Class Lesson August 11, 2019

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE

A common cry in our culture is: “I don’t have enough time!” We do live busy lives, but have you ever noticed we find time for what we really want to do?

Such as …

• . . . spending the afternoon leisurely shopping.
• . . . enjoying an evening at the movies.
• . . . going on a much-needed vacation.
• . . . watching TV or surfing the Internet for hours.

Most Americans who “regularly” attend church actually do so only two to three times a month. Unfortunately, even for those who do attend church weekly, the tendency is to limit their worship to just a few hours a week. So, if how we use our time is a statement about what’s important to us, what do our schedules say about the importance of worship?

We’re called to live our lives as an act of worship each day. As we weigh that truth, let’s see the role worship played in King Asa’s life.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

2 Chronicles 15:10-15

10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. 12 They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

In our previous session, King Asa “repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple” (15:8). Now Asa brought the people together for a great celebration. This occasion was likely the Festival of Weeks—also referred to as Pentecost—one of the three annual celebrations that required the people to return to Jerusalem.

The great number that had gathered was only matched by the offering they made to the Lord: “seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats” were to be sacrificed. This offering came from the plunder King Asa and his army had taken in their victory over the Cushites (2 Chron. 14:14-15).

Following the sacrifices, the people “entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul” (v. 12). God had already established a covenant with Moses and the people when they were still in the wilderness (Ex. 19:5-6); frequently in their history, however, the Jewish people failed to keep this covenant of loyal love. Now King Asa and the people made a public declaration—“with loud acclamation” (v. 14)—to return to and renew that covenant.

Our world today doesn’t fully appreciate the importance of a covenant. We make tons of promises that we never keep or even have an intention of keeping, but God does not lie, nor will He abandon what He promises. No covenant has ever had greater significance than the one God has given us through Jesus Christ. Christ shed His blood to bring us into a relationship with the Father. It is truly an eternal covenant.

The people of Judah were not to enter into this covenant lightly. Their worship and celebration of God required them to commit all they had to Him. They were to seek God with all their heart and all their soul—and not just for one day a week or a few times of year. This was to be the way they lived on a daily basis.

King Asa certainly did not take this covenant lightly. He was determined for his people to fully seek the Lord their God, and whoever would not abide by this covenant “were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman” (v. 13). While we may think that’s harsh, the king’s stance emphasized the great importance of living out a covenantal relationship with God.

It surely must have been a wondrous thing to hear the entire kingdom taking an oath together. The people of Judah declared their allegiance to worship God with their lives. While individuals may have renewed their own covenants with God as well, this is the first time Scripture records that the people as a nation renewed their covenant all together. The actions of King Asa and the people show us that authentic worship has two requirements.

1. Worship involves sacrifice. Worship is more than “sacrificing” an hour or two at church on Sunday. While we don’t need to bring hundreds and thousands of animals to the altar to sacrifice, we are to bring ourselves as a living sacrifice to the altar of God.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
2. Worship involves obedience. Speaking words of worship can be easy, but living them out requires action.

2 Chronicles 15:16-19

16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. 19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Asa would not let anything keep him from acting on his renewed covenant to seek the Lord wholeheartedly. He continued to wipe out all forms of idolatry. His loyalty to God ran deeper than even his loyalty to family. He even removed his own grandmother, Maakah, from her position as queen mother because she had also fallen away from following the Lord. Maakah was in a position of great influence, and her pagan practices were encouraging others to do the same.

Scripture does not tell us what became of Maakah. We would hope that after Asa “demoted” his grandmother, she took the same oath the people did to renew their covenant with God. No mention is made of her death, which most likely would have been the course for her if she had not sworn to renew the covenant with God. Some may think this was a drastic way to treat his grandmother, but when dealing with idol worship, we can accept no compromise.

Since King Asa was being so thorough, why did he not remove the high places, the places where pagan worship occurred? He had “removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah” earlier in his reign (2 Chron. 14:5), but their presence years later highlights the persistent pull of our fallen nature toward false worship. It’s possible that, in removing all the idolatry, Asa had repurposed these sites for better purposes. Other scholars note that  verse 17 refers specifically to the high places in Israel. Asa was king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, not the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Although he had acquired some of Israel’s land, he never took his reform further north into these lands.

