Lichinga, MozambiqueFriday, May 14, 2010
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Teaching on Worship at the YWAM DTS
One of the really cool things that can happen in a healthy environment on the mission field is what I would call CROSS-POLLINATION, when different missions organizations and churches can work together in unity and share resources. We have just such a relationship with the other missions agencies here in Lichinga, Mozambique. One of the organizations that we work closely with here is YWAM, or Youth With A Mission.
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Denis, the DTS, or Discipleship Training School leader with YWAM, invited me to come and teach the DTS students on the subject of worship. I was thrilled that he had asked and agreed to come and teach. Today I taught from 9:00am to 12:30pm on subjects surrounding worship such as: sitting at Jesus’ feet vs. being busy in ministry, the throne room of God, our response to the love of God, lifestyle worship and worship as a weapon. The 15 or so students were very attentive, taking notes through the whole class. Some students were moved so much that they asked if I could come back and teach more on the subject. I feel honored that my limited understanding on the subject of worship could bless them so much. It seems as though I am now in a season of teaching in Bible Schools, as I am also currently teaching through the gospel of Mark at our Great Harvest School of Ministry on the IRIS base. I am loving it. I especially love teaching students that are hungry for more of God and His Word.
Denis, the DTS, or Discipleship Training School leader with YWAM, invited me to come and teach the DTS students on the subject of worship. I was thrilled that he had asked and agreed to come and teach. Today I taught from 9:00am to 12:30pm on subjects surrounding worship such as: sitting at Jesus’ feet vs. being busy in ministry, the throne room of God, our response to the love of God, lifestyle worship and worship as a weapon. The 15 or so students were very attentive, taking notes through the whole class. Some students were moved so much that they asked if I could come back and teach more on the subject. I feel honored that my limited understanding on the subject of worship could bless them so much. It seems as though I am now in a season of teaching in Bible Schools, as I am also currently teaching through the gospel of Mark at our Great Harvest School of Ministry on the IRIS base. I am loving it. I especially love teaching students that are hungry for more of God and His Word.
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Christian Young
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NOTES ON WORSHIP
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Sitting at Jesus’ Feet vs. Being Busy in Ministry
In the story of Mary and Martha In Luke 10:38-42 we find that Jesus commends Mary for choosing to sit at His feet, gleaning all she could from the Savior while Martha was busy serving. Jesus wasn’t saying that serving wasn’t important but that all of our serving should come as a result of being in the presence of God. We can do things FOR God or we can do things WITH God. God tells the church of Sardis in Revelation 3:1 that they have a reputation of being alive but are dead. There is the illustration of when you go to cut the head off of a chicken to kill it; when you cut the head off of the chicken, the body of the chicken continues to flap around, with a lot of movement, yet the chicken is in fact, dead. The church today needs to beware of the danger of being busy about the work of God, with a lot of movement and a lot of programs, yet being detached from the Head of the Body of Christ, who is Christ Himself. Worship is about sitting at the feet of Jesus in adoration of Him.
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The Throne Room of God
Something I do a lot of times in my own personal times of worship is to read passages about the throne room of God from Revelation and imagine the throne room as I worship. In Revelation 4:3 it talks about there being a rainbow around the throne of God, as well as mentions different precious stones. What causes this rainbow? We know that rainbows are caused from pure, white light being refracted through something, let’s say a diamond or precious stone. As the pure white light shines through the diamond, it refracts a beautiful rainbow of colors. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 says that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. I believe that each of us Christ followers can be like a diamond or precious stone in the hand of the Father, and as He shines His pure, white light into us, we refract His glory in worship through expressions of worship, each differently in the unique way in which He designed us, like different precious stones do as well. And around the throne of God, our worship is like the colors of the rainbow. It also mentions later in Revelation that there are people from every tribe, tongue and nation around the throne of God. Imagine the different colors of the rainbow as God’s pure, white light shines into every tribe, tongue and nation around the throne of God in heaven, and how each group refracts God’s glory differently in its’ own unique expressions of worship.
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Our Response to the Love of God
We know that we love God because He first loved us. Worship is our response to God’s unconditional love for us. The key is to worship God, or express our love to God, in every circumstance in life. It is easy to sing songs of praise and worship to God when things are all going well in our life. But what about when things aren’t going so well? Or what about when we face difficulties? Do we respond in worship? We can take Job’s example from Job 1:20 when his response to the most difficult of situations was to worship the Lord. As we worship God in the beauty of His holiness, and in His wonderful presence, all of our difficult situations seem to fade away into the background, and even disappear. In His presence, everything changes.
.
Lifestyle Worship
In Romans 12:1-2 we find out that we can present ourselves to the Lord as living sacrifices unto Him, and that our lives actually are worship to God as we remain completely surrendered to Him on the altar. In the Old Testament, the Levites were given precise instructions on how to kill the animal that was to be sacrificed to God. And as the smoke of the sacrifice rose to the heavens, God was pleased by the aroma. The problem with living sacrifices is that they often want to crawl back off of the altar. Even as living sacrifices, we need to reckon ourselves as crucified with Christ and remain on the altar of God. As we do this, our lives become a sweet aroma as worship before God. We can worship God as we just live life; when we go to work, or are doing chores around the house. Worship isn’t just about singing songs to God at church. Worship is about living a life fully surrendered to God.
