 Pray, we'll get started. Father, we welcome you this morning. We invite your presence, God, come and have your way. Even as we learn from your word, God, I pray that you would create it as a hunger and a desire for more of you, Jesus. Amen, amen, amen. So have you all learned anything in this course so far? Yes, kind of a little bit. A lot of things, thank you. What about you guys online, Krisha, Jachan? Have you learned anything? Has it been helpful? Yes, okay. Awesome. It's too basic, no? That's what I thought. Check, check, okay. It's fine. Check, okay. We need to clear that, whatever that is. Okay, later. Alright, so we've been learning quite a bit about worship. In the last class, we spoke about the presence of God and we spoke about personal worship as well. The presence of God, how do we enter the presence of God? We learned a little bit, not too in detail about the tabernacle of Moses and how it was set up. Is it still loud? Right? It's because it's bouncing back of that wall. Check, okay. Alright, am I audible for you guys online? Is it still? Is it too soft now or too loud? Please let me know. It's clear? Okay, cool. It's fine for you guys, no? Okay, cool. So that's what we learned. How do we enter the presence of God and the importance of personal worship and all of that, right? And I hope you remember some of the things that we discussed in the last class. One of the key things I just want to kind of review or summarize is there were some practical guidelines, right, of a personal worship. It's in the notes. Practical guidelines, what we looked at was drawn near to God intentionally. I don't know which page number for you. It is in the PDF, it's page 28. I think it must be 26 or something for you all. 28? Okay. Some practical guidelines, just a quick review is you have to be intentional if you want to get close to God, right? Express thanksgiving and praise in spoken words and song. Worship with the word. Worship with the word. I'm not sure how many of you tried it as in just open the Bible or Psalm and start singing a Psalm. If you haven't tried it, you should. It's awesome exercise. Actually, we'll try it out a little later. Maybe after the class with those in person. Praying and singing in tongues is very crucial. So because we keep talking about, you know, developing an intimate relationship with God, right? We keep talking about you. You have to know him better. But the very first point says draw near to God intentionally. Okay. If you don't want to get close to him. So here's the thing. I hear most of the young people tell me is, you know, I want to get close to God. You know, I want to hear his voice and whatnot. But most of the times I think we as Christians, okay, we like the idea of getting close to God. We like the idea. I want to get, but we don't want to do anything about it. Right. We'll just write it down and say, okay, I want to get close to God, but I will not read my Bible. I will not pray. I will not do anything. I want to get close to God. Right. So that's not practical. That's not realistic. It does not happen. Okay. You have to be intentional. Intentional. And I know we've spoken about this in the last class is if you want to get, if you want to become a close friends with someone, you are making an effort to get to know that person. Right. Right. I don't know. I mean, if you don't want to get close to the person, you will not go and if I want to get close to say Prince, I might just spend time, you know, during the lunchtime, I'll sit with him and get to know what his family is like. And all of that just for the sake of, because I want to know him and I'm going to spend the next three years of my life with him here in this, in this campus. Right. So I'm making an intentional effort. Are you with me? Right. It's very important to be towards the first thing is proactive. Say proactive. Okay. The opposite of proactive is reactive. Okay. The opposite of proactive is reactive. Now, what is reaction? We all say, so there's action, right? And then there's reaction. No, we know this law, right? For every action, there is an equivalent opposite reaction. Okay. The law of physics. Right. So I don't know if I put something up like a ball or it has to come down. Right. So that's the action. I mean, the ball bounces keeps bouncing. That's the reaction. Right. Most of the time we wait to react. Okay. I want to get close to that person. I want to become friends with that person, but I will wait until that person messages me first. So let that person make the action. I will be the reaction while proactive is you make that first step. You take the initiative. Right. You say, I'm going to do it first. Are you with me? Right. I learned this