Supplemental Material for Week 4

Gathered in the Spirit: Our Common Worship

The following texts are selected to help guide your Scripture study this week in preparation for our session
on Worship and Sabbath. Use them only as they are helpful to you in your study as you read chapter 4 and
consider the discussion questions in the back. We will be focusing more specifically on the aspect of
Sabbath in our large group time so more of the verses are geared toward that topic. Enjoy!

Psalm 145:1-3 (ESV)

1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.

• Read all of Psalm 145 and make it a prayer of praise and worship to God.
• Reflect on the ways that God is worthy of our praise.
• Allow this psalm to guide you in your own psalm of praise to God.
• Spend some time worshiping God, whether though singing, prayer, etc, as you are guided by this
psalm.

John 4:19-24 (NLT) 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews
insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim,
where our ancestors worshiped?” 21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will
no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans
know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through
the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit,
so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

• Ready John 4:1-26 focuses especially on verses 19-24 printed above.

• Ponder the imagery Jesus employs in this passage, that of being thirsty and the living water that
never runs dry. Do you feel nourished and your thirst quenched in your spiritual walk and worship
life? Why or why not?
• How do you best worship God in spirit and truth? What are the elements and environment that
are most conducive to a genuine worship experience for you? What elements do you find make it
more difficult or problematic to worship in your current worship experience? How do you feel you
can deepen your worship experience drawing from Marjorie Thompson’s chapter (especially pages
65-70) so you can more fully worship in spirit and truth as Jesus speaks of in this passage?
• Practice Lectio Divina with this passage and listen to the word or phrase that is being spoken
specifically for you. What is God saying to you in this passage?

Blacknall Women’s Bible Study • Soul Feast

Janise Matyas Smith • Spring 2010
Genesis 2:1-3 (NIV) 1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2By the seventh
day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3And
God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he
had done.

• Ponder what is stated in the first verse of this passage. By the sixth day the entire “heavens and the
earth were completed in all their vast array” or “down to the last detail” as Eugene Peterson puts it
in the Message. What are the implications of this reality that God has completed and fully finished
the most important work in the universe, that of making and sustaining all of life, for our lives?
• How would truly internalizing verse 1, that God has completed the work that ultimately matters,
change the way you live and work in your daily life? Does it help put into perspective your own
work and effort? If so, how?
• Note that God finishes his work and rests completely from it. Do you ever feel like your work is
complete and you can fully rest from it? Why or why not?
• How does this passage speak to your heart and mind about who God is? Where do you find
yourself and God’s Word to you in this passage? What is God’s blessing awaiting you?

Luke 13:10-17 (NIV) 10On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11and a woman was there
who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
12When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."
13Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14Indignant
because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for
work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." 15The Lord answered him, "You
hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it
water? 16Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen
long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" 17When he said this, all his opponents
were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Mark 2:23-28 (NLT) 23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples
began breaking off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking
the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” 25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures
what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God (during the
days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the
priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath
was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the
Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Feel free to take these passages one day at a time and respond to the following questions for both:
• Based on the Luke and Mark passages what is/are the purpose(s) of the Sabbath? What gifts does
the Sabbath offer us based on these texts?
• How can we distort or misunderstand the meaning and purpose of the Sabbath?
• Take some time to think about how Sabbath is experienced in your life? What in your experience
makes it difficult to keep the Sabbath? How can you more fully experiencing the gift the Sabbath
has to offer?
• Is there a word or message God is speaking to your though these passages? What shines for you in
each one?
Blacknall Women’s Bible Study • Soul Feast
Janise Matyas Smith • Spring 2010