Corporate Worship and Me

Corporate Worship? That can be a confusing term. I guess it's best if I define the term as I believe it should be defined.

Corporate worship in my mind is the worship given from a group of people gathered in a single place that believe in the same deity. In my case and the majority of those that I have consistent affiliation with this is the One and only True God Jesus Christ (Christians). Yes by saying that Jesus Christ is the "One and only True God" I am saying that all other worship is futile; just to clarify the statement. There are those out there that would like to say that any gathering constitutes corporate worship. To this I rebut that the word "corporate" indicates a planned gathering of a specific group of people. While corporations may have a diversity of people types they are always unified in something, therefore just any group gathering cannot qualify.

With that out of the way where do I and my ministry fit into Corporate Worship. I typically consider myself a teacher more than a preacher. I say this because while I can preach in the corporate environment, and do from time to time, I am much more comfortable in a classroom environment. I follow Jesus as closely as possible in regards to my life, ministry and corporate worship all the while remembering I am human and very flawed (hence the need for Jesus), to not admit my flaws is to lie to Jesus and myself. Lets look at what Jesus did in Corporate Worship.

Matthew 5:1-2
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Sermon on the Mount
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

In these verses we see who Jesus teaches, not the crowds but specifically the disciples. Those who are in His circle. Lets take another look.

Mark 8:31-38
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life[d] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Again we see that Jesus focuses His teaching to the disciples. Jesus didn't always focus on His disciples.

Matthew 13:1-9
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root,they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears,[a] let him hear.”

This teaching is different, Jesus is less intense than He is with the disciples. Jesus ends the teaching in an interesting way, He says "He who has ears, let him hear". He who has ears? In other words he who can hear because God has allowed it due to belief (Christians).

Now lets take a look how Jesus applied these differences to Christians

Matthew 28
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Great Commission
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I have heard sermons about GOING, MAKING DISCIPLES, and BAPTIZING, all of which are great and make wonderful sermons, however if we don't have vs. 20 none of the above are worth anything. There are four distinct actions in what we call the Great Commission.

1.) Go! To not stay here. What were the disciples doing when Jesus is teaching this lesson, this is more than just Jesus telling there is teaching here? They were worshiping Him together (Corporate Worship). He says go, don't stay here in Corporate Worship, go out and worship Me in the following way.

2.) Making Disciples. A disciple is one who follows Jesus, so Making Disciples is making clear the truth of Jesus Christ to those who will believe. John 3:16

John 3:16-18
English Standard Version (ESV)
For God So Loved the World
16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Romans 10:9-11

Romans 10:9-11
English Standard Version (ESV)
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 5:6-11

Romans 5:6-11
English Standard Version (ESV)
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

There are many more verses related to the Gospel we are to share but I leave that for you to discover.

3.) The next thing is Baptizing. Now there are people that will tell you baptism with water is essential. That however is not true or taught in the Bible. We never see the thief on the cross being baptized by water and if baptism with water were a condition of salvation Jesus would not have left that to question. However baptism is essential and it happens the second that Romans 10:11 is completed.

Mark 1:8
English Standard Version (ESV)
8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Baptism with water is nice and should be done if possible, but it is not essential. Now you have an answer to those who ask; was the thief baptized? Absolutely; the moment he believed in Jesus. Baptizing with water is a symbol of a sole dying to itself and being born again in Jesus. A public demonstration of fellowship and brotherhood meriting Christian support as well as announcing the desire to follow Christ.

4.) Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. This is where Corporate Worship comes in. We as humans in general are limited in vision. Corporate Worship includes not just our typical "Sunday go to meeting", but also Sunday School, Community Groups, Session Evangelism, and many more Christian Corporate actions. Christian Corporate Worship is where we should be learning all that He has commanded, and it should happen whenever Christians come together. It is not for the non believer. Now let me clarify, I am not saying that non believers cannot participate in Corporate Worship events. If they come that's great, however Corporate Worship is geared or at least should be geared toward Christians education in the faith knowing that I have Christ with me always.

So where does all this leave me an my ministry in regards to Corporate Worship?
I am to do all things as worship to Him. When I am teaching or preaching in Corporate Worship I will gear it toward the Christian, teaching them to observe all the He has commanded being my intense self. When I am evangelizing to non believers I will make clear the truth of the Gospel gently and kindly knowing that He is with me always.

I am intense on this subject and here is why. Jesus Christ saved this sinner from an eternity in hell.

If you heat water to 211 degrees all you have is hot water. But at 212 degrees water boils and with boiling water comes steam. With steam we can power the train, tractor and car. I am not willing to just be hot water, I have to go to the next degree; what about you?

I am fully aware that I am not the best at articulating my feelings and that I tend to jump all over the place when blogging. I am also sure there are things I left out that should be here. This is more for a release of my feelings than any kind of teaching tool. Feel free to comment or ask questions if necessary.

Thanks

Colby

What Does Worship Really Look Like?

