What worship is

• In both spirit and truth (John 4:23)
  • Spirit – proper reverence and attitude
    • Focused
    • Offered to God
  • Truth – as God has established by His word
• Planned by intent (Genesis 22:5)
• Exclusive (Leviticus 10:1; Numbers 3:4)
• Lacking these, our worship falls short.

Elements of worship

• Singing – I Corinthians 14:15
• Prayer – I Corinthians 14:15
• Lord’s Supper – Acts 20:7 (first day of week)
• Contribution – I Corinthians 16:2 (first day of week)
• Sermon – Acts 20:7
• Sixth element – Romans 12:1

The sixth element

• Romans 12:1 – Sacrifice
• Hebrews 9:6, 1

Offering ourselves

• In both spirit and truth (John 4:23)
  • Spirit – proper reverence and attitude
    • Focused – Philippians 3:12-14
    • Offered to God – I Peter 2:5
  • Truth – as God has established by His word (John 17:17)
• Planned: by intent (II Thessalonians 3:7; Titus 2:11-12; Matthew 16:24)
• Exclusive
  • We exclude many things from our lives (I Corinthians 5:1; 6:9-10)
  • We give ourselves only to God.

Discussion

Things that aid us in offering ourselves

• Examples (II Timothy 3:10-11)
• Study (Acts 17:11)
• Encouragement; teaching from others (Titus 2)

Things to consider

• Time management (Ephesians 5:15-16)
• Money management (Ephesians 4:28)
• Preparation, planning, goal setting (Luke 14:28-30)
• Self-discipline (Titus 2:11-12)
• Relationships (I Corinthians 15:33)
• Peer pressure (Galatians 2:11-13)

Introduction

• II Corinthians 4:16-18
• II Corinthians 11:23-28 – This is the man who talked about momentary light afflictions!

Remember that Jesus Himself shared in human suffering.

• Philippians 2:5-11
• Jesus is not asking us to do something He hasn’t already done.
• Hebrews 2:14
• Hebrews 5:8
• John 11:33-36 – Jesus wept at Lazarus’ death.
• I Peter 2:21

Don’t take this as a sign that God was punishing people.

• Luke 13:1-5 – Tragedies are not necessarily punishment for sin.
• John 9:1-2
• Sometimes bad things just happen.

God does take away our suffering … just not necessarily in this lifetime.

• Hebrews 11:13-16
• I Peter 2:11
• This is a temporary stop on the way to eternity.
• Job 3:17
• Romans 8:17-25

This is an opportunity to help.

• Luke 10:25-37
• Ephesians 4:23-24, 28 – Now, I’m generous and look to help others.
• James 1:27

When a Christian is in need, the church can jump in.

• Acts 2:44-45
• Acts 4:32-35
• Acts 6:1-3
• Acts 11:27-30
• Romans 15:25-26
• I Corinthians 16:1-3
• II Corinthians 8:3-4, 14
• II Corinthians 9:1
• I Timothy 5:16, 5

Faith and prayer

Prayer is a calibration

• The model prayer – Luke 11:2-4; Matthew 6:8-13
  • This is not just empty phrases (Matthew 6:7-8).
  • He said in Matthew 6:9 to pray “in this manner.”
  • This prayer resets our hearts (priorities) according to God’s will (priorities).
  • Jesus starts by introducing God as our Faither in heaven to plant the idea that we are God’s children and God deserves our honor. We are subject to Him. Put aside our focus on ourselves and look at God and His priorities.
    • Matthew 6:9 – Honor God daily
    • Matthew 6:10 – Pray for God’s purposes to be accomplished. Remembers Matthew 26:39, 42.
    • Matthew 6:11 – Pray for our physical needs. See Matthew 6:33-34
    • Matthew 6:12 – Pray for forgiveness daily.
    • Matthew 6:13 – Pray for help with temptation.
    • These are the things that should be our priorities in prayer.

Prayer is a test.

