east lake FELLOWSHIP

Bible Study #12: God Seeks True Worshippers


The Presence of God in the Gathered Body

Read 1 Corinthians 14:23-25. What was reported (declared) about the
assembled church in vv25? God was certainly among the gathered church

Check the statement below you most agree with concerning God’s presence
when the church assembles together?

 We invite God to come into our presence

 The leaders of the church usher the congregation into the presence of God, ie, take them
spiritually into the throne room of God in heaven

X We acknowledge God is already among us

Read the following texts. Which position do these texts support?

Exodus 20:24 God promises to come to us

Deuteronomy 12:11-14 God chooses the place where His people are to gather and worship before Him, i.e, in His presence - God is in the place He chooses for His people to worship

Matthew 18:19-20 Jesus promised where two or three are gathered in His name - “I am in their midst”

T or F: Any time God’s people gather together we experience a
personal encounter with God.
True: (NOTE:  comprehend this important truth, anytime God’s people are gathered in His name as His church/body, God is among us and therefore it is a personal encounter with God

Read Psalm 95:1-2, 6-8. What purposes does God have for this personal
encounter with Him (when we come into His presence)? To sing and shout joyfully to the Lord, give thanks in His presence; worship, bow down, and kneel before Him, to hear His voice and not harden our hearts, i.e., to hear and obey His voice.

T or F: One purpose God has for the gathered body is to worship Him.
True (NOTE: use the illustration of theatre: God is the audience, He comes into our assembly, we as the congregation and worship leaders are the actors - we worship for God’s benefit; the worship leaders are the prompters who prompt the actors - congregation - to worship)

How do the texts below affirm this purpose?

Matthew 4:9-10 Jesus responded to the devil’s invitation to worship him by quoting Scripture that we must worship and serve only God - God is the only one we worship - thus we must be worshippers of God

1 Peter 2:5, 9 we are both spiritual house and priesthood to offer spiritual worship to God through Jesus; we are God’s people who are to proclaim His excellencies - i.e., to worship and praise Him for all He has done for us

Psalms 45:10-11 We are to forget our people and our families, and bow down to our King for He is our Lord, He desires our beauty (i.e., our worship and praises)

John 4:23 God seeks people who worship in spirit and truth, i.e., true worshippers, to be His worshippers

(NOTE:  God - both by Lordship and command - demands us to worship Him, has created us as His people to worship Him, and had heart desire for our true worship. Our worship when we gather as His people and individually is God’s will and pleasure for us)

What Is Worship?
Read to John 4:23-24 and answer the following questions:
What is the Father seeking? Father is seeking true worshippers

What two things does Jesus say is required for true worship (v24)? To worship in spirit and truth

In your own words define what Jesus meant by these two things. (NOTE:  truth = Jesus and God’s Word, the Bible; Spirit could be either the Holy Spirit or the spirit of man; since we are the true worshippers, the spirit most likely means our own spirit, inner man)

In Matthew 15:8-9 Jesus describes how God’s people have failed to
worship the Father. What insight are you given in defining spirit and truth
required for true worship? Jesus shows us their worship is vain - worthless - because they teach the precepts of men - i.e., men’s truth rather than God’s truth (Jesus and Word); and the people’s hearts (spirits) are far from God even though their lips claim to honor Him. Thus we see that the truth is God’s Word (both the Bible and Jesus) and the spirit is the heart i.e., inner man/soul/intellect/place of thought processes.

Read the texts below and identify how spirit and truth are involved to
produce worship.
Exodus 4:31 when people heard the Lord (i.e., Moses report of God’s message to the people) they believed and bowed low and worshipped (i.e., they responded in their own spirit’s to the revealing of God’s truth)

Psalms 138:4-5 When the kings hear the words of God’s mouth (i.e., the revelation of truth), then they will give thanks and sing (worship - respond in their spirits to the revelation of God’s truth)

1 Corinthians 14:23-25 When truth of God is prophesied, he is convicted (i.e., in his spirit/heart) and he falls down and worships God (i.e., responds to the revelation of truth in his own spirit)

