a distraction from worship, rather making our offerings to God is a part of worship. We cannot read the Bible and not see how important it was and is to bring an offering to the Lord.

5. Action: we are called to accomplish God’s work in the world. It is not praying first and then getting busy; remember that prayer is the greater work; prayer is the work of the church and therefore the work of the Christian. Prayer is not the last thing we do because we should pray without ceasing. Our minds need to be filled with the mission and purpose of God in our lives and in the world. How can we live in this world, see from God’s perspective, and not be moved toward action?

Prayer makes things happen: as we pray, it does not change God, but it changes us. Oswald Chambers also said that, “prayer does not change things; prayer changes us and we change things.” When it comes to taking action in the church, we must all seek a place to serve before we seek a place to sit.

After we pray for forgiveness, pray that God would help you see ourselves and the world from his perspective, pray about how God is going to guide you, then experience life through the community of faith, and then allow God to move you toward action.

Pray: for God to move us toward action and service.

6. Response: it is one thing to respond to God with or by our actions, but it is another to respond to God for who he is. In prayer, we all need to respond to who God is. We often believe that prayer is for the purpose of meeting our own needs. So when we pray, we worship and we give our adoration to God for who he is, not for what he has done. Our praying is a response to who God is. Listen to the psalmist as he does this (Psalm 96 on CD).

Sing: Our God
Sing: I Could Sing of Your Love Forever
Sing: How Great is Our God

Oswald Chambers said of prayer: “Prayer is the evidence that I am spiritually concentrated on God.” When we don’t feel like praying, it will often be evidence that we have slipped away into our own world of selfishness. When we are concentrated on God, the natural flow from our heart is prayer.

Chambers also says: “Prayer does not equip us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work. We think of prayer as a commonsense exercise of our higher powers in order to prepare us for God’s work. In the teaching of Jesus Christ prayer is the working of the miracle of Redemption in me which produces the miracle of Redemption in others by the power of God. The way fruit remains is by prayer, but remember it is prayer based on the agony of Redemption, not on my agony. Only a child gets prayer answered; a wise man does not.” Remember that prayer changes us, and then we change things.

Prayer is the development of relationship, not a formula for personal requests. We continue to bear fruit by the means of prayer. Let today be the day that we refuse to ignore this vital part of our spiritual lives.

Benediction: as a group we will pray for the experience of today.

Characteristics of a NT Church

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This is teaching from Rick Warren. As always, how do we see King’s Grant measuring up to this standard?

If you want your church to have the impact of the early church, the book of Acts shows us eight essential characteristics we need in our congregations:

Supernatural power (Acts 2:3-4): We don’t just talk about God; we experience Him. This is what makes the church different from every other organization on the planet. We have the Holy Spirit. God promised His Spirit to help His church.

Use everybody’s language (Acts 2:4): This passage isn’t about speaking in tongues. It’s about the gospel being communicated in real languages. People actually heard the early Christians speak in their own languages — whether that was Farsi, Swahili, German, Greek, or whatever. God says from the very first day of the church that the Good News is for everyone. It’s not just for Jews. It’s amazing grace for every race. But the power of Acts isn’t just about the language of your country of origin. It’s also about languages spoken only in particular subcultures — like mothers of preschoolers or people into hip-hop or accountants or truck drivers. God says in His church, everyone’s language gets used. Are you helping your people use their “language” to reach people with the Good News?

Use everyone’s gifts (Acts 2:14, 16, 19, 21): In New Testament times, there weren’t spectators in the Church. There were only contributors; 100 percent participation. Not everyone is called to be a pastor, but everyone is called to serve God. If you want your church to have the impact of the early Church, get everyone involved in the ministry of your church. Make it clear to everyone in the church that passivity isn’t an option. If they want to just sit around and soak up the service of others, let them find another church.

Offer life-changing truth (Acts 2:22-40): The early Church didn’t offer pop psychology, polite moralisms, or nice-sounding inspiration. We must always offer the truth of the gospel. God’s Word has the power to change lives. No other message changes lives like the Good News. No other message changes a guy from a wife-beater to being a loving, responsible husband. It’s when the truth of God’s Word gets into us that we change.

In Acts 2, Peter gives the very first Christian sermon, quoting the Old Testament book of Joel. Peter shares the Gospel in this message. Acts 2 says that the early church devoted itself to the “apostles’ teaching” – the Bible. God’s Word gave the early church power.

