Lessons

Praise and Worship. The lesson on February 15, 2009 was given by guest teacher Leland Maples from the LOOPS Ministry based out of Odessa, Texas. Leland gives a quick update on Odessa before jumping into the lesson on praise and worship. There are changes taking place in modern evangelical churches today with regards to praise and worship. Praise appears 248 times in the bible. Worship appears 108 times. There is a bible study principal regarding the aspect of “first mention” and Leland thought it would be good to look up in scripture where these words were first used. The first occurrence in the Old Testament of the word “worship” is in Genesis 22:5 “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you,” which is when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac unto the Lord. Worship in this context has nothing to do with music, feeling good about yourself, bvut rather, sacrifice. Real worship in the bible has to do with sacrifice. The first occurrence in the New Testament is in Matthew 2:2 where the wise men are coming to worship Jesus “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” Here we find worship involves adoration, sacrifice, and giving. Jesus himself told us something about worship in John 4:22 when He was speaking to the Samartin woman. Jesus said to her “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.” Further, Jesus says in verse 24 John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” You can’t worship physically, only spiritually! Further, he said “in truth” which the Lord clarified what this meant in John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Proper worship is in the scriptures no matter how many people gather. Paul learned something about worship in warning he gave in Colossians 2:20-23 which explained worship in a way that was self-centered and fleshly. God wants worship from a humble and contrite spirit. If we want to feel good about ourselves from worship, if we are building our self esteem, then we are going in the wrong direction