 Great. Good morning once again. Lovely to see you all. Good morning to everyone who's joining us online. Hope you all are doing well. Thanks for joining in. Good to see you. Everybody is new except for Lucy. But all of you here are new. So good to see you. I will be teaching this course called Praise and Worship. I'm excited and I'm looking forward to teaching this subject and I hope you are excited about it the same. My name is Roshan. I'm from Bangalore. All 36 years of my life I have lived here. So I am the local guy here. Anybody here who just born and raised full bread Bangalorean here? Yeah. Okay, I'm a Bangalorean. But good. Lovely, lovely to have. But yeah, it's been great. But looking forward to getting to know all of you. I don't know everybody's names. It's Daniel. It's an easy name to remember. I know Cyril who helped me set up. But Asaf. Asaf. Asaf. Okay. I was close. Awesome. But looking forward to getting to know all of you from where you come from and what's your favorite food and everything and what not. Yeah, I'm just excited to teach you about praise and worship. I hope you are excited. Everybody can hear fine? Is it booming? Is all okay? Okay. I have a very sensitive view. I'm very picky about how it sounds in the room. Everybody online can hear me okay? I keep forgetting the camera is here. Yes, sir. Awesome. All right. Fantastic. Right. So let's get started and learn about praise and worship. No. Hi, Sam. Good to see you. All right. Lovely. Okay. So I just want to share briefly about my background, you know, where everything that I've gone through. Okay. So the reason I teach praise and worship is not because I know everything about it. So I was 18 years old. I think the year was 2005. I was studying second PUC in Karnataka. That's what we call it 12th, you know, second PUC. And I was 18 and I failed in mathematics. Anybody here who likes mathematics? If I liked mathematics, why would I be in Bible college? Okay. But so, yeah, differentiation, integration, all this Pythagoras theorem, all this formula, sine theta, cos theta, tan theta, it scared me. And so I didn't understand anything. And so I failed. But I remember that was a very dark period in my life. It was a very depressing time. Because you know how in India is if you fail or if you don't get a good mark, one auntie from the fourth house will know what marks you got in four minutes after the result comes. And they will not talk like phone and ask and all that. Hey Roshan, what I heard you failed in mathematics. You know, the whole road will, you know, can hear everybody in my neighborhood knew that there's this boy called Roshan in this corner house and he failed in mathematics. And so it was not an easy time. And I remember at least the next two months was pretty dark. And so I did not know where to hide. I didn't know what to do. Nothing else. I didn't know what to do. The only thing I knew by then is I knew three chords on the guitar. I knew C major, F major, G major. And for the next two months, the only thing I could do or I knew to do was I knew a song called He Is My Everything and He Is My All. Does anybody know that song? It's a very old English children's song. It says, He Is My Everything, He Is My All. That's all. You know, like honey in the rock, sweet honey in the rock, for he tastes like honey in the rock. You know, that's all I did for the two months is, because I didn't know what else to do. I had failed in mathematics and my life is falling apart. I'm feeling this guilt that, you know, I brought this shame upon my parents, you know, because they are feeling embarrassed because they have to answer all the relatives. It's like, why he failed? Why he failed? Put him in tuition. You know, and so I'm going through all of this and I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know video editing. I didn't know photography or all, you know, there are so many other skills that you can have, right? Like a talent or whatever. I didn't know what to do. The only thing I knew to do was those three chords and that one song. And so I worshiped. I did not even worship because I was good at it. You know what I'm saying? I will do that because I didn't know anything else to do. And so that's why this aspect of worship, my journey with worship kind of begins there. I'm talking about one aspect of worship which is singing and playing, but then from 18, I'm 36, that's almost 18 years ago. You know, it's half my life has gone. God has been gracious. He's been merciful to teach me something more about praise and worship along this journey. And that is what I want to share with us. So everybody okay? So far? Everybody able to understand? Yes. No. Maybe. Okay, awesome. But yeah, are you excited to learn about praise and worship? Yes. Okay, so let's begin with the classic question. So from the time I was 18, now I'm 36. I have taught a lot on praise and worship. I have done a lot of seminars and workshop and all these small classes on worship, whatnot. And so the first question is the classic