Worship
Course: The Higher Calling to Worship
Lesson 8
Lesson Title: The entrance into worship: Thanksgiving and Praise
Lesson Goal: …that the student will understand the joy of the Lord is essential to worship.
Text:
'Enter
into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful
unto him, and bless his name', Psalm 100:4.
Introduction: The entrance into worship is thanksgiving and praise.
· Thanksgiving brings us through the gates of worship, and praise brings us into the courts of worship.
· We give thanks to the Lord for what He has done, and we praise Him because of who He is.
Question; 'Why is it important to always give thanks?' 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Ephesians 5:20.
Introductory Illustration: The essential need to always give thanks.
· A father is pleased with seeing the pleasure of the child. Teaching a child to say thank you is good manners but God is not teaching manners.
· Pleasure in seeing the excitement of our children.
Personal
Story: Trip to
When my daughter was 15 her school class
had the opportunity to decide where they would like to go for a school
trip. My daughter always wanted to go to
I thought why does God not see my joy as sufficient? As I meditated on this it became obvious. Thanksgiving and praise is centred upon God and not me. Giving thanks takes the attention away from the benefits that I have received, and puts all the attention upon the goodness of God. When we enter into worship we must put all our attention upon the goodness and greatness of God.
Exposition:
1. The cares of life must be left behind in worship.
· The cares of life can take our attention away from the Lord and stop us from being worshippers.
· Difficult situations become opportunities to worship. We must be free from worry. 'Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' (Philippians 4:6-7)
· Illustration: Limitations of the brain.
Our brain enables us to think great thoughts, but it is also very limited in what it can do. If we direct all our concentration onto a particular thing then it is difficult to think about something else at the same time. Very intelligent people are often known for neglecting their personal appearance. The great professor of modern science may be able to unravel the mysteries of science and yet be completely unaware that his hair is a total mess or his shirt is buttoned wrongly.
This inability to think on many things at the same time is a great blessing in worship. God tells us to give thanks in everything and for everything. When we are giving thanks it is difficult to think about the difficulties of life that would pull us down. Thanksgiving lifts us above the situations and the problems that we face. The problem is still there, but now our thoughts are higher.
2. The concerns of life must also be left behind
·
It is often not bad things that
stop us from being worshippers; family affairs, business affairs, or everyday
things.
·
The ten lepers, all were
healed, all had something to rejoice about, but only one became a worshipper, Luke 17:12-19.
· True unity in the Spirit is a unity built on who we are in Christ.
· The Samaritan had become a worshipper.
3. Pride will stop us from becoming worshippers
· The pride of life will take our attention away from the Lord and stop us from becoming worshippers.
· We need to be like the children who offered praise to the Lord in the temple, Matthew 21:15-17.
· Humility is essential in worship, 1 Peter 5:5-6.
Conclusion:
The worshipper enters into worship with thanksgiving and praise. For the worshipper…
1. The cares of life will become opportunities for worship.
2. The concerns of life become unimportant in comparison to knowing Christ.
3. The childlike character of humility will leads us to worship the Lord.
Textbook
- The Higher Calling to Worship