valuable lesson when I joined APC's worship team. Right. I joined APC's worship team in 2013. From 2004 to say about 2012, 2004 to 2012, I was part of a band. Okay. We were called Living Waters. And I played drums, you know, and we kind of grew. I was 17 when we started. And by the time we ended our journey as the band, I was married. So we met as boys and we grew as men. Okay. And then for, I don't know, at least for 12 years, we played together. Right. For 12 years, it's the same musician, same worship leader, same guitarist, same guy, you know, for 12 years. And then I joined APC's worship team 2013. Every Sunday is a different musician. Every Sunday is a different worship leader. Every Sunday is a different guitarist. I'm like, what is happening? You know, and 12 years you've spent with your friends and you build that what is called as chemistry. You understand that, you know, the guitarist will just give one look and I know what is coming next. He doesn't even have to communicate, right? That understanding that wavelength is there. I was like, what is this? You know, with APC, I'm not feeling comfortable. There's no chemistry with it. It's not happening. I don't know this person. What do I do, God? And I spent one full year complaining. I'm not kidding. One full year I was like, oh, what is this? And I keep going to Pastor Jake's and I'll keep this. I'm like, Pastor, what is this? There's no chemistry. There's no feeling, you know, feeling this. This is nothing happening. And I think toward the end of that year, even God, God a little tired with me. I said, God, what is this? I'm not feeling. I want to serve you and all of that, but it's just the feeling is not there. And so God and his grace and his mercy, he asked, okay, Roshan, so you're not feeling anything. What are you going to do about it? He just asked me that question. I was like, what are you going to do about it? So what he meant was in that full year, I had not made any effort to go and meet with the other worship team members, to get to know them, to meet them over a coffee. And I said like, hey, how is life? How are you doing? You know, what's your story? You see what I'm saying? And once I started making that effort, I got to know them. And you know, and now it's been, it's been some time now, being part of the team and uncomfortable. And I can understand people better, isn't it? And it's the same thing with God, right? He says, you have to be proactive. God has already made the action. What was his action? John 316, he gave, he came, he died. And he rose again. Right? So he's done everything he can to do. Now it's up to you. And Bible says, if you draw near to him, he may draw near to you. He will. Right? It means 100%. Locker. Locker. Right? He will draw near to you. Right? And you have to be intentional about it. That's the whole quick recap with personal worship. Personal. Right? How you individually pursue God. Right? Psalm 23, famous Psalm. We all know the Lord is my shepherd. Right? David is very clear saying, the Lord may be my shepherd. The Lord can be my shepherd. The Lord would be my shepherd. The Lord could be my shepherd. He's not saying all that. The Lord is my shepherd. Right? And so we need to understand that. And just like David just declare that. Okay? The importance of personal worship. Okay? So now let's move on to the corporate worship. We've spoken about personal worship, the importance of it, how you can build your journey. But let's talk about corporate worship, congregational worship, in other words. Okay? What do we mean by corporate worship? Or congregational worship? It's this. What do you do in this morning, chapel time? What do we do in Sunday? Okay? So corporate worship is not some corporation thing. Okay? It's corporate or congregational worship is, is a body of believers coming together. And to worship. Okay? So a simple question. Is corporate worship important? Important. Going to you guys online. Is corporate worship important? Yes. No. Maybe. What do you think, Nina Krisha? Is corporate congregational worship important? Jackson, Karen. You understood what corporate worship is, right? Congregational worship, right? We come together as a church, as a body, right? So my question is, is that important? Yes? Okay. Do we have to have an argument, debate about it? Okay. Side A, side B? Okay. So everybody said yes. A unanimous yes. Okay. The next question, you know what it is. You'll know me so well in just two months. You see? And I didn't even take you all out for coffee. So the next question is, why is it important? Bolo. Why is corporate worship important? Sorry? It builds the church? Okay. You understood the question, right? We understood what is corporate