Elohim – The God We Can Trust Series

Those Who Know God Best Worship God Best – Part 1

“Elohim – The God We Can Trust”

(Laura’s part of the sermon)

Intro - Hebrew greeting: Barach Hashem! (Blessed be the Name)

My husband has used the following phrase:

Those who know God Best worship Him Best.

STORY:

About 20 yrs. ago – without job. Winter – cast away in borrowed house – Nelson County – 3 children – “Had God forgotten us?” –

38-yr-old husband – basement – soft weeping – days & hours went by -different sounds – a tune –

To Jesus who has loved us and has freed us from our sins…

He has made us to be kings and priests to serve our God and Father

To him be glory and power for ever, Amen! (Rev. 1:5,6)

More songs – weeping turned to worship – positive self – soon invited to churches – the hours getting to know God and then worshipping, turned bitter experiences into a ministry of blessing others.

Jeremiah 9: Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight….”

In education, wealth and political or military strength – Nothing to boast about -- there is no security.

In knowing God –Something to boast about. – That kind of security leads to praise and worship.

WORSHIP BEGINS, NOT IN A GROUP MEETING WITH A WORSHIP LEADER - WORSHIP COMES OUT OF ENCOUNTER WITH GOD. WHERE GOD MEETS US AT OUR POINT OF NEED.

It’s hard to worship someone you don’t know.

We can be encouraged to worship God, but all the teaching on praise and worship will never make us worshippers.

We have to KNOW him first to be able to call out words that give Him worth.

AND OUR ABILITY TO KNOW GOD BEGINS WITH GOD. He initiates the relationship.

The Spirit, Himself, bears witness with our spirit

I love him because he first loved me.

The father has loved me so I have loved you, Jesus said. (Jn.15:9).

Love each other as I have loved you. (Jn.15:12)

It is God who first revealed himself to us so we, in turn, could know him. And then once we know Him, we are able to worship him for his nature and character qualities.

GRADUAL INCREMENTS:

In the Bible, man’s knowledge of God came from God in gradual increments, usually with names associated with each revelation of God’s character, culminating in the last name we were given == JESUS. (Col. 1:19; 2:19) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.

Jesus said, in John 17:6, 11, to the Father:

I have revealed you (your name) [your nature] to those whom you gave me out of the world. …Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name [your nature] — the name you gave me…..

Jesus said in Revelation 2:17. To him who overcomes ….I will write on him my NEW NAME…..”

What character revelation of God will be revealed – and we will reflect that?

THIS SERIES OF MESSAGES ON WORSHIP

Will begin with GOD’S REVELATION TO MAN. (Man-ward)

And the second part – man’s response through acts of praise and worship. To hillel, barach and so forth. (God-ward)

John 4:2 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship him in spirit and in truth

The truth of who He is.

I. GOD’S NAMES:

A. Why a plurality of names?

[Ask neighbor his/her name]

A name imposes limitations

What one name could adequately convey God to man?

If you give God a name, this implies he is this, but not that.

David – shepherd, warrior, king, prophet, poet, musician

Pastor Qualls – pastor, counselor, husband, father……

[Ask neighbor’s other names they are called – hopefully nice ones]

Historically, our family names are relatively new.

In ancient times, people had one name – a given name.

But to distinguish one from other, we began to add other designations:

MOST FAMILY NAMES COME FROM FOUR PRIMARY SOURCES:

1. Characteristic of individual after he is born:

(sly) John was sly so we’ll call him Fox

(Fast) John Swift

(Sloppy person) John Hogg

2. Location

someone came looking for John. He lives at the water –

John Atwater.

(lives over the brook – John Overbrook

3. Your father’s name. John had a son – oh, Yeah, you’re talking about Johnson or Anderson, etc.

4. Your trade

John Cook, John Carpenter, Smith, Taylor, Falcon (falconer)

Names were given to identify one individual from all others.

Names given to God to set God apart from all others, too.