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Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For the Mighty One is holy, and He has done great things for me. ~ Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:46-47, Luke 1:49)
Worship is the single most powerful force in completing and sustaining restoration in the whole person. ~ Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart
OBS Friends,
We hope you enjoyed the first session, “Prepare Him Room,” of this study celebrating the birth and anticipated return of our coming King! Our prayer for all us in this season is that our hearts would be transformed as we prepare Him room. Were you challenged to make room for Christ in your everyday choices? What did you discover in the last session as you did your Room Review?
As we turn to session two, “Worship Works Wonders,” we’re reminded by Max that we all worship something. The time we spend worshiping the wrong thing is time we never get back to worship the right thing.
What’s so often missed in the Christmas story is how the angels gave Jesus the gift of worship.
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of Heaven — praising God; ‘Glory to God in the highest Heaven,’ they sang, ‘and peace on earth for all those pleasing Him.’ When this great army of angels had returned again to Heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Come on! Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ — Luke 2:13-15 TLB
Give Jesus the gift of the angels gave Him, the gift of praise. — Max
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to give God your worship this week.
Take a little extra time to worship verbally, in community and demonstrably. Let’s make a big deal about the arrival of the King! My daughters and I passed a man on a walk who was worshipping Jesus out loud and with thanksgiving and my heart said, “Yes!”
How about you? How do you spend time in worship this Christmas season? What is your favorite Christmas worship song? We’ll be chatting about worship music in Max’s community Facebook group, so be sure to join us over there!
Photo Challenge
Are you a member of a church worship choir? Do you burst into song while bell ringing for the Salvation Army? Have Christmas carolers visited your front door? Take a photo of an act of worship and tag it #BecauseofBethlehem on social media this week or share it in Max’s community Facebook group!
Prayer for Session Two
God, thank You for sending us Your Son! We worship you with all of our hearts not only for the great things that You have done, but for the awesome, unimaginably loving God that You are. Teach us to sing to You with full hearts and to raise our hands and voices in prayer and thanksgiving saying that You are worthy of our praise. You are our King. We love you. Amen.
3 THINGS TO DO
- Watch the video for session two. Your video is ready for viewing! You can watch it either on DVD or right here anytime now through January 9th.
- If you’re meeting with a small group or in a church setting with others, go through the group discussion and questions for session two in your Because of Bethlehem Study Guide (pages 35-48) — or spend some time thinking about or journaling your answers on your own.
- For your individual activity this week, see pages 50-55 and set aside some time each day for your Advent Practice. Let’s take Max’s suggestion and write a Post-It reminder to ourselves to (1) fix our attention on God, (2) recognize what He wants from us, and then (3) quickly respond to it. Let’s fill our days with worship!