Revelation 5:13-14

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" 14 And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Think about the passage above. "Every creature in heaven and on earth". Wow that is an astronomical number of creatures, every angel, cherubim, and seraphim. Every human, dog, cat, rodent, lizard, bovine, equine, bird, monkey, and sloth and countless other creatures that I can't name. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, he goes on. "And under the earth and in the sea", every worm, ant, mole, beetle, fish, shark, whale, octopus and squid. How many other things can you name? The sheer vastness of this passage blows my mind and yet the writer goes on. "And all that is in them saying". Wow not only are all these things together in worship but every fiber of their being is focused on the worship.

Now let's talk about the perspective of this to the writer, John. John is in the spirit (Rev 1:10) seeing this as a vision. He sees all creation (everything) in a complete state of worship. Let's think about this for a second. I am moved literately to tears sometime when I see 50 people from a little church in true worship. This would have been life altering for John, think about that, life as you know it being changed from the way that you sleep to the way that you eat to the way that you share your faith to the way that your very thoughts are processed (everything about you changed). But was it only the sheer magnitude of the event that did the changing? I don't think so.

Let's look at the worship. "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" Every part of all the before mentioned creatures screaming out this phrase reveling in the wonder that is our triune God giving Him glory by enjoying Him forever.

So what does worship really look like? While the multitude of creatures in this state is indeed a life changing event. In my mind it is the individual that has come to this point that embodies the picture of worship.

Oh Lord, no matter what it takes, help me to get to the point where everything that is in me cries out "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" until then let your servant do a work for you that is totally disproportionate to who I am. In Jesus name Amen!

A detailed plan that He may receive such a little thing.

Think about this.

God creates the world and everything in it including man, we find that in Genesis.

For awhile everything is great. Then man decides that he knows better than God, does exactly what God told him not to do and eats the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In response God in love tells man that he has to leave the perfect garden that He (God) has created for him (man). I say that this act was in love for 2 basic reasons.

1. 
   
   God now knows that man can't be trusted to be obedient. This is a problem because the tree of life is also in the garden. God desires a perfect relationship with man. Now that man has disobeyed, God has to set about repairing the relationship and man can't be trusted not to eat of the fruit of the tree of life (which would by the way cause him to live forever in the sinful state he is in.) God in love did the only thing he could do to make repairing the relationship a possibility, He told man to leave the garden. (It is interesting how this will change you view of death. I don't want to live forever in my sinful state.)


2. 
   
   The picture of Genesis 3 is not the picture of an angry father it is the picture of a disappointed but totally loving Daddy. Look in Genesis 3:21

21And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

God took skins, made cloths and clothed them. He didn't throw skins on the ground and snap get dressed. He didn't leave them naked. He killed one of His animals and tailored clothes and then dressed them. That is not the picture of an angry father but rather that of a loving Daddy.

Now on with the story.

God give man the law, the Ten Commandments. Sadly for most of the world this is not much more than a list of do's and don'ts. If this is your view, I am sad to inform you that they are not this at all. You see I have already broken all of the commandments. Yeah you read right, all of them. The Bible tells us that everybody has broken at least some of them. Look at Romans 3.

The commandments were given that we might be able to see our sin. For us to compare ourselves too. They are God's perfect standard. They are there to show that we are sinful and that we can't get that perfect relationship with out a Savior, a perfect Savior.

Remember that God desires a relationship, it has to be perfect and that He has set forth on repairing that relationship. The next piece of the plan is that God sent a perfect Savior. Look at John 3:16. Jesus Christ came to earth as an infant born of God through the virgin Mary so that He was not born into sin, lived a sinless life, gave His life as a sacrifice on the cross and rose again after 3 days of being dead. Therefore defeating death and having been raised from the dead by God, proving that He was the perfect sacrifice that ended the need for any other sacrifice. Look at the whole book of John for a more beautiful rendering of this story.

Now there is a way that we can have that perfect relationship with God. You see in John 14:6 Jesus said

6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus also said John 3:16-18

16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

If we believe in Jesus, what he did, and who He is, we will have the perfect relationship with God. This is what that belief looks like.

Romans 10:9-11

9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."

Those of us who are adopted in this way are heirs of the kingdom of God. Look at Epheasians 1.

This is truly an amazing plan that He may receive such a little thing. The same thing that you (no matter who you are) desire, yet so many of us, Christians included (Christians aren't perfect) simply refuse to give it to him.

He wants a relationship. He wants to have a conversation, to hold you when you need it, and so much more.

He loves you more than you can possibly imagine, literally.

If you want to know more go to www.findithere.com or call 1-888-Jesus20

Lord Humble Me!

It occurred to me the other morning in prayer, that it is easy for me to exalt myself above another in that I may be better in any given thing than them. However it is hard to humble myself and teach them this given thing so that they may become better than I. It is my prayer that the Lord would help me to always choose the hard and humble path.