worship. Yes or no? Who was coming in slow motion can come fast. Because it was a little scary. I was like, what's happening in the back there? Don't worry. All right. Prabhu says to encourage one another to be in fellowship. Yeah. We constitute the body. Yeah. Thank you. Fellowship of believers. We worship in spirit and truth. We have oneness and joy. Thank you, Darshan. All right. What else? Why is it important? Yeah. Okay. Like how angels all worship together. Okay. Yeah. Right. So what else? What else? To build each other. Okay. Sorry. Agree. Agree with each other. Okay. Does that happen? Irregardless. Irregardless. Okay. We agree or disagree. It doesn't matter. Okay. But yeah. It shows unity. Okay. What else? What else do you think? Why is it important? God likes it when we come together. Why should he like? I'm genuinely asking. Please. God. Yeah. Okay. Corporate worship is the meeting of the body with the head. Okay. Awesome. Superfound. Thanks. Yeah. So there's a quote. I forget the name of the person, but he said the Christian church was born in a song, you know, and everything about everything that happened in the New Testament in the Old Testament. So one of the most tragic history of the Hebrew people in the Old Testament is when their temple was destroyed by the Babylonian, the temple that Solomon built, right? Right. The temple, the sanctuary was where everybody came together as corporate as a congregation. That place was destroyed and everybody were, you know, heartbroken and they were taken into captivity. Right. That was the most painful, the tragic history in the people, Jewish people, the Hebrew people, but also the most joyful time period in the history of the Hebrews was when they started rebuilding the temple, right? When Nehemiah, Ezra, they were coming back from exile, right? They got permission to come and rebuild and everybody was so happy. And why? Because now there was a common place for people to come and worship, right? And so there's something important. And now when we are talking about personal worship and corporate worship, please remember to know that one is not important than the other. Okay. I'll say this again. Personal worship is not more important than corporate worship or corporate worship. Corporate worship is not more important than personal worship. Both are important. Understood? Yes. So having said all of that, right? Corporate worship is important, right? In heaven, there is no personal worship like we just saw. It's corporate. Every tongue, every tribe, every people from every other nation are going to be there. Are you with me? And there's something beautiful, isn't it? Psalm 133. What does it say? Verse 1. Awesome. Thank you. Behold how beautiful and how pleasant. Okay. It is for brothers to dwell together in unity. The sisters are also involved. Okay. Just in case you're wondering why only brothers are mentioned. Okay. Okay. It's beautiful. It's something nice when we all come together in unity because we have these words, right? We say unity in, unity in diversity. Diversity means what? Differences. There's so many in this room itself. There's so many diverse people, right? We are from different parts of India itself, isn't it? And yet we are all gathered together in Jesus' name. He is the only reason why you and I are here, right? Jesus is the reason why you chose to come and study here, right? His word. Yes or no? Yeah. And it's the same thing. What people, you know, some of them, Kerala and all the way to, where is it? Uttarakhand. There. So, yeah, it's, that's beautiful and that's pleasant, isn't it? So, very quickly, I just want to point out two things. It's not in your notes, but then you can just maybe write it down. Very simple things. Okay. Psalm 34 verse 3. Can someone read Psalm 34 verse 3? Yeah. Okay. One more time, a little louder, right? Oh, magnify the Lord with me. There's an invitation, right? Come, magnify him. Let's make our God bigger, right? Magnify the Lord in me. Let us exalt his name together. Okay. So the two main priorities of corporate worship. First thing is we come together to exalt him. Simple, right? We come together to exalt him. We don't come together so that you and I can feel that nice. Okay. We have to get this very clear. We come together to exalt him. The second thing is we come together to encounter him. Can someone read Second Chronicles? Not Quarantians. Second Chronicles chapter five. Second Chronicles chapter five. Verse 13 and 14. Thank you. Right. And so we see that when people were gathered together corporately, God encounters them. He shows up, right? And so just two points, two priorities of corporate worship is for us to exalt him and then God encounters