Looking Up - 25^th July 2010

Hook: Role play and discussion in groups of different characters (A, B, C)

A – Goes to church every Sunday and enjoys worship very much because he/she is really into the music. Only sings very enthusiastically and loudly when he/she likes the song. It’s almost as if worship is a concert. He/she also doesn’t pay attention to the sermon.

B – Goes to church every Sunday but doesn’t sing because he/she doesn’t like to sing. Doesn’t understand the importance of worship (“Since so many people are singing, it shouldn’t matter if one person doesn’t right?”) He/she thinks that the sermon is far more important than worship in a worship service.

C – Goes to church every Sunday, but hates the worship. Either the band is awful or the music is too loud. And sometimes, even the preacher is horrid (can’t speak proper English, has an annoying voice etc, etc…) Only goes to church because he/she is a Christian and going to church is a Christian thing to do.

The sec ones can pick one character and discuss. They can ask questions to find out more about their attitude towards worship, and at the same time hopefully they are also questioning themselves.

The two main questions that they have to answer

1. Which of these characteristics can they relate to?

2. What is wrong with their attitudes, and implicitly, what is the right attitude towards worship? This question will actually be answered during the course of the lesson.

*Before planning your own lesson, take some time to sit down, pray and reflect on what worship is to you. Once you are clear on what worship really is to you, it should be fairly easy to communicate it to your kids clearly.

Lesson:

What is worship?

Some common misconceptions should be removed about worship.

Worship is a verb, not a noun. It is a response to his perfection, his majesty, his power, his might, and the list goes on. It becomes a noun when sing BECAUSE it is “worship” and we have to sing, but we forget why we are singing in the first place.

Worship is for God, not for us. The worship service in church is to aid us in our worship of God. After every worship service, we shouldn’t be asking “Did I like it?” instead we should be asking “Did God like it?”

Why should we worship God?

Read 1 Chronicles 16: 23-33

Revelation 4: 8-11

Because he is great and worthy to be praised! When the kids read the verses, it may come off as extremely exaggerated and overdramatic, but that is because our God is THAT great. Do not forget that he has sent his Son to die for all of us! It is so easy to take the might of God for granted and forget the ‘bigness’ of God because we are so caught up in our daily lives. We forget that he really deserves all our praise and worship! And when we worship him, we acknowledge his power and his might. I think that all of us do not worship him adequately in our lives.

How should we worship?

1. We should engage our mind

God is not pleased with thoughtless singing of hymns, clichés, or careless exclamations of “Praise the Lord,” because we can’t think of anything else to say at that moment. If worship is mindless, it is meaningless. Therefore, we must engage our minds as well. Try not to offer clichés, instead search your mind and find words to express how you truly and personally feel towards God in your present situation, e.g. do we admire Him, appreciate Him, honour Him etc.

2. We should worship in spirit and in truth

Read John 4: 20-24

What these verses tell us is that “true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth” – what does this mean?

“in spirit”
From The Purpose Driven Life: “When Jesus said you must worship ‘in spirit,’ he wasn’t referring to the Holy Spirit, but to your spirit. Made in God’s image, you are a spirit that resides in a body, and God designed your spirit to communicate with Him. Worship is your spirit responding to God’s spirit. Real worship happens when your spirit responds to God, not some musical tone.

1 Samuel 16:7; When we worship, it is not a matter of saying the right words, you must mean what you say because God looks past our words to see the attitude of our hearts.

Since worship involves delighting in God, it engages your emotions. God gave you emotions so you could worship him with deep feeling – but those emotions must be genuine not faked. God hates hypocrisy. He doesn’t want showmanship or pretense…He wants your honest, real (and sincere) love.”

“in truth”
Of course, sincerity alone is not enough; you can be sincerely wrong. That’s why both spirit and truth are required. Worship is a response to truth. Truth can be derived from the bible, because the bible is God’s word and God's word is true (John 17:17). We worship God because, from the bible, we know what Jesus has done, and we know God's characteristics. Hence, if we do not know the bible, we do not know who God is nor what He's done and cannot worship in truth.

3. Making sacrifices (i.e. worshipping at a cost)

Read 2 Samuel 24:24

One thing worship costs us is our self-centredness. You cannot exalt God and yourself at the same time. You don’t worship to be seen by others or to please yourself. You shift the focus off yourself.

When Jesus said, “Love God with all your strength,” he pointed out that worship takes effort and energy. It is not always convenient or comfortable, and sometimes worship is a sheer act of the will – a willing sacrifice. When you praise God even when you don’t feel like it, when you get out of bed to worship when you’re tired, you are offering a sacrifice of worship to God. That pleases God.

Conclusion

Pray for your kids that they can truly learn how to worship God, not only during worship services, but in their everyday lives, that they will become children of God. “Therefore, 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. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12: 1-2