Provide loving support (Acts 2:42): The first church loved and cared for one another. The Bible says in Acts 2:42, “They took part in the fellowship, sharing in the fellowship meals and in praying together.” One translation says, “They were like family to each other.” The church isn’t a business. It’s not an organization. It’s not a social club. It’s a family. For our churches to experience the power of the early Church, we’ve got to become the family that they were.

Enjoy joyful worship (Acts 2:46): When the early Church gathered, they celebrated, “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” We must understand and teach that worship is a celebration. It’s a festival, not a funeral. It’s the party for the kingdom of God. When worship is joyful, people want to be there because people are looking for joy. Do you think if our churches were full of glad hearts, joyful words, and hopeful lives, we’d attract other unbelievers? Sure they would.

Make generous sacrifices (Acts 2:44-45): The Bible teaches us to make generous sacrifices for the sake of the gospel. The Christians during the Roman Empire were the most generous people in the empire. In fact, they were famous for their generosity. They literally shared everything, with one another and the poor. The Bible says the early church “shared everything they had … .” That’s a church worth dying for; which is exactly what first-century Christians did. They’d rather die with gladiators and lions in the Coliseum than renounce their faith and their brothers and sisters in God’s family.

Create exponential growth (Acts 2:47): When our churches demonstrate the first seven characteristics of the early Church, growth is automatic. People may have looked at the first Christians as weird, but they liked what they were doing. They saw their love for one another, the miracles that took place in their midst, and the joy that was in their lives, and they wanted what the Christians had.

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Factors That Impact Worship

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I am a fan of Rick Warren and he writes that there are six factors that impact a worship experience. I put this into our context at the Well, so how does King’s Grant measure up?

Rick suggests we walk through our church facilities with a photographer and take pictures from the eyes of a visitor. We become so familiar with our surroundings that we become oblivious to the faded paint, the frayed carpet, the chipped pulpit, the stack of stuff on the piano, or the burned-out light bulbs overhead.

One way to combat this tendency is to do an Environmental Impact Report on your church. Take pictures throughout your facilities and show them to your leaders in order to figure out what needs to be changed.

Here are some environmental factors you need to pay close attention to:

1. Lighting: Lighting has a profound effect on people’s moods. Inadequate lighting dampens the spirit of a service. Shadows across a speaker’s face reduce the impact of any message.

Most churches are far too dark. I’ve noticed that even churches with plenty of windows often cover them up. Somehow, churches have gotten the idea, maybe from funeral parlors, that dimming the lights creates a more “spiritual” mood. I completely disagree.

I believe that church buildings should be bright and full of light. God’s character is expressed in light. 1 John 1:5 says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” I believe churches should be the brightest public buildings. Light was the very first thing God created. God said, “Let there be light!” (Genesis 1:3) Today, I think God would like to say this to thousands of churches.

If you want to wake up your services, brighten up your environment. Take the curtains off your windows! Throw open the windows and doors! Turn on all the lights!

2. Sound: Invest in the best sound system you can afford. If you’re trying to cut costs, do it in some other area. Don’t skimp here.

It doesn’t matter how persuasive the message is if people can’t hear it in a pleasing manner. A tinny, fuzzy sound system can undermine the most gifted musician and incapacitate the most profound preacher. Nothing can destroy a holy moment faster than a loud blast of feedback!

3. Seating: Both the comfort and the arrangement of your seating dramatically affect the mood of any service. The mind can only absorb what the seat can endure! Uncomfortable seating is a distraction that the devil loves to use.

If you can get away replacing the pews, I’d advise it. In today’s culture the only places people are forced to sit on benches are in church and the cheap bleacher section at ball games. People expect to have their own, individual chairs.

Personal space is highly valued in our society. This is why box seats are prized at stadiums. If people are forced to sit too close to each other, they get very uncomfortable. There should be at least 18 inches between people if you’re using chairs and 21 inches between people if you’re using pews.

If you use moveable seats, set them up so people can see some of each other’s faces. It will dramatically improve how people respond to the service. If you are planting a new church always set up less chairs than you need. It’s encouraging to your people when additional chairs must be brought in as people arrive. On the other hand, it’s very discouraging to worship in a service when surrounded by empty chairs.

4. Temperature: As a pastor who has preached for years in un-air-conditioned gyms and unheated tents, I say this with the utmost conviction: The temperature can destroy the best-planned service in a matter of minutes! When people are too hot or too cold they simply stop participating in a service. They mentally checkout and start hoping for everything to end quickly.

The most common mistake churches make regarding temperature is to allow the building to become too warm. Some usher sets the thermostat at a reasonable setting before the service without realizing that when the building is actually filled with a crowd, the body heat of all those people will raise the temperature substantially. By the time the air conditioning has cooled everything down, the service is nearly over.

Always set the thermostat several degrees cooler than what is comfortable before the service begins. Cool it down before the crowd gets there. The temperature will rise quite quickly once the service starts. Keeping the temperature on the cool side will keep the crowd awake.

5. Clean, safe nurseries: If you want to reach young families, you’ve got to have sanitized and safe nurseries. There should be no mop-buckets in the corners and the toys should be cleaned each week.

6. Clean restrooms: Visitors may forget your sermon but the memory of a foul smelling restroom lingers on … and on … and on! You can tell a lot about a church by checking out the cleanliness of its restrooms.

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Worship in Spirit and Truth

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Worship is the one main event in the life of a church. It happens every week, sometimes twice a week (for those with a Sunday evening service).

  1. It is the most attended event during the week.
  2. It is the largest gathering in the life of most any church.
  3. It is often the gateway event that brings people into the church, who hopefully will get connected to the Body of Christ that meets in this place.

When people outside the church think about “church,” they likely refer to the event that happens (generally) at 11:00 on any given Sunday morning.

But my question today is, “Do we really worship when we are gathered at King’s Grant Baptist Church at 8:30 or 11:00 on any given Sunday?” Perhaps we just show up out of habit, or to see our friends, or because parents make us attend. I used that word (attend) on purpose. How often do we simply attend (for whatever reason) and never really participate in worship.

By “participating,” I’m not talking about doing anything on the platform. I think is was Soren Kierkegaard who said that, during worship, the people are not the audience, and those on the stage are not the performers; but rather all those in attendance are the performers, those on the stage are the prompters, and the audience is God. We have an audience of ONE.

“For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24).

“God is spirit” means he is not a physical being limited to one place. He is present everywhere and he can be worshiped anywhere, at any time. I don’t advocate skipping “church,” like, since we can worship God anywhere, we can do it at home or on the beach instead of gathering together as a congregation. There is something about the community of faith getting together that brings strength and focus. My point is, it is not where we worship that counts, but how we worship. Perhaps evaluate what happens at church during a worship experience.

  1. Is your worship genuine and true?
  2. Do you have the Holy Spirit’s help to worship?
  3. How does the Holy Spirit help us worship?
  4. How does the Holy Spirit help YOU to worship?

The Holy Spirit does a lot of things in the life of the believer, so it is so important to allow the Spirit to take up residence in our lives:

  1. The Holy Spirit prays for us (Romans 8:26)
  2. Reminds us of and teaches us the words of Christ (John 14:26)
  3. Will guide us in all truth (John 16:13)
  4. Gives us special abilities (1 Corinthians 14:1)
  5. Produces fruit in our lives (Galatians 5:22)
  6. Tells us we are loved (Romans 5:5)

Let’s worship God in Spirit and in truth. We have an audience of ONE; let’s do everything we can to make our worship pleasing to HIM.

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Proper Understanding of Worship

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Our worship leader, Rick Heil, found at crosswalk.com an article on worship and I wanted to pass on the edited information I learned from it.

How many times after a Sunday worship experience you hear people say things like, “I didn’t get anything out of that today” or “I didn’t get anything out of the sermon” or maybe “I didn’t get anything out of that service?”

Statements like this are like dry rot in a congregation. Like a termite infestation in the building. Like an epidemic afflicting the people of God. Let’s see if we can cast a better understanding of worship.

1. You are Not Supposed to “Get Anything Out of the Service”

Worship is not about you or me. Not about “getting our needs met.” Not about a performance from the pastor and singer and choir and musicians.

2. Worship is About the Lord

Check out this verse: “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name” (Psalm 29:2) It is also found in 1 Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 96:8, so it deserves being looked at closely.

