Sermon Notes from "Heart Idols"

The Big Idea: Worship is like a fire hose that has gotten stuck in the “on” position and is endlessly shooting water out with great force. Where are you aiming the hose? What is the focus of your worship?

Worship in the wrong direction

And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (Mark 12:38-40 ESV)

Outward actions do not impress God in and of themselves. God sees your heart.

They wanted their dress to be noticed.

They desired vocal recognition

They longed for places of prominence

They hoarded money

They wanted people to view them as HOLY.

They worship self.

Check yourself. Don't we all have similar desires to that of the scribes?

To be first, to be deferred to, to be wealthier, to be recognized?

God sees your heart.

What does your attitude reveal about your heart?

What do you long for?

Where do your desires lie?

Insight #1: We should read this warning thinking that we are in danger of the greater condemnation.

Exposing Heart Idols

Power Idol	Approval Idol
Control Position Influence Success Strength (exerted)	Relationships Achievement Ethnicity Social circles Appearances
Security Idol	Comfort Idol
Family Finances Protection Religion Safety Future	Pleasure Health Freedom Excess Home and vehicles Recreation

Pharisees idols exposed

Power – IN this chapter they have grasped for control, position, and to keep influence

Approval – Dressed to be seen, greetings, seats of honor

Security – Try and hide their weaknesses

Comfort – Devour widows houses (excess)

Insight #2: A good thing becomes a heart idol when we value it more than we value Jesus as our ultimate joy and satisfaction.

Worship in the right direction

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” - (Mark 12:41-44 ESV)

The widow put in her whole life.

All of her hopes and dreams. Her future.

She wholeheartedly offers herself as an act of worship.

Do I just need to give more? Do more?

The scribes were not applauded by their outward actions and neither is the widow.

There is something deeper at play.

There is poverty of spirit.

Jesus puts it this way:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - (Matthew 5:3 ESV)

Insight #3: No one except those who have the poverty of spirit will enter the kingdom of heaven.

This widow was completely dependent on someone outside of her to meet her needs.

Spiritual poverty likewise is a deep sense that in and of myself before God I am without a means to earn His favor. I have to look for something absolutely outside of “me” for my righteousness.

Insight #4: We are all absolutely poverty stricken before God but some of us are blind to it.

The law/gospe msgl exposes our spiritual poverty.

Before conversion their is conviction of sin.

The law/gospel condemns before it saves.

It convicts before it converts.

It empties before it fills.

Insight #5: I still live by Gods righteousness daily.

The religious hypocrites in this passage miss this.

They think they sin no longer and are righteous by their own merits now.

Insight #6: Just as we need outside food to energize us daily, we need the gospel daily (Jesus' righteousness).

Examine Your Heart:

To what extent is your heart like that of the scribes?

Those who struggle with power feel that they have to be in a position of power and long for it. They are demanding that they have to have the final decision.

Those who struggle with approval, criticism or failure wrecks their week or month. They can't ever relax. They are always craving recognition and envious of others.

Those who struggle with security hide weaknesses and are impatient with others.

Those who struggle with comfort often complain about serving others, giving joyfully, and become restless when asked to stretch themselves.

Apply the Good News to Your Heart:

1. Power Idol - God is glorious so I don't have to produce results. I don't have to make every final decision. (Psalm 24:8)
2. Approval Idol – God is gracious so I don't have to prove myself . I can relax. (Psalm 86:16)
3. Security Idol – God is great, so I don't have to be in control. I can honestly share weaknesses (Psalm 145:3)
4. Comfort Idol – God is good, so I don't have to look elsewhere for comfort, peace, and fulfillment. I can give freely.(Psalm 34:8)

Date Night Tips

Have you made the commitment to date your spouse more during The Real Marriage series? I decided to make a list of ideas of things to do and places to go around our neck of the woods. Make sure and head over to read Mark Driscoll's Date Night Tips.  Please share your date ideas in the comment section!

