09WK14 EXPERIENCING GROWTH THROUGH WORSHIP

Week 14
EXPERIENCING GROWTH THROUGH WORSHIP
KEY VERSE: Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. 1 CHRONICLES 29-6

SCRIPTURE READING: 1 CHRONICLES 29:1-20
1 Then King David said to the whole assembly: “ My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the LORD God.
2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God-gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble-all of these in large quantities.
3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple.
4 three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings,
5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD?”
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.
7 They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron.
8 Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the LORD in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.
9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
14 “ But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
15 We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

16 O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.
18 O Lord, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.
19And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, requirements and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure fore which I have provided.”
20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “LORD the God. “So they all praised the LORD, the God of their fathers; they bowed low and fell prostrate before the Lord and the King.

INTRODUCTION
Last week, we looked at worship is and the various elements of worship and their significance in worship. Today we continue our study by looking at the role giving and the preaching of the Word of God play in worship.

GIVING AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP
In 2 Corinthians 9:12, the word translated service (leitourgia – priestly service), has the underlying meaning of worshipping God by being cheerfully generous. This implies that Christian giving is not simply for the sake of giving; it is a performing of an act of worship to God. It is ministry performed by Christians and is something every member is expected to fully participate in. As a ministry Christian giving is seen:

a. As a privileged service – According to Paul, the Macedonian churches looked upon the opportunity to give to help their poor brethren in Jerusalem as a favour or grace from God himself. In other words, we are to see Christian giving as an opportunity for us to be of service to God and others in need.
b. As a service that brings glory to God (2 Co. 9:12,13). Christians, in giving towards God’s work and meeting the needs of others, bring glory to God as the beneficiaries express their depth of gratitude to God. In other words, the reward for Christian giving is the glory of God and the blessing of others. Men receive our good deeds or see our good deeds, and glorify God.
That Giving is an act of worship is again emphasized in the gifts that the apostle Paul received from the Philippian church. He wrote to acknowledge their generosity and said I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Php 4:18 19). These words indicate that the apostle Paul recognizea giving as an act of worship. He also believed that God would reward those who gave. The Bible gives us helpful guidelines as to how we should worship the Lord through our giving.







1 We are to give cheerfully and gladly, and not just because we think we ought to. The Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive. As we give cheerfully, it becomes easier for us to also give generously (Ro 12:8). We don’t give just to ease a troubled conscience, but we give as we fell led of the Lord to give.
2 We are also to give in humility and not in order to be acknowledged Jesus showed us in Matthew 6:3-4 how to give in order that we would receive an even greater reward. The Lord Speaks here of humility, of giving that is free from pride, free from the desire of man’s praise. Giving as unto the Lord is the kind of giving that he rewards. Some of our reward may come here on earth. But our greatest reward will be given to us when we stand before the Lord on the day he says thank you for all we have done for him (Mt 25:34-40). This kind of giving suggests that even if you do something for someone who is ungrateful, or who wouldn’t repay you with a word of thanks, it does not matter. The Lord, who sees everything remembers and counts your kindness as being done for him. In view of our eternal rewards, serving and giving cheerfully, generously and humbly comes easier, and the Lord will help us if it seems a bit hard at times. He will give us the grace us the grace and strength that we need to truly worship him in this way.

2. Offertory/Special Times of Giving
The Scriptural pattern for financing projects in the Old Testament, whether it was building a Temple, alleviating the hardships of others or supporting the priests, was through tithes and offerings. The Old Testament shows that the Israelites not only gave tithes, but also Free will thanks offerings. As the name suggests, these are voluntary gifts given at any particular time by an individual in response to an appeal to finance some project or for the ongoing day-today expenses of the Church. An unparalleled example of a free will offering is recorded for us in exodus 35:35-36:7. For the construction of the Tabernacle, the Israelites brought free will offering morning after morning and they brought so much that they had to be restrained from bringing more because what they had brought was more than enough for the work. Thus in addition to the tithe, the free will offerings from a significant part of giving in the Old Testament. What is left out today in many sermons based on Malachi 3:8-10, is the mention of free will offerings which the Prophet also spoke about in the same passage.

The second example of giving to fiancé a project is found in I Chronicles 29:1-9. David knew that his people must have a share in the cost of the temple, so he asked the leaders of the nation to contribute, and they did so willingly. David had first set the example in giving, and he reminded the people that they were giving to the Lord (29:1-6). Their giving was an act of worship (29:5b), and they gave generously.

In the light of the above, there should be more incidents of praise and thanksgiving to God for opportunities to give, that what prevails in many congregations today. Often we hear people give thanks to God for healing, a job, etc., but never for the opportunity to give towards the Lord’s work or to someone in need.

3. The quality of the message from the pulpit
In John 4:23-24, Jesus taught that acceptable worship was to be done not only in spirit (in the heart), but also in truth. He went on to expand this by telling the woman that the Jews worshipped what they knew, the reason being that God had revealed himself to the Jews. The Samaritans worshipped what they did not know, because they had not received God’s truth. Therefore, to truly worship God, to truly submit on him in all things, we need to learn more about him. Ready the Scriptures, being instructed in the faith and meditating on the truth of God so received is therefore very important. It is impossible to worship God truly without really knowing him. Any such worship is not true worship because it is not according to the truth God has revealed about himself.

