This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "Getting Prepared For A Celebration" 8/18/2013

GETTING PREPARED FOR THE CELEBRATION

 

Nehemiah 12:27-36,38,43

 

LEADERS OF DEVOTION CHOSEN

V:27. "And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps."

 A. The church is always in a building program for the Lord.

      1. A Church that is alive and growing should always be in the building mood.

      2. The unsaved should always be drawn by the saved to God Church.

      3. Every time a sinner is brought to Christ is the time for a celebration.

 B. The angels rejoice in heaven when one sinner is saved.  Luke 15:10

     1. We should have more baptisms than funerals.

     2. Our funerals ought to be celebrations.

 C. When we come into God's house, the body of Christ, we are in a walled

      community.

    1. God is our protection.

    1. Our celebrations should be with singing and musical instruments.

    2. When we praise God with singing accompanied with musical instrument there

         seems to be more excitement.

 

FORMING A PRAISE TEAM

V:28. "And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain country round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophathi."

 A. Singers should be recruited to form a choir to praised God.

     1. Everyone has talents that can be used in praise and worship.

         a. Our voices can be developed in the service of worship.

         b. All around us are believers with talent who should be sought out for service.

         c. Some people don't serve because no one has asked them to be involved.

 B. Churches are made up of people from different communities who come together

      to worship and to serve God.

 

V:29. "Also from the house of Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singers had builded them villages round about Jerusalem."

 A. Every household has talent that can be used by God.

     1. No one is lacking in skills.

     2. When God called us, He equipped us for service.

 B. We have a duty and a responsibility to be involved in giving God praise.

    1. It takes effort to get prepared to praise God with music and singing.

    2. Praise and worship should be designed to offer thanks to God for His good work

        in us.

    3. To praise God we have to set our voices apart for the holy work of worship.

    4. Everything that has breath ought to praise the Lord.

    5. When know believers who have the gift of singing, we should encourage them to

        bless God with their voices.

 

V30. "And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall."

 A. To be effective in worship, we need to purify ourselves before the Lord.

     1. When we ask forgiveness, God is faithful and just to cleanse us of all

          unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

     2. We should set ourselves apart for the sacred work of worship.

     3. Our worship is pure when we dedicate ourselves to the Lord.

 B. Our worship invokes divine blessings and guardianship over our lives.

     1. God takes note of the quality of our praise and worship.

     2. God inhabits the praise of His people. Psalms 22:3

 

V:31. "Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate."

 A. Its good to have more than one praise and worship team.

     1. Each team can develop different types of praise and worship styles.

     2. Each team should be headed by an experience worship leader.

 B. Having more than one worship leader lightens the load on each leader.

     1. Each leader must have God as their center.

     2. Every opportunity to worship is an opportunity to express our dedication to the

         Lord.

     3. Every one should share in the worship experience.

     4. Giving thanks to God should bring joy in our lives.

 

V:32-35.

32 Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them,

33 with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,

34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,

35 and some of the sons of the priests with trumpets; and Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph.

 A. God keeps track of those who worship Him.

    1. God keep track of how we use our skills, gifts and talent in praise and worship.

    2. God knows His sheep by name.

    3. God has called us to serve Him.

 B. We must make ourselves available to God.

     1. It is good to know that God watches our every action.

     2. When God is in our lives, joy will be present.

  C. Our families will be affected by our dedication and worship.

     1. Parents should be good role models leading their children in praise and worship.

     2. If we lead our families in worship, they will have worship in their spirits.

 

V:36.  And his kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them."

 A. Ezra and Nehemiah were the two chosen worship leaders.

    1. They dedicated themselves to God.

    2. They both came out of captivity in Babylon with their focus on serving and

        worshipping God.

 B. We have all been delivered form the captivity of sin.

    1. We owe our lives to God.

    2. We should not fail to give Him praise and serve Him any way possible.

 C. If we keep serving God, we will find ourselves as God's leaders.

    1. There is always room for us to serve God.

    2. If we make time for God, He will make time for us.

 

DEVELOPING YOUR WORSHIP STYLE

V:38. " The second choir proceeded to the left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of Furnaces, to the Broad Wall."

 A. God has given us worship leaders to follow.

    1. Each choir director may proceed in a different direction as God guides Him.

    2. There are many different worship styles.

        a. There is the is the adult choir.

        b. There is the youth choir.

        c. There is the male chorus.

        d. There are dance teams and drill teams.

  B. It is all good as long as the focus is praising the Lord.

      1. My style of worship may be different from another's style of worship.

         a. Every believer should worship the way God has inspired them.

         b. God takes note and honors our worship.

 

SACRIFICE IS PART OF  CELEBRATION

V:43. " And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, even the women and children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. "

 A. God is the author of our joy.

    1. We can have temporary happiness in the world.

    2. The joy in the Lord is permanent.

 B. We ought to make enough noise so the out side world can see and experience our

      joy.

    1. Joy is contagious.

    2. Everybody should have the opportunity to celebrate the Lord.

C. When we come to celebrate the Lord, we should not come empty handed.

    1. We should bring a sacrifice to the Lord to celebrate His kindness to us.

    2. We should offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord.  Romans 12:1

        a. When we dedicate ourselves to the Lord, supporting the church with our

            offering will be our hearts desire.

 D. Every man, woman and child should rejoice in the Lord.

    1. When everyone in the church rejoices, the outside world will hear and take notice.