Faith

Pillars and Practices // Praise, Worship, and Prayer

Both Praise and Worship are in Part:

Reverence (Awe)

Recognition (Awareness)

Revelation (Awakening)

Response (Action)

Hebrew Words

Yadah

Psalm 44:8 (NIV)

“In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise (yâdâh) your name forever.”

Towdah

 Psalm 56:11-12 (NKJV)

“In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?...I will render praises (tôwdâh) to you.”

Zamar - To make music. To celebrate in song and music. To touch the strings.

Psalm 144:9 (NKJV)

“I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings, I will sing praises (zâmar) to You.”

Psalm 21:13 (KJV)

“Be exalted O Lord, in Thine own strength, so will we sing and praise (zâmar) thy power.”

Barak - To kneel. To bow down. To salute. To thank.

Psalm 103:1 (NIV)

“Praise (bârak) the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being praise his holy name.”

Shabach - To address in a loud tone. To shout. To commend, glory, and triumph.

Psalm 145:4 (NKJV)

“One generation shall praise (shâbach) your works to another.”

1 Samuel 4:5 (NLT)

“When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord coming into the camp, their shout of joy praise (shâbach) was so loud it made the ground shake!

Tehillah - Derived from the word halal and means "the singing of halals, to sing or to laud; perceived to involve music, especially singing; hymns of the Spirit or praise.

Psalm 22:3 (NASB)

“Yet you are holy, and you are enthroned upon the praises (tehillah) of Israel.”

Isaiah 61:3 (NASB)

“To grant to those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The garment of praise (tehillah) instead of the spirit of heaviness, So they shall be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Halal - Means "to be clear, to praise, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish."

Psalm 113:1-3 (NKJV)

“Praise (hallal) the Lord, praise (hallal) all you servants of the Lord, praise (hallal) the name of the Lord.”

Psalm 150:1 (AMP)

“Praise (hallal) the Lord! Praise (hallal) God in His sanctuary; Praise (hallal) Him in His mighty heavens.”

Psalm 149:3 (NKJV)

“Let them praise (hallal) His name in the dance: let them sing praises with the timbrel and harp.”

The Hebrew word most often translated as worship is Shachah - to bow down or to be prostrate; it’s used over 170 times in the Old Testament.

Exodus 34:8 (NIV)

“Moses bowed down and worshipped.”

The Greek word most often translated as worship is Proskuneo

Matthew 28:9 (NKJV)

“And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him.”

John 4:24 (NKJV)

“God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Revelation 5:14 (NKJV)

“Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever.”

These are Biblical, not just cultural or denominational, and they all have their place and time.

As much as a people of Praise and Worship, we need to be a People of Prayer.

Prayer as an Expression of Worship:

An Expression of Worth

Of Reverence

Of Gratitude

Of Dependence

Of Expectation

Lord Teaches Us How to Pray:

Our Father in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Your kingdom come

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven

Give us what we need for today (our daily bread)

Forgive us as we also forgive others (submission to God’s work in me and through me)

Lead us not into temptation/testing (lead us from temptation)

But deliver us from the evil one

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication

Types of Prayer:

In the moment - Nehemiah 2:4-5

Extended - Daniel 10 - 21 days

Prayer with fasting - focus and prioritizing

What about tongues?? Read 1 Cor 14:1-19

Prayer is Both Individual and Communal or Interpersonal:

When you pray, go into Private Space

Pray for One Another, Bear One Another’s Burdens

This Tuesday Night and every first Tuesday, Prayer Night - Cards Available

Pillars and Practices // Gather Together and Participate

Hebrews 10:23-25 (NLT)

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.  Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

Galatians 5:20-21 (NIV)

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

What does it truly mean to love God the way He desires? In this powerful message, Pastor George Morrison, former lead pastor of Faith Church in Arvada, Colorado, unpacks three life-changing ways we are called to love God:

- Love God in Totality

- Love God as a Priority

- Love God Exclusively

Transformed By Love // “Love Is”

How can we, as a church and as individuals, live in our community in a way that reflects the grace and kindness of Jesus?

But What Is the Love of God?

Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV)

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Agape - noun used 18x = benevolence, goodwill, flowing from God’s charter.

Agapáo - verb used 28x = The proof of love.

Love Is + Love Does

God is Love

What is the Love of God Like?

His Love Appears First

1 John 4:19 (ESV)

“We love because he first loved us.”

His Love Cannot be Earned

1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” - Timothy Keller

His Love is Proven by the Cross

Romans 5:6,8 (ESV)

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 3:16-17 (NIV)

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

His love is revealed by the Holy Spirit

Galatians 1:11-12 (ESV)

“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV)

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

“Holy Spirit, Give Me a Revelation of Your Love, I Need It!”

Finding Jesus in Unexpected Places  //

The Woman Caught in Adultery

John 8:1-11 (NLT)

“Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. ‘Teacher,’ they said to Jesus, ‘this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?’ They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, ‘All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!’ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, ‘Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’ ‘No, Lord,’ she said. And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’”

Matthew 7:3-5 (NLT)

"And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye."

Ephesians 4:32 (NLT)

“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

Colossians 3:12-17 (NLT)

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

Finding Jesus in Unexpected Places // Women with the Blood Issue

Finding Jesus in Unexpected Places // Finding –

The Samaritan Woman at the Well

John 4:1-42 (NIV)

“Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he. Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

Deuteronomy 25:5 (NIV)

“If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.”

Mark 12:18-23 (NIV)

“Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

John 4:27 (NIV)

“Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

John 4:27 (MSG)

“Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.”

Jesus not only walked through cultural barriers, but he also walked through racial barriers. 

Jesus not only walked through cultural barriers and racial barriers, but he also walked through religious/traditional barriers.

John 4:20-24 (NIV)

“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

Jesus brings the focus from the practice to the purpose.

John 4:10-14 (NIV)

“Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” 

Revelation 22:17 (NASB)

“Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”

Finding Jesus in Unexpected Places // Jesus the Winemaker

John 2:1-5 (ESV)

“On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” 

John 2:6-12 (ESV)

“Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.’ So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.”

John 21:25 (ESV)

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

Isaiah 25:6-9 (ESV)

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

2 Corinthians 3:15-18 (ESV)

“Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Jesus’ Actions…

Honored Others 

Announced His Kingdom 

Provided Joy

Finding Jesus in Unexpected Places // At the Disciple’s Feet

Matthew 20:28 (NIV)

“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

John 13:1-17 (NIV)

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus answered, ‘Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.’ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.’”

Mark 9:34-35 (NIV)

“But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Mark 10:45 (NIV)

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Luke 22:21-27 (NIV)

“But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!”  They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.  For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.’”

Mark 4:9 (NIV), Matt 11:15 (NIV)

Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Some Keys to Servanthood:

1.     Serving like Jesus means we move in humility, take action on behalf of others.

Phil 2:8 (NIV)

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death.”

2.     Serving like Jesus means we engage compassionately.

Matthew 9:36 (NIV)

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

3.     Serving like Jesus means we must serve graciously.

Luke 6:35 (NIV)

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

            Galatians 5:13 (NIV)

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

4.     Serving like Jesus, we must take time for people.

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.”

Let your doing be done for the sake of the doing, not to be seen!