question. What does worship mean to you? You don't write the question. You answer me. He's like writing, what is worship? So that's my question to you and to everybody. Pastor, can I answer? Yes. For me, worship is relating to the reality of God. Okay, worship is related to the reality of God. Awesome. Thank you. Bringing the presence of God. Bringing the presence of God. Bringing the presence of God? Yeah, yeah, we can connect to God through the worship. Okay, cool. Thank you. Anybody here? Worship is what you? Worship is what you give to God. Okay. All right. Yes. Anybody? Yes. Raising God with a whole heart. Okay. Guys, remember, there is no right or wrong answer. Okay, I'm not going to fail you if you tell me something that I don't agree with. Worship is a sacrifice we do to God. Okay. Thanks, Andrew. All right. What else? What else? Talk to me. What does worship mean to you? It's a communication with God. Okay. Jennifer says communicating with God. Is that right? Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Jennifer. All right. You're saying glory of God. Okay. To praise him. Sorry, Pankaj. You were saying something. To praise God. To praise God. Okay. All right. I'm still unsatisfied. Okay. Everybody has an answer. So tell me. Talk to me. What does worship mean to you? All right. We open up our hearts to him in his presence. Okay. We express how much we feel joyful. Okay. Awesome. All right. Thank you. And Daniel says worship is the place where we meet God as a friend. Okay. All right. Sanjay says worship is a lifestyle. Okay. Everybody answered. The course is over. Everybody passed. Let's go home. Everybody's answered. Everybody's giving correct answer. Why should I teach him a piece of worship? Graduates. Right. So as I mentioned, there is no right or wrong answer when we talk about what is worship. Every answer that you said is correct. Right. Worship is a lifestyle and whatnot. But worship. Everybody say worship. Everybody say worship. Worship. All right. Thank you. So worship comes from an ancient Anglo-Saxon or a Greek word that simply means worth-ship. It comes from two different words. Right. Worth-ship. Okay. You might find it in your notes or you might not find it. I might share things with you that is not in the notes as well. So don't be surprised. Okay. So worth-ship. We recently had a short-term Bible college. I was going to ask what word worthy is in Hindi. That means Yogi, you know. Worthy. Any other language? Telugu. What does worthy mean? Telugu. Worthy. Anybody who speaks Tamil? Worthy. Dale. Taghudi. Sorry? In Tamil we say Taghudi. Was it not very clear, Jennifer? Are you saying in Tamil? Yeah. In Tamil we say Taghudi. The word. It's not you. I'm sure it's the sound system here that I'm not able to understand very clearly. Okay. It's Taghudi. Can you hear now? Taghudi. What is that? Okay. Taghudi. Okay. In Tamil. Okay. Taghudi. Oh, yeah. I got it. I thought there was some accent involved over there so I didn't understand. Taghudi. Okay. All right. Awesome. Yeah. So tell me some of the words that's associated with the word worthy. So have you heard of this word called trustworthy in English? Trustworthy. Yes. All right. So when I ask you a question, that means I'm expecting N. So when I speak with you, you have to speak back. Okay. So have you heard trustworthy? Yes or no? Okay. So what does that mean? It means dependable. Dependable. Okay. So let's just to keep, just to make it the communication kind of clear between what's happening in class and online. So it doesn't sound like everybody's speaking in tongues. If anybody wants to speak something, just please raise your hands. And so I can identify who wants to speak because what's happening right now is there are two worlds colliding. It's like we're reading Bible in different translations altogether. Okay. So yeah, you were saying something. Okay. Trustworthy. Okay. All right. And yeah. So Gertrude, you can speak now. You were saying something. Yes. I said dependable. Dependable. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. What else is trustworthy? Oh, that's in your language. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So so many other words are there associated with the word worthy. We say trustworthy. That means say if I say Cyril is a trustworthy person, that means he's worthy of my trust. Yes or no. Right. And there's so many other words. So before a ship is going into the sea, the captain will ask the question, is this ship sea worthy? That means is this ship worthy of the voyage? Right. Is or an aircraft? Is it air worthy before a pilot takes the aircraft? He lost the question. Is this airplane air worthy? That means is it worthy enough to go on a flight? And there are so many things associated with the word worthy, isn't it? Everybody say worthy. Right. And so the word worship comes from that word worth ship. And so that answers the question or asks a question, is God worthy of your worship? When I say God, I'm talking about Jesus. Let's get specific. Right. Is Jesus worthy