>>"Our Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy." Psalm 145:8. No wonder we have assembled this day to Lord magnify His wondrous name. And let me welcome each of you to The Living Word program, on this glorious Lord's day morning. How wonderful it is to know that you have chosen to put God first and to get this time to assemble before His throne, and to do those things as He has asked, according to His will. And as always, it'll be our privilege to offer sacrifices to God this morning, with the fruit of our lips as we sing praises to God, as well as to the study of his perfect word. However, may we each do our part to ultimately see that we praise our God and that we do all things as He has asked; that we might always be found in His side as proper. And as we begin our worship, we also have the opportunity to speak with our God in prayer. Will you bow with me at this time before His throne? Our God and Father in Heaven, we are thankful for again, another day of life, the privilege that we have this day. To worship You and to do all in spirit and truth, as You have commanded. Help us to be proper before You and the fact that we are Your followers, Your faithful children. That we have obeyed Your gospel and therefore our offering to be according to what we learn and read of in the Bible. Father may we grow every day to know more about You and Your will that we might be obedient. And help us in the end to receive the great promised reward of a mansion in Heaven, that has been prepared for those who are faithful. And again, we thank You because we know these things are only possible through the greatest of all gifts, Jesus Christ. And in His name we pray. Amen. This morning, let me take just a moment to encourage you and to thank you all who watch our program on a regular basis. We're thankful for those, not only in Missouri but also Arkansas, and even out in Kansas, who watch our program on a regular basis and who join us to hear God's word and worship according to His will. We thank you again for doing such and we appreciate you all, and would encourage you to continue with us each and every Lord's day, as we do those things that are according to God's will. But as for now, we want to join in our first song in the morning, that will help us to no doubt again praise our God, as we are reminded of the greatest of all sacrifices ever made for our sake. Won't you join with a congregation at this time as we sing together, There is power in the blood.

>>In the Bible, we learn of many things which bring joy to and to which actually cause us to know how to please our God. One such thing, is again found in the book of Psalms. There in Psalm 133:1, David proclaimed, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Doesn't this just make perfect sense? I want us to remember what Jesus Himself said about unity it, and what we often refer to as His prayer in John 17. Beginning there in verse 20, we read, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word. That they all may be one as You Father are in Me and I in You. That they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one. You see our God desires that we are one with Him, just as He is one. This means that we are to be completely unified, in spirit and true, striving to remain in unison and harmony concerning those things which we find as doctrine and teachings within the word of God itself. Those things given to us by Christ Himself. A final and familiar verse, which we will mention is found there in Ephesians 4:3. There Paul speaks to the church of Ephesus and encourages them in this way, "Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace." Noticing here, the concept of unity and clarifying that the Holy Spirit is the key. And being able to have that unity, because we know the will of God and obeyed according to what we have learned in the Bible. Therefore, we are able to not only be encouraged, but to know that we are in encouragement to others and even God, because we are faithful in what we do and say and we are striving to be unified and not compromising. With these things in mind, then we must understand that God is the standard. God is referred to as the light. And therefore, as we read in 1 John 1:7, we have fellowship with the light when we remain in Him and do those things that He has asked according to His will. Thus, once again being found pleasing in his sight. So the question we must consider, are we striving to achieve the unity that Christ taught in his word, the Bible? And why shouldn't we desire that? Why shouldn't we strive for that? Understanding that this is a important command that our Commander and Chief, Himself, our Head and Savior and King gave us, the Lord, Jesus Christ. Are you one striving for our unity today? This morning we will again, continue our series which is entitled, Privileged to Worship. Our specific lesson of the day is entitled, Worshiping God Through Teaching. So please stay with us this morning. And then after our next song together, I'll be leading us in these main thoughts of the day. Now, time to join in that second song of the morning. The name of the hymn, He Is Able To Deliver Thee.