1. Send the kids to grandma's for the night and stay home with no technology allowed. Find some candles and see if you can make it without lights for the night! No agenda planned. 
2. Catch a play at The Muny. (Summer)
3. Try out the ice skating at Forest Park. (Winter)
4. Go on a hike at Pickle Springs and take a picnic lunch. 
5. Dress up and head out for dinner date at Chaumette Vineyards and Winery. 
6. Go for a drive and enjoy the desserts at The Blue Owl. 
7. Giddy-up for a redneck date: go bowling and then catch some catfish under the stars
8. Watch a movie under the stars at the Starlite Drive-in Theatre in Cadet, MO. 
9. Meet up for coffee and breakfast at The Bauhaus Kafee before work.
10. Put on your hiking boots and visit Hickory Canyon. 
11. Make a picnic lunch and enjoy the afternoon at Charleville. 
12. Go for a walk at one of the area parks and then enjoy some food at 12 West. 
13. Instead of taking a lunch break with co-workers, skip the lunch and find a special place to meet up with your spouse.
14. Look out over The Mississippi River at The Trail of Tears State Park. 
15. Plan an overnight date at a bed in breakfast in St. Genevieve. 
16. Head to St. James and spend an afternoon at Maramec Spring Park. 
17. Take her for a boat ride at The Boathouse in Forest Park. 
18. Attend a concert together at Verizon Amphitheater. 
19. Enjoy a musical at The Fabulous Fox.
20. Go for a bike ride at St. Joe State Park
21. Keep it simple with dinner and a movie.  
22. Get dressed up and drop some cash at The Top of the Riverfront. 

Teaching Notes: "A Tall Glass of Toilet Water"

A Tall Glass of Toilet Water

Job 31:1, Jeremiah 2:13, Matthew 5:27,28

1 Thess. 4:3-8, Proverbs 5

April 29^th, NIGHT session

Benjamin Durbin

I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. – Job 31:1 (NIV)

The Big Idea: Beneath the sin of pornography lies a lustful heart that was created to be satisfied by Jesus and be a one-woman man.

The Cultural Epidemic:

·         There are over 100,000 websites offering child pornography (2002). (Real Marriage, 149)

·         “A total of 69% of all boys experienced first exposure between the ages of 10 and 14 while 68% of all girls faced first exposure from ages 13 and up, and over one-third of those girls, or 39%, never saw porn until after their 16^th birthday. Put another way, 8 out of 10 boys (81%) were exposed to porn before they left 8th grade compared to only half (52%) of the girls.” - Leahy, Porn University, 55.

·          It is estimated that the average US citizen sees or hears 3,000 advertisements each day, many of which appeal to sexuality. - Rosalind Gill, “Supersexualize Me!: Advertising and the ‘Midriffs’” in Mainstreaming Sex: The Sexualization of Western Culture (London: I. B. Taurus, 2009), 95.

·         The largest consumers of porn are teenage boys between the ages of 12 and 17.

·         70% of men ages 18 to 34 visit a porn site monthly

·         1 in 6 women now struggle with a porn addiction

·         50% of pastors regularly look at porn

·         Every second 28,258 people view porn

What is the Biblical problem with viewing porn?

Lust = Adultery

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

(Matthew 5:27-28 ESV)

Rather than drinking from God’s streams of living water, with porn we try to satisfy our thirst with man-made toilets.

for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me,  the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

(Jeremiah 2:13 ESV)

Stop drinking toilet water. 

  

What is God’s warning against adultery? See all of Proverbs 5

Verses 1-2 --- Drink from the living wisdom of God's word

Verses 3-6 --- Lust is alluring but deadly

Verse 7 --- Reminder to listen to God's instruction, drink from His living water

Verse 8 --- Avoid every lustful opportunity, don't play with fire

Verses 9 -14 - The effects of not drinking from God's wisdom are told

Verse  9 - Your honor is given away, years taken from your life

Verse 10 - Your strength is given away, what you have labored to build is given away to another man

Verse 11 - The total wasting away of body and soul 

Verse 12 - You awaken to your senses and are reminded of God's warning

Verse 13 - You beat yourself up

Verse 14 - Your integrity is destroyed in the assembled people of God

Verse 15 - God's living water, his plan for sex. Have it with your wife

Verse 16 - A pointed question. Do you want your wife to be shared with others? 

Verse 17 - The answer. No, you do not want her to be shared with others. 

Verse 18 - 19 - Look at your wife. Enjoy your wife. Let her body fill your thoughts and affections

Verses 20-23 - What happens if you give in to lust and adultery. It ends in death. Death of relationship with spouse. Death in your finances. Death in your spiritual life. 

For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray. (Proverbs 5:21-23 ESV)

More warnings and practical instruction from Proverbs 6. 

Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; none who touches her will go unpunished. People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house. He who commits adultery lacks sense;he who does it destroys himself.

(Proverbs 6:25-32 ESV)

What is God’s will for your life?

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 ESV)

Sexual immorality = "porneia"  

Porneia = All sexual activity outside of the bounds of a heterosexual marriage relationship.

1.  Sanctification – 1 Thess. 4:3 -- We are to be set apart in the area of sexual immorality.

2.   Disciplined holiness vs. out-of-control lust – 1 Thess. 4:4-5

3.   Brotherly Accountability – 1 Thess. 4:6-8 -- There is no such thing as secret sin and Jesus will avenge. 

Practical Advice:

ANTHEM: Fighting Strategies For Lust

• A – AVOID the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire. (2 Tim 2:22; Rom 13:14)

• N – Say no to every lustful thought within five seconds. (James 4:7)

• T – TURN the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction. (Titus 2:12)

• H – HOLD the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out. (Heb 3:1)

• E – ENJOY a superior satisfaction. (Ps 90:14)

• M – MOVE into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors. (Rom 12:11; 1 Cor 15:58)

Resources:

FREE ebook: Porn Again Christian by Mark Driscoll

http://theresurgence.com/books/porn_again_christian

X3Watch: A tool for online integrity and accountability

This tool records questionable websites you visit on your laptop, smart phone, or portable device and reports them to your accountability partner.

http://www.x3watch.com/

"A Tall Glass of Toilet Water"

Bridge Faith Community,

You are part of a culture that spends more money each year on pornography than country music, rock music, jazz music, classical music, Broadway plays, and ballet combined. God tells us that his people tend to satisfy their thirst not by drinking from his streams of living water, but instead drinking from man-made toilets (Jer.2:13). This metaphor is particularly adept in a world where men such as Tom Leykis, Dr. Drew, Howard Stern, and a legion of men’s magazines and porno providers become wealthy by selling glasses of toilet water to thirsty men across our nation, many of whom claim to be sons of God. Meanwhile, the church alone has access to the living water from God’s perfect Word, but largely fails to teach men masculinity in any area, particularly regarding their sexuality.

Join us this Sunday night, April 29th, at 6:00 PM for a special night session called "A Tall Glass of Toilet Water." I will teach on Proverbs 5, Jeremiah 2:13, and Job 31:1 in light of our cultural porn epidemic. On this night we will have a special question and answer session where you can ask any question pertaining to this topic as well as any questions you have regarding our "Real Marriage" series thus far to a panel of men and women.

Women should join their husbands on this evening. Did you know that 1 in 6 women struggle with porn addiction?

There is no childcare for this evening and I do recommend that you secure your own childcare for this night. Please consider joining us. This may be the most important night of your married or future married life.

God bless,
-pastor ben

"Real Marriage" begins at The Bridge Sunday

You don’t need a new spouse; you need to be a new spouse.

This week at The Bridge we begin a new series called, "Real Marriage." For the next six weeks we will look at Biblical marriage, friendship, conflict and our responsibility in view of the Gospel. The Gospel declares that you can have a new marriage with the same spouse; you can defeat Satan in your life and marriage by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 12:11).

Join us this week for, "New Marriage, Same Spouse" as we look at Ephesians 5:21-33.

Series Preview:
April 15 - "New Marriage, Same Spouse"
April 22 - "Friends with Benefits" - friendship
April 29 morning - "Man Up"
April 29 night - "A Tall Glass of Toilet Water" aka the porn path
May 6 - "The Respectful Wife"
May 13 - "Taking out the Trash" - conflict
May 20 morning - "Sex: God, Gross, or Gift?"
May 20 night - "Rid of My Disgrace" aka dealing with abuse

If you are single and considering skipping out on the next six weeks of the "Real Marriage" series to read Lamentations, please reconsider. 9 out of 10 singles statistically will marry. This is great prep work. Also the teaching on friendship, conflict, idols, and seeing how to openly deal with repentance and confession is well worth it.

Also, there are weekly questions for singles in the cell study who choose to go through it.

I love you all whether you are married, once married, or single!

"A Call to Prayer" Follow-UP

Hey Bridge Family, I hope you are enjoying this very warm week! Please make some time to go outdoors on a prayer walk this week.

This past Sunday I shared five lessons involving prayer from our text in Mark 11. They were:

1) Remember - the historical component
2) Trust God - the theological component
3) Believe - the spiritual component
4) Ask - the practical component
5) Forgive - the moral component

I also promised to share a few tips on praying according to God's will. Here are a few tips to help guide your way below.

Remember: Man's highest aim should be to bring glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and this includes praying according to His will. First, we must ask for wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). In asking for wisdom, we must also trust that God is gracious and willing to answer our prayers: “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt” (James 1:6; see also Mark 11:24). So, praying according to the will of God includes asking for wisdom (to know the will of God) and asking in faith (to trust the will of God).

Here are seven biblical instructions that will guide the believer in praying according to God’s will:

1) Pray for the things for which the Bible commands prayer. We are told to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44); for God to send missionaries (Luke 10:2); that we do not enter temptation (Matthew 26:41); for ministers of the Word (Colossians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:1); for government authorities (1 Timothy 2:1-3); for relief from affliction (James 5:13); and for the healing of fellow believers (James 5:16). Where God commands prayer, we can pray with confidence that we are praying according to His will.

2) Follow the example of godly characters in Scripture. Paul repeatedly prayed for the churches he planted and the salvation of others (read the pauline letters). David for example prayed for mercy and forgiveness when he sinned (Psalm 51:1-2). The early church prayed for boldness to witness (Acts 4:29). These prayers were according to the will of God, and similar prayers today can be as well. As with Paul and the early church, we should always be praying for the salvation of others. For ourselves, we should pray as David prayed, always aware of our sin and bringing it before God before it hinders our relationship with Him and thwarts our prayers.

3) Pray with the right motivation. Selfish motives will not be blessed by God. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). We should also pray, not so our lofty words can be heard and we may be seen by others as “spiritual,” but mostly in private and in secret, so that our heavenly Father will hear in private and reward us openly (Matthew 6:5-6).

4) Pray with a spirit of forgiveness toward others (Mark 11:25). A spirit of bitterness, anger, revenge or hatred toward others will prevent our hearts from praying in total submission to God. Just as we are told not to give offerings to God while there is conflict between ourselves and another Christian (Matthew 5:23-24), in the same way God does not want the offering of our prayers until we have reconciled with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

5) Pray with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2; Philippians 4:6-7). We can always find something to be thankful for, no matter how burdened we are by our wants or needs. The greatest sufferer that lives in this world of redeeming love, and who has the offer of heaven before him, has reason to be grateful to God.

6) Pray with persistence (Luke 18:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). We should persevere in prayer and not quit or be dejected because we have not received an immediate answer. Part of praying in God’s will is believing that, whether His answer is “yes,” “no,” or “wait,” we accept His judgment, submit to His will, and continue to pray.

7) Rely on the Spirit of God in prayer. This is a wonderful truth: “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will” (Romans 8:26-27). We have the Spirit’s help in praying. At the times of our deepest depression or sorrow, those times when we feel that we “just cannot pray,” we have the comfort of knowing that the Holy Spirit is actually praying for us! What an amazing God we have!

What assurance we have when we seek to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh! Then we can have confidence that the Holy Spirit will accomplish His work in presenting our prayers to the Father according to His perfect will and timing, and we can rest in the knowledge that He is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).

Quotes on Prayer from some greats of our Faith:

"You may as soon find a living man that does not breath, as a living Christian that does not pray.” - Matthew Henry

"I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” - Charles Spurgeon

"If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” - Martin Luther

"The most important thing a born again Christian can do is to pray." - Chuck Smith

"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees." - Corrie ten Boom

"No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack." - E.M. Bounds

"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees." - William Cowper

"Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." - John Bunyon

“The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.” - Andrew Murray

"As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray." - Martin Luther

“Prayer is where the action is." - John Wesley

Verge Highlights

I traveled to Austin, TX this past week for the Verge Conference. After each day I put into my journal key thoughts that stuck with me. I figured I should share them. Enjoy.

