BIBLE STUDY

A Little Known Fact About Worship.


ICEA – “Church at Study”

A Biblical Look at
One Aspect of Worship:
The Act of Bowing!

The history of biblical worship can be found in the Old Testament. The first account of the word “worship” seems to be used in Genesis 22:5.  This is where God tested Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham stated to his servants (at the base of the mountain) to wait while he and his son go over to “worship”. It is interesting to note that the word worship here (as defined by Strong’s – 7812) has the meaning “to bow down”. While the word “praise” (Strong’s – 1984) in many of David’s accounts and in a number of psalms…meant to “halal” or “shine” or “boast” of the Lord’s doings. David’s influence of praise (sometimes mixed with music), along with Israel’s worship, are an example for us today! An excellent account of this is found in II Chronicles 29:29-30. Worship seems to cover many aspects — with or without music, as well as standing, sitting, or kneeling. The one aspect the author chooses to focus on is BOWING, which is found in the scriptures below. (You may also click on the following text to print this handout:)

(Click Here to Print Handout on Worship and Bowing)

Genesis 24:26-27 26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord. 27 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
Genesis 24:48 48 And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son.
Genesis 24:52-53 52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. 53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
Exodus 4:31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Exodus 12:27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
Exodus 34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
Joshua 5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
II Kings 5:18 In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing.
I Chronicles 29:20 And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord, and the king.
II Chronicles 7:3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord
II Chronicles 20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
II Chronicles 29:29 The king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
II Chronicles 29:30 And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Nehemiah 8:6 And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Job 1:20-21 20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Palsm 22:29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
Psalms 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
Psalms 99:5 Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.
Psalms 132:7 We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.
Isaiah 44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Isaiah 44:17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
Isaiah 46:6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
Daniel 2:46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
Daniel 3:5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
Daniel 3:6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Daniel 3:10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
Daniel 3:11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well:…
Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Matthew 18:26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Mark 15:19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.
Acts 10:25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
I Corinthians 14:25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
Revelation 5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
Revelation 19:4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

 

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Start A Bible Readers’ Club At Your Church (Handouts)


ICEA – Helping You Start
Your Bible Readers’ Club!

STARTING A BIBLE READERS CLUB IS A UNIQUE WAY FOR
MEMBERS TO LEARN THE BIBLE & INTERACT AT THE SAME TIME!

HERE IS A SAMPLE LETTER THAT WAS SENT OUT TO MEMBERS:

Praise the Lord ________________________ .
 
I want to invite you to our Bible Readers Club, where members will be reading the book of Philippians. The event will be this Sunday, from 4:15-5:45 p.m. We will have some light-hearted things to do to make the reading exciting. We will be giving out small gifts; have the audience shout out hard to pronounce words; find key verses throughout the chapters, and more!
 
The group will be reading (in rotating order) from the NIV version for better clarity. We plan to continue this study from various books on a monthly basis. For this meeting only, we will allow readers to use their King James Version, also. I have created a curriculum outline to break down and better understand Philippians.
 
We currently have over 50 members signed up! I sure hope they all will attend. Please e-mail me and let me know if you are able to make it.
 
Look forward to seeing you there.
 

(CLICK TEXT BELOW TO SEE HOW IT’S DONE AND SEE
THE ATTACHED FOR A SAMPLE OF THE HANDOUT WE USED.)

Bible Club Philippians (for Blog)

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Attempting to Define Hope Versus Faith


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ICEA – “Church at Study”