us. God encounters us today the same way he's been encountering us. You know, he's been encountering his people from years before. All right. So let's look at the notes for a second. In congregational aspect, there are two aspects. One is the vertical aspect and the other is the horizontal aspect. Page 30. Okay, 29. Page 29 in your notes, right? But in the PDF, it's page 30. So there are two aspects. What's a vertical aspect? Vertical means vertical, right? Horizontal is, right? Okay. Yeah. Second Chronicles chapter five verse 13 and 14. Nina. Yeah. Okay. So the vertical aspect, it says the vertical aspect is we are to minister to God to bless and glorify God. That's to exalt him, isn't it? Which is our primary purpose in worship, not to get something for ourselves. You can highlight it, color it. What do you want to do? Not to get something for ourselves. But the primary purpose once again to reiterate is to exalt him, to bless him, to glorify him, right? The question is not whether the worship service blessed me, but whether it blessed God, right? We must minister to the Lord, not with our ulterior motive of receiving a blessing, but rather with the motive of blessing him, whether he blesses us or not. Okay. Remember that the first point is very simple. We are to minister to God. Okay. We've spoken about this quite a bit that in the New Covenant, we are all priests, isn't it? Yes or no, guys. We are all priests, right? I know we're not wearing all these things, and E-Ford and all of that. Okay. Some of you would like to do that. But in the New Covenant, you and I are priests. We come under the priesthood, isn't it? The first, the only job of a priest was to minister to God. In the Tabernacle of Moses, that's all the priest's responsibility was. By him making sure that there was bread on the table, by him making sure that there was lampstand always burning, by making sure that the altar of incense was always, you know, there was incense coming up, by making sure that the sacrifices was happening. In all of that, the priests were ministering unto God. And that's your responsibility. Your number one priority is in the congregational worship is we minister to him. Okay. The second point there. We worship to better realize the presence of God. Psalm 22 verse 3, when we worship, God is enthroned on our praises, right? On our praises, on my praises, on our praises. He builds a throne on our praises. There's another version that says, he inhabits the praises of his people. Right? Look at the choice of words there. He inhabits the praises of his people. His means, there's a corporate thing there, right? It's not just saying one person, I inhabit the praises of just yours or just you. But it's a corporate thing. I inhabit everyone's praises. And verse, sorry, point three there, to provide the atmosphere for the expression of the gift of the Holy Spirit. God waits till we are ready to receive his word. I think there's a verse in Hosea chapter 10 verse 11. I'm not sure. Hosea chapter 10 verse 11, it says, Judah shall plow. Not sure, but it says that. Okay. Hosea chapter 10 verse 11, it says, Judah shall plow. Okay. Judah is what? Means? Praise. Now, plow is what? Plowing the field. You are preparing a field, right? Like a, what's the person? Who? Farmer. Like a farmer who, you know, plows the field. He's preparing the field for the rains to come, isn't it? And so it's, Hosea chapter 10 verse 11, it simply means by saying, Judah shall plow. That means when you begin to praise, you're preparing your heart to receive a word from God. Are you with me? Right. So when you praise, you are preparing your heart to receive a word from God. So that's the vertical aspect. One important point there is we are ministering to God. It's about him. It's not about us. Okay. And now we talk about the horizontal aspect of corporate worship. We read Psalm 133. Can someone read Psalm 86 verse 11, please? And can someone keep first John chapter four verse 21 ready? Unite, my. It's a little loudly. Fair your name. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So when I ask the question, why is it important? All of you are give the right answer is to build each other up to encourage each other. Right. And that's what the Bible also says is efficient. Chapter five was 19. Can someone read that please? 