When You Worship

By

Becky Rene

 

Introduction

 

Hi, I am Becky and I am 16years old.

 

1. This is a lesson for parents who have bible studies with their Christian children and teenagers or teachers who teach Christian children and teenagers and it is for Christian children and teenagers who just want to read it.

 

2. Now, this is what I have seen when I go to worship in our church and when I have been to other churches. I see lots of girls and boys and they do not sing very loudly and some do not even sing at all, when there is a lesson those girls and boys are not listening properly, and during the prayers they are not listening and they have their eyes open and they are looking around all over the place and do not even pray. I do not think girls and boys are very serious because I see some of them talking and giggling and passing notes and stuff like that.

 

3. So I am going to talk about what you should be doing when you go to worship.

 

I. What do we do in worship?

 

"What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification" (1 Corinthians 14:26 NASBR)

 

A. Well, we do all these things…

 

1. We have a sermon – 1 Corinthians 14.3. That is where someone preaches a lesson that tells us what God wants us to do. You are not allowed to interrupt when that person is speaking.

 

2. We have a Bible study. That is where someone teaches a lesson that explains what the Bible says – Ezra 7.10, Nehemiah 8.7. They might be teaching lessons on a book, like 1 Corinthians, or a topic, like worship. You are allowed to ask questions and make comments.

 

3. We have the Lord’s Supper. That is where we remember Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. We remember His sacrifice for our sins. The Lord’s Supper is a time to remember and you have to be very serious about what you are thinking about and you should be very quiet – Luke 22.15-20, 1 Corinthians 11.23-34.

 

a. The Lord’s Supper is a time to remember and you have to be very serious about what you are thinking about and you should be very quiet – Luke 22.15-20, 1 Corinthians 11.23-34.

 

b. If you do not think it is very serious then look at what the Bible says, "But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly" (1 Corinthians 11:28-29 NASBR). If you do not think about what you are doing then you are bringing judgment on yourself.

 

4. We have prayers – Ephesians 6.18, 1 Thessalonians 5.17, James 5.16. That is when we pray for all kinds of things. We have to thank God for making people better, we have to pray for the President, we have to pray for the work we are doing in telling people about Jesus. There are lots of things we need to pray about – 1 Timothy 2.1-3. Jesus even showed us how we should pray…

 

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 'Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 'Give us this day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'" (Matthew 6:9-13 NASBR)

 

5. We have a collection - 1 Corinthians 16.1-2. That is where we pass around the tray and everyone puts some money into it. Now, that money is for helping us to do our work, helping people who are in need of clothes and food, and maybe some other things as well.

 

B. So, that is what we do. When we do these things then we are praising God, getting edification and encouragement, and we are edifying and encouraging one another as well. That is what we are doing.

 

II. Our worship must mean something.

 

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24 NASBR)

 

A. Now, I think there are two reasons you girls and boys are not serious...

 

1. It is because your parents have not trained you properly. Maybe you do not have singing practice at home or have family prayers or Bible study. And maybe they have not told you how important the Lord’s Supper is or taught you about putting some of your allowance into the tray.

 

2. It is because you are being rebellious against your parents and so you are not serious in worship to prove something to them or to get your own back or something like that.

 

B. Now, I do not really care what the reason is but if you want to be a good Christian and please God – 2 Corinthians 5.9 - when you go to worship then you need to listen to the rest of this lesson. If you are not interested in being a good Christian and pleasing God then you may as well leave right now. Now, you girls and boys that want to be a good Christian and please God, listen and I will tell you what you need to do…

 

1. Even before you go to worship it is a good idea to go to your room and pray that God will help you to have the right attitude and be serious and not be tempted to be distracted or anything like that. The Bible says we should pray about things whenever we can – 1 Thessalonians 5.17, Romans 12.12, Ephesians 6.18, Colossians 4.2.

 

2. Whenever you sing songs make sure you are reading those words and that you understand what they mean because that is what the Bible says you must do. But what is very important is that you really mean what you are singing, and if you mean it then sing it loud. You will feel very happy if you do that, you really will -1 Corinthians 14.15.

 

3. Whenever someone is saying a prayer then make sure you close your eyes and listen very carefully to what they are saying and that you understand and then when they say “Amen” then you must say “Amen” and that means that you agree with that prayer. So make sure you agree with those prayers before you say “Amen” - 1 Corinthians 14.15.

