Preparing our Hearts to Worship

Preparing our Hearts to Worship

Preparing our Hearts to Worship

In an effort to help you prepare for the Sunday morning corporate worship gathering and to aid you in your own reflections about church health and vitality, I wanted to pose a few questions and provide a few resources to prayerfully consider over the coming days. Our sermon is about the need for Heartfelt worship and the scriptures below are all referenced in the message.

From the Scriptures

  1. Read and prayerfully reflect upon these Scriptures asking God to shape your life and your church’s life to match the Scriptures: Psalm 138, Deuteronomy 17:18-20, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Hebrews 11, 1Corinthians 14:26, Psalm 95:6

From the Creeds and Confessions

  1. Read and reflect on the Westminster Confession of Faith’s statement on religious worship, Chapter 21

From the songs, hymns and spiritual songs of the Church

  1. Sing and reflect upon these songs:
    1. Here I am to worship: Lyrics, Video
    2. Create in me a clean heart: Lyrics, Video
    3. A Congregational Lament (PH 576)
    4. My Heart belongs to You: Lyrics, Video

For Thoughtful Reflection and Prayer

  1. Consider this quotation from the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible: ““Throughout the biblical period listening to God’s Word, prayer, and sacrifice constituted the essence of worship.”[1] How does your life display these three things each day?
  2. List as many actions or activities that are involved in worship. Do you avoid certain worship activities? If so, why? How might your worship of God grow if you were to step out of your comfort zone and engage in a new way for this week?
  3. Write our a prayer of confession for specific sins committed this week and Thank God for Jesus’ blood which washes away all our iniquity.
  4. Write out a prayer of lament for the injustices, hardships and difficulties that you long to be removed from this world and ask God to bring his kingdom.
  5. Pray a prayer of thanksgiving or adoration for who God is and what He has done for you this week.
  6. Derek Thomas’ The Regulative Principle of Worship

 

 

 

[1] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 2164.

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