18 and 19 and Colossians three 16. Loud and clear. Okay. Seeing to one another. Okay. I have a video, but then it's to show how worship used to happen in the synagogues. So synagogues setting was like this square thing. Pretty much this and everybody were facing each other. So there was a group of people this side. There was a group of people this side, the group of people that side, and at the back and there was a big space in the middle where the priest would come and open the scroll and begin to read. And so they were and as the it's pretty much like how you hear the Muslims worship, right? Kind of one person will sing out and the other person will, I mean, the congregation will kind of repeat what he is just chanted. It's very similar because it's from the same region, right? So the priest would kind of read out a psalm or sing a psalm. I'm not going to attempt to sing like the Middle Eastern people. But and so as he sings, the Lord is my shepherd and then everybody will repeat this thing together. And so that's what it was. What simply means is sing to one another psalms and spiritual songs. Isn't it? And so it kind of, there's something about it. Can someone read Colossians 316? Okay. So teaching and admonishing one another. Okay. Is everybody looking at Colossians 316? Yeah. I want everybody to look at it again. Vimal, can you read it one more time please for us? Okay. Thank you. We are to, I mean, when we, when someone comes and shares during the chapel time, devotion time, what is happening? We are building each other up, right? When we go to us, we have Wednesday's Bible study or Sunday service, simply what's happening is when pastor is teaching, he's building us up. Isn't it? You have cell groups, life groups and all of that. When we just discuss about God's word, when we just come to, when we just sit down and we start saying like, Hey, this is what God told me from this Psalm. And it encouraged me and I hope it blesses you too. We say that, isn't it? And so that's what corporate worship is all about is us just coming, seeing and worshiping God together and encouraging each other with his, with his word. So I want to do an exercise. Let's, I'm not sure how well it's going to work out. This is a keyboard working one second. Okay. Sorry guys, I disappeared for a second. Josh, I see a question. I'll respond to it. Okay. Okay. All of us. Let's try and hum that note. Okay. Let's say. Okay. Ready? One, two and sustain it. Three, go. Keep going. Don't fade. Keep going. Take deep breath and keep going. I can't hear you. A little louder. All right. You can try this out at home also. Okay. Okay. Okay. I said, don't stop guys. Don't stop. Keep it going. Ready for a breath. All right. Keep it going. Let's go one more time. One, two, three. Okay. Now only this gang. Only this gang. Okay. Only all. Keep it going. Okay. And you all. Okay. Okay. Let's all try this together one more time. Okay. Stop. So. Okay. Let's do a la. Okay. It'll be a little bit more louder, I guess. La. Okay. La. La. La. La. Not him. La. La. Understood. Got it? Okay. You guys got it? You all got it? All right. So. La. La. Okay. Ready? So you got the note, right? Right. Sean. La. Okay. La. La. Let's just root three and five. Ready? Go. La. La. La. La. Rin. What happened? La. Okay. We can do a little bit more better. We'll sound a little bit more round. Okay. La. Okay. La. Okay. Not la. Okay. Okay. So we'll not go wide. We'll go vertical. Okay. We'll try and sound like a choir. Okay. So. All right. La. Okay. Everybody la. La. La. No. La. Okay. Keep it going. Yo. La. Okay. You're supposed to cut when I do this. Okay. This means. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Okay. Let's try that one more time. So this time you will stop when I tell you to stop. Okay. Ready? You remember the note? Everybody remembers the note. La. La. La. Okay. Ready? One, two, three. Go. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. Okay. Is like a choir. Right. We take a choir and we just take one note. At the root note is la. And then we harmonize it. Right. The other note is a C sharp. Right. So this is a. Whoa. We changed the note. Okay. La. Okay. This thing is not la. Okay. La. La. La. La. Okay. I'm not playing the seventh. Okay. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. La. different, right? Our likes and dislikes are different. But when we put all of that aside and say, okay, it's not about me, it's about him. So we come together in unity. When we worship, it sounds like this beautiful harmony. Right? And so that's corporate worship, the beauty of corporate worship. Okay, so let's just quickly summarize in your notes. All right. So summary, in congregational worship, we minister to God. Right? As a congregation, we minister to the Lord. Right? Second point is corporate worship brings about a sense of unity within the church. Okay? It brings about a sense of unity within the church. It doesn't matter the background, the cultures, the languages. But one thing that we all have in common is that we are saved by His grace. And so we love and worship Him. Right? Third