WORSHIP

“In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them" (2 Chron. 29:3 NKJV).

Hezekiah’s wicked father Ahaz had “shut up the doors of the house of the Lord” (28:24). So as sole ruler of Judah the very first act of Hezekiah was to reopen the doors of the temple. This makes the theme of our verse worship. Hence we want to note the priority of worship, the problem for worship, and the promoting of worship.

Priority of worship – “In the first year of his reign, in the first month.” When Hezekiah became king, one of the first things he did was to pursue the worship of the Lord. Worship was prominent in Hezekiah’s life. Worship should also have prominence in our lives too. Yet many folk are guilty of putting other things ahead of worship. This is wrong; we are exhorted to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Worship of God must have priority over other matters.

Problem for worship – “Opened the doors of the house of the Lord.” Hezekiah faced a problem when he tried to worship. He could not get into the Temple because the doors had been closed by his father Ahaz. Hezekiah not only opened the doors but he also cleaned out the Temple. There will always be obstacles when we try to worship. The devil will see to it that we are hindered from worshiping. However, we must be earnest enough to overcome the obstacles and problems that would hinder worship. We will not worship much if we cannot deal with the difficulties that confront our worship efforts.

Promoting of worship – “Opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.” Hezekiah not only opened the doors of the Temple but he also had them repaired so others could enter and worship. We ought to encourage others to worship by making the church building more accessible and accommodating for worship. What have you done lately to encourage others to worship at your church? Have you helped to make your church building a better place to worship?

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“When we submit to Jesus’ lordship, we’ll give Him our worship!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Disregard (despise)

In Titus 2:15 we read, “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (NASB).

Disregard (despise) is the Greek word periphroneō (περιφρονέω = per-ee-fron-eh'-o). It is made up of two words: “peri” which means around, about, in the sense of concerning or regarding and “phroneo” which means to think, set one’s mind or heart upon something. Literally, periphroneō means to think around and then to depreciate, despise; to think above or beyond a thing, to ignore, to look down on, and to have disdain for. Eventually, periphroneō came to be used almost exclusively in the negative sense of strongly disagreeing with an idea and of treating it with contempt.

In Classical Greek periphroneō is used to mean to examine on all sides, consider carefully, to have thoughts beyond, and to despise. The word only occurs once in the New Testament, here in Titus 2:15. It is also a present imperative with a negative thus conveying the sense ‘stop letting others despise what you are saying,’ implying that this was happening to Titus. He was to convince wrongdoers of their sins so that they might repent and seek God's forgiveness and cleansing. And he was to do all this “with all authority,” recognizing that his authority came from God. Thus he should not allow anyone to “disregard” (despise) him.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah would be called Immanuel, “God with us” (Isa. 7:14)

New Testament Fulfillment – Matt. 1:23.

Bible Facts

The sun goes in a circuit (Psalm 19:6). Some scientists scoffed at this verse thinking that it taught geocentricity - the theory that the sun revolves around the earth. They insisted the sun was stationary. However, we now know that the sun is traveling through space at approximately 600,000 miles per hour. It is literally moving through space in a huge circuit - just as the Bible stated 3,000 years ago!

Bible Quiz

According to the Law, what insects were edible?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: What did God require before capital punishment could be carried out by the Israelites? “The testimony of two or three witnesses” (Deut. 17:6).

That’s in the Bible

"Cover a multitude of sins”

“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8 NKJV).

“Cover a multitude of sin” - The expression “cover a multitude of sins” includes many different items or ideas. The implication here is that genuine love overlooks one another’s faults. It is to forgive offenses against ourselves because the Lord has forgiven us. This does not mean that love ignores, tolerates, overlooks or condone sin. If we love somebody, we will be grieved to see that person sin and hurt himself and others. Further, to “cover” means not to gossip about the sin or spread it abroad. Where there is hatred, there is malice; and malice causes a person to want to tear down the reputation of others. This leads to gossip and slander. Love works as a shock absorber, cushioning and smoothing out the bumps and irritations caused by fellow believers.

Did You Know – Christian History

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud was born February 4, 1840 in Fåberg north of Lillehammer in Norway. He was a Norwegian missionary and language researcher in India. Together with Hans Peter Børresen he is regarded as the founder of the Norwegian missionary organization Santalmisjonen.

As a young man Lars was imprisoned for three years, and during his incarceration he became a Christian and started to study both the Bible and languages. He became one of Norway’s foremost linguists. In 1862 Lars asked the Norwegian Missionary Society to send him out as a missionary, but they turned him down. They didn’t want an ex-con representing them on the foreign field.

After the rejection by the Norwegian Missionary Society, Lars turned to the Gossner Mission Society in Germany. This Baptist mission gave Lars the training he needed and allowed him to go to India where he worked among the Santal people who lived north of Calcutta. By 1890, Santal mission had 6,000 baptized church members. Further, when the Santal tribe were oppressed by their Hindu neighbors, Lars labored not only to obtain British protection for them, but preserved their language by reducing it to written form.

He translated the Bible into the Santal tongue and produced a hymnal using native tunes. He wrote textbooks and even collected traditional Santal myths into a book. The schools that he founded taught farming, animal care, carpentry and other useful skills. When Lars died on December 11, 1910, the mission he established in India has grown to a church with over 150,000 members. In the 1950s it became an independent institution - The Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC).

A Little Humor

Young Eddie was spending Christmas with his grandparents. On Christmas morning the family went to church. While they were waiting to go in Eddie checked all the announcements, and pictures along the walls. When he came to a group of pictures of men in uniform, he asked a nearby usher, “Who are all those men in the pictures?” The usher replied, “Why, those are our boys who died in the service.” Dumbfounded, the young Jonathan asked, “Was that the carol service or the Christmas Day service?”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Salvation causes us to step out of sin’s slavery into security with Christ!”