of worship? Okay. So that's where the word worship comes from because as human beings, we worship. We can worship anything or anyone. Everybody worships. Not just Christians. Yes or no. Everybody worships. Everybody worships. Yeah. Kind of. But what they worship or who they worship is the important question. Isn't it? Right. Some of them worship water. Some of them worship sun. Some of them worship moon. Some of them worship Iraq. Planets. Whatever comes to mind. Right. I'm being very serious, by the way. Isn't it? Right. Anything can become an idol. How many of you have seen an idol? So you've seen an idol. Idol, IDOL. Yeah. Now, one of the things that we need to remember is that all statues are idols, but not all idols are statues. Say that again. All statues are idols, but not all idols are statues. Why? Because in modern day, you can say it's like pastor. What you're saying? I'm a Christian. I'm a Bible college student. Bible idol worship. But the things that are not statues are what? It can be money. It can be money. It can be your career. It can be the person that you love. Girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever. Okay. And true story in my life. It was I think in 2016 that for at least 10 months out of the 12 months in that year, I idolized guitar. For 10 out of 12 months, I idolized a guitar. That means a guitar, an instrument became the recipient of my worship. Because all my affection, all my devotion, all my thoughts, my time and my energy was devoted to one thing. That is guitar. And so that became my idol. And that became the recipient of my worship. Are you with me? So anything or anyone that takes the place of God becomes an idol. Are you with me? Anything or anyone, not just a thing. It can be a person also. But anything or anyone takes the place of God or that becomes the recipient of all your affection, your devotion, and your thoughts, your time and energy becomes an idol. And therefore it becomes the recipient of your worship. Right? The devil understands the power of your worship. And that's why he takes Jesus a high up and says, okay, you know what Jesus? You can have all of this that you see. All you need to do is what? Power down and worship. The devil understands the power of your worship. The problem is we don't know the power of our worship. Because we don't understand the power of our worship, we worship anything, anyone, especially in Indian culture. We are a culture that gives a lot of honor. And so we don't know the difference. The line between giving honor and giving worship is very thin. And so very often in the name of giving honor to another individual, we end up worshiping that individual. Oh, this pastor is coming. Let's go bow down. Are you following what I'm saying? The power of worship is very real. So we understood that word worship comes from an ancient Latin word, Anglo-Saxon word called worthship. But the Hebrew meaning, the original, when we talk about the Hebrew language, it was originally a pictorial language. That means like, you know, there was carvings on the wall, you would have seen, right? Like they would carve. So it was a pictorial language. And so the original image for worship was a full face down or bow down in the presence of the king, like complete surrender. We'll talk about later in another chapters, but that was the original image for the word worship. It was complete bow down, face down before the king. Are you all with me? Following? Yes? No? And so let me ask you this question. Is worship a genre of music? Is worship one of the genres of music? You understand what a genre is, right? Is it a jazz, pop, rock, classic rock, progressive rock, alternate rock? Hip-hop, rap? Is worship one of the genres? No, pastor. Thank you. Everybody's looking at me like a confused, it's like a tricky question. It's like a simple question, not a tricky question. Thank you. Worship is not a genre of music, right? Singing or playing an instrument is one of the aspects of worship and it is not the only aspect of worship. Are you with me? Music, singing or playing an instrument is one of the ways of how you express worship, but it is not the only way of how you express your worship, okay? But in your notes, there are certain comments that might be very familiar, but at least it's very familiar in this South India. Let's look at those, some of the comments and tell me if this anything, any of these things feels familiar. By the third song, Brother, I was really worshiping. Has anybody heard that? No, I have heard. That's why it's over there, okay? By the second song or the third song, by the fourth song I was lost. Gone. So the question is, who or what were you worshiping before the third song? What about the first song? What about before singing? I reached the church, I parked the car, I was fighting with someone, I re-entered the church, I started singing. Okay, let's just continue. Anybody online have heard those comments? By the third song, I was really worshiping. Okay, another comment, it says, worship gets