5 Things We Can Use To Worship - A Dose of Encouragement

  

Fred and I are involved in "leading the worship" in our church which means we lead the corporate singing of our praise and worship to God.


Some people see this as all that worship consists of but we also need to remember that

Worship is an act of devotion towards God

So when I look at it like that then it is obvious that as a Christian I should automatically love worship.

If we consider our purpose on earth (as mentioned in Why We Worship 1 ) which is nothing to do with all the Purpose books I see around us - but simply what the reason we are alive is then we see that

Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever

But because we are human and imperfect, I know that we are not immediately drawn in to worship and it may feel completely alien to some of us.


One of the reasons I love worship is basically because I love singing and we find it easier to worship God in a song, don't we - someone else has done the hard work of writing the words and arranging the music and we just have to read the words listen to the tune and sing along.

But can't we do other things that are very easy? 

That's why I'm going to take the opportunity to give you some help by thinking about

5 Things We Can Use To Worship

1. The Bible
2. Prayer
3. Thoughts
4. Songs
5. Actions

1. We can use the Bible as a great means of Worship.

Reading and memorizing God's Word is a great and easy way to worship God.
Either on our own in our quiet times or in church among others.



Read out verses in worship to God

Here we are reading out His Word which is powerful and in doing so we are agreeing with what God has said.

As we ourselves read from the bible we are focused on the truth in those passages and greatly encouraged by what we read, also if we read aloud in corporate worship services everyone gains from hearing His Word which is Truth and because He never changes then neither will His Word.

Read out Bible Verses that are simply words of Worship

Here we are reading what is recorded in the bible of what others have said in worship and in repeating these words we can be in agreement with them.

Read out Bible Verses about God's Love

Here we are reading and hence concentrating on the Love of God.

You may be further encouraged by 

10 Bible Verses of Encouragement about God's Love



Read out Bible Verses about God's Mercy & Grace

Here we are reading and concentrating on the Mercy of God.

Read out Bible Verses about the nature and attributes of God

Here we are reading and concentrating on the very essence of God

You may be further encouraged by this series of short posts on

Why We Worship which is fully based around the Attributes of God

Read out Bible Verses about Jesus

Here we are reading verses about our Saviour and basking in all that He has done for us.

Read out Bible Verses declaring our intention to Worship God

Here we are reading verses which are telling God that we will Bless Him, Praise Him, Obey Him and His Word.

Read out Bible Verses encouraging ourselves and others to worship God

Here we are reading Bible verses written by the apostles (other followers of God) to encourage us all to worship

2. We can use Prayer as a great means of Worship.

Talking to God in Prayer is a great and easy way to worship Him.
Again either on our own in our quiet times or in church among others.



Praising God in Prayer

We are talking to God in acknowledgement of His Greatness.

Thanking God in Prayer

We are talking to God about the wonderful things He has done for us

and how He has answered our petitions.

3. We can use Our Thoughts as a great means of Worship.

Thinking about God Regularly is a great and easy way to worship Him.

Recognising just how He is is the one we can depend on at all times.

and let's not leave out what we started with

4. We can use Song as a great means of Worship.

Singing to God is a great and easy way to worship Him.
Again either on our own in our quiet times or in church among others.

Singing all those wonderful hymns that have been written throughout the ages and all the more recent songs and choruses mean we are praising and worshiping God.
Also at the same time we are learning and memorizing His Word which is so often contained in the verses of the hymns and learning doctrine.

We can Write our own Songs and Sing our own Songs.


We can Wait in the Presence of God and receive new Words and Songs from Him.

We can follow the example of the Psalmists and others as they encouraged themselves and others to sing unto God.

O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, 

all the earth.    

 Psalm 96:1

O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done 

marvellous things:    

Psalm 98:1

Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; 

the isles, 

and the inhabitants thereof.   

 Isaiah 42:10

Then we should Progress to other Forms of Worship we may not find so Easy to start with. 

5. We can use Actions as a great means of Worship.

• We can Obey the Word of God.

• We can Tell others about His Love and Work in our Lives.

• We can Write our own Praises and Speak our own Praises.

• We can Memorize His Word so that we always have it in our thoughts and ready to teach to others.

• We can help others to Memorize His Word

• We can show His Love to others

• We can encourage others to to Sing unto the Lord

• We can teach the children to learn about God and His Word through Songs

We started off by saying that

Worship is an act of devotion towards God

and 

Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever

So let's glorify God and enjoy being in His presence as we worship God and teach and encourage others to do the same.

Reading through The Bible - 1 Thessalonians

Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.

1st Thessalonians  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLE

13th book of the NT 

52nd book of the Bible

It starts with a greeting of grace and peace from God in chapter 1 verse 1

"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

        Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the           Lord Jesus Christ."

and immediately reassures the believers of the prayers and thanks made to God about them in the second verse of the first chapter

What is it?

The Book of 1 Thessalonians is one of the EPISTLES in the New Testament which means it is a Letter.

How Long is it?

It has 5 chapters.

When was it Written?