  1. We are in church to give, not to get: If I am going somewhere to “get,” but find out after arriving that I’m expected to “give,” it’s time to get frustrated. This is what is happening in the typical church service in America. People walk out the door frustrated because they didn’t “get.” The reason they didn’t is that they were not there to “get,” but to “give.”
  2. We are giving glory to God, not to man: We know this and sing about it, but we also forget about it when we are spiritual consumers. We give God glory because glory is His right He is “worthy of worship.” This is the theme of the final book of the Bible (Revelation 5:2, 5:9, 5:12).

3. Self-centeredness Destroys All Worship

If my focus is on myself when I enter the church (getting my needs met, learning something, hearing a lesson that blesses me, being lifted by the singing) then Christ has no part in it. He becomes my servant, and the pastor (and all the other so-called performers) are there only for me. It’s all about me.

We have strayed so far from the biblical concept of worship (giving God His due in all the ways He has commanded). I wonder why we keep going to church?

Anything wrong with receiving some inspiration from the service? Absolutely not. But if we go to church seeking those things, we will not have worshiped. Warren Wiersbe says, “If you worship because it pays, it will not pay.”

4. Evangelism & Discipleship, Giving & Praying, Grow Out of Worship; Not the Other Way Around

  1. The disciples were worshiping on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled them and drove them into the streets to bear a witness to the living Christ (Acts 2).
  2. Isaiah was in the Temple worshiping when God appeared to him, forgave his sins, and called him as a prophet to the people (Isaiah 6).
  3. It was in the act of worship that the two distraught disciples had their eyes opened to recognize Jesus at their table (Luke 24).

5. We are to Give Him Worship and Glory in the Ways Scripture Commands

  1. “Give to the Lord the glory due His name and bring an offering.” (1 Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 96:8).
  2. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart–these, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)

Singing, praising, rejoicing, praying, offering, humbling, loving. All these are commanded in worship at various places in Scripture. The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, “Those who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). That is worship with their inner being, the totality of themselves, their spirit, not just their lips or their bodies going through the motions. God is not pleased with “just anything” that we claim as worship.

We must balance our worship between spirit (the subjective part: body, soul, emotions) and truth (the objective aspect: all that God has revealed in His word).

6. We Are the Ones Who Decide Whether We Worship upon Entering the House of the Lord

Don’t blame the preacher if you don’t worship. He can’t do it for you. No one else can eat my food for me, love my family for me, or do my worshiping for me. I am in charge of this decision. I decide whether I will worship.

When Mary sat before Jesus, clearly worshiping, He informed a her sister Martha that Mary had “chosen the good part,” something that “will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). That something special was time spent in worship.

7. Remember: Worship is a Verb

Worship is something we do, not something done to us. In the worst of circumstances, we can still worship my God. In the Philippians prison, while their backs were still oozing blood from the beating they’d received, Paul and Silas worshiped (Acts 16:25).

What we cannot do is leave church blaming our failure to worship on the poor singing, the boring sermon, or the noise from the children in the next row. We am in charge of the decision whether we will worship, and no one else.

What about the need for worship facilities before we can adequately honor the Lord? Millions of Christians across the world seem to worship just fine without any kind of building. Believers in Zambia meet under mango trees, and their worship is as anointed as anyone’s anywhere. Our insistence on worshipful music, worship settings, and worshipful everything are all signs of our disgusting self-centeredness.

Dr. Joe McKeever is a Preacher, Cartoonist, and the Director of Missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans. Visit him at www. joemckeever.com.

Worshiping with Children

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We are building a dynamic children’s ministry at King’s Grant, and have a creative, passionate and gifted Director of Children’s Ministries, Katie Goodmurphy. Since we have introduced our children into the corporate cross-generational worship experience, sometimes adults and parents don’t know how to help our kids connect to what is going on. Years ago I discovered these ABC’s of worshiping with children; information we all can use.

Arrive in time to allow children to choose a good place to sit. Encourage them to sit up front where they can see the pastor, musicians, choir etc.Looking at the back of someone’s head does not help them to connect.

Bring your child’s worship bag to church. Make sure it has colored pencils or crayons with a coloring book for younger children to use. For older children have them bring a notebook: to write down unfamiliar words, draw a picture about something they hear in the sermon, take notes during the sermon…

Clue your child into what will happen next in worship. Children who like to read will want to read the words in the Bible, on the screen or in the hymnal. They like to be ready. Keep a bookmark in their bag/notebook so they can find the Scripture text for the day.