>>We're so glad you've continued with us this day, as we go to God's word and have the opportunity to study it in relationship to our worshiping God. And you might note from the last several weeks that we've not only considered together, what worship is, but we've also looked last week at the idea of worshiping God and spirit and truth. And so beginning today, we actually want to go to the New Testament and begin to understand what are those aspects of worship. Because as we study the New Testament, what we find is that there actually are five different acts which God requires, within what we refer to as our formal worship. When we collectively come together as the church, we have not only commandment, but example of those things the early church did as they assembled. Now, this shouldn't be strange to us because we can go back to the Old Testament and we can go back to even to different ages which are revealed to us in the Old Testament. And we can see that the same was the case. We find, for instance, in Genesis 4, that Cain and Abel were bringing offerings and sacrifices to God. And why were they doing that? To worship Him. Later, around chapter 22, Abraham was going to go over yonder and worship with his son. And if you might recall, he was taking wood for the altar and actually his son was going to be the sacrifice. So they understood under the patriarch age, that there was a way to worship. A acceptable required way and an avenue. A need to focus on God, a certain place it seems they would go. And the same was true as we move on to the Old Testament in reference to what we call sometimes, the law of Moses overall. That's every book really, after the book of Genesis. And as we looked then at the Old Testament law or the period of the mosaic law, as we might also refer to it. We find that they also worship God. The children of Israel would often be called together, as in Exodus 19, for what is referred to as a holy convocation or a holy gathering to worship God. And it's interesting as we think about that because there were certain things done in relationship to their gatherings. And one of the main things done, is that the word of God would be proclaimed and read before the people. Now, if you think about that, the reading of the word of God and then as even Ezra and others speak about the explanation or in Nehemiah, the way they needed to explain the word, the message that was given. That's exactly what then takes us into the New Testament. Because under the new covenant, Christ actually speaks of the challenge that we have when we gather as Christians, to be those who are proclaimers of the truth. Which means, that we again, in reference to the word, are willing to read the word and then have someone proclaiming that word to us. Now what we call that, is teaching or preaching. And so over a hundred times in the Bible, we see this idea of preaching and it is distinguished from teaching, as we'll see a little bit later in our lesson. But in the first case, when we think about the idea of worshiping God as we preach, there are very many verses that help us to see that this was the case. And that even as Paul was traveling around on his missionary journeys, that he also would come to a new location. And as he was there, one of the things that he would do on the first day of the week, which is the Lord's day, Sunday is he would worship his God with the brethren. We know a very good example and have one found in Acts 20. If you want to turn there with me? Consequently, there are several acts of worship that are mentioned in this verse. What I would like you to listen for, is the fact that Paul preached to the church on the first day of the week, when they gathered to worship their God. Drop down if you will, to verse 7. After we have just seen that as he has been traveling, he now comes to this place. Verse 6 actually has just said, "That he remains there at Troas for seven days." And you know why? Because he is waiting for the worship of the brethren. Verse 7 then adds, "Now, on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight." Well, if you think about what is being said, it's obvious that Paul literally waited this town for six days, because he wanted to be able to do what? Worship with the brethren because he knew that on the Lord's day, they gathered, as it says here, as the disciples to break bread. He obviously is referring to the partaking of the Lord's supper. Another aspect of worship that we will look at in several weeks. But what we find here, is that as they were gathering on the Lord's day. To do what? To worship God. The same way that that we addressed in the patriarch age or the mosaic age, that they at certain times assembled to worship God or they would come to the tabernacle or the temple and make offerings. To do what? To worship God in a specific way and using specific items, and following a specific pattern. You see, we have that in the New Testament, in and by and through such examples, that show us as they gathered on the Lord's day and they were breaking bread to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Paul also preached to them. Why would you preach? Well, because it is the edification of the word that not only encourages us, but guides us into the knowledge of understanding what God would have us to do and how to be better followers of God. How to make correction, how to improve in areas where we are weak. And even to be excited and glad when we find out that we are meeting the mark in other areas that we certainly are striving to accomplish the will of God. Again, should this be strange to us? Certainly not. Even Jesus and what is very familiar to all of us, and the great commission, as we call it in Matthew 28:18 spoke of the need that they had to do what? To go into all the world. And we even know that over in the book of Mark 16, that there's a similar admonition where they're told again, as they go into the world to do a certain thing. And guess what that thing is? To preach. To preach the gospel. Why would