It was written about 50 AD

Who Wrote it?

The Apostle Paul

The first verse tells us the author and the names of two others who were with him at the time.

"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

 

Who was it Written to?

It was written to the believers living in Thessalonica in Macedonia (which is now northern Greece)

Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

Paul had spent around 3 months in Thessalonica.

Later he wanted to check up on them so he sent Timothy to visit them and he came back with a good report so Paul wrote this as a letter of encouragement. 

 

 

What is it normally well-known for?

As being one of the places in the bible to find info on the second coming

and 

encouragement for how to live in the will of God.

Why was it Written? 

It was written to commend the believers for their love as seen in

verse 12 of chapter 3

and to instruct them about the return of Christ in

verses 16-17 of chapter 4

and to have them continue to love, encourage and support each other in

verse 11 of chapter 5

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Paul has heard a good report on the church at Thessalonica, and encourages them to “excel still more” in faith, hope, and love."

Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"Paul uses this book to encourage the church in their pursuit of holiness, diligence, love and hope.  He tells them to walk in the light and makes many mentions of the second coming."

Which other Epistles speak of the second coming of Christ?

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Thessalonians

2 Peter

Jude

see 

Reading Through the Bible - 2 Peter

Reading Through the Bible - Jude

Which other books of the Bible is this linked to? 

Paul wrote 2 epistles to the Thessalonians so this one is followed by 2nd Thessalonians

How does it end?

With the famous admonition in

 verses 16-18 of chapter 5

 

and as usual in Paul's epistles we also have the final greeting or blessing

verses 23 of chapter 5

The Overview Bible  gives us this

Quick outline of 1 Thessalonians

1. Commendation for faith, hope, and love (1Thes 1–3)
   • The Thessalonians’ example (1 Thes 1)
   • Paul’s history with them (1 Thes 2)
   • Timothy’s visit and report (1 Thes 3)
2. Challenge to grow in these areas even more (1Thes 4–5)
   • Love for others (1 Thes 4:1–12)
   • Hope for the Lord’s return (1 Thes 4:13–18)
   • Preparation for the Lord’s return (1 Thes 5)

OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE 

Reading through The Bible - 2 Peter

Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.

2nd Peter  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLE

22nd book of the NT 

61st book of the Bible

It starts with a blessing centring around Grace & Peace

  in 2 Peter ch.1 v 2

and quickly takes us to consider more attributes in 

verses 5-7

What is it?

The Book of 2nd Peter is one of the EPISTLES in the New Testament which means it is a Letter.

How Long is it?

It only has 3 chapters.

When was it Written?

It was written in 67 AD which was very shortly before Peter was killed.

Who Wrote it?

Simon Peter the disciple of Jesus

The name of the letter tells us the writer.

Other letters in the bible are named to show who the recipients of the letters were specifically intended to be but these were letters written by Simon Peter who we know as the Apostle Peter.

One of the three disciples who Jesus often took with him apart from the others. 

Who was it Written to?

It was a general letter written to the scattered believers not just those from one nation or city as we read in the very first verse

"To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:"

What is it normally well-known for?

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"The second epistle of Peter is a brief letter of reminders for first-century Christians. Peter urges his readers to make every effort to grow in their faith, to remember that the promises of God (spoken by the prophets and apostles) are trustworthy, and to beware those who teach otherwise."

   

verse 18  of chapter 3

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. "

verse 9  of chapter 3

 

verse 1 -2  of chapter 2

"1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."

Why was it Written? 

It was written to encourage and remind the believers of what they have in Jesus and to recognise false teachers.

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Peter writes a letter reminding Christians about the truth of Jesus, and warning them that false teachers will come."

Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"Peter appears to have heard reports that false teachers had arisen in Asia Minor.  He wrote the book partly to encourage people from listening to them and also to continue encouraging them .... he talked about the Lord's return and how grand it would be if the people would hang in there."  

 

Which other Epistle teaches about the Lord's return?

2nd Thessalonians

Which other Epistle teaches about False Teachers?

Galatians

see Reading Through the Bible - Galatians 

Which other books of the Bible is this linked to? 

Peter wrote two epistles of which this is the second and follows 1st Peter 

How does it end?

With reminder of the character of Christians in

 chapter 3 v 11

 

 "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness"

and chapter 3 v 14

 "Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless"

and a final encouragement 

chapter 3 v 18 the final verse of the book

The Overview Bible  provides the following

Quick outline of 2 Peter

2 Peter displays some remarkable parallelism. 

Peter begins with a call to diligence in good works, reminds the reader that they can count on the prophets, and then warns that false prophets will arise. 

Peter then assures them that the old prophecies are true, and finishes with a call to be diligent and on guard.

1.    Remember to be diligent (2 Pet 1:1–15)

2.    True prophets and teachers (2 Pet 1:16–21)

3.    False prophets and teachers (2 Pet 2)

4.    Remember the true prophecies (2 Pet 3:1–13)

5.    Be diligent; be on guard (2 Pet 3:14–18)

OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE