Know Worship

Know Worship

 

The Idea:

For the past two weeks we have opened ourselves up to God through “waking worship” and “seek worship.” This week we are going to go further still in “know worship.”

Knowing God is more than just facts about God or thoughts about Him. Knowing God is intimate. Knowing God is personal. God wants to be known by us but what makes that so special and life-changing is that He already knows us. He knows everything about us and He still wants us to be close to Him.

The Hebrew language has a word for this type of knowing – “YADA.” When the OT tells us that Adam knew Eve, the word “YADA” is used. When Tony Soprano talks about knowing a woman in the “biblical” way, he means “YADA”; even though, he profanes it a bit. “YADA” is the kind of knowing that is experienced. It is the kind of knowing that transforms. When a man and woman knew each other in the bible, it is usually followed by a baby. All of this doesn’t mean God wants to be sexually with us but sexual knowledge is a part of what he knows about us. God’s knowledge of us is deeply intimate, life-changing, in-fleshed (in us), thus transforming us.

You know what is really weird? All of this knowledge happens far away from our brain. It is more than facts and data about God but more about knowing your true Love. It is more than knowing about God. It is being known by God; therein, lays the transformation. (Psalm 139: 1-4).

 

Setup:

“Know Worship” will have four stations: The Psalm Station, The Color Station, The Dramatic Reading Station, and The Music Station. The room for the Psalm and Color Stations should be dark and lit only with candles. Create areas of intimacy with pillows, rich colors, and soft music. The Dramatic Reading station should be in another area so those wanting to do dramatic reading will be able to read out loud with feeling. The music area should be intimate: low lighting and a guitar or two. It should be in another area so the participants can sing or play an instrument.

 

Always have a spot for stillness. Some participants may finish earlier than others and they need a place to just be. This area should be comfortable and have a video going that shows images of Christ with some soft music in the background. It enhances the meditation experience.

 

Provide Bibles at each station and if possible have different translations available. Also have the scriptures you use printed out. Some may take the time to look them up (encourage participants to do this); however, others may be so full of what they want to express it is easier for them to read and ponder.

 

Downloads:

Station Sheets

 

Video

The Stations:

Psalm: Part of knowing and being known is being real. The Psalms are good places for seeing real humans pray real prayers. Often, we think prayer should be polished and perfect or God won’t listen. Not true. Our prayers are conversations with God. We pray when we are happy, mad, mournful, and silly. God wants us to keep it real. He already knows us but he wants us to be real with him. The Psalms are full of real prayers by real people. In their original language (Hebrew), they are earthy and rough. They are not perfectly worded and pretty. They are not the prayers of nice people but they are the prayers of real people.

 

Read Psalm 140. What do you think? Not so nice uh. But it is real. God can take David’s anger at his enemies. He doesn’t strike David down for being so hateful. He knows that David is being honest in their relationship. Can you be real with God?

 

Now read Psalm 139. What do you think about David’s prayer? He is asking to be known. How will that change David?

 

There are some modern psalms and prayers printed here. Read a couple. What do you think? Now take a few minutes and think about what you want to say to God. Be real. Write your own psalm or prayer. Say whatever you need to and in anyway you need to.

 

What you will need:

Have some modern prayers or psalms printed and available at the station. Walter Brueggeman has a great book of prayers called Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth. Have at least one Message Bible at the station. Eugene Peterson purposely translated the Psalms in a rougher style to give one the essence of the prayers in the original Hebrew.

 

Provide smooth paper, textured paper, and colored paper to enhance the visceral experience of prayer. Also, provide calligraphy pens and gel pens for writing.

 

Make the station as intimate as possible with lots of candles, blankets, and pillows. Use rich warm colors or jewel tones.

 

Color: Color is often overlooked when we study scripture but it is everywhere. Many scriptures that use the Greek work for various colors are never translated with the concept of color into the English. For example: Heb. 2:4 – the words “of all kinds” are used here but you could also say “of all shades.” There are times in scripture when a color is mentioned to let you know it is very important to pay attention. For example: Rev. 6:1-17 – Look at how many times a color is mentioned. The colors all represent something monumental.

 

Color is extremely important in our lives. Sometimes certain subjects or certain people can bring a certain color to mind. If I say “Devil”, what is the first color that comes to your mind? If I say “angel”, what is the first color that comes to your mind?

Look at some of the examples of praying with color. Some of the examples use words and some don’t. Now think of people or situations you want to pray for. What color comes to your mind? Use the paper and color at this station to color a prayer. You could write the thing or person you want to pray for and surround it with color. Or you can use only color and no words. Open yourself up to pray with color. Use color as a way to know and be known by God.

 

What you will need:

Provide

Bristol

paper, sketch paper, and watercolor paper. Use mostly small sheets of paper with a few large pieces offered. Keep in mind that only large paper can be intimidating because the participant could feel they must fill the whole paper and it could seem overwhelming.

 

Provide watercolors, water, brushes, paper towels, crayons, colored pencils, sharpeners, graphite, charcoal, and markers. Make sure there is a lot of color. Also provide examples.

 

The lighting should be low with plenty of space for the participants to spread out. Use lots of candles so there is adequate light but intimate light. A few flat surfaces are necessary as well. You could use clip boards, desk tops, or anything with an even, smooth surface.

 

Dramatic

Reading

:

I think Jesus had to be a fairly dynamic speaker. If you look at the story of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes, you find that Jesus kept the crowd captivated for hours. Read Mark 6: 30-44. Do you think he was boring?

 

Sometimes the bible can seem boring to us but it is one of the best ways to get to know God. Let’s try reading the Bible in a different way. There are several readings on the table, some are for more than one reader and some are for one reader. Choose one or two and with your voice make it live. You can work on the reading individually or in a small group.

 

What you will need:

Several dramatic reading to choose from but have them coincide with your theme.

 

Music:

Music plays a key role in all of our lives. Some of us may like it or be more into it than others but we are all touched by it in some way. Music was a part of worship throughout the Old and New Testament. Our music reveals a little about us. It allows people to know a bit about what speaks to us. There are times when our music is to be shared and other times it is very personal.

 

Here are some instances of the importance of music in the Bible.

Judges 5:3 I Samuel 16:23 Jer. 9:17-19 Rev. 14:2-5

Are you surprised? Music wasn’t only for the happy occasions.

 

There are some songs on the CD – listen to them. If you listen to the first few bars and you don’t like it, skip to the next song until you find one that speaks to you. What about the song speaks to you?

 

Try writing your own song. You could write it about what you are experiencing with your senses, or about nature, or about how you feel. Just make it real. You could also put music to a Psalm (try parts of Psalm 27). Maybe you have the tune and not the words or vise versa. It doesn’t matter – it is still a song to God.

 

What you will need:

This station can be outside or inside because both settings are intimate. Have a CD player and a CD with various song types. Also make sure to have a Bible in several different translations available. You could also include a tuned guitar, drums, or other instruments.

 

The Gathering:

This is just a suggestion. Tweak it to make it work for you and your group.

• Play a game that emphasizes getting      to know someone. Ice breakers are      good for this.
• Have everyone enter the worship      room.
• Explain your topic and the stations      thoroughly but briefly.
• Allow the participants to choose      the stations. Give at least 30      minutes for the stations. You may      go longer but only if most of the group seems unprepared to stop.
• Re-gather and allow those who      desire to share what they have experienced. Testimony is an important part of the      experience of knowing and being known.
• Ask them to notice knowing or being      known either by God or another through the week. In other words, how are they going to      make this worship relevant?
• Pray