Suffering, Joy, & Glory

Every Monday Dave Duff the Director of Ecola teaches a class to the second years on the Principles of Ministry. This class was one that really hit home for me and thought I would share it with you.  So here are my notes that I took.

This is WAR!

And part of being a soldier is suffering, it is inevitable.
       -1 Peter 2:19-21

Scripture makes it abundantly clear that suffering is part of the deal for EVERY Christian.
       -John 15:18-20

But especially for those who would serve the Lord in Ministry.
       -2 Timothy 1:8, 3:12

Suffering can come to us from many sours and take many forms:
  In Hardship:
       -Pauls list 2 Corinthians 11:23-27
  In Temptation:
       -2 Corinthians 11:29
  From the Enemy:
       -2 Corinthians 11:13-15
  Rejection of the message:
       -Isaiah 53:1
  Suffering caused by unbelievers:
       -1 Peter 4:4, 4:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
  Suffering caused by believers

Make no mistake, suffering is part of the package.
       -Philippians 1:29, 3:10

Once again our primary example is Jesus:
       -Hebrews 2:9-10

But the resold of suffering is GLORY.
       -Philippians 2:8-9
       -Isaiah 53:11-12
       -Romans 8:17-18
       -Hebrews 11:32-38 (The Hall of Faith)

Hebrews 12:1-3
1 Peter 4:19

(Class date: January 22, 2014)

Worship is an Everyday Thing

For our Second Term Paper here at Ecola we had to pick a Christain Topic and write a research informative paper on the topic, my topic was Worship. I chose to do mine on worship because most people think of worship as just singing, which is just merely a form of worship. It was so great to read on the topic and expand my knowledge on everyday acts of worship. I did very well on this paper and got a check plus. So if you so desire to learn on the topic of worship and want to ready my paper, here it is and I hope you enjoy.

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Michelle Tingstrom
Paul Knoch
Writing Class
February 23, 2014

Worship Everyday with Every Action

What is worship? John MacArthur defines worship as “our innermost being responding with praise for all that God is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words, based on the truth of God as he has revealed Himself” (MacArthur 165). Also Louie Giglio defines it as, “our response, both personal and corporate, to God - for who He is! and what He has done! expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live” (Giglio 53). When we worship, God doesn’t just want the words we say, but He wants us to worship in our every action (Giglio 76).
There are four unacceptable ways to worship. We can worship false gods, worship the true God in a wrong form, worshiping the true God in a self-styled way, and also worship the true God with a wrong attitude (MacArthur).
First with worshiping false gods, as a fallen human race we have a tendency to idolize things we have a passion for and in turn worship them. A false god can be a material object or it can be mythical and supernatural being (MacArthur 20). Exodus 34:14 says, “You shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (ESV Bible).
When we worship God in a wrong form, we tend to make a sculpture of what  we think God is, and in turn start to worship that thing. We don’t know what God looks like - we only can imagine it but we can’t limit God, even visually. We can’t reduce God to an image like the

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Israelites did in Exodus 32 when they made a golden calf and worshiped it as God (MacArthur 22). “And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’(ESV Bible, Exodus 32:4).
Nadab and Abihu worshiped God in a self-styled manner when they burned incenses that where not commanded by the Lord on the altar. An example of how people today have worshiped God in a self-styled manner would be when a lady in New Mexico was frying a tortilla and found that her skillet made marks on the tortilla that looked like Jesus. She then went to her priest and got him to bless it. We are not to worship God by taking liberties and doing things our own way (Grace To You).
A subtle kind of worship is when we worship God with the wrong attitude. To have the right attitude in worship, our hearts are to be fully in the worship, giving the best we have and being filled with awe and reverence (MacArthur 24).
Worship doesn’t just happen on a whim; we are to prepare for worship. These are the checkpoints: sincerity, fidelity, humility, and purity. Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (ESV Bible). We are to draw near with sincerity and a true heart. We are to have a single-minded heart that is fixed and focused on God. In fidelity we are to “draw near in full assurance of faith” (MacArthur 186). Believers must access God throughout Christ by faith, fully assured He is the way. We are to come humbled because of our unworthiness, knowing we don’t deserve to be purified by the blood of Jesus Christ. With

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purity we should confess daily and purge spiritually, dealing with our sins (MacArthur). “Without them we are not prepared to enter God’s presence to worship. If, however, we can pass those checkpoints, we may draw near in full confidence, and God will draw near to us” (MacArthur 188).
You may wonder where are we to worship. John says, “The sphere of worship is unlimited” (MacArthur 137). Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-29, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (ESV Bible). As believers we are living and breathing temples where God dwells. Therefore, we are able to worship God everywhere; on the beach, in the woods, on top of a mountain, in the store, driving in our car, flying on a plane, when we go for a run, while shopping, and even while we are in a church building (MacArthur 136).
There are three dimensions of worship: outward, inward, and upward. To clarify, they can be done by praising God, doing good, and sharing with others. “The Scriptures are dedicated to the subject of worship from cover to cover, so the believer should be dedicated to the activity of worship, consumed with a desire to use every moment of his life to devote himself to doing good to all, sharing our blessings with our neighbors, and praising God, who is the source of all goodness and every blessing” (MacArthur 46).
The outward dimension is how we act and treat those around us. Paul talks about how to treat others in the book of Ephesians: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who

