WEEK SIX -- DAY TWENTY SIX

EXPRESSION

"Each of us was created by God for relationship with Him,

but we can only enjoy that relationship by God's grace.

God's great love for us, demonstrated in Christ Jesus,

initiates our response.

The only reasonable and adequate response

is our expression of worship."

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It's our sixth week!....It is my continued hope and prayer that you have been gaining much wisdom and practice in the topic of worship through the past five weeks. I have thoroughly enjoyed going through this study again with you. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and what you have been learning as well as words of wisdom. Leave a comment anytime!

TODAY'S MAIN IDEA:

God delights in our unique expressions of worship in response to His revelation!

Harland tells us that "once we understand our human position relative to God's omnipotence and greatness, we are ready to become true worshipers...

...Our willingness to spend time in His presence and invite Him into every aspect of our lives--surrendering ourselves as a living sacrifice--dictates how we respond as we encounter God."

(p. 117, workbook)

Our worship expression is a clear indicator of the depth and quality of

our relationship with God.

"When we live a surrendered life in response to who He is and what He has done, our response as we encounter God is free and unhindered. What someone else might think about our response really doesn't matter. Worship is truly all about Him!" (p. 118, workbook)

Wow -- those last two sentences really hit home because as Baptists, we tend to worry about what others will think if we truly express our love to God in worship. We seem so concerned about clapping, kneeling, lifting up hands, and expressing our praise, that in corporate worship, much is lost due to worrying about others. Thankfully, God evaluates the heart of the worshiper. Yet, "God wants to see and hear our unique expressions of worship."

Remember folks, the issue is not the style of worship...

"Each believer must raise his or her own expression of worship to the King of kings in response to what He alone has done."

As long as one makes the Bible their worship standard, and not by our comfort level based on previous experiences, we will keep our priority on God and what He says about worship.

Look to the Bible as our "standard" when it comes to expressing worship...His word must be our guideline as we worship.

Once we understand our human position relative to God's omnipotence and greatness, we are ready to become true worshipers!

I praise God that He wants to hear my unique expressions of praise; all from a heart fully dedicated and devoted to Him.

As it flows from your heart, express your love to God today in your own unique way.

Blessings,

Ken

DAY TWENTY FIVE

Happy Day After Thanksgiving....hope you had a great day giving thanks to the Lord and to all the special people who make your life so full! (I'm sure I don't have to mention having all of your favorite foods, right? I bet you're still full from your feast!)

(I spoke about the wrong bible study yesterday, but have fixed it so yesterday and today are now correct...sorry)

Worship begins with love--God's love for us and our love for God. I praise God that not only does He love me, but that He took the initiative to love me first. In the study, Harland asked for you to list as many words as you can think of that describes God's love for you. Here's a few of mine:

Amazing

Humbling

Awesome

Incomprehensible

Eternal

Overwhelming

Unmatched

Non-reciprocating

Unconditional

Never-ending

How should we respond to God's love?

Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

³⁷Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

The Bible also tells us to be imitators of God and to walk in love. Spend moments throughout the busy Thanksgiving holiday, giving Him thanks and thanking others for being an important part of your life.

I want to thank each of you, my dear church family. You are truly an important part of my life and the life of every member of my family. The Montgomery's appreciate your love, support, kindness, friendship, openness, care, compassion, and faithfulness to our Lord. We are so blessed by knowing and serving our Lord with you. Thank you for the privilege of knowing you and allowing us to be a part of your family. God bless you!

_____________________

FREEDOM IN WORSHIP

Today's Main Idea:

God wants us to worship Him with all our heart and soul.

Harland tells us that God is really a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

A few thoughts that I want to be sure are reread again from today's lesson are as follows:

1. Whether we are worshiping corporately or privately, our response to God should be biblically based and unhindered.

2. The style of worship, the volume of worship, and the elements of worship are not the issue. The issue is that each believer must raise his or her own unhindered expression of worship to the King of kings in response to what He alone has done.

3. The Bible is full of specific activities of worship, including those listed below.

Kneeling/bowing

Singing

Praying

Shouting

Clapping

Prostrating

Raising hands

Dancing

Playing instruments

Meditating/listening

Giving

Serving

Taking communion

Fasting

Please take time over the weekend and look up a few of these in your bible. Harland gives you several verses for each of the worship activities listed above.

Lord, Jesus, may we each be unhindered in our praise to you! Amen.

Bless you as you worship Him today. See you Sunday morning.

Ken

DAY TWENTY FOUR

I hope that you are having a wonderful day, giving thanks to our Lord for who He is and what He has done in your life! As we come together with friends and family each year, I often think throughout the day that this day has become more about the food than of giving thanks to God for the true blessings we receive from Him daily! Have you ever thought that way too?

WORSHIPING WHILE WE WAIT

Today's main idea:

Worshiping God while we are waiting for Him to act opens a place for Him to intervene.

We were made for relationship with God...We have seen God wants us to respond to His love by worshiping Him.

What do we need to do while waiting on the Lord?

WORSHIP!

Hebrews 4:15-16

¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Thank you, Father, for your mercy and grace. I thank You for allowing me to seek Your face and to specifically pray for answers and solutions to problems and situations in my life. I trust You and know that You alone are my Savior and Lord, the One who cares for me and always wants the best for my life. May I always allow you to direct my path from day to day.

Amen.

Giving thanks for the great things are God has done!

Ken

DAY TWENTY THREE

Good Morning friends....

