Heart Meets Mind

At the end of each episode we have talked about how the different aspects of Christian worship like the Trinity, the revelation-response pattern, or the ongoing aspect, impact our personal worship, but also our corporate worship... and especially in the last 3 episodes we have had a heavy emphasis on our personal worship because we talked about attitude, actions, transformation, sacrifice and obedience. I think it is very easy for us to see how those aspects of worship affect our personal worship because they directly involve us…our hearts and our minds. But sometimes, we are not aware that the corporate aspect of worship is as important as our personal worship.

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Discussion Questions:

1. Would you consider yourself a spectator or an active participant at your church? Why?

2. What are some ways you are putting or you could put your spiritual gifts to use? 

3. How has your fellowship with other believers shaped your faith?

4. Thinking back to the beginning of this season, how has your understanding of worship changed?

If you want to access the sources behind these episodes you can visit livingonthealtar.com and go to our Heart Meets Mind page.

The first time the word worship (shachah) is used in the Scripture is in Genesis 22, and its context is a sacrifice. The Lord had asked Abraham to sacrifice his promised son as a burnt offering, and Abraham decided to obey.

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Discussion Questions: 

1. What are some areas in your life that you need to sacrifice in order to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel?
2. What is keeping you from worshiping God in a sacrificially obedient way?
3. Memorize and meditate on Matthew 7:21-23. Then answer, what is the connection between being a disciple of Jesus and obedience? 
4. Why is it important to be an active member of a church?

If you want to access the sources behind these episodes you can visit livingonthealtar.com and go to our Heart Meets Mind page.

Throughout the episodes we have highlighted some passages of Scripture where the issue at hand is worship…the people in those passages either are worshiping God or worshiping idols and God repeatedly warns his people to not worship other gods and teaches them how they should worship Him. Even the first two commandments emphasize God’s calling to worship only Him.

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Discussion Questions:

1. Take some time this week to see what activities are taking most of your time this week. Evaluate the shows you are watching, the music are you listening to, the people you are talking to, and ask yourself, how is this helping me be more like Christ?
2. Read Romans 12 and write down all the actions that serve as evidence of transformed minds and hearts. And ask yourself: how can I apply these verses today?
3. What are some ways that your church’s Sunday service has informed your knowledge of God and impacted the way you live out your faith?
4. How has the word “sacrifice” changed its meaning from the Old Testament and the New Testament?

The psalmist says in Psalm 84:2 “My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” Not only worship comes naturally to human beings, but also worshiping God is where they find their fullness and destiny. The Lord has created us with an innate longing to worship. In the book Unceasing Worship, Harold Best says, “we are…unceasing worshipers and will remain so forever, for eternity is an infinite extrapolation of one of two conditions: a surrender to the sinfulness of sin unto infinite loss or the commitment of personal righteousness unto infinite gain.” The term “unceasing worshipers” means that worship is not something that can be neglected or stopped. Human beings cannot cease to worship, but they can change their object of worship.

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Discussion Questions: 

1. What are some areas in your life that are exchanging God’s truth for the desires of the world?
2. How does this aspect of ongoing worship influence the way you share the Gospel with non-believers understanding that they are worshipers too?
3. If you have some time, read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, and reflect on what is the reason God regarded Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s?
4. What is the relationship between faith and works when it comes to Christian Worship?

If you want to access the sources behind these episodes you can visit livingonthealtar.com and go to our Heart Meets Mind page.

rinity means that God is three in One. Throughout Scripture we have evidence of the oneness of God as well as the three persons of the Trinity and their different Roles. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 explains it this way “The Eternal triune God reveals himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.” This is one of the hardest concepts for us to understand. There are systematic books and other resources available that help us understand a little bit more but it is still a mystery that one day when we meet the Lord we will be able to attain it in its fullness.

But for now, we know that God presents himself in three persons. Each of them have different roles but all of them share the same essence, meaning the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are God. So when it comes to worship, each of the persons of the Trinity has a specific role that without it, we are not able to worship.