Day 1:

1. We need skilled business men chasing after Jesus
2. Always check the ROI (return on investment) in missions endeavors
3. People are packing into cities globally
4. We are living in a "fatherless" generation
   
5. Church = the family of God in the neighborhood
6. Listen. Receive vision. Respond. Lead passionately. Operate in gifts/talents.
7. Do not miss out on what the eternal God created us to do.
   
8. Labor in prayer
9. Incarnate into your culture, not another. Don't be afraid to create a better culture as well
   
10. Focus on those you want others to imitate. 20/80 rather than 80/20
11. We need to be blessers.
    
12. Who have you blessed this week?
    
13. Love is the only thing that can sustain mission.
14. You must develop a Christ-like agony for people
15. Christians live with a lot of unbelief
16. We must believe the truth of God
17. The Father is relentlessly pursuing you
    
18. There is a hipness in going. Jesus dwelled for thirty years with little notice.
    
19. Vanderstelt -- Stay. Among. Die.
    
20. What will help others perceive the Glory of God?

Day 2 -

1. Ephesians 4:7-11 is needed
2. You are perfectly designed to achieve what you are currently achieving
   
3. Engage in the suffering
4. We can not be on mission without prayer
5. Mission without prayer is works righteousness --- this was my thought
   
6. God can do more than we can
7. Cultivate the life of your own soul
8. Authenticity is the apologetic of our day
9. The church is a family, not an orphanage
10. Lean into the power of the Holy Spirit
11. Create space for the Holy Spirit
12. Disciple makers produce disciple makers
13. Spend time with the few to reach the many
14. Allow the few access into your life
15. Keep asking God for receptive people
16. If you can teach it to a child you know it. If you can't, you don't.
    
17. Prepare a 1 minute testimony. Encourage everyone to do this, practice this, hold them accountable.
18. Questions: Who did you witness to? Who did you train?
    
19. The 8 non-negotiable David Platt teachings... 1) God-centered God. 2) Word saturated ministry. 3) A life changing Gospel. 4) Spirit empowered church. 5) Christ-Driven Strategy. 6) A peoples focused goal. 7) A multi-faceted approach. 8) Death defined commitment
    
20. The great commission can be accomplished.
    

Teaching notes: Christ Centered Worship at Man Up

Here is a peak of my teaching notes on Christ-Centered Worship from the Man Up family night of worship. This is just the form/structure/guide and not everything I actually taught. Maybe you can still pull some nuggets out of it.

Christ-Centered Worship
Man Up Family Night of Worship
Benjamin Durbin
Colossians 3:1-17

Key Truth #1: Everyone worships something

One of my greatest fears is that God would look at our events, our services, and our lives and proclaim this passage from Matthew 5:18

"'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" Matthew 15:8-9

Would he look at us and say they pray, they sing, and they preach for nothing. It is vain. Empty?

The Big Question
What is my heart supposed to be doing so that the preaching and singing is not in vain?
Or
What turns all of life into worship?

The Answer:
Being satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ!

Key Truth #2: Right worship comes from a heart position that magnifies Christ

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." - Colossians 3:1-4

Key Truth #3: When you see your position in Christ, you will worship

1) I died with Christ. vs. 3
2) I live with Christ vs. 4
3) I am raised with Christ vs. 1
4) I am hidden in Christ. vs. 3
5) I am glorified in Christ vs. 4

The life of a Christ-Centered Worshiper
In view of my wonderful identity in Christ,
I seek and set my heart and mind on things above.


Key Truth #4: I am dead, so I put to death the earthly.

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all."

Key Truth #5: The opposite of right worship is idolatry

Worship Distortions
Pleasure
Power
Pride
People

Key Truth #6: I am alive, so I bring to life the heavenly

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:12-16

Note how many things we do TOGETHER in this passage
Note the variety of expressions: teaching, admonishing, psalms, hymns, spiritual songs.

Key Truth #7: Worship is all of life

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3:17

Worship is continuous in the everyday activities of life

We do not simply go to the church for worship. It is just as much about how we live when we are not gathered.

But as continuous worshipers, we do gather ourselves together to continue our worship, but now in the context of our family in Christ.

Key Truth #8: The way to worship is falling madly in love with Jesus.

Worship is responding to God for who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing.

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." - Ephesians 2:1-7