How is your spirit able to understand the truth that is spoken in a service? All things of God are revealed and show to us by His Holy Spirit (NOTE: read 1 Cor 2:11-12 to reinforce this truth)

What are some of the ways the Holy Spirit reveals truth to us in a church service? Preaching, teaching, reading of God’s Word, songs which have truth about God, who He is and what He had done, does, and yet will do; testimonies, prayers, printed words in the bulletin and on the projection screen, images and icons in the church - anything the Holy Spirit chooses to use to bring truth about God into our thought processes (i.e., our spirit)

T or F: God speaks to us when a pastor speaks, or someone gives a
testimony, or a Scripture is read, or through the words of the songs.
True: the Holy Spirit can use any of these to communicate and reveal to us the truth of God

Read the texts below. Identify whose words were spoken by these individuals?
Exodus 4:10-12 Lord promised to be with Moses mouth and teach him what to say - thus God spoke through Moses

Jeremiah 1:7-9, 17-19 Lord commanded Jeremiah that all the Lord commanded he would speak; that Lord had put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth; thus the Lord commanded Jeremiah to speak all which He commanded him; thus God spoke through Jeremiah

Malachi 2:7 the priest of God is a messenger of God - thus God spoke through His priests

1 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 13 God approved and entrusted Paul to speak the Gospel; and when Paul preached the Gospel - its was not the word of men, but the word of God - Thus God spoke through Paul

Hebrews 13:7 Pastors spoke the word of the Lord to God’s people - thus God spoke through pastors

John 12:49-50 Jesus Himself never spoke His own words but He only spoke the words the Father had given Him - what to say and what to speak - thus God spoke through His Son, Jesus

Does God speak to His people in the gathered church? Yes - God approves and entrusts people with His message, and through the inspiration and work of the Holy Spirit these people are used of God to speak to the gathered body, His church. (NOTE:  every Sunday God Himself speaks to His gathered church! God uses people (pastors, Sunday School teachers, worship leaders, those participating in the worship service to speak His message He has for His people on that day!)


Based on your study so far, write your definition for true worship: (NOTE:  incorporate these major truths about worship: God comes expectantly to us desiring our worship, we must worship in truth (revelation - words about who God is and all He does) and our spirit (interacting with the Holy Spirit) to respond to the words about God - our truth and Holy Spirit prompted responses are our true worship to God)


The Process of True Worship (See Worship Diagram):
Step #1 - Truth, words about God are revealed through various means
Step #2 - The Spirit interacts with your spirit to guide you in the meaning of the truth of those words about God
Step #3 - Your spirit responds to God to glorify, exalt, praise, obey Him

Your Responses to Truth and Spirit: Your responses to truth and spirit involve all of you as a person and can be identified in three basic responses:

Cognitive Response: a mental response based on comprehension and understanding of God’s revelation of Himself to you; the mental aspect of worship, an internal processing of words about God

Emotive Response: an emotional response based on emotions and feelings; i.e., excitement, sorrow, conviction, joy, peace, contentment

Expressive Response: an outward, physical, visible and vocal response to your cognitive and emotive responses to God’s truth; i.e., with your voice: singing, testimony, prayers, praises; physical body: clapping, bowing heads, standing, lifting hands, kneeling at altar; feeling body responses: weeping, laughing, rapid heart beats, sweaty palms, trembling; your actions: making public commitments, giving, confession, obedience

 
Apply your understanding of true worship to a Sunday worship
service. Identify how truth, Spirit/spirit, and response might interact
to produce worship in each of the following aspects of a service.

Hymn or Praise Song the words in the hymn/praise song reveal truth about who God is or what He has done for us, the Holy Spirit helps us understand this truth (cognitive) and we respond with conviction, joy, sadness, etc. (emotive) which may or may not lead us to sing, cry, shout, obey, praise, honor, etc. (expressive) {NOTE: this same process would be involved for each of the elements below}

Scripture Reading

Testimony

Message

Prayer

Evaluate Your Personal Worship Experiences

(NOTE: Remember these are your personal answers. The right attitude and actions in each of these areas could improve your worship experience and pleasing God)