me to the place where I don't have to think about anything. How many of you are thinking right now? We're constantly thinking. So it says, worship gets me to a place where I don't have to think about anything. But in all truth, the fact is that worship requires for you to think. Because the Bible says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind. Christian worship is not a new age thing where it says, you have to empty your mind. You have to pour everything out what is inside of you. Empty, mind empty, you don't have to. That's inaccurate, right? Christian worship involves us to think, okay, about the word. Because the Bible says, meditate on his word. What is that? Think. Are you with me guys? Everybody alive? All right. Another comment that I hear quite a lot is, will there be worship at the meeting? Will there be worship at the meeting? So in all these comments, I want you to know that we have reduced worship to a time of singing and playing an instrument. 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Will there be worship? I am still trying to understand these comments, okay? Okay, another comment which is very famous. With only 20 minutes, we really didn't have time to worship. How many of you have heard that? Only 10 minutes for worship. That's all. Anybody heard that? Or is it only me? Y'all are making me feel like I have lived on another planet. Yes, yes, it happens. Thank you. It doesn't really matter. 5 minutes or 10 minutes or 20 minutes. It's not like we have to warm up to worship. Right? Okay, so let's sing some songs before the sermon comes. So we treat a time of singing and playing an instrument, that aspect of worship as a warm-up before the main thing comes. That is the preaching. Okay, this is the last one. Okay, last. Who leads worship here? Does anybody lead worship in your church? Tell your name, brother. Blessing. Blessing. Blessing. What a blessed name, bro. Okay, so this comment I have heard quite a lot. There will be people in the congregation. Some people will have favorite worship leader. Okay. Oh, bless these leading worship today. It's going to be amazing. God's presence is going to come in full fire only, you know. Okay, I'll stop. Now, I'm sharing all of this for us to know that we have reduced worship to all these comments, right? We have reduced worship to just 10 minutes or 5 minutes of singing and worship and whatnot. But worship, as we've said, it's a lifestyle, isn't it? Worship is how I treat you guys. Worship is how I treat my friends. Worship is how I treat my wife. Worship is how I treat my, you know, any relationship for that matter. Worship is how I treat my work. Yes. And so when I say worship is a lifestyle, worship is all of that, right? How you live your life as a Christian. Does it honor God? Does your life honor God? And if it is honoring God, that is a life of worship. Are you with me? Because as I said that I have been in worship ministry long enough to know that you can be a worship leader on stage, on fire, with all the right words that's coming from your mouth. And get off stage, you are a different person altogether, right? On stage, you can be a worship leader. Off stage, you can be the worst person, right? Nobody wants to talk with you because you treat everyone so bad. Are you with me, right? And so all that is worship is how we live our life together. In your notes, let's go to the second page. Let's understand, let's look at some more definitions of worship. Okay. Page three. Are you all there? Yeah. Okay. Some more definitions of worship. The first one is by a Dutch humanist called Deciderius Erasmus. I put that down there because I liked his name. It's a very exciting Deciderius Erasmus. What a name. So all he is saying is every definition is dangerous. Every definition is dangerous. So why is he saying that? It's simply because now, like we said, worship is this, worship is that, and all of that can be true 100%. But by defining a thing by one word, you might miss out on so many other aspects of it, right? For example, here it says in your notes, attempts at explaining worship as love or intimacy or relationship say something true, but end up leaving out more than they contribute to our understanding of worship. That means when you define something as love or intimacy or relationship, all of that is true, but you'll end up missing out a lot more of it. Let's look at the second definition in your notes. This is from the book called Music through the Eyes of Faith from page 143. It says, acknowledging that someone or something else is greater, worth more, and by consequence to be obeyed, feared and adored. Worship is the sign that in giving myself completely to someone or something, I want to be mastered by it. It's by Harold Best from the book that is mentioned over there. What is interesting is saying there is acknowledging that someone or something else is greater. What is acknowledging? Acknowledgement. What is the meaning of acknowledging? Accepting. Accepting, agreeing. Is that what you