Discuss worship when you get home. Take time to answer question about their worship experiences.

Express your joy at having children in worship. After the service, be sure to welcome the children sitting near you. Encourage your children to greet other members of the congregation. When you make introductions, always introduce your children and introduce yourself to other people’s children. Include them in your conversations to let them know they belong.

Firm and consistent. Apply the same discipline used for other important matters. Make the boundaries as wide a you can make them (say yes as much as you can), but the boundaries are FIRM.

Guide young readers to read the hymnal, Bible, the words on the screen, or the bulletin

  1. Look together for familiar words
  2. Follow the lines with a bookmark or bulletin on it its side
  3. Use the large print hymnal

Holy hugs. Use a gentle touch – an arm around your child’s shoulder or your hand in his or hers gives reassurance and appropriate attention.

In and out. Children come in and out of participation. When they can’t keep their focus on the service they can engage in a related activity.

Jesus – to whom our worship is directed.

Keep any activity sheets for the sermon time. Being still and quiet is highly valued by parents and others during this time.

Let your children print their name on the Connection Card.

Make it a rule not to sit with friends. This can become a habit by the time they get to the youth group.

Notice when your child ministers to someone else or is touched in some way by God. Praise him when he’s listening well.

Offering. When we give a tithe to God it shows that we know God is the giver of all good things. You may want to allow your child to put some of his own money in the offering plate as his worship to God.

Participate. Children learn to be passionate about worship by watching you worship in spirit and truth. Let your child see you celebrate before the Lord, maybe even like King David (2 Samuel 6:21-22)

Questions. Whisper questions to your child during the sermon/Scripture readings.

  1. “How do you think Jesus looked and sounded when he said that?”
  2. “What does this say about how you felt yesterday?”
  3. Wondering questions – these keep the Scriptures open by dealing with a child’s experience and understanding of the story. Wondering brings us to the knowledge of God, ourselves and others in a deep and convincing way.
  4. “I wonder why Jesus enjoyed being in the temple so much?”
  5. “I wonder what Bartimaeus is seeing Jesus do now?”

Relax! God put the “wiggle” in children.People in the congregation should also enjoy the freshness of families worshiping together.

Stand “short people” on the pew to “read the hymnal/screen with a “tall person.”

  1. Let them hum or la la along before able to read the words or
  2. Help them sing repeated words or choruses.
  3. During special music have a young child squeeze your hand every time they hear the word Jesus, Glory, etc.
  4. During music without words, children can be asked to listen closely and picture what is going on in the music. Have them think of a Bible story that seems to go along with the music.

Talk about the sermon when you get home and encourage children to share what they learned in the service. Ask them questions and let them ask you questions about what you learned.

Understand their need to move around. Accept them and care for them in the worship setting. Be appreciative of their presence and always be ready to cuddle.

Visit the sanctuary when a service is not going on. Let your child go up front and explore and ask questions.

Whisper instructions.

  1. “Now is the time we tell God about how sorry we are. Remember our talk this morning about being selfish?” Tell Jesus about this right now, and ask him to help you share the last doughnut next time.”
  2. “Listen to this story. It’s a good one.”

EXit when necessary. In certain cases, an exit is desirable: a teething baby, a hurt/distressed child, loud & rambunctious behavior, a toileting emergency, or if a child has set up a distracting pattern of play with another child. Exit relieves tension. Teach your child what behavior is acceptable in worship. When the cause of the child’s complaint is resolved, return. Exiting without reentry is counterproductive.

You are your child’s best worship teacher. Call her attention to the minister, choir, worship leaders, flowers, banners, seasonal colors etc.

Zzzzz: there is no sleeping in God’s presence.

These ideas and quotes taken from Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman.

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Ways to Worship Daily

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Worship is a priority in the life of a believer, and Jesus tells us that the Father seeks worshipers (John 4:23). It is really our only priority, because when we get this right, discipleship, missions and evangelism burst forth. If we don’t have a clue about His greatness and worthiness to be worshiped, we will relax in these other critical areas.

