 All right. Good morning again. I hope you are doing well. Today's Thursday, isn't it? It feels like Tuesday or Monday. Good to see you. I hope you're doing well. All of you are online. Good to see you as well. Thank you for joining in. Thank you for staying tuned in. Yeah, I hope you've been having a blessed week so far. Right. So we've been talking about worship in the last classes. We finished praise. We finished studying about praise in detail. We, in chapter five, started studying about worship. So what's the first point of what worship is? What is the first point? Recognizing who God is, right? The first point in the textbook or in the notes that you have. What is worship? Worship is recognizing who God is, isn't it? In recognizing two things happen. You identify and you acknowledge, right? You identify and you acknowledge, okay? That is the first point in worship. We looked at the beautiful chapter of John chapter 21, you know, where John, the disciple of Jesus, when they go fishing, he tells Peter, like, it is the Lord when nobody else could identify, right? Who or recognize who Jesus was, only John could recognize because I believe that John was a worshipper, right? So that's the first point. What's the second point? Worship is, sorry, reverence. Yeah, the second point is worship is reverence for God, okay? It's like you, it's basically the fear of the Lord, right? You walk in, you treat him with respect. You walk in fear of who he is and what he has done. So worship is reverence for God. And the third point, this is where we stopped in the last class. It is worship is communion with God, right? So what does communion mean? Communion, we get the word communication or communicating, right? What I'm doing is I'm communicating, isn't it? So we get the word communication, communicating all of that from the word communion. That means it's a coming together of unity, okay? Come, there's two different words. Come union, so come in union, so come let's come together, okay? We become one as in unity. So worship is communion with God. You develop that relationship with Jesus when you spend enough time with him, right? When you have an intimate relationship with the Lord. Understood? Yeah, are you all with me so far? Okay. Yeah, worship. Communion with God is the most important thing for us as worship. Not just worshipers, but, and I know most of you will go back to become leaders in your church. Some of you are already leaders in your church. Okay. And there will come a time where you will, life will become very, very busy with ministry. Can I say that again? You will become very busy doing God's work. And there is a chance where you can forget who is the God of the work. Okay, so the one thing that will keep you going day after day, month after month, year after year is your walk with God. That in other words is your communion with God. Are you constantly in touch with him? Okay, if you lose contact with him, no matter what you do in the name of ministry is useless. Okay, understood. Thinking deeply. Oh, yes. I see, you know. Okay, so that's the third point. Worship is communion with God. The fourth point on which I want to dwell a little bit is, it says worship is a response to an encounter with God. Okay, what does a response mean? What does a respond mean? Respond means answer? Sorry. You? Sorry. Result? Yeah, okay, respond. I want us to think about it very carefully because so the point says worship is our response to an encounter with God. So if someone calls me, there's a missed call and if I call them back, what am I doing? I'm responding to their call, isn't it? Because someone has already tried to reach me but I'm responding to them. I call you by your name, Sunny, what do you do? If you can hear me, you will respond. Yes or no? So that's what it's saying. Worship is our response. That means we are saying something, we are responding. What comes afterwards is very important. Worship, response, encounter. Say that again. We'll see those three words together. Say worship, response, encounter. Okay, so worship is a response to an encounter with God. Now listen to this very carefully. Worship is not an encounter with God. If you have to write it down, write it down. Worship is not an encounter with God. Worship is a response to an encounter with God. So what I wanted to do in this class is we'll take a small detour. We'll take a small detour and we'll talk about encounter. Let me see if I can share the screen for you all online. See if it doesn't feel sad. Worship is a response to an encounter with God. So if you have to understand worship as a response, we need to understand what encounter is. So if you don't really understand this, you might not necessarily understand what our response is. So encounter, what does that mean? Goli Mada. What is an encounter? Meeting. Here's the thing. I want you to write the answers that you are telling me. So he said meeting, write it down. Encounter is meeting. What else? Write it down. What else? What else is encounter? Encounter is to have a relationship. Coffee, is that what you're saying? What else? Somebody