As First Baptist Church, Killeen, transitions what think to how we act in our study of BELIEVE, we have just finished ten weeks of study on
what we believe. In other words, we have been putting on the mind of Christ. Being a
Christian and becoming like Christ is a change of our spirit which impacts our soul (our minds, our hearts,
our beliefs) which will affect our bodily behavior and our inner being.
We now transition from part 1, what we believe, to part 2, how
we behave. Being a Christian is transformation from behaving less and less like
the world and becoming more and more like Christ. We are, as 2 Corinthians 5:17
says, a new creation, the old things have passed and new things have come. Ephesians
4:23-24 says we put on the new man with a renewed spirit of the mind.
Colossians 3:9-10 says we put off the old anthropus
and put on a new “humanity”. Elsewhere, Paul says the outer self is
decaying but the inner self is being renewed (2 Corinthians 4:16). Acts 19:2
says we receive the Holy Spirit when we believe while 1 Corinthians 2:16 says
we have the mind of Christ.
How we “act” in accordance to Christ will answer the
question, "How can we be relevant to the world and to the Killeen area?" The
foundational area of our actions begins, not with ourselves, but with our
worship of God.
Below is a devotional which comes from Zondervan to help
prepare us for Part 2 of BELIEVE, which studies our practices of being a
Christian.
Chapter 11: Worship
KEY
QUESTION:
How do I honor God in the way he deserves?
Worshiping God for who He is and what He has done for us can
be expressed in many different forms and diverse environments, but it’s the
heart behind the actions that matters to God. Throughout Scripture we see how
God’s people worshiped Him on towering mountaintops, inside homes with dirt
floors, at a lavishly adorned temple and in dark prisons. They demonstrated
their devotion to God with singing, dancing, sacrifices and public and private
prayer. What’s most important to God is not the way that we choose to worship Him,
but the motivation that directs our actions.
The Heart’s Intent
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care. (Psalm 95:1-7)
When God calls us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, He is demanding that we hold nothing back from Him.
KEY
VERSE
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to
the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol
him with music and song. (Psalm 95:1–2)
KEY
IDEA
I worship God for who he is and what he has done for me.
KEY
APPLICATION:
What difference does this make in the way I live?- We daily acknowledge God for who he is and what he has done for us.
- We worship God, privately and corporately, with the songs we sing, the words we speak, and the way we live our lives.
- When we attribute worth to God as a child of God, unmerited worth is attributed to us.
YOUR
TURN
With what behaviors and attitudes of the Pharisees did Jesus
take issue? (You’ll find some ideas in Matthew 23:1-28.) Join the discussion.
Use hashtag #BelieveTheStory