said? Acknowledge. What do you mean by acknowledging? Accept. Let's say Pastor Ashish walks down from the stairs. We all know Pastor Ashish is a senior pastor. He's the boss of all bosses. You'll stand up as a good morning pastor. Yes or no? What you've done is that you've acknowledged his presence. You're acknowledging who he is. Yes or no? When an elder comes into your home, you stand up. I said that Indian culture is the culture of honour. At least it used to be. We stand up and we acknowledge an elder person's presence. Isn't it? Good morning. Welcome. What's the definition saying there is that you acknowledge that someone or something else is greater and it's worth more. By acknowledging the consequences, you are obeying it, you are adoring it and that is worship. Then it goes on to say that you are completely giving yourself to it and you want to be mastered by it. Guys, remember that this is a very famous statement in English that says you become like the one you worship. Can I say that again? You become like the one you worship. Let's go very quickly. Go to Psalm 115. Psalm 115. If you're there, type amen or say amen. If you're still searching for Psalm 115, we'll have an auto call at the end of it. We will pray for you. The rate of amen is increased after saying we'll have an auto call. Psalm 115. I'm going to read from verse 4. Psalm 115 verse 4 onwards it says, their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths but they do not speak. Eyes they have but they do not see. They have ears but they do not hear. They have but they do not smell. They have hands but they do not handle. Feet they have but they do not walk. Nor do they mutter through their throat. Verse 8. Important. Those who make them are like them. So is everyone who trusts in them. What does it say? Those who make these idols are like them. That means it's simply saying, you become like the one you worship. Are you with me? So that is the second definition. Let's move on a little fast. There's one more thing. At any point in time, if you have any questions, please raise your hands and feel free to ask a question. This is also for those online. Raise your hand and we'll pause and we'll address the question. Or you can also put your questions in the chat section and then we'll address it eventually. Let's continue. The third definition of worship. Worship is the believer's response of all that they are. Mind, emotions, will, body to what God is and says and does. In all of these definitions, I have mentioned the name of the book, the author and the page number it's taken from. If you can eventually get your hands on those books, I encourage you to read it. Worship is the believer's response of all that they are. The mind, emotions, will and body to what God is and says and does. Let's look at another definition. It's from the book called Engaging with God by David Peterson. He says worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes. Okay, let's stop. So worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes in the way that he alone makes possible. Okay, I love the quote because we think worship is about us. I'll say that again. You and I like it or not, we think worship is about us. Oh, I felt nice in worship. I think we should worship like this. I think we should do that only then it is true worship. If he sings English songs, it's not worship. We should sing in our own language. Only that is worship. What we have done is we have made worship about ourselves, about how we feel. Are you with me? We think worship that you or I are the recipient of a worship. If I am leading worship, you come and say is like, I didn't like the way you lead worship. I didn't like the songs that you chose. I'll be like, I'm sorry, but I didn't know that you are the recipient of my worship. For one second, what we'll do is we'll take it and let's not make worship about us. Okay, worship is not about you and me. Worship is about, about, thank you. Good God. Okay, so that's what David Peterson is saying in his book, is that we engage with God in worship on the terms that he proposes. It is God who told Moses how to build the tabernacle. Yes or no? Everybody learned about the tabernacle of Moses? Heard about the tabernacle of Moses? God gives the blueprint to Moses. Okay, tell them to make like this. Tell them to use this color. Tell them to use that thread. Tell them to use that skin. This is the configuration, the size, everything, the length, the breadth. God is telling them how worship should be done. We don't tell God, okay, this is how I'm going to worship you, accept it or not. Cain tried doing that and his worship was not accepted. I know that's how you're supposed to worship, but I will worship you the way I want to worship. God says, no, thank you, brother. Okay, now let's go to the next page. Is everyone following me? Are you all with me? Yes, no, maybe. Any questions so far? Any questions? Okay, for those online, any questions? Alright, thanks, Daniel. Okay, so the chapter one is all about defining