Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Week 4 Sermon Questions For Groups

Come To Worship:  Bend Your Knee

Introduction:

True worship is a heart-felt response to God’s greatness. It is the adoration of God and complete surrender from the heart. This week’s message is on bending your knees as an act of worship to God. When we read the Bible, it’s clear that bowing our knee and kneeling before God in a posture of humility is important to God and thus it should be important to us. Psalm 95:6 says, “Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” Ephesians 3:14 adds, “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,” When we kneel in worship you are in fact making the nonverbal statement, “Lord, here is my life; it is Yours. Take it and use me as You please.”

Something To Talk About:

Kneeling before God is a posture of humility. It’s a worshipful way of seeking God. Humbly kneeling before God is part of our walk with God. It acknowledges that He is the Creator and pointing to the day when every knee will bow. We kneel for the following reasons:

  1. Kneel in pursuit: The pursuit of God is not merely to find Him, but to seek how to become like Him, changed according to His standards. It means acquiring His characteristics by giving our whole heart to Him. Kneeling shows God that you are entering into His presence or asking Him for something. Kneeling before the Lord is a voluntary act of honor, submission, and adoration. Kneeling before God is an act of worship as we focus our slow, steady gaze upon God. Pursuing God on our knees in prayer and in devotional time quiets our lives so we can know God’s presence.
  2. Kneel in repentance: Repentance is the ultimate goal of worship. This is the reason why God is always calling us back to Himself. Isaiah 1:18 says “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”  Given that, we should readily be on our knees thanking God and repenting of our sins. It can be a struggle to both identify and call sin what it is. But when we shine the biblical truth on our lives, it means that we live as people who have been honest about our sin and our need for Christ. We are sinners who still sin. No matter how uncomfortable it is, we need to deal with it how God would have us  deal with it. And we deal with it by repenting on our knees before a just and merciful God.
  3. Kneel in submission: The natural response to God’s love is submission to His will and plan for our lives.  Jesus taught us that true worship does not depend on where we worship, but whether we worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). God wants us to bow before Him, not just outwardly, but with a heart submitted to Him. We cannot worship and serve God according to our own ways and will; we must surrender to His ways and His will. That is worship, and it is a daily action. Worship is to let go of ourselves and let God take control in our lives. Kneeling before God provides a visual image of submission to His authority. “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Questions:

  1. How would you describe worship and its impact in your life?
  2. What are some things in your life that may become a distraction and get in the way of kneeling before God in worship?
  3. What does pursuing God mean to you? How is it measured?
  4. Is repentance a valuable part of our relationship with God?
  5. Repentance shows that we love Jesus more than our sin and we trust His promises. How is God working in you right now? How does kneeling to worship help us with our repentance? 
  6. How does our submission make us like Jesus? How does our submission demonstrate our relationship with Jesus?
  7. How do you apply this week’s message to your life? How can we help each other?

Take One Thing Home with You:

Some final thoughts on worship:

Some Christians have the idea that worship is only possible in the sanctuary of a church, that it consists only of flowery phrases and warm feelings that “flood the soul.” Well, there is nothing wrong with warm feelings that cause us to lift our hands, to pour out our heart, bring our gifts and to kneel before God in worship. But now given the context of the wise men, what is worship? Worship is not confined to the walls of the church. It does not only start or end with our various church services. Rather, it is a life-long bowing down of our hearts before God, adoring Him and surrendering ourselves completely to Him. A worshipper of God worships Him day and night, not just when he or she is in a church building. It is a sign of reverence. Our God is the very reason for our existence. To Him and through Him and for Him are all things. He is worthy of all glory and honor and our worship.