We are a few weeks into a new series on “Becoming Like Family”.  This is important as our online community begin to share the daily challenges with friends, and we begin to gather our larger community together as one church community.  We won’t be bound together by a building, or institution, but rather by five commitments.  Two weeks ago, we explored commitment to common learning goals.  Last week, we explored a commitment to connectedness as a community of small and large groups.

This week, our commitment is to God in worship.  Worship is not a word everyone uses every day, and even if we do, we might not sure what it means.

Does it mean to bow down and say I’m not worthy?

Kids “just worship” their parents, older siblings, etc. is that what it means?

Or if you have church experience, you might think worship is something you do at a weekly service, or even just the music part of that weekly service.

Did you know the official way to address Rob Ford is “Your Worship”?

As you can see, there is some confusion on what “worship” means.

Question: What do you think of when you hear the word worship?

Reminder: Earlier in this series, we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - June 13, 2013

Thursday - Act On It - Needs

We are encouraged to prayer persistently and confidently for alignment with God’s will. Persistent Jesus spoke about prayer this week in the present, not past tense. It sounds like prayer is meant to continue, not simply be a one time event. This is not because God needs convincing, controlling, bribing. It’s to help us learn to adjust ourselves to God’s timing. Confident We are not to pray as people distant from God, but out of relationship with a loving parent, where we are learning to know and trust his will. Reliant on God’s will The best prayers end with “Thy will be done.” When our prayers line up with God’s will, they are working as intended. We could illustrate this with a compass. A compass works best when it’s allowed to swing freely and line up with Earth’s magnetic field. We can prevent this by holding the compass needle backwards, but it takes energy, and when we let go, we see it was all in vain as the compass needle returns to neutral. When our prayers don’t line up with God’s will, they are fighting an irresistable force, but our prayers are best when we tell God what we want and need, but are willing to let go and let him lead us. Prayer is about learning to point toward God’s will, rather than forcing him to point our way. Challenge: Think of and share an area in your life where you are being called to persistent, and confident prayer for God’s will? Ask a friend to pray with you. And tomorrow we’ll practice again. 

Related Topics: Needs, Prayer | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

From Series: "Sermon on the Mount"

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