Fall Startup
Now that school is back in full swing, we’re eager to get going on our fall classes. We host these to help you become more and more of a disciple of Christ.
Financial Peace University is the best tool we have found to help you pay off debt, save money, and plan for your future! It is all about being a good steward of what God has given you.
Get Info Here
Making Sense of God is our study of deeper theology, forming right ideas of who God is, and how he works in our lives. Susan Farnham is leading this 12-week deeper class.
Sign Up Here
I hope you will take one of these two classes this fall.
If you missed this week’s message, I will post it here so you can catch up.
Worship is for God… And for you.
Have you ever thought about worship as a discipline? Is that a valid idea? Why, or why not?
Psalm 95:1-2 NLT
Come, let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
When you read the above Psalm, does it feel more like a command, or an invitation? Does God force people to worship him?
When you think about worshiping God on your own, what specific acts come to mind? How does that compare with the things you associate with corporate worship?
What value is there in participating in different means of worship?
The psalmist described God as “the Lord,” a translation of the Hebrew name “Yahweh,” the covenant name of God. The covenant name of God stresses His loyal love and faithful care of those who trust and follow Him. By using this name, the psalmist not only praised God for who He is but also for what He had done for His people. God is further described as the rock of our salvation. God is the One in whom our deliverance is secure. Scriptures often use the term “salvation” to refer to God’s deliverance from the hands of enemies. The term also can describe spiritual salvation. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord has provided the one and only Rock to whom we can look for salvation.
How does the psalmist tell us to approach God?
Why is thanksgiving an important part of our worship? What does it communicate to God?
One would not come before a king empty-handed but with a gift that indicated respect. The psalm calls on us to approach the throne of God with thanksgiving. The word literally pictures an extension of the hand, a way of expressing a public commitment as well as adoration. This verse portrays not a solitary figure but a congregation of worshipers lifting their hands before the Lord in gratitude and praise.
Psalm 95:3-7 NLT
For the LORD is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
and the mightiest mountains.
The sea belongs to him, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land, too.
Come, let us worship and bow down.
Let us kneel before the LORD our maker,
for he is our God.
We are the people he watches over,
the flock under his care.
If only you would listen to his voice today!
Why is God worthy of our worship, according to this passage?
What response to these facts is invited? How does it help you to worship by recalling who our God is?
How does the psalmist’s invitation to worship challenge you today?
An important part of worship is focusing on God. What are some specific things you could do to help focus on God during your corporate worship times? your family worship times? Your times of private worship?
What attitudes or other distractions need to be eliminated so you can focus on God in your corporate or personal worship?
Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
How can we make our group gatherings a more intentional time of worship?