Worship and Praise to God

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Why did God create us?

          Revelation 4:11 - his pleasure
          Isaiah 43:7 - his glory
          1 Peter 2:9 - his praise

What does worship mean?

Declaring God's worth/value. Praising him for who he is.
Hallelujah - Hallelu-jah - Praise Jehovah [the LORD, Yahweh]

What is more important - obeying God or worshiping him? [Referring to religious activities, such as "Morning Worship," etc.]

1 Samuel 15:22

Read Psalm 150 [Talk about it.]

How often should we praise the Lord?

Psalm 34:1-3

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What are some ways to praise the Lord?

          Daniel 4:31-36
          2 Samuel 6:11-16, 20-23
          Job 1:13-21
          Acts 16:23-34
          Joshua 5:13-15

NOTES:

For all but the last question: The whole group discussed possible answers. The verses listed above weren't necessarily used, if the teens came up with good answers on their own, without additional "prompting." Psalm 150 was read and briefly discussed.

The last question: The verses for this question illustrate some of the various ways or circumstances in which people have worshiped God. If the group were larger, more verses would have been required. [Note for Joshua 5:13-15: There is some disagreement as to the identity of the "commander of the army of the LORD." Some believe it was a created angel; others that it was a visible manifestation of the LORD himself (sometimes seen as "the angel of the LORD," in the Old Testament). The author of this study chose the second of these options. If you are undecided, or if you believe it was a created angel, you can look for some other Scripture passages to use.]

For this question, the youth were divided into smaller groups, with at least one leader per group. Each of these smaller groups was to discuss one of the Scripture passages given (a different passage for each group), and then report back together, to present something to the whole group. This could be a dramatization, discussion, or whatever they thought would communicate the message.

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Most of the groups focused on drama to illustrate what was described in the passages. One group chose to discuss the concept that was illustrated, and to apply it to a modern setting. Their passage was Joshua 5:13-15, and they focused on the concept "respect" or "reverence." [They focused on Joshua's heart attitude, not the specific method he used.] Here are their notes:

One way to worship God is to worship like Joshua did

took off his sandals

fell facedown in respect

Today we can do this by

Walking quietly into church

Listening when someone is speaking God's Word

Not being distracted

Putting God first