 

4. When there is a sermon or a Bible study then make sure you listen very carefully because you need to make sure that what they are saying is true. Look at these Scriptures…

 

"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11 NASBR)

 

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1 NASBR)

 

5. Now then, you girls and boys get an allowance and that is because God has blessed you. So, you need to make sure you put some of your money into the collection tray. The Bible says that each person must give something – 1 Corinthians 16.2. Now one of you girls said, “Oh, how much are we supposed to put in the tray?” Well, the Bible does not say how much of your allowance to put in but look at what it says…

 

"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NASBR)

 

a. You must give bountifully and that means you must give generously. Did you know, in the Old Testament God’s people had to give a tenth? Now God does not say we have to give a tenth today but here are some examples of how much you would give if we had to: so, if you got a weekly allowance of $50 then that means you would put in $5. If you get $20 then you would put in $2. So maybe you can try to decide by that. But remember, we are told to be generous! So, if I get a weekly allowance of $30 then a tenth of that is $3. But if I want to be a cheerful giver and be generous then maybe I will put in $6 or something like that. This is a good passage to read…  

 

"From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?' Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows" (Malachi 3:7-10 NASBR)

 

b. You must give purposefully and that means you must put something in the tray because you want to and not because your parents have told you to.

 

c. So, if you really want to put some money in the tray then make sure you give generously. That is all I can say about how much.

 

6. Now, when we have the Lord’s Supper you must make sure you are thinking about what you are doing and you must make sure you are thinking about why Jesus died for you on the cross. Look what the Bible says about that:

 

"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:23-32 NASBR)

 

III. Loving one another.

 

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11 NASBR)

A. Now, we have been talking about what we do when we go to worship and now we understand all about that.

 

B. But guess what? There are some other things we have to do as well.

 

1. We have to make sure that everything is done decently and in order – 1 Corinthians 14.40.

 

a. Doing things decently means doing things that do not upset anyone. Doing things in order means you must be organized. If things are not organized then everything will be messed up and confused. It is the president that makes sure things are organized but you can help by not being late for worship.

 

b. So, make sure you do not dress indecently or behave in an indecent way and go around upsetting and offending people. And make sure you do not do anything crazy like start singing while someone is saying a prayer because that would be confusing – 1 Corinthians 14.33.

 

2. The Bible says we must “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” – Hebrews 10.24. So that means you must think about how you are going to do that before you go to worship. So, maybe that preacher will talk about how we are to love one another. Now, how do we stimulate one another? Well, here are some ideas:

 

a. Maybe you will see someone who is not at worship because they are sick and so you can say to someone, “Oh, Becky is not here today because she is sick and so we should go and visit with her.”

 

b. Maybe there is one of those old folks who needs her back yard cleared up and maybe she needs someone to get some groceries for her. So you can say to someone, “Maybe we can do those things for her after worship.”

 

3. We have to edify and encourage one another as well – 1 Thessalonians 5.11.

 

a. You can edify and encourage everyone when you sing - 1 Corinthians 14.26. Now, when I worshipped with that church in CA, I saw those girls and boys who were not even singing and I was sad about that but when I found out they were Christians I was very discouraged, I really was.

 

b. After worship, you can say to the preacher, “Oh, I was listening to your lesson and it was very good” and he will be very encouraged. You can go to someone who you heard singing and say, “Oh, I heard you singing and you are a good singer” and they will be encouraged.

 

Review

 

1. When you worship, you must worship with the right mind; you must go because you want to worship God. We have to make sure we listen to the sermon, listen to the Bible study, listen to prayers, give generously into the collection tray, and concentrate on the Lord’s Supper. But it is no good to do those things with the wrong mind, you must think about what you are doing, understand what you are doing, and mean what your are doing because God looks at what you are doing and He looks at your heart and so he will know if you are just pretending - "Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart" (Psalms 44:21 NASBR)

 

2. When you worship, you must not just sit there looking around the place and then go straight home when it finishes. You have to make sure you are encouraging people by letting people see and hear you singing and saying “Amen” at prayers. And you must make sure you are stimulating people to love and good works.

 

Articles by Becky Rene   Bible Study with Harley