else. Encounter. I'll encounter you today. Sorry Dan. Where's your phone? Dan, I've been teaching for a while, Dan. So I know every definition. If it's from Google. Good job. Facing each other, serious conversation, experience. So facing each other, serious conversation, experience, encounter. All right. Very quickly, what does encounter in Hindi mean? How do you say it? Everybody understood that, no? So that's what encounter is. Okay, but let's see. Encounter by definition. What it says. These are all, again, Bhikri ke banna. So some of the definitions from the dictionary and also from online. It says encounter means to meet face to face. But the important word there is unexpectedly. Is you are not expecting to have that meeting with that person. You suddenly mean like, hey, what are you doing here? Hi. You know, so it's like, I didn't expect you to be in this mall. Or I didn't expect you to be in this pub. Like, hey, what are you doing here? Like, what are you doing here? So that's an encounter. It's an unexpected meeting, right? I'll share all these notes with you. Don't worry. But be engaged with me. Okay. Encounter involves an element of surprise, of suddenness. Yeah. It's an encounter. Yeah. So that's an encounter it has an element of. Surprise. Okay. Yeah. It means to meet someone. This is very important. I like this point. It means to meet someone in a way that you have not expected it to be. Okay. So what happens is, and I want to club that with the last point it says encounter does not mean a second hand report about a person or a situation. It means a first hand report basically. Okay. So for example, let's say me and Joseph best friends and Joseph says all good things about Nelson. Nelson. No. Sorry. Nelson. No. Correct. No. Okay. So Joseph says like Nelson is this Nelson is that Nelson is wonderful. Vincent is amazing. He's brilliant and all of that. So everything I know about Nelson is from who? Second hand report. Right. So what has happened is every time Joseph had said something about Nelson to me, I have built this idea. Okay. Nelson is going to look like this. Nelson is going to behave like this. Nelson talks like this. He might even sound like that. You understand what I'm saying? Because of that second hand report in my head. I have a certain image of Nelson. You with me. But that is not what encounter is with an encounter. So you might have heard. Okay. This God of the Christian God is a good God. He's an amazing God. He's merciful. He's kind. He's, you know, he's faithful. You would have heard from someone else. But everything changes when you experience him. Isn't it? When you experience or taste and see that the Lord is good, the scripture says, isn't it? You taste him for yourself and your idea of God changes. Isn't it? And so that's what encounter is. What does encounter with God mean? It means to meet him face to face and expect that something unexpected will happen. Okay. You can't meet the creator of the universe and then go back the same. Thinking everything is going to be fine. It's the expect the unexpected. What anything can happen when you encounter him or when he encounters you. Okay. It's a divine appointment which is marked by his presence, his power and his love. Encounter is beautiful. An encounter with God is absolutely beautiful. Give me some of the examples of the encounters in the Bible. Some of them online have already are ahead of me. Saul's encounter with God on the road to Damascus. Thank you, Sanjay. Okay. Akhil says, are dreams and visions encounters we face apart from what we see in real time? Yes, Akhil. So one of the things what we have, this was the idea that I had of encounter. In my mind, when I heard the word encounter, I thought, okay, the heavens are going to open. Something is going to come down. I'm going to see the super angel. I thought that, you know, for me in my head, that was an encounter. You can't put God in a box and say, this is what encounter is. Next time, this is how God is going to come and meet you. One time he might meet you in the burning bush. The next time you meet him, the whole mountain will be on fire. You with me. So God can meet you in the ways that you have never expected. So expect the unexpected. Okay. All right. So some of the encounters from the Bible. Sol. Sorry. Jacob. Jacob's encounter. This book is full of encounters, guys. Okay. John's encounter. Isaiah's encounter. But yeah, just give a few, most of everything what you've said is right. And then there is more to the list. Okay. Like I said, this is just four examples from the Bible. But then there are so many more stories, isn't it? So Jacob's story. Beautiful encounter. Where his life changes, his identity changes. Right? He fights with him. I'm not letting go of you until you bless me. Right? Sol's encounter with Jesus. You read about it in the book of Acts. Abraham's. We don't talk about it much. Abraham. Abraham becoming Abraham. So every time God makes a covenant with the person, he has that word, the letter H is the breath of God. It means a ruah, right? The breath of God. So he's adding his