S.O.A.P.

Week of Dec 10

Session 5 & 6: Fired Up!

SCRIPTURE

Theme verse: 1 Peter 2:9 A chosen generation, royal priesthood, a holy nation.

Genesis 4:1-5 Cain and Abel
Hebrews 11:4 A more excellent sacrifice
Leviticus 17:6 Sweet smelling aroma
Genesis 4:6-7 Rule over sin
Leviticus 10:1-3 Nadab and Abihu
1 Corinthians 3:13-17 You are God’s Holy temple
1 Chronicles 13:8-10 King David and Uzzah
Acts 5:1-10 Ananias and Sapphira
1 Corinthians 11:30 Irreverent worship.

OBSERVATION

Q: In what ways might you relate to Cain’s worship failure at the altar that led to failure in the field? Is your theology and your ethics aligned or do they differ? How do you think your attitude about worship toward God affects other areas of your life?

Q: Abel brought the “fatty portions” of his offering to be burned before the Lord and it was accepted as a sweet aroma before God. How can this story impact your trust toward God when you bring to God something that cost you, its luxurious, an unreserved best? Since trust is impacted by our cultural “crisis of authority”, how is trusting God for His provision closely linked to reducing the power of sin in your life?

Q: Death at a worship service is a recurring theme that we see throughout scripture. Is this new to you? How has this information caused you to rethink your worship duties as a Holy Priest? Why do we think that worship is 30 minutes of song? How does all my glory, including my time, energy, and finances, the things that mean the most to me, become a part of me bringing back to God the glory that He has given to me in the first place?

Q: Biblical truths are what Christianity is founded upon. Our faith is established on the Word of God. Some of us have a legacy of great spiritual experiences and a narrow hermeneutic. What is it about our faithing or believing that permits us to ignore what God wants? Why do we see ourselves as “so special” as to believe we can continue to defy God’s blueprints as revealed in Scripture? Is it pride, doubt, fear, self-absorption, or simply rebellion? How do you think irreverence is affecting us today?

Q: We know from experience that fire must be related to on its terms, not ours. Bonfires are not something to be played with. Since this teaching series, how are you desiring God’s Holy Fire to impact your life, and your church? You can be warmed by the fire or burned by the fire. God has invited us to a Holy Bonfire. How can we as the saints of BeLoved City Church permit the fire of God to power us to live righteously?

APPLICATION

You’re fired! It’s no longer about our way, it is about God’s way! Take a moment this week to reflect on the areas of your life where you may have adopted a casual relationship with God, where you may have been serving as a priest in an irreverent way, where you have been reserving some of God’s glory for yourself, where you have loved “self” more than God, and lastly what areas of your life you can bring to God to be burned on the altar of sacrifice.

Pray through the areas that God is revealing to you. Prepare your heart for 2024 as we enter the new year with a season of prayer and fasting.

Pastor Chris’ prophecy for BeLoved was this; The time is now. We will no longer be a church sickened or rebuked by our worship. We will be a church that is healed and revived by our worship! We will no longer take God’s love, mercy, and grace for granted. We will bring acceptable sacrifices of praise and worship to God the way He desires, likes, and prefers.

PRAYER

God, You are an all-consuming fire!!  You demand and deserve reverential acts of worship that are acceptable, and accurately represent the reality of Scripture. I am no longer willing to be a “burnt out” “hollowed out,” apathetic Christian, but rather I am willing to be “burned up” by You as a good and pleasing and acceptable living sacrifice. Lord, we truly desire the Presence of God and will do whatever it takes to bring it back into the temple, and we will learn to steward it as Your Word teaches us to do so.

From this moment on, we will NO longer allow deconstructionism to shape our worship in a way that differs from Biblical truths. We will NO longer be the consumer, drunk on our own spiritual journey, but we will invest in being contributors. We will NO longer be spectators of a worship service, but rather we will be wholehearted active participants, bringing our first and our best into this Spiritual House. We will NO longer hijack the purposes of the church to be all about us, shredding the church to bits and never joining a community to actually contribute, but rather we will make it ALL about You God. We will eat at Your table in a worthy manner. Lord, we will no longer allow our God-consciousness to be eclipsed by our self-consciousness, or a cultural consciousness any longer. Consume us with Your Holy Fire as we bring our acceptable sacrifice to You. In Jesus name, Amen!