Handout from Last Sunday

So, I preached last Sunday. Here's the handout for those who forgot to pick one up. It includes some practical ideas on personal worship, questions to wrestle with, and scripture and info. used in my sermon. Enjoy!

Different types of Worship (these are just some!)

-church worship
-prayer
-meditation
-baptism
-communion
-observing the Sabbath
-singing praises

-outside the church Worship
-charitable giving
-hospitality (inviting people to hang out at your house)
-visiting the sick
-helping the disabled/incapacitated
-feeding the hungry
-comforting the afflicted (those in pain)

-everyday things
-getting up in the morning (prayer? Look at Bible verse?)
-brushing teeth (think of a way you can show God’s love
today?)
-sports (showing Christian character?)
-shopping (less?)
-language?
-showing parents respect?
-serving family members unexpectedly?
-serving friends unexpectedly?
-serving people you don’t know unexpectedly?
-other ideas?

Scripture to Chew on

2 Samuel 22:4 I call upon the LORD,
Exodus 4:31 they bowed their heads and worshiped.
1 Samuel 15:22 to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23 for presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
Micah 6:6 " He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Galatians 4:9 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
Mark 7:5 This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' 8 in order to establish your tradition!
2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Romans 12:1-2 appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (physical) as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual (spiritual) act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (mental), that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (spiritual) and with all your mind (mental) and with all your strength (physical)
John 3:30 “he must become more and more and I must become less and less”


Hubert Story

Hubert smiles, remembering, sitting still and silent as if he too were carved in stone … the simplicity and ordered beauty of the service, the splendor of the music had seemed to him the way it always should be, and it was the same way, the same way it was since he had been born. He still attended every Sunday. It was as much a part of his routine as buying the same two Sunday newspapers at the same stall on his way home. It was as much a part of his routine as his lunch taken from the fridge whose choices gleamed with the pre-packaged selections, the foods he always had and tastes he was never surprised by.
It was as much a part of his routine as the short afternoon walk through the park of the trees aligned in uniformity, the path chirpless from birds and the leaves fallen long ago. It was as much a part of his routine as his hour-long nap Routine as the evening of television. The practice of his religion, which, it seemed to him now, had never been more than just that. A routine. A formal affirmation of a received set of values, yes. But, all of it, all it was and ever had been was little more than a pointless exercise designed to give shape to the week. The wonder, the mystery, the sense of history—all had gone.” (236 Allen The Wonder of Worship)

Some Questions to munch on

-How do you practice idol worship?
-Why do you think God wants us to worship only him?
-What things (people, possessions, values) do you attribute more worth to than God? (what do you worship?)
-In what ways can worship be a part of your everyday life?