In spite of this omission, “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life” (v. 17). His commitment to seek after God in all things became his personal quest for the remainder of his life. Asa went to great lengths to restore the things that were taken from the temple during the time of Jeroboam; he committed the consecrated items from his own treasury and from his father’s treasury.

When we look at the life of King Asa, we can’t help but notice that his desire to remain focused on God was his top priority. We too cannot allow any distractions to pull us away from a lifestyle of worship. So how can we make Jesus Christ the top priority of our lives?

• Identify the distractions. We are sinners, constantly tempted to allow worldly things to distract us from where our focus needs to be. Honestly evaluate your life and identify those distractions that continually pop up as you go from day to day. Knowing where the distractions come from will help you avoid putting yourself in a position to be tempted by them.

• Understand to whom you belong. If you are a Christ-follower, you are a child of the living God. He has promised to meet your every need. Nothing that attempts to offer us satisfaction compares with the contentment we receive from God’s provision.

• 

  Pursue godly living at all costs. Seek to live a life that is pleasing to God in everything you do. It may be tough at times, but your ability to live out your life as an act of worship can be a reality when your focus is on Him and Him alone.

LIVE IT OUT

How will you live your life as an act of worship this week? Consider the following applications:

• 

  Memorize. Commit to memory Psalm 105:4: “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” Let the challenge of that verse become second nature to you.                                                                        
• Take inventory. During the coming week, take note of the things that distract you on a daily basis. Beside each item on your list, note practical steps you can take to avoid these distractions.                                                                                                                                                                              
• Share. Talk with a trusted friend about the things that tend to pull you away from wholehearted worship. Ask this friend to hold you accountable to stay away from away distractions and to covenant with you to pray.

Most of us live very busy lives. Too busy. But if we’ll learn to live our lives as an act of worship, we’ll find the right things at the top of our list—and some of the other things falling off the list altogether.

Hope to see everybody this Sunday!


In His Love,

David & Susan

Teacher's Notes:

Quick Review:

Pursue Godliness: How do we do this? 

1. Seek to live a life that pleases God.

2. Remove any barriers to godly living. 

3. Guard against temptations and spiritual attacks. 

If we make God the focus of our life, we will pursue Godliness!

The first phase of his tenure as king included a ten-year reign of peace during which he began a series of reforms to spiritually and militarily prepare Judah for potential future threats and challenges. 

Depend on God: What does this look like?

1. We begin by calling on Him. 

2. Then we must trust Him.

When we truly realize that God is greater than any challenge we face, we will depend on Him more!

The first major challenge came from Zerah the Ethiopian. Asa’s loyalty to the Lord led to a great victory. 

Act with Courage: We are going to have problems in life and this really calls for courage.

1. Each day we need to remain courageous in following God.

2. Our courage can and will inspire and encourage others too.

BE AN "AZARIAH" in someone’s life. Step in with a word of challenge or encouragement. As they face their problems, walk alongside them and remind them of the presence of Christ, that you know to be in your life is also in their lives.

The meaning of the name is “Yahweh has helped.”

Asa did not rest on that accomplishment. Urged on by the prophet Azariah, Asa stepped up his efforts at reform by continuing to eliminate idol worship and undertaking repairs to the altar in the temple. His influence was widespread, for people saw that the Lord was with him. Finally, he called the people of Judah and Benjamin together for some kind of covenant ceremony, an act of rededication and worship.

Worship Continually: Live your life as an act of worship. 

It is common, even among church attendees, to view worship as an event. It is right and needful to gather with others for times of worship, but worship is not limited to those times. Worship should be a lifestyle, something that infuses every aspect of our day. 

When and where does worship come most naturally to you?

King Asa gathered the people together for a time of worship, but his worship of God was seen in the things he continued to do, things that reflected his commitment to God. The day-to-day walk.

2 Chronicles 15:10-15

They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

Authentic worship includes being obedient to the Word of God, giving ourselves whole-heartedly to the Lord’s service, as well as giving sacrificially from the resources He has given to us. 

