We are in the process of consideration of that which will cause us to more perfectly bring unto the Lord our praise and adoration and worship. We want to only do that which is honoring and pleasing to the Lord in the very best of all that we bring before Him. 
Last time, we dealt with the manner in which the Lord brought this fellowship to where we are today. Please remember that we are not putting ourselves over other fellowships or church groups as being superior or more spiritual in any measure whatsoever. We are very thankful for the way in which the Holy Spirit works and establishes the truth of the person of Jesus Christ into each heart who calls upon Him for salvation, no matter which denomination or community group of believers. The key to all is the personal relationship with Jesus Christ in service to God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Others serve the Lord in their corporate worship as they honor Him in their obedient observation as do we in ours. Therefore, this series of why and how we worship is not to be seen as negative toward others nor as the end all of how to adore our Lord. As we mentioned, it is the clarification for those who have not been raised in the teachings that have been part of this fellowship since its inception by the Lord in this geographic region. It needs to be very clear that we are not a stand alone entity in any measure. We are fully part and parcel of the Church universal along with a vast number of other churches, denominational or non-denominational, in this area. We are one complete Body in Jesus Christ. He is the Head and each group of fellow believers are being knit together, as couples, as families, as a fellowship, and as a complete body in Jesus Christ. We function in this world only because He is our Life, our Heart, our Head, our Everything. 
Proceeding forward then, let us read together the very basic reason that we are gathered together in His name. Please open in your Bibles to 1 Kings 18:21-39 as we want to recognize what is at the very heart of our united worship. It is the account of the Prophet Elijah as he demonstrated the claim of God upon His Chosen people. 1 Kings 18:21-39. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox, and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God." And all the people answered and said, "That is a good idea." So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, "O Baal, answer us." But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. And it came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened." So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. And it came about when midday was past, that they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. And Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name." So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed. Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. And the water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water. Then it came about at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O Lord, art God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again." Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God." 
    	"The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God." This is the very core of why we come together to bring Him praise and adoration and glory and to bless Him. We each make the very conscious decision that The Lord, He is God and there is no other. We have been brought face-to-face with the very reality that was so forcefully evidenced at this scene. The people were gathered together to see what was true. They had the history and the heritage and the stories of what had happened in the centuries and decades preceding this time of decision. 
	Despite all that had gone before, they were being led astray from the God of their salvation. They had allowed themselves to be captured by striving after idols and the teachings that promoted anything other than truly holding onto the Lord God Almighty with all their heart and with all their minds and with all their strength. The ungodliness of their actions and choices brought them to this point in time when they were witness to the fact that the Lord Alone, He is God. No matter what the priests of this age did, they were fruitless in their vanity and delusions. It was God, Alone, Who was witnessed in the devouring fire. The people turned to Him and acknowledged that which has always been true ...The Lord, He is God… 
	Our time of worship, set aside each Sunday morning, is for our corporate declaration of this truth to all the arena of those entities who are watching who we are in Jesus Christ. It goes far beyond the mere limits of this room. As we read in scripture, we are being watched very carefully by those who would see the testimony that we present in this world. 
It is of utmost urgency that we take to heart that one of these groups of onlookers has a most vested interest in our worship. That element includes the men and women of faith from the days before the Promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ as we read in Heb 11:39-12:2. If you would please open to Hebrews Chapter 11, verse39 through Chapter12, verse 2:2. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 
	As we meet together, it should be in the complete realization that all that was borne in the sacrifices of those saints of faith is finding its completion in the heart of our worship unto God in Jesus Christ! Our hearts and minds are to be so focused on the fullness of God in Christ, that our praise and worship will echo the hearts of these beloved and faithful witnesses that have gone before us into heaven. 
Furthermore, bear in mind that the roll call of these blessed ones now includes many of our own beloved. All the saints in heaven are gathered together and are rejoicing with us in the praise that is given unto God for the fact that He is the Lord, He is God!
	As well, we are witnesses to those who do not yet believe in the salvation so freely given to all in Jesus Christ. Our gathering together has its affect on unbelievers. It can be as they are in our direct presence as recorded in 1 Cor 14:23-26. If therefore the whole church should assemble together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 
Accordingly, we are encouraged in the course of how we are to honor and obey God so that unbelievers will be given a true witness of the life that is freely available in Jesus Christ. As we are so instructed in Col 4:5+6, Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person. This has its growth in us as we are fully given every opportunity to share together in the blessing of being in worship and praise unto God with one another. As we praise Him and adore Him and hear His Word and share together in our spiritual growth unto Him, so does that have its perfect work in us. He makes us ever more willing and effective witnesses of Jesus Christ to those outside the family of God. 
	In another avenue, our time of worship is keenly observed by those natural and spiritual entities that yearn to know more of what God is doing with and through His creation of humanity. Within the totality of God’s creation, there is a complete and restless and apprehensive longing to see into the plan and purpose of God. Rom 8:18-22, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 
	This yearning and hunger to see what God is doing is especially evident in the gathering of the angelic hosts to see what is at the very heart of their Creator in respect to the men whom they serve for the sake of the Lord. 1 Peter 1:10-16, As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things into which angels long to look. Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 
	These are some of the vital realities that need to be in our hearts and minds as we bring unto the Lord the very best of our worship in Spirit and in truth. Our gathering together is not just a matter of friends and family becoming more socialized and compatible. It is not a social network building venture in any measure. It is a defined and urgent priority of giving unto the Lord that which He deserves from those who have been redeemed at the inestimable cost of His Only Begotten Son. 
	As the Apostle Paul points out so vividly in Eph 6:10-18, we are engaged in far more than merely going to church services on a regular basis. This is an expression of the greatest eternal plan and purpose of God being on display against the every force of those entities that would seek to destroy and discredit the fact that the Lord, He is God! 
We join together with the heart of the Prophet Elijah as he singly faced those 450 priests of Baal. There was no fear. There was no wavering. There was no doubt. He knew that the Lord would prove Himself and that God would reclaim the hearts of His Chosen people in showing them that He, Alone is God! That is the heart of our worship unto the Only True and Living and Holy and Awesome Lord God Almighty. We stand and proclaim His Glorious Name, Alone against all the idols and false gods of this age! 
Eph 6:10-18, Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints… Amen!
	Please stand together in prayer for the further revelation of what worship entails in the heart of God for His name’s sake Alone! We will continue with this next time, Lord willing. So be it! Amen. 

	This morning’s benediction is Deut 28:2-6. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. Amen.