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E-Worship
by: Jennifer Williams
Extravagent- Extreme- Enlightened- Enduring
Once a week the average Christian goes to Church. They sit quietly and sing a few songs and timidly mumble a few words in prayer. They are prepared to serve God, they woke up early, took care of the family and got everyone for Church and wearing their "Sunday Best". This is the common ritual for the average Christian household on Sunday morning. Church consists of singing a few songs, sitting in tidy chairs, listening to an outlined sermon, praying a little prayer and going home. I don't know about you, but I want more out of my walk with the Lord. I don't want to sit and sing about a God I don't know!! I don't want to whisper a little prayer to someone I have never met. Of course, we all claim to "know" God. We went to the alter and said our little prayer, right? I'm here to tell you there is MORE! I am tired of settling for second best, leftover blessings, and picking up little bits of information about the Lover of my Soul. I'm tired of all the hype and no action. It's just not good enough anymore. The same old song, sermon, and prayer is not what God is looking for either. We have done the same thing for so long, that we have become dry, even when we're spiritual. Even the pentecostal, charismatic "holy rollers" don't have it anymore! What has gone wrong? What is Church all about? I tell you what it's supposed to be about, our services and gatherings are supposed to be about God! It's not our Church, it's not our building, it's not our website. We are the body of Christ, and our gatherings are supposed to be about God! He loves us, he wants to commune with us! But yet, we act like we don't want anything to do with him! It's time that we treated him like a Father, like our Bridegroom. He wants to be with you, and loves you so much. He loves us more than we can even understand. Yet, day after day, we turn away from him. Whether we realize it or not. We need to be with God. He wants to talk with us, without us always asking him for something else. It's time to Love him.
Psalm 150 Extravagent Worship
Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise hiim with the psaltry and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
If you look closely at this psalm you will notice that the word "or" is not mentioned. There is a reason for that. So many times we sit back in comfortable seats and let everyone else sing a little song and say a little prayer. This is NOT what God has in mind. These scriptures clearly state ways to praise God. It does not say do this and then do that. It says Praise Him with this, Praise him with that... and so on. We are to Praise Him, continually. It doesn't say anything about stopping while someone worships another way either. Imagine a worship service where people are free to do these things. We should not hide people in the back if they wish to dance or if they wish to praise him with power and with might. If we are to praise him "according to his excellent greatness" it won't be timid, it won't be quiet. If we are quiet, timid, and fearful in our praise we are saying that God has these attributes. We need to praise him with fire, with power, and with everything that is within us. Praise is not timid! Imagine many instruments praising God together, imagine everyone singing together, imagine dancers feeling free to express their love for God, imagine flags waving, tambourines swaying all of them together in the rhythm of God's holy praise. It is not fearful or concerned about everyone else, but focusing on the Lover of our Souls. That is praise, my friends! We need to praise God for who he is and for how powerful he is. We need to express our love and passion towards him.
1 Kings 3:4-14 Extreme Worship
And the King went to Gibeon to sacrifise there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that alter.
In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
And Solomon said, thouse hast showed unto they servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in trut, and in rightiousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou has kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a Son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
And now, O Lord my God, thou has made they servant king instead of David my Father: and I am but a little child. I know not how to go out or come in.
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge they people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people.
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and has not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgements;
Behold, I have done according to thy words; lo I have given thee a wise an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And I have also given thee that which thou has not asked, both riches, and honour; so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy Father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
Guess who Solomon was concerned about when he was making a thousand burnt offerings before the Lord. He certainly wasn't concerned about himself. He was thinking only of God. Consider this, here he is the King of Israel, the son of David, and he's offering up wealth, power, and all of his time with a bunch of burnt offerings. Do you really think he rolled out of bed and said "It's Sunday, I guess I should go worship." I seriously doubt that. What does happen is that he offers enough to consume him. This is a great sacrifise. I don't think he was thinking of himself, his neighbor, the car he was driving, or whether he was wearing his "Sunday Best". No, he was thinking of God!! Later on, the Lord pays him a little visit and asks him what he would like to receive. Amazingly enough, it still isn't about him. Can you imagine that moment? Think about it, the maker of all things, our glorious God shows up and asks you what you want. What are you gonna say? Is it going to be something about you? Are you going to ask for wealth, fame, good health, a long life, a new car, a house? What would you ask for? In this moment Solomon still was not thinking about himself. He was thinking of the job set before him. He was thinking about God's people. In humility, he asked God for discernment to take care of the people he ruled over. He asked for wisdom. Think about it for a moment, he's half asleep and exhausted from a day of sacrifise and praise unto God. He's probably preparing for the next day and reflecting on some things and all of a sudden God shows up and asks what he would like to receive. Solomon was not expecting a personal visit, but that is exactly what he received.
2 Samuel 6:13-15 Enlightened Worship
And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrifised oxen and fatlings.
And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.