In our last study we saw that, the sermon is central in the worship service. It is God’s message to the people. The other elements of worship are God-directed; this element is man-directed. Both the preacher and church members need to understand that because it is the Word of God, it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Ti 3:16). A sermon that is not more than a series of stories and illustrations is not worth the effort or time of minister or people.

The sermon must therefore be well prepared. Good preparation requires discipline of time and hard work. It is helpful to write most sermons out. This does not mean that they should be read in delivery but it does mean that (a) you know what you are going to say, (b) have thought it through, (c) have the timing in control, (d) have chosen the words carefully and (e) can check that it meets the essential requirements of a sermon. This is because the results of sermon preparation and delivery have eternal implications.





We should therefore give the Sermon an important place in the worship service. For without hearing God speak through his Word to us, worship is not complete since God communicates his truths to the worshipper through his Word. However, the sermon must be proclaimed in a way that would help the worshippers to relate God’s Word to their own lives and respond appropriately to him. In the words of John Stott,
God must speak to us before we have any liberty to speak to him, he must to us who he is before we can offer him what we are in acceptable worship, the worship of god is always a response to the Word of God. scripture wonderfully directs and enriches our worship.
Therefore, we must provide a distinctive and visible place in the worship service to enable worshippers to respond to God as he speaks to us through the Word preached and studied.

4. The management of TIME in our Worship
To prevent our worship from being mechanical or overly time conscious but being in tune with the Holy Spirit, our worship service must be thoroughly planned. This means the minister preacher has thought and prayed through regarding the purpose of the service and assigned a time frame for each of the elements that make up the worship and yet be able to control things to also allow for freedom in worship. He will also have communicated the order of the service and special instructions to all the participants.

GENERAL CONCLUSION – Practising Worship
The tour guide had just completed his talk, explaining to the visitors the various places of interest they could visit. Have you been to all these interesting places?, est, he said. I know about them but I have never been to any of them.
Knowing how to do something and doing it are not always the same. Skill comes through practice. No one can learn to play the guitar without also practicing on it. And no one can learn to worship without also worshipping. The purpose of these two lessons (last week and this week) on worship is not to tell you how you must worship, but to share what other believers have learned about worship and to encourage you to put into practice what you are learning; you will in turn help others too. As we end these two studies let us draw our attention to the following:

Recognize way to improve your own devotional and worship time.
When did the worshipers in the Bible seek God? Daniel prayed three times a day. David sought the Lord, morning and evening. I Chronicles 16:11 give the indication that we are to worship him continually. Our worship is continuous when we are totally committed to him. There should, however, a special time each day when we can have close and personal communion with the Lord.

Many people face situations that make it difficult to find a time and place to be alone, but they make a way. A married couple gts up an hour before their family does so they can have their private devotion; a working man walks to a park during his lunch break so he can be alone. Whatever your circumstance, the Lord can help you set aside a time for fellowship with him. During this time you will want to worship. When worshiping you get to know the Lord in a more personal sense. I know you will find this “hour” with the Lord becoming more valuable as the months go by. If you have experiences you would like to share with your group, please feel free to do so.



Join other Christians to Worship the Lord (Heb 10:25).
It is just as important for believers today to get together as it was for the early Christians. One reason for united worship is that the presence of the Lord is with those who gather in his Name. Jesus said, Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them (Mt 18:20). There is strength in unity (Ecc 4:12). The strength of unity applies to spiritual things as well. We live in a sinful world and we need each other. If I come to church discouraged and hear others praising God, it helps me to forget about my problems and praise God too. Someone else may tell what the Lord has done for him and it would be exactly what I turn to minister to someone else. Little wonder that God’s Word encourages us to get together for fellowship. God bless you as you seek to worship in private and in public!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. (a) Using the lessons and guidelines given in last week’s and today lesson, prepare an order of service for a Sunday morning meeting. What would you include and why?
(b) Compare your list with what is practiced in your local church. Are they different? What suggestions can you make to improve on the worship service in you local church?
2. In most churches, the morning worship service is scheduled to last for about two to three hours, what portion of the time would you allow for the various elements identified in question I (a) and why?
3. How can we make our offertory and special appeals for funds to finance various church programmes an act of worship?
4. Assess the relevance of the messages you hear preached in your local church. a. Do they meet the real needs of the members of the congregation?
b. Are there any suggestions you can make to improve this important aspect of the worship experience?
5. From what you have learnt on worship so far what name would you suggest for the portion of time sometimes called ‘Praise and worship’? Why?

BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
Worship involves offering ourselves, all that we are and all that we have. It means giving of our money, time and our abilities. This week look into your church fellowship or study group, is there someone you can worship the Lord through ministering to that person’s need? God bless you as you worship him through this avenue.

DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Exodus 25:1-9 Freewill Offering
Tuesday Deuteronomy 16:9-17 Give as the Lord has Blessed You
Wednesday Matthew 6:1-4 Give Without Boasting
Thursday 2 Corinthians 9:7-15 Give Cheerfully
Friday 2 Timothy 3:10-16 Equipped for Every Good Work
Saturday 2 Peter 1:19-21 Pay attention to the Word.

As you celebrate Passion Week which includes Good Friday and Holy Saturday, meditate on what the Lord has done for you in Christ Jesus. May he bless your worship during this period.