life into it. So Abraham. Sarai becomes Sarah. Right, Sarah? Okay. And then time and time again in the Gospels, we read about Jesus encountering people, isn't it? And every person that Jesus encountered did not go back the same. Right? So there are some of the encounters from the Bible. There are more to it. But are you all with me so far? Yes? You're following what I'm saying? What about those online? Yeah, all good so far? Okay. Tell me, what's one of your favorite encounters from the Bible? God. What's my favorite encounter in the Bible? God. What's it? Favorite encounter? Any favorite encounter? Saul. Solomon. Okay, Solomon. Okay. Lucy says Jacob's encounter. Yeah, that's beautiful. God, guys, no encounter. Don't say, I love the whole Bible poster. Saul's encounter, yeah. There's so many stories, beautiful encounters, right? When you go through, when you take time and just study each character's encounter, it's beautiful. One of my favorite encounters, I have a lot, but we'll study about one today. One is, oh my gosh, I'm forgetting the name. Hagar. Hagar. Hagar. Yeah, she stays next to my house now. Hagar in the Bible, you know when Abraham sends her away with Ishmael and she cries out in the wilderness in the desert and God responds to her, makes a covenant with her. He gives a covenant name saying, I am the God who sees. We have a song called God Who Sees coming out very soon. So that's one of my favorite encounters because it's God responding to the cry of a desperate heart, isn't it? And anyways, so a lot of encounters like that, but let's go to one of my favorite encounters, John chapter 20. Have your Bibles with you. I hope you're okay with me reading quite a bit of scriptures. Is that okay? If you read a little bit of Bible? Yeah, we might read quite a bit. So let's go to John chapter 20. This is one of my favorite encounters in the Bible. I read about this encounter. I read this passage in particularly August 14, 2011. I read this chapter for the first time and it absolutely changed my life. John chapter 20, we all there? Please follow along. It says, Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. All right. Verse two, it says, Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and set to them. They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb. And we do not know where they have laid him. Okay. What couple of things do you notice immediately? What's the first thing she does? Ignore that early in the morning while it was still dark. Now the context is Jesus is dead. He's been buried. He's been put inside the tomb. Okay. Mary Magdalene on the first day of the week while it was still dark early in the morning, she runs and she runs and she sees the tomb is moved. But Jesus is not there. His body is not there. So she runs back and she says, Simon and John says, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb. We do not know where they have laid him. Verse three, Peter therefore went out and the other disciple and we're going to the tomb. Verse four, They both ran together and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he is stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying there. Yet he did not go in. Now all of those details is so crucial. We can't just say, Okay, the Peter ran, John ran. John reached first. Everything is so beautifully. There's a narrative that's being built. It's like a beautiful movie. So Mary comes back. Jesus is not there. Simon Peter, they start running. The disciple whom Jesus loved overtakes Simon. He reaches first. But he not just reaches first. He stooped down. He looks into the tomb. But he does not go in. It's a very important point. Verse five, When he stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying there. Yet he did not go in. Verse six, Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. And he saw the linen clothes lying there. And the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but folded together in a place by itself. Verse eight, Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first, went in also. And he saw and believed. Verse nine, For as yet, they did not know the scripture. That he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. Everybody following the story so far, they reached the tomb. John reaches first. He stooped down. He sees. He does not go in. Peter reaches second. He reaches the tomb. He goes in. He wants to investigate a little bit more further. He's willing to go a little bit more deeper. He's not happy with just being outside the tomb with normal information that we get of God. Are you with me? Most of us are very happy being Sunday Christians. I go to church on Sunday. It's enough for me. Why are you all this? John, all this, you know, right? Are you with me so far? So Simon goes in and the very next verse says, He went back. Both the disciples went back to their own homes. That's what my Bible says. Your Bible also says the same thing. No, they came to your house. Okay. Verse 10. That's what it says, right? Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. So they went into the tomb. They searched. They saw the linen cloths, everything. They know that Jesus is not there, but they go back home. I love this second verse. This verse 11. But Mary stood outside the tomb, weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. Verse 12. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, the angels said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, Because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him. Verse 14. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She supposing Him to be the gardener said to Him, Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him. I will take Him away. Jesus said to her, Mary, she turned and said to Him, Laboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God. Okay. Are you all awake? Alive? Still alive? Okay. This story is very, very special. It's so beautiful. Forgive me for repeating. Don comes to the tomb. He bends down. He sees he does not go in. Simon reaches. He bends and he goes in. He investigates. Okay. He's not here. So, they went back home. I love that line which says, but Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. I'm sure Mary had the same choice as John and Simon to go back home. You're with me, right? But she stands outside the tomb weeping. That means she does not know what to do. What do I do? The man who'd set me free. He's dead and was buried here, but he's not there. He set me free, right? He saved a wretch like me. She was the one, she was Mary from the place called Magdala. That's why she's called as Mary Magdalene, right? The one who was possessed with demons. And so she's having this heart of gratitude, but she wants to meet the person who saved her after, you know? But she stood and you see what she sees now. Just because of extra waiting, pressing in just a little bit more, there are two angels. Simon Peter didn't, you know, and John didn't see that. Are you with me? I think this is the first place in the Bible or the only time in the Bible where two angels are sent at once to speak. Usually it's just one angel to speak to a person. God's like, I mean, she's too special. Two angels. But I also think this is the first time where the angels don't say do not fear. Angels don't say do not fear. Mary looked at the angels. I'm not interested in you. I want to know where my Lord is. Oh, angels with me. Are you with me? She had one desire, one thing, one focus. It was only Jesus. Jesus was all that mattered to her. From the beginning her prayer is the same. Where is Jesus? Where is Jesus? My Lord is not there. My Lord is not there. My Lord has been taken away. It's asking the angels the same. It's like, my Lord is not there. And then she turns back. Jesus is there. She calls. It's like, why are you weeping? Who are you searching for? Jesus knows who she's searching for, no? Yes or no? Every time God asks you a question that doesn't mean he doesn't know the answer, no? Yeah? It's... Yeah. So when Jesus calls her, it's like, why are you weeping? Whom are you searching for? Mary thinks that this person is a gardener. But she doesn't even realize that it's Jesus yet. And she says, so the question of this person is, why are you weeping? Whom are you searching? But look at Mary's response. She's not saying that I'm searching for my, you know, searching for Jesus. She's saying, tell me where my Lord is, where you've taken away my Lord. I will bring him. Are you with me? She's not... Guys, forgive me if I'm kind of taking the slow, but all of this is very important. The question is different. She is answering the question in a very different way. She's not just saying, I'm looking for Jesus. She's saying, if you've taken away my Lord, tell me where he is. I will bring him. Now, how many of you have had... How many of you know that a dead body can be very heavy? One person carrying that dead body is... I'm not saying it's impossible, but it is very hard. Isn't it? Very, very hard. At this point, Mary still doesn't know that Jesus is alive. She still doesn't know that Jesus is alive. At this point in time, she just wanted a dead Jesus. In other words, she wanted a Jesus in her mind who couldn't do anything for her anymore. That means Jesus is dead and gone in her head. He can't heal her. He can't provide anything for her. She was willing to love on a dead Jesus. She was willing to just love on Jesus for who he is, not because she can get something from Jesus. Are you with me? Most of the times, I think we worship him. Okay, if I worship, I will get this transaction. Are you with me? But there's something beautiful about a person who just worships Jesus. Not so Jesus will do something for you, but you just worship him because he is worthy. If I get my breakthrough, I don't care. If I get my breakthrough or not, I don't care. If I get my healing or not, I don't care. I want to worship you anyways. Are you with me? And that's what's happening in Mary's encounter here. When she finally encounters, when Jesus calls her Mary, don't you know who this is? Then she goes and she clings him. And then Jesus says, don't cling on to me, Mary. I have not yet ascended to my father. That verse