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Discussion questions: 

1. How has the role of the trinity informed your understanding of the gospel and Christian worship?
2. How can you incorporate trinitarian language in your prayers?
3. Are both believers and non-believers worshipers?
4. Can you stop worshiping? And why?

You can also find these questions in the description below! We will be sharing recaps of the episode and these questions through our social media platforms and email! So if you haven’t, you can check our website livingonthealtar.com and subscribe. You will also find our social media handle there.

If you want to access the sources behind these episodes you can visit livingonthealtar.com and go to our Heart Meets Mind page.

One of the elements of this definition of Christian worship is response… meaning, Christians do not initiate worship, but they respond to an invitation from God. In John 4:23, Jesus teaches that the Father is the one seeking worshipers. Jesus says to the woman at the well “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”– the Father is the one inviting them to worship the one true living God, and this invitation is done through God’s self-revelation to His people. Throughout Scripture, we learn that the Lord has revealed himself to his people through creation, divine speech, appearances, Scripture, the person of Jesus Christ, and his Holy Spirit.[i] and today, the Triune God reveals his character, his plan of salvation, and his transformational teachings through Scripture. It is through the Word of God that he invites his people to behold his majesty and to worship him in truth. Allen Ross says in Recalling the Hope of Glory , “the greater our appreciation and apprehension of the majestic God who we say we worship, the greater will be our reverence, adoration, and service.”[ii] When God reveals himself, his redeemed people respond with their affections and actions to who God is and what he has done.

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Discussion Questions:

1. How has the aspect of Christian Worship being a response to God’s self revelation changed the way you think about both personal and corporate?
2. When considering the fact that God is self-revealing, can [Christian] worship be effectively facilitated without the Scriptures being read during the corporate gathering? (taken from Scripture-Guided Worship by Joseph Crider)
3. What do you think is the role of the Trinity in Christian worship?

You can also find these questions in the description below! We will also be sharing recaps of the episode and these questions through our social media platforms and email! So if you haven’t, you can check our website livingonthealtar.com and subscribe. You will also find our social media handle there.

If you want to access the sources behind these episodes you can visit livingonthealtar.com and go to our Heart Meets Mind page.

As a celebration of the Reformation, we are sharing with you three original songs that are based on Scripture!   Our Father in Heaven, Let Your Will Be Done, and Our Portion Forever. 

 OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN   by Lina Cole - in collaboration with Cesia Orozco Arr. Matthew Cole  

LET YOUR WILL BE DONE by Lina Cole  Arr. Matthew Cole  

OUR PORTION FOREVER by Lina Cole  Arr. Matthew Cole  Rcopyright www.livingonthealtar.com

Today we will start the series called “A Heart for the Lord.” Today’s episode is a reflection on Luke 10, and it invites us to rejoice in our salvation and have the Lord as our portion.

We pray this testimony is an encouragement for you!

To live a life free of anxiety, Jesus told us to:

Live a life of generosity: When we give to others, let us do it in secret… let us restrain from the need to be recognized so God is the one who is praised and not us… because after all, what we have comes from him.

Live a life of dependence on God: While we are here on earth with our broken flesh, we will struggle and be tempted to sin. This spiritual battle needs to be fought everyday through prayer and time in God’s Word.

Live a life of faithfulness to God: our spiritual life is more important than any possessions we may acquire on Earth. Let us devote our lives to God and be faithful to him, for he holds our worth in His hands.

This is the second reflection on the series "O You of Little Faith" that speaks about our doubt when we turn our eyes away from our Savior!

When you face trials, remember…

Fix your eyes on God, not on the wind: don’t give the power to the difficult situations that belongs only to God.

Remember God’s faithfulness: think of how God has worked in the past and hold on to his faithfulness in the middle of the struggle.

Trust that God is in control: trust that his will is good and perfect for your life.

Why are you so afraid?

That is a question I have to face more often than I would like to. The Lord has been gracious and gentle as He teaches me to not fear and to trust in Him.

I pray this is a blessing for you!