I hope that you're having a great Wednesday. Anne and I thank you for your continued prayers as we looked for a home after ours sold so quickly. Good news -- we found one and are able to close by Dec. 15th --

Have you had a great time of worship with the Lord today? I hope so. But if not, then take some time during this Thanksgiving holiday and spend time in His Word -- giving thanks and praise for who He is and what He has done for you.

_________________________

TODAY'S MAIN IDEA:

Worship strengthens the Word in us.

A sentence stuck out right away in today's study. It said: "We can always expect resistance." Wow -- that was an aha moment again for me today. "Worship is our response to the revelation of God, and there is a heavenly battle that always centers around worship" (p. 104, workbook).

A POWERFUL COMBINATION:

God's Word and worship

Worship and the Word of God go hand in hand; it's crucial to living the abundant life. We always worship something and the enemy wants nothing more than to entice us to worship anything or anyone else other than the Lord Jehovah!

Thank you God for overcoming every temptation that we all have faced and will face. You did it through the Word of God. May I meditate and memorize God's Word so that I may resist the devil and his schemes. In the name of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

My girls and I have begun listening to Bible CD's. During a portion of our morning Bible study together, we listen to others reading the Bible and follow along. Hannah and Sarah Jordan have really enjoyed hearing and reading it at the same time. We're still in Genesis, so we have a long way, but my goal is that we'll be through the entire bible by the end of May. I'll keep you informed as we progress along.

I hope and pray that God's Word is a lamp and light for you! Take time during the Thanksgiving holiday to read the Bible as a family and then let me know how it went!

Bless you,

Ken

DAY TWENTY TWO

A LIFESTYLE OF WORSHIP

A lifestyle of worship is essential if we are to overcome in order to "become."

Worship must be part of our everyday lives if we are to become living sacrifices.

Romans 12:1

Living Sacrifices

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers,

in view of God's mercy,

to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—

this is your spiritual act of worship.

Harland says that "the battleground is clear: our bodies will become a living sacrifice on one altar or the other--either to God or to the world system. God so loved the world that He gave all we need to overcome, but we must do our part, and this involves two things. First, we must recognize and acknowledge the battle for the conformity of our minds and our lives. Second, we must be equipped to overcome those powers and principalities that assault us and our families, fellow believers around the world, and our nation" (p. 101-102, workbook).

Today's study also speaks about our battle and states that we are equipped for the battle through:

- prayer

- fasting

- worship

- the Word of God

How are you doing with your equipment? Let me know your thoughts.

Have a blessed Tuesday.

Ken

WEEK FIVE -- DAY TWENTY ONE

Serving Others

week five:

RESPONSE

"Each of us was created by God for relationship with Him,

but we can only enjoy that relationship by God's grace.

God's great love for us,

demonstrated in Christ Jesus,

initiates our response."

DAY 1 -

Wow -- we're on to week five. I hope that your week is beginning well. It's been a bit crazy with Anne and I....have looked at 30 houses so far....Anyway, I'm glad that we're back with the blog...

Our Reponse:

Service and Surrender

How do we respond to God? --

By Loving Him and loving others; we must put our love into action (laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters).

If a brother has a need, we must help; serving others in tangible ways.

"Our response to God's love is to express love, which requires action" (p. 98, workbook)

Do you think that sacrifice is a choice?

Jesus said:

Matthew 16:25

²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Harland says that "we must choose to surrender or yield our own unredeemed bodies as instruments of righteousness, rather than instruments of our own selfish desires" (p. 99, workbook).

We must train our minds and bodies to respond to God in every circumstance. This involves renewing...

"The Word of God is the only thing that can renew our minds, and it will contradict our typical thought life regularly" (p. 100, workbook).

Tell me your thoughts on this week's new subject....

Have a great day loving and serving the Lord and others!

Bless you,

Ken

DAY TWENTY

(Sorry folks for the delay with this blog...I have been busy preparing for Christmas as well as looking for a home -- we have to be out of ours by Dec. 15th 'cause it's sold....)

Thank you, Chad, for your great contribution yesterday. I appreciate you sharing your heart and thoughts with us. You have definitely blessed me and I'm pretty sure others as well!

Finishing up this week on love .... read this statement:

"What is in our hearts determines what comes out of our mouths." ... It makes you think about how healthy our [God size] heart is . . .

It is up to us to be sure that our hearts are filled up with words of faith, hope, and love!

_____________________

Day 5 of this week:

LET WORSHIP BEGIN HERE AND NOW!

Today's Main idea:

God wants us to allow His love to flow through us.

This day has brought about a lot of thoughts about relationships. It's amazing to me how we, as christians, can treat others poorly sometimes. In fact, it has been said that some of the meanest people around are so called "christians;" no doubt non believers see us as hypocrites.

I see this often with teenagers--pettiness, rude, and intolerant to other believers. In fact, there is often two sides to many believers--one they show at church and the other they show at work. Many teenagers see this with christians at church speaking to them and then not saying a word or ignoring them at school. The world sees this too.

How can we overcome this? By following God's unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance, kindness, patience, and humility. (You could say a lot more descriptive words as well.) In other words, to allow God to show His love to others through us as we accept them as He does.

"As we allow God's love for us to flow through us without hesitation and limitation, we are responding to God's revelation of who He is and what He has done. Love Himself compels us to worship. Let us put our response of love into action toward God and one another" (p. 92, workbook).

Have a wonderful day showing God's love toward everyone you see!

Blessings,

Ken