April 6, 2005

• Sorry for the lateness of this, but I am posting last night’s Bible study.

  
  

  We are blessed to have many visiting pastors coming through our church. Last night we had one who is an evangalist, who is so funny, and I look forward to hearing him when he comes through our church, his name is John Hobbs whose website is http://www.trilliumontariocfo.com/wests.htm.   or his other site, Maranatha Ministries http://www.mmu.org/  He has spoken several times at our church and makes me laugh. One time in the past he was talking about evangalizing while shopping. He said he took an empty shopping cart into Target, went to an empty aisle, yelled at the top of his lungs, “Jesus” and then went out into the midst and talked with people about Jesus because people were asking about the person who yelled, so he talked about the person of Jesus. I still chuckle thinking about that, but haven’t had the courage to try that one. I missed Monday’s talk by him, and am hoping to get a tape because it was about the Father’s heart.

  
  

  Last night’s topic was worship.

  
  

  He started out by saying that the heaven he heard about in churches when he was growing up was not very attractive. That the idea of sitting around in heaven and just looking at God and worshipping seemed rather dull when he was a young adult. But now he realizes that God has great things planned for us in Heaven, that our lives there will not be dull (sitting on a cloud playing a harp), that if there was such a wonderful thing as our earth, then Heaven would be far greater. When we look at the wonder of a sunset here on earth, then how can we be bored in Heaven which will be even more glorius?

  
  

  He talked about the loss of one of his worship leaders and shared a story about him and his funeral, and sometimes said that when he is walking or thinking of some of the songs this man wrote, that he feels somehow his presence, not as a ghost or goblin, but just a sense of his presence. There is a great cloud of witnesses in heaven which are all the saints who have passed on before us, and there is us and others. Sometimes when we worship, we realize that we are not alone in our worship, but we are joining with those clouds of witnesses.

  
  

  He says there is not two churches, one church in heaven and one on earth when we worship, but one church in different dimensions. When he first got the holy spirit, he was a Methodist preacher, and heard a man speak on Hebrews. The Holy Spirit began to move in him, and God told him not to bring his religion to the Church, God didn’t want it, but to bring his heart, for God could use that.

  
  

  God does not want our dry worship, you know the three hymns, three part sermons, poem, etc. God wants us to worhsip Him in Spirit and truth.

  
  

  He talked about praise teams and worship leaders and how they can sing hymns, do acts of worship, but that is not always worship. Sometimes it is an ACT of worship, but the heart is not behind it. God wants our hearts.

  
  

  He mentioned the woman at the well and how Jesus told her to worship in Spirit and truth.

  
  

  There is beauty in the willingness to be transparent before God. We have everything He gave us, and we offer it back to Him in worship.  When we worship God, we are saying You are Worthy. We somehow confuse personality with worship. Part of our great joy in our walk is to feel His pleasure.

  
  

  Hebrews 12:18-on We, because of Christ’s sacrifice can come boldy before the throne of God. The veil in the temple was rent, and the sacrifice of Christ was once for all.

  
  

  If you want to be a worshipper, you must be intentional about it. Even if you don’t feel like worshipping. Some people, when life is tough, do not come to worship God, and it is worship that will help them through their situation. Some come to church wanting to be worked up to the point of worship by the worship leaders and pastor. But the best way to come to church is to be already in a mood of worship, prepared to worship. Prepared to be a part of the worship, not be be worked up to it. You do not need to be in church to worship, you can be by yourself, with a circle of friends, anywhere, anytime is a good time to worship.

  
  

  Our church in this country has been blessed with freedom to worship. We have not had to face the persecution that churches in other countries have had to face. But, given the state of our government, this is changing, and at some point we may end up facing persecution. We may end up having to worship under bridges or in basements, etc.

  
  

  Many times when churches fail, they lose their vision, they are not sure of their worship, and they become limited by what they see with their senses. He stated that it is not about number of members or programs, but about being in worship with God and doing God’s will. A church with tons of members may be a dead church, but a church with a few members, doing God’s will, is a living church.

  
  

  When you come to worship come to a divine happening, come expecting something supernatural is going to take place.  We should come to worship expecting to receive. (another pastor that I study under, put it this way once, if you read your Bible or pray or come to church, do you bring a notebook and pen expecting to hear from God?)

  
  

  Praise is obedience. We praise no matter what our outward circumstances.

  
  

  Hebrews 12:24 The sprinkled blood of Jesus speaks a better word than Abel. Able’s blood spoke and cursed Cain, Jesus’ blood brings restoration and redemption, not condemnation.

  
  

  Everytime we come together in worship we should glean a fresh awareness of the power of His forgiveness. Fresh passion for unsaved people, burdens and hurting people.

  
  

  If we worship in spirit and truth, it does not matter where we gather, just that we are committed to worship God.

  
  

   

  
  

  Please, again assume that if there are any errors in these writings they are mine, not Pastor Hobbs. Pastor Don is very careful about who speaks in our church, so any errors are mine.

  
  

  Have a blessed day. Two churches in our area were severely flooded in the rains that we had last weekend, under five feet of water. A Vineyard church and a church that was newly built, and this weekend we are expected to get more rain. So please pray for these two churches.

  
  

  If you want a great description of the incense used in the tabernacle, check out angel45′s site. http://www.xanga.com/skin.asp?user=angel45

  
  

   

  
  

  Heather

  • 7:24 am
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