worship, understanding worship, just a little bit more deeper with all the different definitions. So stay with me. There's a very famous worship leader called Bob Coughlin. I'm just looking at your notes in page four. I think it's page four, right? Bob Coughlin, that says? Yeah, page five, okay, sorry. Now what we're going to do with this definition is we're going to break down to understand what exactly is the meaning of worship, okay? So Bob Coughlin says, Christian worship is the response of God's redeemed people to his self-revelation that exalts God's glory in Christ and our mind's affection and wills in the power of the Holy Spirit. So what we're going to do for the next five minutes is we're going to break down the definition and try and understand what exactly is happening, okay? So the definition starts with these two words, Christian worship. Everybody say Christian worship. One more time, let's say Christian worship. Okay, because I said everybody worships, right? Everybody worships. But how is that different from Christian worship is what we're going to look at? Christian worship is different from every kind of worship because it has been made possible through... It's been made possible through... Okay, yeah, through Jesus Christ. Okay, but let's go to the book of Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5 verse 9 to 10. It's a hard book, okay. Revelation chapter 5 verse 9 and 10. It says, and they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals for you are slain. And you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God. And we shall reign on the earth. Okay, so you are worthy to take the scroll. Who is it talking about? It's talking about Jesus. You are worthy means who is worthy? Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for Jesus was slain. And because of that, he has redeemed us to God by his blood. Let's stop. He has redeemed. Everybody say redeemed. Okay, so here's the thing. There are a lot of gods out there. Yes or no? In India itself, we have crows of gods, the people worship. Yeah? And they all have names. Yes or no? There's not a single other God that can go by the title or has the name or the title called redeemer. No one. No other God with small g. No other God has this title called redeemer. Only Jesus. Only Jesus is known as the redeemer. Jesus redeemed us and he has made it possible. And so it is, he is the only difference between Christian worship and every other worship. Are you with me? Yes, so it says Christian worship is different from every kind of worship because it has been possible through Jesus Christ. And look at it. And then it says Christian worship is the response. So when do we respond? Response. When do we respond? What is the meaning of response? Okay, you know why I'm asking you all these questions, right? It's for us to think about it as well. It's very important. Okay, so what is the response? When do we respond? When do we respond? So if I'm asking you a question, I'm expecting you to respond with an answer, isn't it? Yes or no? If I'm asking you a question and you keep looking at me like my face is so beautiful without saying anything, that means you're not really responding. Right? So if you answer my question, that means you are responding with an answer, isn't it? And so here it says Christian worship is the response. That means we are responding to something that's happened. Okay? So Christian worship is the response of God's redeemed people. People that who are redeemed. To what? To his self-revelation. That means we can't know God apart from him revealing himself to us. That's what the definition is saying, that Christian worship is the response of God's redeemed people to the revelation of who God is that exalts in God's glory in Christ in our minds, affection and our wills. Okay? So because of time, I'm going to cut it short and I want to encourage you to go back and read through all those definitions. Okay? So once the class is done in the evening, whenever you have the time, I want to encourage you to go through those notes and definitions. Okay? I want to stop here because I think I've given too much information and I don't want you to hate me. Okay? Let's just stop here. I hope you've been able to follow along with me, even those online for this first hour on what worship is. I want to encourage you to go back home and read through the notes. Okay? Let's stop and just give thanks to God. Okay? Father, we thank you for this time that you've given to us. We thank you for this privilege that we've had to learn about you, to come into your presence and to call you Abba Father. And so Lord, I pray Holy Spirit that you will continue to pour out your wisdom, your knowledge, your understanding, given as we learn about you from your word, Father. We give you all the glory, honor, power and praise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Awesome. Thank you all. Thank you everybody online for joining in. I'll stop the recording now. Thank you pastor. All right. Thank you. See you tomorrow.