Loving God through Worship

The Lord’s Table: Bible Study/Prayer meeting

(Every Wednesday 6-7 pm in the Chapel)

St Paul’s Church

The Anglican Church of Canada
2 November 2011

Opening Prayer

Theme: Wisdom and Love

Topic: Loving God through Worship

Reading: Revelation 7:9-17

⁹After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.¹⁰They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ ¹¹And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God,¹²singing, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’ ¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’¹⁴I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. ¹⁶ They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷ for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

Introduction

To worship God is to love, adore and honor Him usually in Church services, group meetings as well as during personal or family prayer times. Synonyms for worship also include adoration, reverence, respect, devotion, adulation and veneration. But worshiping God does not necessarily have to happen only when we pray either as a group or individually. To worship God implies loving Him such that our thoughts, actions and words are guided by His word and Spirit. That is to say that what we do are pleasing unto Him. It also involves surrendering our time, wealth and talents to Him and for His Glory. We worship God when we put Him first in our lives. God has called us to love Him with our whole heart, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In this bible study, we will explore several ways to love God through worship - individually and as a Church. Christ told the Samaritan woman that the day comes and now is when the true worshipers of God shall worship Him in truth and in spirit (John 4:23). In the flesh we cannot worship God but if we allow Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit, then we can love Him through a worshipful life. 

Questions/Discussion

1. What is your understanding of worshiping God?

Revelation 7:9-12

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.¹⁰They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ ¹¹And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God,¹²singing, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’

Psalm 95:6

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

2. How do we worship God in our everyday life?

John 4:20-24

²⁰Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you^* say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’²¹Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’

3. Certain factors can make it difficult for us to love and worship God. List as many as you can.

Matthew13:19-23

¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;²¹yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.^*22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.²³But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’

Matthew 4:8-10

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour;⁹and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’¹⁰Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God,and serve only him.” ’

Psalm 95:7-8.  

⁷ For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice!

⁸ Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

4. What are the costs (if any) of worshiping and serving the Lord?

2 Samuel 6:13-16, 20-22

¹³and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.¹⁴David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod.¹⁵So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. ¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

²⁰ David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, ‘How the king of Israel honoured himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as any vulgar fellow might shamelessly uncover himself!’²¹David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me in place of your father and all his household, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord, that I have danced before the Lord.²²I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in my own eyes; but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honour.’

5. How does the worship of God benefit us?

Revelation 7:9, 13-17

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’¹⁴I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. ¹⁶ They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷ for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

Psalm 34:1-10

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

² My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

let the humble hear and be glad.

³ O magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me,

and delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Look to him, and be radiant;

so your^* faces shall never be ashamed.

⁶ This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,

and was saved from every trouble.

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good;

happy are those who take refuge in him.

⁹ O fear the Lord, you his holy ones,

for those who fear him have no want.

¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Intercession

Conclusion

God has called us to love and worship Him in our daily lives with all our heart, mind and strength. He alone can grant us what it takes to love Him relentlessly. And He has promised that as we open ourselves to Him, He will fill us with His Holy Spirit to overflowing, to His own Praise and Glory.

Closing Prayer

Lord as You have called us to live for You and to worship You all our days, grant us Your Holy Spirit to accomplish that which You desire from us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.