Giving Ourselves to God: What does this mean?

Romans 12:1-2

A Living Sacrifice

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

· The writer Erma Bombeck wrote, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.’” That’s the point Paul makes in these two verses. He’s talking about using everything God gave him, giving his whole person—his all—to God.

We understand the idea of giving an offering of money at church. We put our cash or our check in an envelope and drop it in the plate. But most of us need some help with the idea of offering ourselves to God, giving our all to Jesus. We can’t put ourselves in an envelope. We can’t climb into the plate when the usher comes by and say; “My offering to God today is myself.” It would be easier to take out our checkbook and double our offering and put it in the plate than it would be to give our all to Jesus.

True spiritual worship is giving ourselves to God continually. Living godly in an ungodly world requires it.

1. Authentic worship includes both sacrifice and obedience.

• Worship is for God’s glory.
• Worship of God includes giving unto Him from all the resources with which He has blessed us.
• We are to have no other gods in front of the Lord God.
• In worship, we commit ourselves to be His people and honor Him as our God.
• Authentic worship calls for the full engagement of our minds and our hearts; it is a matter of volition and devotion, and a time for reflection and rejoicing.
• God honors the heartfelt worship of His people with His blessing.

What does sacrifice and obedience look like in worship today?

2 Chronicles 15:16-19

King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

What could have been one major, personal challenge Asa faced in carrying out his reform? Why was such action necessary? Have you had an encounter with a family member or friend that challenged your devotion and worship of the Lord? How did you handle it?

2. Authentic worship focuses on God alone.

• Devotion to and worship of the Lord may lead us to face challenges even from people close to us, family members and friends.
• We are to demonstrate our commitment to the Lord by ongoing efforts to remove those things from our lives that would dishonor Him.
• Authentic worship focuses on God alone.
• Even though we may falter from time to time, we are still to focus the desire of our hearts on those things that please the Lord.
• God will honor our sincere worship with peace of mind and heart.

How can we incorporate worship into our daily lives (beyond Sunday)?

How is worship part of your daily living beyond just “going to church” or having a “quiet time”? When was the last time you spontaneously worshiped the Lord? 

Board Activity: 

Conclusion: 

When we honor the Lord in worship and live lives dedicated to Him, the Lord will respond with blessing––blessing unmatched, unparalleled, and unavailable from any other source.

For many, worship is “going to church.” Certainly, we ought to gather with the church to worship, but persons can “go to church” and never worship. It has happened to the best of us. 

Authentic Christian worship is a personal encounter with God in which we experience: 

• deepening of faith, 
• strengthening of service, and 
• cleansing from sin. 

It is an intimate experience of the spirit, wherein we come to know the presence of the Holy Spirit, express adoration and praise to God, and affirm our commitments to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Appropriately, someone has described worship as recognition and response. In worship, we recognize God’s majesty and glory and respond with adoration and praise. We recognize His holiness and righteousness and respond with confession and repentance. We recognize God’s grace and love and respond with commitment and service.

God is worthy of our worship because He is God. No other reason is needed. He is the omnipotent One, the omnipresent One, and the omniscient One. He is Creator and Redeemer. No other is like Him. Thus, none other is worthy of worship.

Worship is not limited to a group gathering; neither is it restricted to a particular time or place. Worship can take place whenever the Holy Spirit creates the environment and when a spiritually sensitive person follows the Spirit’s direction. Therefore, the way we live our lives can be a legitimate expression of our worship of the Lord, much as it was for Asa and others in Scripture. This is not a justification for not attending worship services, but it is an acknowledgement that worship is broader than Sunday at the church. 

Consider these suggestions for developing a lifestyle of worship.

• Prepare yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually for a time of worship.
• Make prayer a regular part of your day, not just the quiet time each morning, but throughout the day seizing moments to talk to God.
• Read and study passages in the Bible that model a lifestyle of worship. For example, read from the Psalms regularly, and study Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4, both of which model God focused worship.
• Listen to the Holy Spirit who makes known the things of God throughout the day, if we are only attentive to Him.
• God often “surprises” us with daily manifestations of His presence. Look for them and worship Him.