• Jesus tells us repeatedly to “ask and receive.” Matthew 7:7; 18:19; 21:22; John 14:13-14; 15:7, 16. It is our opportunity to ask God for what we need.
• Solomon in I Kings 3:5-9.
  • Mark 6:22
• How is it a test? Look at the caution we are given in James 4:2-3. Is the desire of our heart to seek the will of God, or to seek our own passions? Matthew 6:5. What are our motives for praying?
• Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21.

Introduction

• John 4:23-24 – God is a spirit. We are spirits also.
• Matthew 15:7-9 – There is such a thing as vain worship.

Focus on God – the object of our worship.

• Psalms 29:1-11
• Romans 1:21, 25, 28-31 – They did not honor God as they should. We will seek and serve something. If we don’t seek God, we will likely serve ourselves.
• Acts 17:22-28 – Paul was trying to focus them on the one true God.
• Revelation 5:11-14 – Scenes like this can help us think about God.
• Revelation 22:8-9 – “Worship God”

Develop gratitude for what God has done for us.

• Genesis 8:19-20 – Noah worshiped when he got off the ark.
• Genesis 12:2-8; 13:16-18 – Abraham worshiped out of thankfulness.
• Exodus 14:30-15:18 – Moses and the people sang in gratitude for God’s salvation.
• Psalms 51:12-15
• Colossians 3:15-17
• We should be tripping over ourselves to thank God for what He has done for us.
• Psalms 100:4

Good living goes hand-in-hand with good worship.

• Psalms 51:16-17
• We can’t live a sinful life and worship God appropriately.
• I Samuel 15:18-22 – Your life must match up with your worship.
• Micah 6:6-8
• God has always demanded sincere worship and a sincere life.
• Amos 5:23
• Malachi 1:10
• I Peter 3:7 – I can’t mistreat my wife and still worship acceptable.
• James 4:8 – “Cleanse your hands, you sinners.”

Joshua 15

Joshua 15:1-12 – Territory of Judah

• Joshua 15:8 – Jerusalem is on the border between Judah and Benjamin (called Jebus at this time). See Joshua 15:63; 18:28.

Joshua 15:13-19 – Caleb’s portion

• Joshua 15:14 – Caleb drove out the Anakim
• Joshua 15:17 – See Judges 3:9. Othniel would be the first judge of Israel.

Joshua 15:20-63 – List of Judah’s cities

• 112 cities are listed in total. Seven more cities are listed but not counted in this 112, perhaps because they are later reassigned to Simeon (Joshua 19:1-7). Jerusalem is also mentioned but not counted (Joshua 15:63).
• The city of Jerusalem: See Judges 19:10-12. Even at this time, foreigners occupied Jerusalem. In II Samuel 5:4-7, David finally conquered Jerusalem.
• Deuteronomy 6:10-12

Joshua 16

Joshua 16:1-10 – Territory of Ephraim

• Joshua 16:10 – Another pocket of resistance that was not conquered.

Joshua 17

Joshua 17:1-18 – Territory of Manasseh

• Joshua 17:3-4 – Daughters of Zelophehad. See Numbers 27:6-8; 36.

Joshua 18

Joshua 18:1-10 – Seven tribes remain

• Joshua 18:1 – The tabernacle was set up at Shiloh. See Exodus 25.
• Joshua 18:6 – God directs the process via casting of lots.

Joshua 18:11-28 – 1st lot: Territory of Benjamin and cities

Joshua 19

Joshua 19:1-9 – 2nd lot: Territory of Simeon and cities

Joshua 19:10-16 – 3rd lot: Territory of Zebulun and cities

Joshua 19:17-23 – 4th lot: Territory of Issachar and cities

• Judges 1:27-36 – The Amorites forced the people of Dan out. See Judges 18:1, 27-31. They instead took Laish, renamed it Dan, and started worshiping an idol.

Joshua 19:49-51 – Joshua’s inheritance

Joshua 20

Joshua 20:1-9 – 6 cities of refuge appointed

Joshua 21

Joshua 21:1-42 – Levites receive 48 cities

Joshua 21:43-45 – God has fulfilled the land promise

• God fulfilled His promises!
• Titus 2:11 – God made salvation available to all men, but we have to take it!
• Matthew 7:13-14