Everybody worships something
Topic: What do you worship?
Scripture(s): Ephesians 5:5
Notes: The Bible verses are included below, but it is more beneficial to read any verses from an actual Bible – or better yet, have the children read from their own. We recommend the NLT (New Living Translation – Tyndale Publishers) which is easy to read but very accurate. If you don’t have one please let us know as we may be able to help.
Description
Today, after a long week of pain and sickness – we weren’t able to go to church. Half of us were sick and we woke up to no water for showers or cooking so yet again we resigned to the fact that we would spend time with God ourselves.
Although we believe that it is good and a command to meet with other believers – we also realize that when we can not, God is not upset and is still with us. Our goal is to worship with others, be refined, uplifted and ‘rub up against’ others in the Kingdom
So here we were, laid out in the annex on mattresses and talking about how we are going to do ‘church’ here. I started by (yet again) explaining a little more of what ‘church’ actually is. Is it singing? Is it listening to preaching? Seeing other people? Is it a particular building or denomination? After a brief discussion about ‘church’ and what church is, I read the verse below to everyone.
Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarise. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.
1 Corinthians 14:26 (NLT)
I asked who was going to do what. This led to a conversation about speaking in tongues which was interesting (more on that another time!) and what ‘special revelation’ was. In the Greek, the word is apokalupsis (0602). This noun means a state or action of making something known, usually with the implication that it had been hidden or unknown. We talked on this for some time, about how it comes and what how to know when you have it.
We talked about the times we have acted out stories and particular parts of a story have ‘jumped out’ or been revealed (like the rich Zacchaeus climbing a tree to see Jesus [a] – or the trusted Ehud that risked life & limb then climbed through a sewer to escape after killing the King [b]) or when a particular part of the Bible ‘comes to life’ even though we may have read the same verse 50 times. In this conversation we started talking about Ehud and how high a standing he must have had to have an audience (and even a solitary one) with the king.
This led to talking about royalty and how hard it is to see them, how thousands line the streets to catch a glimpse of them and cheer as they pass. We then talked about this behaviour for famous actors and singers, celebrities and football teams.
One of older children was quite emphatic that they wouldn’t care because these people are just people – the same as you & me. Then
one of the younger children asked ‘why do people cheer at football matches’. Aha! I think that I know what God wants us to talk about today!
Is this special revelation?!!
A couple of days ago I was walking through the property with similar things on my mind. I was talking to God and the phrase that came to me was ‘We are born to worship’. Another special revelation? Not a new thought but something ‘in time’ for today.
“We are born to worship”
God has created people with the inner desire and inclination to worship. All through history we see groups of people worshipping in what we see as bizarre and at times, sick, ways. But we all worship something.
Yes every single person. Watch the World Cup – there are people who worship soccer or their country, if you go to a concert, there are people who worship the music, the musicians or singers, go to the speedway, motor-cross or Grand Prix and there are people who worship the drivers or the races, every time you go to the table or a restaurant for a meal there are people who worship food, there are people who worship cars, money, their job, church or knowledge – everything!!
You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
(Ephesians 5:5 NLT)
Before I was saved and my eyes opened, I worshipped a lot of things – I religiously watched the Motorcyle Grand Prix, drank alcohol, went to parties, stole money and continually chased acceptance and the accolades of others. Of course I didn’t see any of it as worship – I was blind to that – I just did what came naturally and what I enjoyed. But what about now – amd I immune?
After this I asked everyone to spend a few minutes in silence thinking then to take turns explaining to everyone what things we worship in place of God. When we do this as a family. we always encourage the children to share with us and each other as we love and trust each other. This means that we never violate each other’s trust by sharing these things with others, we don’t interrupt or laugh when others are talking – we treat each other with respect. We don’t force them to do it if uncomfortable. If any of the children are uncomfortable with this – we know it is something for us to deal with not them. Trust is earned over long periods.
Ok so we went around the circle and all shared what the areas we had where we worshipped things other than God. The answers are always surprising to me – the level at which young minds can analyse themselves honestly is fantastic! Some of the answers: food, money, play time, toys, other people, work, the house / property, each other and self among other things.
We talked gently about these things and took time to talk and associate / affirm each other that we understood and maybe even were guilty of the same things. But now what should we do about it? I love these discussions!
A perfect time to re-enforce our knowledge of the Gospel and the forgiveness of Christ.
What should we do when we have sin?
