Doctrine: Worship

God Transforms

CHAPTER 11: WORSHIP: GOD TRANSFORMS Introduction Our lives testify to the fact that we were created to worship. The question is what or whom we worship. Sin is the result of worshiping created things

rather then the Creator, God. God built us to worship him, and when we do, we are most satisfied and filled with joy. Discussion Where do you see worship as a common practice inside and outside the church today? Examination How is worship related to the doctrines of image and Trinity? In what ways does worship express our doctrinal beliefs? What is idolatry, and how is it related to worship? How do we break free from idolatry and begin to worship God in spirit and truth? How does understanding sin as a worship problem change your approach to addressing it? What should true worship do in and through our lives? Application How has your understanding of worship been changed or enriched by this chapter? When do you find it natural to worship, and when is it a struggle? How has idolatry affected your life and the lives of those around you? What does worshiping Jesus look like for you as a lifestyle? How has worship led to transformation in your life? For Additional Study 1) Who or what are your external idols? • Who or what is the lord that rules over your life, determining how you live? • Who or what is your judge? Whose approval are you living to earn? Where do you give the firstfruits of your wealth? Where do you give the firstfruits of your time? What people and things take the majority of your life? • What do you plan and pray for? 2) Who or what are your internal idols? What false beliefs do you hold about God? Which parts of Scripture do you deeply doubt or even disbelieve? Deep down in your heart, whom or what do you love, cherish, treasure, and long for the most? Deep down in your heart, whom or what do you despise and hate the most? Who or what makes you happiest? Why? Who or what makes you saddest? Why? 3) Who or what is the mediator between you and God? Whom or what, other than Jesus, do you use to get closer to God? Who or what, if taken from your life, would cause you to not walk as faithfully with God? How do you define yourself, especially when introducing yourself to others? 4) Where is your functional heaven? When daydreaming about escaping this life, what does your functional heaven look like, and how is it different from the real heaven? On earth, where do you run for your safety or comfort (e.g., the fridge, alcohol, the television, a person, a place, a hobby)? 5) Who or what is your functional savior? • What is your picture of hell in this life (e.g., being single, not hav- ing children, being poor)? • Who or what do you use to save you from what you fear (e.g., a relationship, children, money, shopping, sex)? 6) What good thing has become a god thing? Which idols are in your life that, when appreciated and/or stew- arded correctly, are means of worship but instead have become objects of worship (e.g., work, family, health, friendship, plea- sure, leisure, hobby)? If you could obtain or change one thing or person in your life, what would that be? Which idols are you selling to others?