I Will Enter His Gates

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! Psalm 100:4

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart.
I will enter His courts with praise.
I will say this is the day that the Lord has made.
I will rejoice for He has made me glad.
He has made me glad; He has made me glad.
I will rejoice for He has made me glad.
He has made me glad; He has made me glad.
I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

This Is the Day

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice, we will rejoice, and be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made.

Blessed Be the Name

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! Psalm 113:2

Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord!
Glory to the name, glory to the name, glory to the name of the Lord!
Glory to the name, glory to the name, glory to the name of the Lord!

Behold What Manner of Love

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God...1 John 3:1

Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us.
Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us.
That we should be called the sons of God.
That we should be called the sons of God.

Worship: Gathering with God's People

Last week, we looked at Genesis 28:10-22 where Jacob dreamed of a ladder, and we learned that worship has two parts: God meets with His people to reveal Who He is, and God’s people respond in awe and gratitude. The story doesn’t mention any other people, so it seems that Jacob was by himself as he worshiped God at the place he called Bethel. Today, many Christians worship God by themselves in their “personal devotions,” a time set aside each day to meet with God, read their Bibles, and pray. Family worship is also a wonderful time to meet with God. Families can worship God together in their homes by reading scripture, praying, and singing around the dinner table or perhaps as part of their bedtime routine. All Christians should be meeting with God individually and as families, but God also calls us to come together and meet with Him as the church—the people of God. Today, we want to think about why it is important that we worship God together.

When we come together for worship, we experience God’s Presence. Jesus told His followers in Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” To gather in Jesus’s name, means to gather for the purpose of honoring and obeying Him, which is certainly what we do when we gather to worship Him. Now, you may know that one of the special things about God is His omnipresence, the truth that He is everywhere. So if Jesus, the Son of God, is already everywhere, why would He promise to be with believers who gather in His name? To understand this, let’s look to the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 8, the people of Israel had come together to celebrate the new temple that King Solomon built. We’re told that during their celebration, a great cloud filled the temple, “the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.” When Solomon prayed for God’s blessing on the temple, He called it the place where God has said, “My Name shall be there.” Even though God is everywhere, He used Solomon’s temple as a visible reminder of His presence, a place where He would show the glory of His Name.

The temple was important to the Old Testament people of God, but the lesson that the temple teaches continues to be important in the New Testament. Ephesians 2:19-22 says that Christians, “are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Since Jesus ascended back to heaven, God no longer uses a building as a visible reminder of His presence and glory. His presence and glory are seen in His people; we are His temple. So, when we gather as the people of God for worship, we experience His presence and His glory.

When we come together for worship, we grow in faith. The book of Hebrews was written to Christians who were being pressured by family and neighbors to give up their Christian faith. In Chapter 10 verses 19-24, the writer of Hebrews told those believers to hold on to their faith with three “let us” statements: “let us draw near” to God; “let us hold fast” to our hope; “let us . . . stir up one another to love and good works.” In verse 25, he tells them how they can do those three things: by meeting together for worship. By meeting together for worship, they are drawing near to God, entering His presence to receive His revelation and offer up their praise. By meeting together, they learn more about the gospel and the hope they have in Christ, so they can hold on to that hope even when times are hard. And by meeting together, they can show their love for each other and encourage each other to live lives that please God. Like those Hebrew believers, we grow in faith, and we help others grow in faith when we gather for worship.

When we come together for worship, we join the heavenly assembly in worshiping God. These days, many adults are working from home, and many students are learning from home. Through the internet, people can attend the same meeting or the same class even if they’re in different places. We might think of the worship of God as being one, big meeting between God and His people. Even without the internet, believers in different places participate in worship of the one, true God. The author of Hebrews makes this idea even more wonderful when he says in Hebrews 12:22-24, “you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” When we worship God, our praise is joined not just with the people worshiping in the church down the street or across the tracks, but with the praise of every believer in every time and every place and with the angels themselves who worship before God’s throne! Edmund Clowney has said, “In worship, even now while here on earth we join the saints and angels in the festival of glory. . .God’s assembly stands in his presence; to be the assembly—that is to be the church—is to worship God together.”

Christians should worship God in private and with their families. We must also join with God’s people, the church, to worship Him whenever we have the opportunity. When we gather for worship, we experience his presence and glory, we grow in our faith and encourage others, and we unite with the saints and angels in glorifying God.

Activity: God's People Are the Church

When we hear the word “church,” we usually think of a building. But when the Bible uses the word “church,” it means the people who belong to God. The Bible does use the image of a building to teach us what it means to be part of God’s church. Read these two scriptures and talk about how God’s people are like a building.

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:4-5

Ideas

Buildings have a cornerstone to guide the laying of the blocks for the foundation. The church’s Cornerstone is Jesus.

Buildings have foundations to make them strong and sturdy. The church’s foundation is the teaching of the apostles and prophets.

Buildings are made of individuals bricks all joined together. The church is made of individuals all joined by faith in Jesus.

Build a church

You’ll need some building blocks or other materials you can build with (even paper cups), some labels, or paper and tape.

Use your Bible to find the names of some apostles and prophets. See Matthew 10:2 for a list of apostles, but leave out Judas Iscariot who was not a true follower of Jesus.

Use labels or paper and tape to put those names on some building blocks. Put the name of Jesus on one block.

Put the names of famous Christians in history and names of Christians you know on other blocks.

Use the Jesus block to be the cornerstone. Build away from it in two directions to form the foundation using the apostle and prophet blocks.

After your foundation is complete, build up on the foundation using the blocks with the names of believers on them.

Remember, the church is not a building; the church is God’s people!

Hymn of Worship: “Come, Christians, Join to Sing”

Christian Bateman, a Scottish minister and hymn writer, wrote a Sunday School song, “Come, Children, Join to Sing.” Over time, the title was changed to “Come, Christians, Join to Sing” because adults enjoyed singing his hymn too. Each verse of the hymn gives us another reason to praise Christ. First, He is our King who graciously accepts our praise. Second, He guides and befriends us, condescending (reaching down) to us in love. Finally, He gives us eternal life, so that we can continue to praise Him even when this life is ended.

“Come, Christians, Join to Sing”

God has invited His people to meet with Him. When we worship, we are accepting that invitation, and when we sing this hymn, we are encouraging other Christians to accept their invitations too.