Quotes:

A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling “darkness” on the wall of his cell. — C. S. Lewis

All of history is moving toward one great goal, the white-hot worship of God and His Son among all people of the earth. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. — John Piper

Top 10 Ways to Rebel Against Idols:

  1. Give God the best part of your day, not your leftovers.
  2. Volunteer one Saturday this month at the homeless shelter.
  3. Pass up the $100 Converse for something comfortable and affordable.
  4. Pray each day, specifically for those in your sphere of influence.
  5. Feed your soul with kingdom-affirming images from television, music and movies.
  6. Take an international missions trip this year.
  7. Enjoy sports, but don’t overdose.
  8. Build a healthy body instead of a glamorous image.
  9. Develop your spiritual gifts as intentionally as your career.
  10. Make it your lifelong quest to know God and yourself.

Spiritual Weapons and Warfare

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We must remember that we cannot live the Christian life on our own and that the enemy will come at us with all he can to disable and distract the followers of Jesus. It is a spiritual battle that affects life in the real world. Stand strong and use your weapons.

Quotes:

Our authority comes out of who we are in Christ, and our capacity to intimidate the enemy comes out of our intimacy with God. — Graham Cooke

God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to permit no evil to exist. — St. Augustine of Hippo

Victory is the normal experience of a Christian; defeat should be the abnormal experience. — Watchman Nee

Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God. — Jim Elliot

Top 10 Weapons of Spiritual Warfare:

  1. Self-control and vigilance: Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8).
  2. Obedience: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
  3. Confidence and Perseverance: Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. (Hebrews 10:35-36).
  4. The Word of God: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
  5. Justice: And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. (Revelation 19:11).
  6. Worship: Therefore urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2).
  7. Truth: Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, (Ephesians 6:14).
  8. Prayer: With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, (Ephesians 6:18).
  9. Faith: Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. (1 Corinthians 16:13).
  10. Love: “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44).

Where to Hear from God

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Once again I hope to emphasize the importance of hearing God’s voice. I started a couple of days ago with this post on How to Hear from God. Let’s continue.

Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch, where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). They are in the list of prophets and teachers in the church (Acts 13:1), men not so much in it for the title or position, but they had a passion for God and His mission. Notice where they were when they heard God’s voice (Acts 13:2). The Message puts it this way, “One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke:” I believe that these men heard from God because they were in a position to hear his voice; basically, when God spoke, they were listening. You’ve got to be near God to hear God.

What perfect timing. Paul tells us he was set apart from birth (Galatians 1:15) perhaps around AD 10. His salvation did not come until around AD 36, but he was not set for his primary ministry until around AD 46. No time was wasted, Paul used these years to prepare for this moment. When the time came, he was ready. So after the church fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:3).

It’s important to note that if the Holy Spirit sends, He is also going to equip those He sends. God gave these men wisdom, experience and even a helper (John Mark – Acts 13:5 – who later would be the writer of the gospel of Mark). So off they went.

At the first stop they find an interesting man whose name was Bar-Jesus (or Elymas), an attendant to Serguis Paulus, the governor of Cyprus (Acts 13:6, 7). The governor wanted to hear God’s Word but this Bar-Jesus did all that he could to prevent it (Acts 13:8). Interestingly enough, it is here that Saul name officially transitions to Paul (Acts 13:9). Paul looks at him and calls him the son of the devil (Acts 13:10) which is a play on the man’s name (Bar-Jesus means the son of Jesus). Paul describes him this way:

  1. Full of deceit – bait, fraud, guile, deceit – the man was involved in magic, astrology and enchantment.
  2. Full of trickery – often a word used for thieves and con men involved in wicked schemes or plots.
  3. Perverted the right ways of the Lord – to turn or twist, distort, pervert, seduce, mislead, turn away.

It is also here that Paul performs his first miracle (Acts 13:11) and the man becomes blind. The result was that the governor came to faith (Acts 13:12). God wants to amaze us with His Word as well. If we will only seek Him and examine His truth, He can blow our minds with what He was for us. How did the governor come to faith? Because he wanted to hear the Word of the Lord (Acts 13:7). He was ready to receive and God honored that desire.

Application: Are you in a position to hear God’s Word? Do you have a desire to hear from Him? Are you actively involved in worship or does that not fit in your schedule? How about a small group of people who can help you understand the Bible better and be challenged to live it out in everyday life? As in this story, our enemy will do everything in his power to distract you from hearing God. Stay focused, do not get distracted from your goal (Romans 8:29, Galatians 2:20, Acts 20:24). Allow God to use you for his kingdom. Be available to serve Him and others by putting yourself into a position to hear from Him.