point is the songs we sing as a congregation enable us to learn, teach, and reinforce spiritual truth. Okay, look at that point very slowly. The songs we sing as a congregation enable us to learn, teach, and reinforce spiritual truth. Right? When we take a song like, say, 10,000 reasons, you're rich in love and slow to anger. Your name is great and your heart is kind. You all know the song, right? For all your goodness, I will keep on singing 10,000 reasons and forevermore. Okay? Now, we can just say it like some by-hearted poem, you're rich in love and you're slow to anger, your name is great and your heart is kind. It's, you know, tell the memory verses, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, He makes me like running green pastures. That used to happen to me, right? If I had to go and during my school days, if I had to go out and play, if I wanted to go and play cricket, I had to memorize the Psalm and tell my mom. I was like, you know, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not worry. Don't even understand, like, you know, anybody can memorize and buy heart and just say it. But when you just begin to pause and say, you are rich in love and you are slow to anger, you're engaging with those words, right? Okay. But he's been patient with me. I've failed him. I've sinned so many times, but he's rich in love. Because of his love and his mercy, I'm still alive, right? You're rich in love and you're slow to anger. Your name is great and your heart is kind. You're letting those words, you have to let those words do something to you, right? And so that's what's happening in point three is that when we sing, you know, together, we learn, we teach, we reinforce. That means you're reminding yourself once again, hey, it doesn't matter how you feel, this God that you and I are worshiping, he's rich in love, he's slow to anger, right? Point four, corporate worship prepares our hearts and provides the atmosphere for the preaching of the word. Oh, this was at any level. Okay. Right. Corporate worship prepares our hearts and provides the atmosphere for the preaching of the word. And we just looked at that verse was at any level and Judah shall plow. It simply means praise prepares our hearts to receive, to hear from the word of God, right? Do you remember Second Chronicles chapter 20, Jehoshaphat's chapter King Jehoshaphat, armies are attacking, but Jehoshaphat calls the nation of Israel and calls a fast. And let's pray. What is happening there? They're just plowing, they're just preparing their hearts. And then the prophet comes and tells, like, don't worry, battle belongs to the Lord, right? If you're in that season where I want to hear from God, but I can't hear anything, I don't know what to do. He's not talking to me. I just continue to praise him, bless him. And then you're preparing a heart to hear from him. And finally, it facilitates us to express the feelings of our heart in uninhabited worship. It allows us to just be extra expressive in different ways, like dancing and painting and singing and playing music. And that's what it does, allows us to come to sing and one person to play the keyboard, the other person to play the cajon and all of that. So that's the importance of corporate worship. It's beautiful. And I can't find another word to express it, corporate worship, in its differences, in its diversity, in its complexity. It's beautiful. I heard this one example of a church, of a preacher. I don't really like examples where it says church is like this, church is like that, but then this was kind of nice. He said, church is like Noah's Ark. Okay, where are you going with this? Church is like a Noah's Ark, right? Noah's Ark was not a seven star cruise ship. Noah's Ark was not a seven star cruise ship with swimming pool and an amazing, you know, seven star hotel and whatnot. Noah's Ark was filled with what? Different kinds of animals, isn't it? And with different kinds of animals comes different kinds of smells also. Yes or no? So, are you with me? Right? But it was the safest place on earth, right? It was the safest place on earth. And so church maybe like, it's maybe like that. Okay, you may not like that person because nobody is perfect, isn't it? But then it's the safest place on earth, in his sanctuary, right? And so that's the beauty of corporate worship. When we come together, God just takes great delight in it. Okay, so we'll stop with this chapter for now and we'll take a break. And Jajjan, I'll respond to your question in the stream section. Is that okay? I'll post my reply there. All right. And I hope that's okay. Okay, we'll take, we'll pause here and we'll go take a break and we'll get back at 10 a.m. Thank you.