tells me another thing. It tells me that Jesus had another appointment in the calendar of heaven. So because of her cry and her desperation, he put the calendar of heaven on hold. He's like, okay, she's desperate. I'm going to attend to her first and then take care of my meetings. Okay, none of you got that. Okay, let's look at a few things from some of the lessons that we can learn from all the encounters in the Bible and also especially from the life of Mary, what we looked at. One is very intentional. Even Jacob, right? From encounter of Jacob to all the encounters. They were very intentional. I will not let you go until you bless me. Mary, while everybody went, she stood outside the tomb weeping. She was hungry. She was desperate. Tell me where you've taken him. I will bring him back to broken and humble. And the second thing was focused. Mary was not distracted by the angels. Oh, two angels. No, she was still focused. I want Jesus. Psalm 27, verse four. It says, one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the beauty of who he is. So focus. Make Jesus a one thing. You're hungry for him. You're desperate for him. You make Jesus your one thing. And the third point is very important. Persistence and patience. You seek him until you find him. Jesus said, you seek me and you will find me. How many of you played hide and seek? Okay. How many of you played hide and seek on the video game? I'm just kidding. This generation. So when Jesus says, seek me and you will find me, that means you seek me. You search for me until you find me. Right. And so persistence and patience is that point. Jesus says, you keep pushing it. Keep searching for me. Keep seeking for me. And you will find me. Are you with me? Okay. This is the last slide. So after all of these things, why an encounter with God matters? Why an encounter with God matters? First thing. You need an encounter with God to start a relationship with God. How many of you are Christians? Okay. How many of you are saved? You've saved? No. You've given your life to Jesus? Yeah. Not sure. Right. So you gave your life to Jesus as a response because you heard something about him or from him. Isn't it? You've experienced his love. You've experienced his forgiveness. Right. You've experienced his mercy. How can someone save a sinner like me? So I'm going to give my life to you. That was your first encounter. It was at a place called Calvary. It's where you meet Jesus. Isn't it? So I'm going to give. So we need an encounter with God to start a relationship with him. That was the starting point where you gave your life to him. But we need to continue living life. Isn't it? So encounters after that. So your first encounter is like a seed. Everybody say seed. Seed. So what is a seed? You plant seeds, right? You, you know, farmers. A seed is not meant to be a seed forever. What is a seed supposed to do? It's supposed to sprout, grow seeds, supposed to become a plant, a tree, and then eventually bear fruit. Isn't it? So our first encounter is like a seed that God places. We've tasted him. But that seed cannot remain a seed in us. It has to grow. Right? So encounters after that builds our faith. When we go through the season of wilderness, when we go through the season of uncertainty, bad times, what not. These encounters is like, hey, God is with you. God is with you. Keep going. It builds our faith. Okay. An encounter with God. It leads to repentance. David, you know, the story, Psalm 51. Repentance leads to reconciliation. It leads to a transformed heart and an encounter with God. We also get a new direction. So all of these things are possible only if we pursue him patiently, persistently, focus on him and him alone. Okay. All of this leads to an encounter with God. And because of all this, our response is what? Worship. Yeah, that's enough. Look at me. Right? So because of all of this, I think you can put these lights on. How are you guys doing online? Okay. All good so far? Yeah. All right. So worship is our response to an encounter with God. The fourth point. When we say that, we are responding to everything what we just read, what we just learned. When we focus on him, we respond with worship. When we find him, we worship him. Are you with me? And so I just want to leave us with this thought that we would be like the Jacobs. Encounters are still available for us. God longs to encounter us. But he is only looking for those who will seek him, who will pursue him, like these people who will not give up easily, stand outside the tomb, wait on him. Right? A hungry and a desperate heart, God will always respond to it. Like the cry of Hagar. Okay. How many of you are desperate for him? That's the question for you to answer. Okay. Are you desperate for Jesus? Are you hungry for Jesus? So it is in that encounter where worship becomes a response. All good? Okay. So yeah, I think we stop there for today. Quite a lot of information. Thanks for joining in. If you have any questions, leave it in the stream section. I hope there was something you could take away from today. All right. Thanks guys. God bless you.