WE ARE WORSHIPPERS WELCOME + SHARING: Love People Extravagantly Biblically the main purpose of man is to WORSHIP God and to enjoy Him forever. We were primarily made by God to be worshippers. This includes every aspect of our lives, not just prayer and singing songs. This means that even Hospitality is a form of worship. By welcoming people as those created in God s image, by showing them love and appreciation, we are worshipping God. See your welcoming as worship this evening and ask the Lord to show you His heart for every person who attends your group. 1 Chronicles 16:29 (ESV) 29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; Psalms 95:6 (ESV) 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! Taking Ground for Christ & His Kingdom www.harvest.co.za 1
EVENTS: Family News MESSENGERS WE ARE WORSHIPPERS This Saturday we have our Open Day of Prayer 6am 6pm. At our Sunday morning 9am Celebration Ps. Grant Walters will be sharing a challenging message on obedience and then we want to encourage you all for our 5.30pm evening Celebration our Youth will be hosting the service and Ps. Mandi-Rae Ojeda will be speaking on God s UNSTOPPABLE plan for our lives. There are 2 new Bible Studies starting next week and men don t forget to book your braai packs for the Men s Braai on Tuesday 4 th Nov at Harvest for R50pp. Taking Ground for Christ & His Kingdom www.harvest.co.za 2
PRAYER + WORSHIP: Love God Extravagantly Choose songs and sing high praises to God, songs that declare His majesty, glory and splendour. We were made to worship Him and when our spirit unites with His Spirit, He helps us to worship God in spirit and truth. Pray for a deep time of connecting with God by His Spirit. Jude 1:25 (ESV) To the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. John 4:23 (ESV) 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. WORD + DISCUSSION: Impart Victorious Lifestyle WE ARE WORSHIPPERS At the recent Global Leadership Summit, hosted at Harvest, Bill Hybels shared a powerful testimony of a Christian Prison Warden, who had been the head of one of the maximum prisons in the USA for more than 10 years. During these 10 years he had seen a radical transformation of many prison inmates, most of whom were serving life sentences and had no hope of parole or of ever being released. Yet, when Bill visited there last year, he saw a thousand rough and scarred prisoners worshipping God with complete abandon, with hands lifted up and tears flowing freely. This moved him deeply and when he remarked on the amazing worship to the chief warden, the latter replied: FORGIVEN MUCH WORSHIP MUCH!. And in the same manner, when we realise how much we have been forgiven, when we realise the cost paid for our forgiveness, when we become aware of the never ending, Taking Ground for Christ & His Kingdom www.harvest.co.za 3
never giving up love of God, which we did nothing to deserve, we cannot but fall down and worship Him with our entire being. May we as believers again be reminded of how awesome God is and how much He has forgiven us and in response, let s worship Him much! 1. BUT WHAT IF I DON T FEEL LIKE WORSHIPPING? Hebrews 12:28 (ESV) 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 1.1 By focussing on the above scripture, discuss when worship is acceptable to God. How then should we approach worship when we do not feel like it? Do we then sometimes have to fake it to make it? Romans 12:1 (ESV) 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Philippians 3:3 (ESV) 3 For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh 1.2 What can we learn about worship from these scriptures? Why is praise and worship often presented as a sacrifice? What should our worship be dependant on or another way of looking at it, what weighs heavier or what is more valuable than our feelings when it comes to worship? How can the scripture in Philippians 3 above help us with our unwillingness to worship? Taking Ground for Christ & His Kingdom www.harvest.co.za 4
2. IS TRUE WORSHIP CONFINED TO CHURCH AND SINGING OF SONGS? Philippians 4:8 (ESV) 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 2.1 What does this scripture teach us about worshipping God in our thought life? Do we have a choice about what we can think of? Do we have a choice to worship God? 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV) 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Colossians 3:17 (ESV) 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:23 (ESV) Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men 2.2 Is there any area of our lives not covered by the above scriptures? How do we eat and drink to the glory of God? How do we say and do things in the name of Jesus? If work is part of our worship, then Who is our real boss? MINISTRY + MISSION: Be a Resource to Others + Touch the World We are worshippers and worship is part of our every day life. That s what God made us for, so we can either run away from our destiny or run towards Him. Pray for one another that we will all again be reminded and empowered by the Holy Spirit to acknowledge and worship God in our thought life and in all that we do or say. That s the way God wants it and that s why He will enable it by the Holy Spirit. Give thanks to Him much, because we have been forgiven much, very, very much... Taking Ground for Christ & His Kingdom www.harvest.co.za 5