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Worship as a WeaponWe need to understand that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. One thing that the enemy, Satan, and the other fallen angels or demons cannot stand is the the worship of God’s people. At the sound of God’s saints worshipping the Lord, the enemy must flee. Why? Because Satan fell from heaven because He wanted to be exalted above the throne of God, in worship. When Christ-followers worship God, Satan is defeated as his desire is to receive the focus and attention. We can see evidence of the power of praise and worship in 2 Chronicles 20 where God has His people, Israel, place the worshippers on the front lines of the battle. As they played their instruments and sang songs to YHWH, their enemies were defeated without even lifting a sword. There is power in praise and worship. When we are under attack from the enemy, Satan, we should worship God as it is a key weapon in our fight against the evil one.
NOTES ON WORSHIP
.
Sitting at Jesus’ Feet vs. Being Busy in Ministry
In the story of Mary and Martha In Luke 10:38-42 we find that Jesus commends Mary for choosing to sit at His feet, gleaning all she could from the Savior while Martha was busy serving. Jesus wasn’t saying that serving wasn’t important but that all of our serving should come as a result of being in the presence of God. We can do things FOR God or we can do things WITH God. God tells the church of Sardis in Revelation 3:1 that they have a reputation of being alive but are dead. There is the illustration of when you go to cut the head off of a chicken to kill it; when you cut the head off of the chicken, the body of the chicken continues to flap around, with a lot of movement, yet the chicken is in fact, dead. The church today needs to beware of the danger of being busy about the work of God, with a lot of movement and a lot of programs, yet being detached from the Head of the Body of Christ, who is Christ Himself. Worship is about sitting at the feet of Jesus in adoration of Him.
.
The Throne Room of God
Something I do a lot of times in my own personal times of worship is to read passages about the throne room of God from Revelation and imagine the throne room as I worship. In Revelation 4:3 it talks about there being a rainbow around the throne of God, as well as mentions different precious stones. What causes this rainbow? We know that rainbows are caused from pure, white light being refracted through something, let’s say a diamond or precious stone. As the pure white light shines through the diamond, it refracts a beautiful rainbow of colors. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 says that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. I believe that each of us Christ followers can be like a diamond or precious stone in the hand of the Father, and as He shines His pure, white light into us, we refract His glory in worship through expressions of worship, each differently in the unique way in which He designed us, like different precious stones do as well. And around the throne of God, our worship is like the colors of the rainbow. It also mentions later in Revelation that there are people from every tribe, tongue and nation around the throne of God. Imagine the different colors of the rainbow as God’s pure, white light shines into every tribe, tongue and nation around the throne of God in heaven, and how each group refracts God’s glory differently in its’ own unique expressions of worship.
.
Our Response to the Love of God
We know that we love God because He first loved us. Worship is our response to God’s unconditional love for us. The key is to worship God, or express our love to God, in every circumstance in life. It is easy to sing songs of praise and worship to God when things are all going well in our life. But what about when things aren’t going so well? Or what about when we face difficulties? Do we respond in worship? We can take Job’s example from Job 1:20 when his response to the most difficult of situations was to worship the Lord. As we worship God in the beauty of His holiness, and in His wonderful presence, all of our difficult situations seem to fade away into the background, and even disappear. In His presence, everything changes.
.
Lifestyle Worship
In Romans 12:1-2 we find out that we can present ourselves to the Lord as living sacrifices unto Him, and that our lives actually are worship to God as we remain completely surrendered to Him on the altar. In the Old Testament, the Levites were given precise instructions on how to kill the animal that was to be sacrificed to God. And as the smoke of the sacrifice rose to the heavens, God was pleased by the aroma. The problem with living sacrifices is that they often want to crawl back off of the altar. Even as living sacrifices, we need to reckon ourselves as crucified with Christ and remain on the altar of God. As we do this, our lives become a sweet aroma as worship before God. We can worship God as we just live life; when we go to work, or are doing chores around the house. Worship isn’t just about singing songs to God at church. Worship is about living a life fully surrendered to God.
.
Worship as a WeaponWe need to understand that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. One thing that the enemy, Satan, and the other fallen angels or demons cannot stand is the the worship of God’s people. At the sound of God’s saints worshipping the Lord, the enemy must flee. Why? Because Satan fell from heaven because He wanted to be exalted above the throne of God, in worship. When Christ-followers worship God, Satan is defeated as his desire is to receive the focus and attention. We can see evidence of the power of praise and worship in 2 Chronicles 20 where God has His people, Israel, place the worshippers on the front lines of the battle. As they played their instruments and sang songs to YHWH, their enemies were defeated without even lifting a sword. There is power in praise and worship. When we are under attack from the enemy, Satan, we should worship God as it is a key weapon in our fight against the evil one.
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