The word “hope” is often associated with a person’s expectation of God’s final deliverance or salvation. In the Old Testament, God was the object of the righteous. They waited for His salvation. Many of the Old Testament saints also hoped for the final deliverer (Messiah), who would establish His kingdom on earth. We, (the church), look (or hope) for Him, also. He is the risen One: the “first-born” from the dead, and our hope is that we will (like He did) rise; and we will meet the Lord in the air. Hope, in large part (for the church) has to do with our trust that God will one day physically deliver the righteous from earth to heaven. It is a hope in a final deliverance or resurrection. New Testament scriptures are mainly used IN THE HANDOUT BELOW, to attempt to define the word hope. The object of hope in a number of the scriptures from the handout refer to either God the Father, or the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope, therefore, is often in expectation of the Person, Jesus, who God has made both Lord and Christ (Messiah). Hope (not always, but in large part) speaks of something more eternal than faith. This means, for example, that the word “hope” is rarely defined as someone believing that God will heal them of a condition. Faith, many times, is a word better used for our belief in “temporal” healings and believing God for His temporal “blessings.” Our faith in temporal things can waiver. For example…let’s say someone had faith to believe God to “fix” some condition. Years went by and the condition remained. Over those years, they had highs and lows. There were times they believed God with great faith and other times doubts crept in. The point is, again, our faith often waivers and we can become of “little faith” (Matt. 8:26). Here is another example: we have faith that God will heal a sick loved one. They die. We question why. What went wrong? Did we have enough faith? We often wrestle with our inability to have faith in God for temporal healings. But, we should never lose HOPE in the person of Jesus; the One who controls death and life. That’s why we are at peace when we have prayed and had faith that God would heal a loved one…only to watch them pass away. It does not take away from…nor diminish…our hope in the existence of the person of Christ or God. Faith waivers, but hope in God should never waiver. Examine this scripture: “Lord, I believe [in order words, I have faith], but help my unbelief.” We see from the verse that this man’s faith waivered, but not his hope in the existence of God. It is possible to have little faith to believe for something and yet have hope in the Eternal One. Here is how Hebrews 6:18-20 reads: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the HOPE set before us: Which HOPE we have as an ANCHOR OF THE SOUL, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus…. This verse reminds us that hope is more eternal. (This doesn’t mean that the word hope is in all instances defined as eternal, neither is faith always considered temporal.) The hope we have in Jesus should never waiver, because the hope we have in the person of Jesus ANCHORS our souls and hope is not volatile like our faith can be. We can sometimes lose our faith, but we must not ever lose our hope. We see an instance where the disciple Peter and the other disciples lost their HOPE. The angels told the women that Christ was risen, the bible states that the men did not believe them. In other words, the Son of God had died, and their was no HOPE in His resurrection. This would have been the saddest occurrence in the bible had Jesus not have shown Himself alive to his hopeless followers. Explore the handout below to view scriptures explaining the difference between faith and hope.

Please click on the text below to view typed
out scriptures, noting the difference
between faith and hope:

Church at Study – Faith Compared to Hope

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REGISTER NOW for the PCAF ETA In-Classroom and Online Biblical Training and Certification Program – Michigan Location


ICEA – ETA Classroom Studies

Our first class will be:
Monday, November 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Training will be at Unity Temple,
17376 Wyoming, Detroit, Michigan

______________________________________________

The PCAF – ICEA (International Christian Education Auxiliary) Classroom and Online Training and Certification Program (held for Michigan students) is a course for all — teachers and serious students — who have an interest in furthering their knowledge of the Bible and related biblical issues. This quality classroom/online training has a $85.00 registration fee for the entire standard course. There are five books for the course, which are $18.00 each. The total tuition (including registration fee and five books) is $175.00. You may get started with $103.00, which will include your registration fee, and first book to take to the classroom.

YOU MAY REGISTER DURING THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS.

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DETAILS OF OUR BIBICAL TRAINING FALL COURSE 2017

We will be studying in a classroom environment but the assignments will be done online. Exceptions can be made to take written tests, as well.

The training will be every Monday from 6:30 PM until 8:45 PM. Excellent anointed and seasoned instructors will inform and train students in the classroom setting.  This will be a great opportunity for serious students to learn more about the Bible and biblical related issues. The duration of the course will last approximately 7 months. You do not need to attend all classes, but assignments are due each week prior to the next session. If you cannot make some sessions, you may do assignments online and submit them to be graded. Our studies will cover five books to complete the Biblical training. You will be able to use “open book” during the online testing. Testing for two chapters is required per week.

Standard Course Studies

Old Testament Survey I
Old Testament Survey II
New Testament Survey
Understanding People
Teaching Techniques

After the completion of the course, you will have acquired so much about the Bible, as well as teacher training; get the honors of being certified with the PCAF; and graduate with students (from around the country) at the National Convention in Phoenix, Arizona 2018.

Thank you!
The PCAF – International Christian Education Auxiliary (ICEA) Staff

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Sunday School with the Bishop!


ICEA – “Church at Study”

Our presiding Bishop of the PCAF, Bishop Lambert W. Gates, Sr.,
will be instructing on the topic:

“POSITIONING LEADERS
TO GOVERN GOD’S KINGDOM”

(“And who knows whether thou are come
to the kingdom for such a time as this?”)
(Esther 4:14)

If you are in the Michigan area, plan to be a part of these four early
morning, informative sessions. The dates are as follows:

Sundays, June 11, 25, July 9, and 23
from 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.

 The sessions will take place at:

Greater Apostolic Faith Temple

Donation/Registration:

2.50 per student — ages 13 – 17
5.00 per student — adults

(One time registration only. Offering taken during other sessions.
Light refreshments served. Handouts given.)

Possible Topics:

Developing Leadership Skills
Grace Under Fire: Leaders Positioned to Handle Great Adversity
Jesus Was Positioned for a Cause: To Love the Unlovable
Identifying and Eliminating Personal Strongholds

If you will not be attending, please respond if you would like to
download  a copy of the study material. You may also use
this material to train at your local assembly.

 

 

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