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Greetings and Happy New Year! I’m pleased to
report that we have surfaced from a seemingly wilderness experience with
renewed understanding of the Kingdom of God and hope for increased favor
and fruitfulness in ministry. This month’s newsletter is the first and
second, in a
four part installment of an article that I have written about worship. I
trust you will find it encouraging and inspiring. The article is based on the anagram:
Keep
It Simple
Saint (the Greek word for worship (proskuneo)
means to kiss).
The Simple Art of
Worship
By Caleb
Quaye
KEEP
- to retain and hold on to
Part I
Main
Text:
Col
3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever
you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him.
The
attitude and activity of worship is one of the most simple yet deeply
profound things that a person can be involved in. It is a wonder to
think that we delight to participate in something that satisfies us at
the deepest levels of our being, and yet that which we participate in is
not initiated by us, but is initiated by the One to whom we offer
worship. Worship then must be seen as a profound act of faith! How
amazing it is to ponder the fact that since the day we personally
received of His mercy, the rest of our lives are caught up in the
ceaseless activity of offering worship not only in songs and music, but
in choices that result in words and deeds that honor the One whom we
cannot see!
We
love him because He first loved us. By nature we are creatures of
possession in that we pursue
relationships because we want to possess or keep the object of our
affections. Since the fall of Adam, God has pursued us, seeing us from
afar as His Bride to be and Household to become, and through Christ and
his sufferings has purchased us at Calvary’s Cross. We have been
sealed and filled by the Holy Spirit so that we are kept as the object
of His affections. We are ever present before Him as His children and
members of His household Rom
8:16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of
God.
Conversely now that we have Christ in us by the gift of the Father
through the Holy Spirit, our hearts are moved toward Him in worship so
that we may possess the object of our affections which is our Savior,
Christ Jesus our Lord! We cannot possess Him bodily but we can
experience and possess His presence and the working of His Spirit. Acts
3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
It
is interesting to note that those who profess to believe in the Lord but
are not active participants in worship tend to live with a sense of
distance from the Lord. But those who are worshippers are very
aware and love to refreshed in His presence. Ps 107:21 Oh, that men
would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful
works to the children of men! 22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of
thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing. The message of
Christmas is summed up in the simplicity of one of the names of God –
Emmanuel, meaning God is here! Worship that touches the heart of God and
keeps us in His presence begins by thanking Him for who He is. We
worship the One who said he will never leave us nor forsake us!
Part 2
The Word of God and Faith in God
Worship is a
means of restating God’s truth, and remembering His truth for the
purpose of life enrichment, effective witness and kingdom fruitfulness.
Paul is simply using music (psalms, hymns and spiritual songs) as a
means of teaching and retaining the Word of God, similar to parents
today teaching nursery rhymes so that children can learn certain things.
The word of God is the catalyst for faith! Without the word of God we
are unable to hear God or know him. (Rom 10:17 So then faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God.) In Paul’s mind worship is
vital to faithful living in that our hearts are refreshed in the
presence of the Lord, in order to hear the word of the Lord, and so live
our lives by faith simply taking the Lord at His Word. This is the basis
of vital and effective transformation in a person’s life, the essence of
going from glory to glory in the life of a believer. Worship is vital to
the development of character and the believer’s ability to advance the
kingdom and overcome hell!
When we lead
people in worship, in a very real sense we are leading them out of
slavery. In Exodus 5:1 the first order of business from God was to have
Moses bring this broken people, who had lost most of their identity, to
a place of worship. God knows that people who labor under the slavery
of abuse, low self esteem, identity crisis and the accompanying issues
of value and hopelessness; need most of all to stand in His presence
and worship Him. It is in His presence that we find out who we are, and
that we are loved greatly by He who created us. Ps 100:3 Know that
the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We
are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
In today’s
culture our obsession with image and perfection of formula drives us to
complicate matters regarding worship. The simplicity of the New
Testament definition of worship is most effective: Rom 12:1 I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. What I love about
this verse is what I refer to as the “omission of condition” it simply
means that whatever condition we are in, the Cross of our Lord qualifies
us to stand in His presence to worship Him and be changed. The emphasis
in this verse is to “present your bodies”, which means just get there,
warts and all. He will take care of the rest and He will separate us
from the slavery of our times. Ps 107:20 He sent His word and healed
them, And delivered them from their destructions.
The Word of God
reminds us of the transformational power of worship. So much surgery
goes on in worship that we don’t even know about.
-
Worship provides hope in the face of
nothing. Isaiah 54:1 encourages us to start worshiping in times of
barrenness,. In the face of nothing start singing
2. Worship breaks strongholds to make room
for the word to be preached. Acts 16:23-34 Paul
and Silas in the Philipian
jail, Acts 16:26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the
foundations of the prison were
shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's
chains were loosed.
Sunday Morning Chapel
Sunday Morning Chapel:
The name of the church is now Lifehouse Foursquare Church. The Lord is
blessing our
gatherings as we continue to grow with a great mix of students and
community folk.
If you know
someone
who is looking or a church in the San Dimas area, everyone is welcome!
Service starts @ 10 am. The address is 1100 Covina Blvd, San Dimas,
CA 91773 for further information please call 909.599.5433
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