Last week we were challenged to see our whole life as worship.
But when we worship God just on our own, we sometimes run the risk of making God into our own personal genie or an angel on our shoulders.
While worshipping God personally is absolutely crucial for our faith, worshipping God together keeps us focused on the true God.
Week Four
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Day One
PRAY: Spend a few moments in a Prayer of Examen, sharing with God where you have felt close to Him and where you have felt far from Him this week.
REFLECT: Before the printing press, it was really hard to get a personal Bible. You couldn't sit in your room reading one – you might not even find one at your church! The early church created the Apostles’ Creed, which is basically the cliff notes version of the Bible. They would read it together as an act of worship to the Lord.
READ: Spend some time reading through the Apostles’ Creed below.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead,
He ascended into Heaven and sits on the right hand of God,
the Father almighty; from there he shall come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church,
the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
WRITE: In your journal, respond to the prompts below.
Read through the Apostles’ Creed again - make a list of lines or words that you have questions about!
Why is it important that we still believe the same truths about our faith as the early Christians thousands of years ago?
Why might it be important to follow the lead of those early Christians to gather together in community to worship God?
Spend some time writing about the impact community has had on your faith!
PRAY: Close your time today by reading the Apostles’ Creed again aloud. Use it as an act of worship confirming your faith in God.
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Day Two
PRAY: Open your time with prayer, thanking God for the people He has put into your life to help you in faith.
WRITE: In your journal, make a list of people who are encouragers for you in your faith. This can be family, friends, whomever.
READ: In your Bible, or below, read Hebrews 10:24–25.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
WRITE: In your journal, respond to these questions:
When was a time where you felt support or encouragement from the people around you? What was that like for you?
How might community play an important role in our faith journey?
What does it mean to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds”?
What kinds of people make the best partners for the faith journey?
How might you seek to surround yourself more with those types of people?
How does community play an important role in worship?
PRAY: Close your time by listening to the worship song, Here Again, and using the lyrics as a prayer to God.
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Day Three
PRAY: Begin your devotional time by talking to God about where you felt near to Him and far from Him this week.
WRITE: In your journal, respond to the prompts below.
Why do you think Christians attend a worship service every week?
Why don't we just worship God on our own?
READ: Below, read Ephesians 2:16–22 from The Message translation:
Christ brought us together through His death on the cross.
The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility.
Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders.
He treated us as equals, and so made us equals.
Through Him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father. That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles.
This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders.
You belong here with as much right to the name Christian as anyone.
God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what He is building.
He used the Apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now He’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.
We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God with all of us built into it — a temple in which God is quite at home.
WRITE: In your journal, respond to the prompts below.
What stands out to you from this passage? What confuses you?
How does that passage comfort or encourage you?
After reading the passage, why do you think we gather together to worship God?
How does seeing other believers help encourage you in your faith?
PRAY: In closing today, spend some time talking to God about what worship looks like in your life.
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Day Four
PRAY: Begin your devotional time by talking to God about where you feel closest to Him in your life.
WRITE: In your journal, respond to the prompts below.
Where in your life do you feel close to God?
Would you consider those moments or places to be worship, why or why not?
ENGAGE: Take a few moments to watch the storyteller’s video with Bill.
WRITE: In your journal, respond to the prompts below.
What did you relate to from the video?
How can we learn more about God, and about worshiping Him, through other believers?
How might sharing our stories of faith, and listening to those of others, be like an act of worship?
What is something God has done in your life recently, and with whom can you share that story?
PRAY: Spend a few moments thanking God for the specific places you have seen Him work in your life. Ask Him to give you the strength to share those stories with those around you.
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Day Five, Six & Seven
PRAY: Talk to God about how He wants you to love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
WRITE: In your journal, respond to the prompts below.
What questions do you have about living a life of worship?
Where are you challenged or inspired to live differently moving forward?
READ: In your Bible, or below, read Deuteronomy 6:4–9, The Shema (“shih-mah”).
Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
REFLECT: The Shema is one of the most important Old Testament passages as it was (and is) the center of all Jewish belief in God. The Shema calls us to live a life of worship, draw near to God, and to listen to Him. In the passage from Luke from a few weeks ago, the expert in the law is quoting this important prayer.
WRITE: In your journal, respond to the prompts below.
In the passage, God is telling us to live out those commands in everything we do. Would you say you strive to live out those commands in every part of your life? Are there places where you could focus more on living out those words?
What are the “tie them as symbols on your hands” and “write them on your doorframes” of today?
How can you remind yourself to live a life of worship more frequently?
PRAY: Ask God to help you have a new perspective for what worship is and to live a life of worship.
