1) Spirit: intimate response to God
- John 4:24 response to God who you love and know; do we experience a personal intimate relationship with God? In Psalms David desired to know God's heartbeat, he wanted to know God on an intimate level.
- relationship with God through the spirit; Man has spirit and his spirit wants to commune with God's spirit;
Passage John 4:24: 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
2) Truth: real response to God
- acknowledge the truth that we need God; We need to check ourselves, to be honest, wholly dependent on God only. We need to be who were made to be, unique in every way.
3) Thankful: thankful response to God
- 1 Peter 2:9-10 we are chosen from the darkness to be holy to God; The fact is it should be enough to bring us thankfulness and joyfulness. No matter what situation happens in our lives that may drag us down, we must remember that God is good all the time. We should be grateful for the salvation which we have.
Passage 1 Peter 2:9-10: 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
4) Foolish response: our foolish response to God
- 2 Samuel 6:14-15 see the way David danced for God, glamorously foolish, unreserved expression of joy, shamelessly and no calculation of how I ridiculous i look etc.
- when worship God we should not care people's eyes
- feel free to worship Him even you cannot sing well or your voice is so awful or your dance no one understands
Passage 2 Samuel 6:14-15: 14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
5) Heard response: our heard response to God
- 2 Chron. 20:18-22, Psalm 66:8
- sing out before the enemy coz we know God will bring the victory to us
- focus on pleasing God
Passage 2 Chronicles 20:18-22:
18 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.
20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful." 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his [a] holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
"Give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures forever."
6) Declaration of Gods goodness and glory:
- Psalm 108:3, 92:4-5, 105:1-2
- cooperated worship inspires people to response to God, it is evangelistic because there are two groups of people, the worshipers (believers) and the observers (un-churched) whom are looking for something different. We dont need to follow the contemporary modern music because the observers are looking for something different e.g. techno beats in church same as in disco which they are escaping. It must be different as it is corporate worship compared to just band playing, watch movies, ballets etc. It should inspire people to respond to God, should suggest how great God is and declare his glory to the nation
- cooperated worship is more than (beyond) a good performance
Passage Psalm 108:3: 3 I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. Passage Psalm 92:4-5:
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.
1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
None Christian who come together they should be able to come away with:
- Why is God so great?
-Why are people so passionate about God?
simple preparation
1) holy life
- 2 chron. 5:12; 2 chron. 29:15 holiness, righteousness
- our hearts have to be right to God; white symbolizes holiness and people can see the righteousness we have in God; We need to consecrate, purify and sanctify because we need to be ministers of God to the people. We need to be right and not sinful because we will be ministering the wrong spirit. We can't get ourselves right, only God can, hence we need to come to Jesus. It is also a privilege and righteous position to have. We need repented heart and lay it before God at his feet. We need to factor in time with God to see if our heart is right. Because people can see God in us.
- on stage we focus on our ministry rather than how beautiful we are
Passage 2 Chronicles 5:12: 12 All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. Passage 2 Chronicles 29:15: 15 When they had assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the LORD, as the king had ordered, following the word of the LORD.
2) knowing God personally
- open your ears hear God's voice John 10:3-5
- develop your relationship with God consistency, and knowing God personally in order to hear from him. As leaders we need to be able to hear the chief shepherds voice, to received and guided ourselves by him.
- should not take it seriously just only the week when your on duty but should be ready in and our of season.
- Hebrew 5:11-13
Passage John 10:3-5 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
Passage Hebrews 5:11-15: 11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
3) life style
- teachable spirit (1 chron.9:33)
- be ready to worship God all the time
- 1 chron. 25:6-8 ability (invest time for develop skills & training)
Passage 1 Chronicles 9:33: 33 Those who were musicians, heads of Levite families, stayed in the rooms of the temple and were exempt from other duties because they were responsible for the work day and night.
Passage 1 Chronicles 25:6-8: 6 All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king. 7 Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD -they numbered 288. 8 Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties.
heart burden
- for non believers worship should show
a) why God is so great? and
b) why people passionate about Him?
- how to choose the song
the song you want to sing or the song God guide you
- culture and style
different church different culture or style
should not allow anything stop you worship God
maturity "grow in Christ"
check their attitude & hearts
note that God need obedience rather than sacrifice
