Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - What is Worship?
Perhaps the better question is 'What is Mature Worship' and how do you know if you are practicing it?
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament Framework. Today a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:Fourth point biblical culture expresses mature worship of God. What is this, this idea of worship? If I could just summarize worship in one word, I would say worship is appreciation for God. It's appreciation for God, okay, but let's flesh this out a little bit. In a biblical culture, god is central to everything and every thought is taken captive to him. I think Colossians says this right captive to him. I think Colossians says this right Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, every thought. Remember what I said about sanctification, advanced sanctification. It's not just talking about something like what most Christians say oh, that's a religious thought. It's a religious thought. What are you talking about? God made everything. Every thought you have should have God central to it.
Speaker 2:Years ago, I mean, you know, one of the toughest subjects for a lot of people is mathematics right, and everybody struggles with it on some level. But this was one where I was like, well, how you know? I didn't, I couldn't see yet, like how does this relate to God? I got this book by James Nickel called Mathematics is God's Silent, and I didn't read the whole book, but I've thumbed through it enough to get to gather the ideas that he's gaining and presenting. And the idea is like no, you can't even do math unless God created mathematics and is keeping it stable. I mean, like what would happen if tomorrow, 2 plus 2 was 5? Wouldn't all of your math education be completely a waste? I mean, you wouldn't know anything about math if these categories you know numeric categories weren't stable. And then you have to ask the question well, how do they remain stable? I mean, is that just there? That's what the world is. It's just there. We just go on, we just act like it's just there. It's not just there. Things aren't just there. That's the stupidest idea ever. Things are just there, organized. No, no, just come live in my house for one day. You'll see that things are not just staying where they are in an organized fashion. It's just not that way. So something is there upholding this all the time.
Speaker 2:Colossians 1.15,. It says that Christ is sustaining all things. I mean that means at every single moment, at every point in space, throughout the entirety of the universe, his hand is keeping it right in the order that it is, which then changes your whole way of looking at miracles, because now you realize that all that he's doing in a miracle is just suspending the way that he normally operates in an area, for example, walking on water. Typically you don't walk on water, I mean, you step on the water, you go under. We know this is the way it works. And everybody says that's gravity. No, that's the hand of God, idiot. This is the way it works. And everybody says that's gravity no, that's the hand of God, idiot. This is not a game. And they're like well, we can't have miracles.
Speaker 2:The Bible says miracles supernatural, that can't be, it's impossible. It's impossible on what grounds? You mean, everything is just the way it is and it just works that way all the time, just stays that way. So you're saying something way crazier than what I'm saying, because what I'm saying is a person is actually controlling this and giving us the stability that we have, and every once in a while, in a little space on top of where his two feet were placed on the Sea of Galilee water surface, he suspended. That, it's his word. I think he can suspend it. That's not too difficult to understand, but your idea that it's all just that way, that's crazy. It's not too difficult to understand, but your idea that it's all just that way, that's crazy.
Speaker 2:So this is the idea of worship. You're taking every thought captive to Christ. Okay. And when you do this, you start to have an appreciation for his thoughts and you realize they're superior to my thoughts. This is called humility, when you're admitting that God's thoughts are superior to your own thoughts. Nobody wants to admit this. They think they're smart.
Speaker 2:I came up with this idea. Look at me, put my name in line. No, when you recognize that everything that you have and everything you are is only by the grace of God and he's upholding and sustaining. He gave you your talents, he gave you your spiritual gifts, all this stuff, all of a sudden you start to realize oh well, then he's superior to me and his thoughts are more important than my thoughts. And this is what results in worship, because worship, again, is this appreciation for who God is and what he's like. Right, and you're thinking about this, you're kind of just marveling about it and realizing your brain is just a peanut and you're just here, just in your peanut brain, trying to discover some things that God has done. And it's a journey, it's an exciting journey, but still I just have a peanut brain. His is Amen.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app, and until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.