Move: Week 4

Devotional

Over the last 4 weeks we have talked a lot about what worship is and what it isn’t. We have learned from Abraham and Isaac’s story that worship is obedience and trust. When you are walking in obedience, taking God’s word seriously and trusting Him. That is the truest, most pure act of worship you could give to God. God is glorified by our obedience.

Not only that but right before Rally we learned from the worship team, the value of worshiping with music. We learned that worshiping in a church service is not just something we do to kill time but it is an important part of our walk with the Lord. The songs we sing build our faith, draw us closer to God, and most importantly it is an opportunity for us to focus our hearts and minds on how good our God is. That’s why it is so important to take it seriously. When we sing it’s not a concert or a dance party, it’s something bigger than that. It is your moment to give glory and honor to God. And to surrender parts of your life to Him. That is why we raise our hands in worship, to symbolize putting our trust in Him.

This past weekend as we finished up our worship series we saw the power that worship has against our enemy. In 2 Chronicles 20 we see one of the most unique battle strategies I think anyone has ever seen.

21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 23 The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.

The crazy thing is this strategy worked. These people went into battle praising God and because of that God fought on their behalf. Once again going back to our first few weeks of the series, think about how much trust it took for them to obey God here. I know I would have really struggled with that. But God came through and in this story we learn a valuable lesson.

Worship is an act of war.

Every time you get to worship, whether it is Sunday morning or at rally or one night or even in your car you are sending the enemy running. When you truly worship with your heart and give glory to God. Satan runs the opposite direction. It is one of our most powerful weapons. You need to use it. You need to learn to use it. We talk about prayer and scripture all the time as a way to fight the enemy and a guide through life, but too often we forget about the power of a worship song. Don’t let that be the case for you. When you are struggling. When you need to be reminded of God’s goodness and power. When you feel like you are in a losing battle. Take it to the Lord in worship and see what He does. Put on a song and pray and sing the lyrics and really think about what you are singing. Use worship as a weapon and watch how it changes the atmosphere around you.

That's what Jehoshaphat did and they won the battle. And look what they did after they won.

27 Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. 28 They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets.

Worship is not just an act of war

Worship is a celebration of victory.

And we have a lot to celebrate. When you worship you are celebrating what Jesus did on the cross. You are celebrating the people you know who have given their lives to God. You are celebrating the miracles that God has performed and will perform in your life. You are celebrating the fact that no matter what life throws at you ultimately you can have hope, you can trust that the Lord is in control, He has already won the war.

I want to give you one final reminder about worship before we close out this series.

Worship is eternal.

There are a lot of things that we do here on earth that won’t translate into eternity. But worship is the universal language. It goes beyond time and culture and we will be worshiping God for the rest of forever. So when we worship now on earth think about how beautiful it is. We are part of something that has been happening since the beginning of time and will continue to happen long after Jesus comes back. Use worship as an opportunity to remind you of the hope of heaven. An eternity in the presence of God with no more pain, no more anxiety, no more bullies, no more embarrassment. Worship God to remind yourself of that.

GAME

THE SALTINE CHALLENGE

SETUP: n/a

Directions:

A stage game where different leaders will be competing against other students.

The first person to eat three saltine crackers and then whistle, wins.

They are keeping the saltine crackers in their mouths, they aren't eating them all but merely chewing them down to where they can whistle.

Leaders/Volunteers/Students who play must have the ability to whistle.

This can be done with multiple rounds, if a student or leader loses they are to get off the stage and let the next person come on and go against the next person.

Small group questions

1. What is your favorite christian song? Why?
2. How would you have felt in Jehoshaphat’s army if you were asked to go in with worship instead of weapons?

3.Why do you think worship is an effective weapon against our enemy?

4.Does it matter how we worship? Or can we do whatever we want and call it worship?

1. What does true worship look like? (help students understand that it's a little different for everyone but the heart posture is most important)
2. What do we mean when we say worship is a celebration?
3. What are some good things in our lives we can celebrate?

Moving forward

Take some time to answer any questions your group may have about worship. Discuss together some worship songs you can all play this week to remind you that the battle belongs to the Lord and you can trust that He is in control.