Some of the suggestions: realise our sin, confess it, ask forgiveness, repent, turn to God. Anything missing?
We have come up with a few things that help the children engage and help us identify what they have learned. We also try to use different things to help us remember. One of those things is a character (we have many!) called Harry the Hindu.
So I asked – “If Harry the Hindu was here & realised his sin, confessed it, asked forgiveness and ‘repented’ – would he be forgiven?” We got one yes. one maybe and 3 no’s. We always try to get each child to give an answer & not rush these things – so after a few answer we were all agreed – Harry would still be under God’s wrath and on his way to hell [c]. Why? Because “there is salvation in no other name” [d]. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse a soul from sin [e]- so asking God for forgiveness with out trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus is futile.
Does this mean as Christians we must always say ‘please forgive me because of Jesus’ every time we confess? No of course not – but our trust must be in Him.
Conviction – we realise our sin because of conviction of the Holy Spirit (attentiveness) [f]
Confess – we admit our sin to God and ask forgiveness (honesty, humility) [g]
Cross – we trust that the blood of Jesus alone cleanses us [h]
Repent – there are two arms to repentance. We turn from our sin and to God [i] and He turns our hearts away from sin [j]
So we gave them the option of doing this alone or with us. One chose to do business with God alone and the rest of us prayed openly to Him – with us modelling our own confessions and repentance first.
Now I talked about what the result of the ‘special revelation’ and the results of ‘speaking in tongues’ – repentance! Today God had led us to a knowledge of our sin and given us a way to be forgiven and a way to change!! We definitely now had something to sing about!
So we played a number of songs about God changing our hearts, forgiving us, His love and the name of Jesus.
What an amazing time – a few hours well spent!
For the rest of our Sunday we did ministry, watched Biblical DVDs and tonight we are watching Blind SIde – a movie of Christian compassion. What a great bonding and replenishing time and a start to the week!
We have clean souls…but with no water for today, still have dirty bodies!
Conclusion: God is the only One worthy of worship!
Prayer:
“Lord, please forgive us for the times where we worship other things. We are helpless to overcome this on our own, please change our hearts so that we worship you only, continually and freely. Let us continually know Christ and trust in His sacrifice and love.”
Notes:
[a] – Luke 19:1-9 (NLT)
Jesus and Zacchaeus 1 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town.2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd.4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” 6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. 8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” 9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
[b] – Judges 3:12-24 (NLT)
Ehud Becomes Israel’s Judge 12 Once again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel because of their evil.13 Eglon enlisted the Ammonites and Amalekites as allies, and then he went out and defeated Israel, taking possession of Jericho, the city of palms.14 And the Israelites served Eglon of Moab for eighteen years. 15 But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord again raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin. The Israelites sent Ehud to deliver their tribute money to King Eglon of Moab.16 So Ehud made a double-edged dagger that was about a foot long, and he strapped it to his right thigh, keeping it hidden under his clothing.17 He brought the tribute money to Eglon, who was very fat. 18 After delivering the payment, Ehud started home with those who had helped carry the tribute.19 But when Ehud reached the stone idols near Gilgal, he turned back. He came to Eglon and said, “I have a secret message for you.” So the king commanded his servants, “Be quiet!” and he sent them all out of the room. 20 Ehud walked over to Eglon, who was sitting alone in a cool upstairs room. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you!” As King Eglon rose from his seat,21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled out the dagger strapped to his right thigh, and plunged it into the king’s belly.22 The dagger went so deep that the handle disappeared beneath the king’s fat. So Ehud did not pull out the dagger, and the king’s bowels emptied.23 Then Ehud closed and locked the doors of the room and escaped down the latrine. 24 After Ehud was gone, the king’s servants returned and found the doors to the upstairs room locked. They thought he might be using the latrine in the room,
[c] – John 3:36 (NLT)
36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
[d] – Acts 4:12 (NLT)
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
[e] – 1 John 1:7 (NLT)
7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
[f] – John 16:8 (NLT)
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
[g] – 1 John 1:9-10 (NLT)
9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
[h] 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NLT)
18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver.19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
1 John 1:7-8 (NLT)
7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
Hebrews 10:11-14 (NLT)
11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet.14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
[i] – Luke 13:3-5 (NLT)
3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem?5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
[j] – Romans 2:29 (NLT)
29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
Philippians 2:13 (NLT)
13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.