Are you serious?

What is worship and why we must come to worship, not just see our friends and support our kids?
Who exactly is responsible for exactly what?

Our mission "as the church" not "for the church" is to announce the good news and live in the light of Christ. God should be speaking through us, not just to us.  We have talked at great length in the past about accountability, and obligations.  I agree that each of us individually must assess our role in living out the messages of Matt 25 around social justice, benevolence, and being Christ for those in need.. however I think tomorrow we will be talking more about the role of worship.

Our God is a Holy God and is indeed worthy of our worship and our best. When we come together, and lift our hearts and our minds "in worship" it is not about social justice, or education, or receiving some blessing.. It is about Loving our Heavenly Father and showing our humility and praise through the offering of ourselves, our spirits, our voices, our hearts, and our time.  This is why it is important to be at church on Sunday AM and it is a lesson worth remembering.

Don't miss the Open Door tomorrow.. we will GET SERIOUS!

Outline for Discussion:

1. How do you define value/valuable/special/honor? How do others around you define it?
2. How do you define cheap/shoddy?

3. In a world of "me", what is the value of ritual/discipline/work ethic/perseverance?
4. In your life how/when has discipline and ritual served you well? How about taking the easy way?

Who is accountable for the results, for the perspective, for the process? boss, employee, leader, soldier? To whom will go the rewards?

Why is authentic worship necessary?

Authentic worship, sacrificial, humble, transforming experiences IN God's Love are a critical piece of us as the "priesthood of the believer"
The Holy Spirit lives in us. We are the priests that Malachi is speaking to.. The temple is no longer divided and God is available to us.

It is true that we are charged to be light for the world and that we should be consumed with loving others as God would love them. Social justice and Brotherhood is an imperative of every Christian but it cannot be accomplished unless we first utilize discipline, meet together regularly, worship our Holy Father experiencing grace, love and forgiveness..

Once we have experienced that love and grace we are freed to share it with others.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

--- Marianne Williamson.

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Malachi 1:6–2:9 (THE MESSAGE)

No More of This So-Called Worship!

   ¹ A Message. God's Word to Israel through Malachi: ^{2 -3}God said, "I love you." You replied, "Really? How have you loved us?" "Look at history" (this is God's answer). "Look at how differently I've treated you, Jacob, from Esau: I loved Jacob and hated Esau. I reduced pretentious Esau to a molehill, turned his whole country into a ghost town."
   ⁴When Edom (Esau) said, "We've been knocked down, but we'll get up and start over, good as new," God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, "Just try it and see how far you get. When I knock you down, you stay down. People will take one look at you and say, 'Land of Evil!' and 'the God-cursed tribe!'
   ⁵"Yes, take a good look. Then you'll see how faithfully I've loved you and you'll want even more, saying, 'May God be even greater, beyond the borders of Israel!'
   ⁶"Isn't it true that a son honors his father and a worker his master? So if I'm your Father, where's the honor? If I'm your Master, where's the respect?" God-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling you on the carpet: "You priests despise me!
   "You say, 'Not so! How do we despise you?'
   "By your shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship.
   "You ask, 'What do you mean, "defiling"? What's defiling about it?'
   ^{7 -8}"When you say, 'The altar of God is not important anymore; worship of God is no longer a priority,' that's defiling. And when you offer worthless animals for sacrifices in worship, animals that you're trying to get rid of—blind and sick and crippled animals—isn't that defiling? Try a trick like that with your banker or your senator—how far do you think it will get you?" God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.
   ⁹"Get on your knees and pray that I will be gracious to you. You priests have gotten everyone in trouble. With this kind of conduct, do you think I'll pay attention to you?" God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.
   ¹⁰"Why doesn't one of you just shut the Temple doors and lock them? Then none of you can get in and play at religion with this silly, empty-headed worship. I am not pleased. The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is not pleased. And I don't want any more of this so-called worship!

Offering God Something Hand-Me-Down,

    Broken, or Useless
   ¹¹"I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They're saying it everywhere: 'God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.'
   ^{12 -13}"All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, 'Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,' and when you say, 'I'm bored—this doesn't do anything for me.' You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it's a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I'm going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!
   ¹⁴"A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I'm a great king, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I'll not put up with it!"

Desecrating the Holiness of God

   ^{1 -3} "And now this indictment, you priests! If you refuse to obediently listen, and if you refuse to honor me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, in worship, then I'll put you under a curse. I'll exchange all your blessings for curses. In fact, the curses are already at work because you're not serious about honoring me. Yes, and the curse will extend to your children. I'm going to plaster your faces with rotting garbage, garbage thrown out from your feasts. That's what you have to look forward to!
   ^{4 -6}"Maybe that will wake you up. Maybe then you'll realize that I'm indicting you in order to put new life into my covenant with the priests of Levi, the covenant of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. My covenant with Levi was to give life and peace. I kept my covenant with him, and he honored me. He stood in reverent awe before me. He taught the truth and did not lie. He walked with me in peace and uprightness. He kept many out of the ditch, kept them on the road.
   ^{7 -9}"It's the job of priests to teach the truth. People are supposed to look to them for guidance. The priest is the messenger of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. But you priests have abandoned the way of priests. Your teaching has messed up many lives. You have corrupted the covenant of priest Levi. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so. And so I am showing you up for who you are. Everyone will be disgusted with you and avoid you because you don't live the way I told you to live, and you don't teach my revelation truly and impartially."

Jan & Feb Major themes aren't Minor! Don't miss a single episode of Open Door

The prophets we are studying are referred to as “minor,” but their messages are a “major” component of our spiritual heritage and shape our understanding of God and God’s people.

Jan 24 ---  Malachi was concerned about the quality of worship he witnessed among his people. He noticed that both the priests and the people were bringing substandard sacrifices to the temple. Malachi relayed the message that God was not pleased with the offerings, particularly since the people were giving their best to earthly rulers. This raises the question, “When have I offered less than my best to God?”

Jan 31 -- The familiar text in Micah 6 calls us to examine how our worship is connected to acts of justice. Micah charged Israel with ingratitude for God’s many saving acts and superficial worship. God desired not only their worship but also that they love kindness, do justice, and walk humbly before God. This text calls us to reflect on how our behavior demonstrates the depth of our devotion to God.

Feb 7 -- Habakkuk lived during a time when justice seemed nonexistent in his world. Like others before him, he lamented undeserved suffering. He wanted to know how a just God could allow such suffering to occur. In the last chapter of this brief book, the prophet draws on ancient traditions in which God establishes order in the cosmos.

Feb 14 -- Zephaniah lived during the reign of King Josiah, just before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. This was a time in which the people sinned against God by living outside God’s laws. Zephaniah announced the arrival of the Day of Lord, which would be marked by judgment. But he also spoke about the future national restoration and the return of the nation’s exiles. Even though he pronounces judgment, Zephaniah’s message concludes on a note of praise for God’s redeeming grace.