one preach the gospel? Except for the fact that one might be able to hear the gospel and then find their pathway to salvation through obedience to it. We not only find that, but we know the same is true within reference to the church itself. If you turn over to the book of Ephesians with me, in chapter 4. We find that even in the church, that God gave certain individuals and works to accomplish a specific purpose. And you're going to notice that purpose with me there, beginning in verse 11. "And He himself gave some to be..." What? Apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, some teachers. For what? The equipping of the saints. That they might understand, that they might know, that they might be edified. And then verse 13 says, "that they might all be..." What? Unified. And measure up to the stature of Christ. How am I going to be like God? How am I gonna measure up to that stature of Christ and to be all that I need to be, according to His will? When I have learned and been edified. And how else am I going to do that my brethren, other than throughout an understanding of the perfect word and an ability that I have had to receive it from others? The next thing then, that we wanna think about for just a moment, is this concept of a preacher or a preaching of the word. And when we think about the idea of teaching and preaching, we know that certainly they are different. Preaching, certainly is always a form of teaching, but not all teaching is preaching. Now, why is that the case? Because if we were to look up the word teaching, that is used even in the original language. It is simply the idea of imparting instruction to another or helping someone to understand. Even teaching could be done one-on-one. On the other hand, the idea of preaching, which comes from the idea of heralding the word, from a word like uogaliai. It is a word that really shows forth the proclamation. Primarily within the idea of a public setting, a service, a gathering. And so we see the apostles going out and they're preaching to individuals. They're preaching in the marketplace, they're preaching on Sunday. They're heralding forth the message of God, for the purpose of evangelism and edification of Christians that they might know and remain faithful to the plan of God. And so, how important it is that we understand that yes, as we are teaching on Sunday, we are primarily also having someone who preaches or who is that Herald of the word of God? And therefore, in almost every assembly of a religious nature that you go to, there's someone who gets before the crowd and heralds the message. To encourage, to challenge to Edify and also to be evangelistic in nature. But as we know that is the case, why is it the case? Because it is by divine example that we find that the New Testament church did such and we follow that example as divinely given by God. The final thing I'd like to look at for a few minutes this morning, is this idea of our responsibility in preaching. Think about a few things with me. The responsibility of the preacher. He is a Herald of God's word. He is a steward. He is a seer. He is like the watchman. He is one who's responsible, not only for his soul but the souls of those who hear. And as James even proclaimed in James 3, the one who teaches or even preaches certainly heaps stricter judgment upon himself. Because he's therefore responsible by his words, for his own soul and the souls of those who hear, whether they've been taught right or wrong. So, we need to be careful as preachers and make sure that as we Herald the word of God, as I'm even doing this morning, that what I say, has book, chapter and verse; it's from God. It's not from Ray. On the other hand, I want you to think with me about the responsibility of the listener. Sometimes, unfortunately, people aren't good listeners. But what does Jesus continue to tell people throughout the gospel? "He who has an ear, let him hear." Luke 8:8 What do we continue to learn about being those who open our ears and who listen and who understand? As Christians, we ought be excited to hear the message. We ought to be excited on Sundays, to not only sing praises and partake of the Lord's supper and to give and to pray to our God, but to hear the proclamation of the saving message of Jesus Christ. Knowing the power of God lies within it. And therefore, we then have opportunity to be saved. But not only us, but those who will hear us and obey as well. Oh, how beautiful it is to be a proclaimer of the truth. And for all of us to strive to be evangelistic, whether we are public proclaimers or heralds or whether we are teachers on an individual level. Whatever it might be, always use your quality. Use your opportunities, your talents for God. That we might not find our way to salvation and eternal life but that we might help others too, as well. 

>>Let me thank you again for choosing to be with us this day, in this offering to God. I hope our time together has been an encouragement and a blessing to us all, as we have committed ourselves to the things according to His will. We invite you back every Lord's day morning at 07:30, as we commit ourselves to this service before the very throne of God. But for now, let me ask if you have any questions or comments about today's lesson? Maybe you'd like a free transcript or free CD or DVD of the program? Or possibly we could assist you with few Bible materials or free Bible correspondence courses? No matter what your need is, please feel free to contact us at the following address: The Living Word, 2540 North Kansas Expressway, Springfield, Missouri 65803. Many of these items are also available at our website, that address, thelivingwordprogram.com. Or if you prefer, you may call us at 869-2284. Praise be to God for His word and for the wonderful opportunity to share in it, as we worship Him each and every first day of the week, according to His will. Therefore, may we always enjoy the proclamation of the gospel as we worship God, knowing that such truth leads us to everlasting life.