On your own, I highly recommend that you read about all of the events surrounding this parade of sorts. They are doing so much more than just celebrating the restoration of the ark to it's rightful place. No, they are proceeding with fear and diligence. They are seeking to please God. If you will read more about this incident in the Bible you will find out that this was the second attempt to bring the Ark back to Israel. The first time around they had put it on a new cart. Along the way they hit a bump in the road and when a young man reached up to steady the Ark his life was taken from him. David had tried to do things his way. He had good intentions and was trying to insure that the Ark arrived in perfect condition. This was not God's way of doing things. The second time around you see David dancing in praise and worship. He is focused not on what he thinks is best, but on pleasing God! It is a long tiring procession of blood, sweat and worship. It is a hard journey, not a joyous and frivilous occasion. They are carrying the very presence of God on their shoulders. This is not a lightweight burden. David has been enlightened and knows not to do things according to his own thoughts. Instead he has discovered that God's way is the only way! Are we doing things our way or are we seeking God's face about what he desires. Nothing will ever work without his approval! A few scriptures down in this passage you notice that David's wife disapproves of his actions and is trying to cause trouble. Think about it, you work hard all day for several days, you're exhausted from the journey, but finally you have accomplished what you had set out to do. You have done it God's way. The last thing you want is to hear a bunch of nonsense from your spouse. Doing it God's way isn't the easy path but we must choose it if we are to touch his heart.
Acts 16:22-26 Enduring Worship
And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely.
Who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
I think a lot of the times, we have a hard time understanding these scriptures. The best we can do sometimes is think of a Renaissance time period movie, or we just glance over it entirely. I'm just going to paint a little picture for a moment. Two men who are not guilty of any real crime have their clothes ripped off of them. Then as they are standing there naked they begin to beat on them. They are hitting them with all of their strength with their fists, kicking them, slapping them. They are beating every inch of their flesh. They are not holding back or saving the areas that will cause the most pain. No, those are the areas they are concentrating on. They don't care if these men will Live or Die. They could care less how bruised they are, how much blood they lose. It doesn't matter. After they beat them, they get out a whip. It has pieces of metal on the ends of the threads, there are spikes, sharp splinters of metal, and even nails. Paul and Silas are naked, beaten, bruised, and already bleeding. Then they begin to whip them. They are tearing away at their flesh. Can you imagine pieces of your skin being torn from your body? After this, they are thrown into the inner prison. They are not with a bunch of other prisoners. They are in a dark place, a hidden place. Their feet our chained down. In pain and in their turmoil, they begin to pray and sing praises to God! They were not being timid. The other prisoners heard them. Paul and Silas were praising God in their pain! They weren't having a good day, but they were praising him anyway! Not only did their praises release them, it released everyone. Your praise effects more than just you. True uninhibited praise and worship sets people free! It brings deliverance! It changes everything. It will shake up everything around you. All you have to do is worship Him!!! They were not timid even though it could cost them their lives! We cannot sit back and ignore God. Why would we even want to. Consider who he is, what he's done, we need to stop avoiding God. It's time to stop half heartedly going through routine. If we want to see things change, if we want to make a difference in this world we need to touch God. There is no other way!!!!!!
Think about it for a few moments. Are you truly worshipping God. Do you have to have someone else do it for you? Are you still worried about what other people think? Do you notice what is going on around you? Or do you just focus on God? What are you thinking about at night before you go to bed? Do you remember to talk to him, tell him that you love him? Or do you forget it all and fall asleep as you anticipate another day? Where is your heart? Do you truly know God, or do you just know about him? It can all change today. All you need to do is talk to him. You don't need to be fancy, all you have to do is talk to him. Talk to God as if he were sitting in the chair beside you. He is with you, always close by. He loves you and wants to spend time with you. Focus on him without asking for all of his things, just ask for him. He will answer.
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The Five Love Languages
By Gary Chapman / Moody Publishers
We all know that the greatest commandment is to love. However, relatively few of us know how to express our love in the heart language of our family and friends. Fortunately, in The Five Love Languages Gary Chapman identifies the five primary love languages and teaches us how to use these languages to express our love. Although this edition of The Five Love Languages was written specifically for couples, the basic principles Chapman explores will apply to all relationships.
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God has given us so many gracious and wonderful gifts. This website has expanded beyond our original vision and has become a blessing to many. We will be adding study articles every month and our discussions will continue to change. We will be adding photos soon, if you would like to include a few. This website is an outreach to our family of believers around the world. We look forward to getting to know all of you. May God continue to bless you and keep you. I will be taking a break from major updates for the month. There will not be as much updates next month. I encourage you to read over and study the articles that are currently available.
Our Current Meeting Schedule
Person to Person= Sunday 10 Am, Smiley Park, look for flags(may vary)
Online Meetings in Meeting Room= Sunday Afternoon 1 PM
If you would like to meet online at another time, please notify us and we will try to adapt to you schedule.
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