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hear” (ESV Bible, Ephesians 4:29). It gives God glory when we treat His creation with love and respect. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (ESV Bible, Ephesians 4:23).
The inward dimension is our personal behavior. People observe us daily and see the way we behave, we should behave in a way to glorify the Lord. Ephesians 5:15-20 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ESV Bible).
With upward dimension we are focusing on the praise we give to God. In Hebrews 13:15 it says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (ESV Bible)
When we worship we are to do so in Spirit and truth. Worship takes place in the spirit, you don’t need a specific place to worship but, you do need to have an undivided heart.  Psalm 103 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!” (ESV Bible, Psalm 103:1).  We worship God by praise. In psalm 103, David is praising God for all that he is from his soul and his spirit. You have a worshipping spirit when you are prodded by the Holy Spirit, and we receive the Holy Spirit when we accept that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. To worship in truth “is a response of adoration and praise prompted by truth that God has

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revealed” (MacArthur 160). John 1:1 tells us that the word, or scripture, is God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (ESV Bible).
When we worship God we are glorifying Him. We can glorify God with unwavering faith, verbal praise, confession of our sins, abundance of fruit, confident prayer, having a
willingness to suffer, with a contented heart, and being a clear witness (MacArthur)
We glorify God when our faith in Him is not wavering. This doesn’t mean that we don’t think through the meaning of what God has revealed to us, but that we don’t let it settle in our hearts to leave us doubting God. “Faith is perhaps the most basic form of worship” (MacArthur 176). In Romans 4, Paul writes about the Faith that Abraham had: “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (ESV Bible, Romans 4:20-21). We, as christians, tend to think of doubt and worry as small sins, but when we “display unbelief, anxiety, or an inability to cope with life”, we are saying “My God cannot be trusted” (MacArthur 176). That kind of untrust is dishonoring to God and does not glorify Him.
Praising God with our mouths is another way we can glorify God daily. We praise Him verbally when we give thanks for what he has done for us and those around us.  1 Chronicles 29:13 says, “And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name” (ESV Bible).
When we confess our sins, we are agreeing with God on our responsibility of our sins and are humbling ourselves before Him. John 1:8-10 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a

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liar, and his word is not in us” (ESV Bible). Obeying God’s truth is worship. In His word He speaks of confession of our sins, which in turn is a form of worship.
Being a fruitful believer also brings glory to God. Jesus said in John 15:8, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (ESV Bible). In Galatians 5, Paul expands on what the fruit of spirit saying: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (ESV Bible, Galatians 5:22-23a).  Fruit in our lives reflects God’s character in us.
“Prayer is a form of worshiping God. Our prayer can be a message to Him that we love Him and are thankful for everything He has done for us. Prayer can also be a way to ask God about things or for things” (Life’s Handbook). John 14:13 says, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (ESV Bible). When we glorify God we are in turn worshiping Him.
We are to love God so much that we are willing to suffer for Him. Peter is one example of being called to glorify God by dying for Him. He wrote in 1 Peter 4:14-17, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (ESV Bible). Suffering is not only dying but as Peter wrote in the previous verses, it can also be being insulted.
We should live our life in contentment. As it is written in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the

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Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (ESV Bible).This is rejoicing, regardless of the circumstances that we are in.
“We worship God by proclaiming His Word with clarity” (MacArthur 184). When we profess God’s word to those around us, and bring them to Christ through that, we are glorifying God. “For when a person is redeemed, he too begins to worship in spirit and truth and devotes his life to the glory of God” (MacArthur 184). We are to be a witness to those around us.
“Nothing is more important than worship. It is the theme of Scripture, the theme of eternity, the theme of redemptive history - to worship the true and living and glorious God. Worship is the central issue in all of creation!” (MacArthur, Back cover). So if nothing is more important than worship and we worship God in our every action then we should be aware of how we are acting with or without others watching our every move. Remember to glorify God in all you do. Prepare your heart for worship and let the worship begin.

Works Cited

MacArthur, John. Worship: The Ultimate Priority. Chicago, IL: Moody, 2012. Print.
Giglio, Louie. The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life. Sisters, Or.: Multnomah, 2003. Print.
ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008. Print.
"Life's Handbook." Prayer and Worship -. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
<http://lifeshandbook.wikidot.com/prayer-and-worship>.
"Grace To You." True Worship, Part 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2005/true-worship-part-2>.