“Pure Praise is a study for worship teams and worshippers that strips away the glam and flash and gets back to the heart of worship. If your church’s worship is on autopilot, this nine-week study by Dwayne Moore will inspire new passion and understanding.” –Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox, Issue #369
To all of you coming to our site from this week’s Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox, we say a huge welcome and thanks for stopping in! We have some wonderful, life-transforming resources for your entire church!
- Please be sure to download the FREE sample materials for 30 Days of Praise, our church-wide emphasis on personal and corporate worship.
- Order your copy of Dwayne’s brand-new book, Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study!
Many thanks to Kristine and the gang at Saddleback for putting Pure Praise ”On the Links” this week! And thanks for featuring the excerpt on prayer from Pure Praise! (To join the more than 185,000 who already receive Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox e-newsletter, click here.)
Ed Emmerling, pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Flushing, MI, just finished taking his church through 30 Days of Praise. He said 30 Days is the simplest campaign he has ever done. It was simple to prepare and do. Yet, he said, his people really grew in their relationship with God and understanding of true, Biblical worship through 30 Days of Praise…
Watch Ed’s video testimony below:
http://praisemorepowerful.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/edemmerling30days.flv
In case you are wondering why we haven’t blogged in several days, it’s because we have all been down in Jacksonville, FL at the First Baptist Church Pastors’ Conference! We were one of the featured exhibitors during that week-long conference. Over 100 pastors came by our booth to hear about 30 Days of Praise! We had several churches register right there on the spot! It was an amazing time and a great opportunity. Many thanks to the leaders at First Baptist for trusting us and giving us such visibility at that major conference. (For information about this church-wide emphasis on worship, go to www.30DaysofPraise.com.)
Close to 1000 pastors and church leaders heard first hand the impact 30 Days of Praise can make in their churches.
My dear friend, Dr. Clay Hallmark, was the president of this year’s Arkansas Baptist State Pastors’ Conference held in Van Buren. His church, First Baptist Church of Marion, AR, was one of our pilot churches for 30 Days of Praise. Clay stood tonight in front of all those pastors and shared how 30 Days of Praise literally transformed his church of 900 members. He testified how this church-wide emphasis on worship brought a greater depth of worship and expressiveness in their services and caused them to have record attendance during 30 Days of Praise.
I also greatly appreciate the opportunity Clay gave us to distribute DVDs about 30 Days of Praise to everyone as they left the conference. (Clay also invited me to do a mini-concert during the evening session of the conference, which included speakers Scott Dawson, Johnny Hunt and Frank Page.)
This is just one more example of the amazing doors our God is opening to get the word out about 30 Days of Praise. We are amazed and humbled at such a tremendous opportunity as we had in AR. All glory to God! – Dwayne
This is the final devotion excerpted from the 30 Days of Praise Devotional Journal. 30 Days of Praise is a churchwide emphasis on worship that include weekly family devotions on each of the 5 themes in 30 Days of Praise. To view all 5 of the family devotions, go to the Family Devotions category on this site.
We have heard from so many families who have enjoyed going through these devotions together. If you have used these with your family, please leave us a comment about how it went. Thanks so much! – Dwayne
Family Devotion
Week 5 – Hearing from God
Say this week’s memory verse together: He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. – Isaiah 50:4b (NIV)
Say: I want all of us to be very still and quiet for a few seconds. I want us to listen really closely for any little noises and sounds we can hear while we’re being quiet. Ready? 1, 2, 3, go! (Wait 15 –30 seconds in silence.)
Ask: What did you hear? (Let everyone describe something they heard while being silent.) Read more…
This is the fourth devotional of the family devotions series we have posted. Each of these brief, but effective family devotions are taken from the 30 Days of Praise Devotional Journal. 30 Days of Praise is a church-wide emphasis on worship that includes daily devotions, small group Bible studies and messages on worship by your pastor. Go here to learn more!
Feel free to print this devotion and use with your family tonight!
From Week 4 of the 30 Days of Praise Personal Devotional Journal:
Say this week’s memory verse together: Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. – Philippians 2:4 (NKJ)
Say: God’s family is really, really big. There are a lot of people at our church that love Jesus and are in God’s family. But there are even more of God’s family in other churches in our community, in our country and in our world. Everyone in God’s family is different. Some have dark brown skin; some have red or yellow skin; some have beige or light skin. Some have red hair; others have black, blond or brown hair. Read more…
This is the third installment of family devotions we have posted. Each of these brief, but effective family devotions are taken from the 30 Days of Praise Devotional Journal. 30 Days of Praise is a church-wide emphasis on worship that includes daily devotions, small group Bible studies and messages on worship by your pastor. Go here to learn more!
Feel free to print this devotion and use with your family tonight!
From Week 3 of the 30 Days of Praise Personal Devotional Journal:
Say this week’s memory verse together: As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.—2 Corinthians 3:18b (NLT) p>
Ask: Think about who is your best friend. How did you get to be best friends? Were you best friends the first time you met or did it take some time to become best friends? What is your friend like? What does he orshe like to do and where does he or she like to go?
Read more…
Excerpt from Week 2 of the 30 Days of Praise Personal Journal:
Week 2—What Is Praise
Family Worship Time
Say this week’s memory verse together: Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. —Hebrews 13:15 (NKJ)
Ask: Don’t you like it when someone praises you for something you did? Maybe someone compliments you on a picture you drew or a song you sang. Or maybe you do really well on a paper at school and someone says, ”Good job!”
Say: God is much more deserving of praise than we are. He created the stars and the earth and made everything around us that is good and perfect. Let’s name some things now that God has made. Read more…
The following is an excerpt from the WorshipLife Journal.
Week 1—What Is Worship
Family Worship Time
Say this week’s memory verse together: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.—Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJ)
Have everyone say this together: Worshiping God means loving God.
Say: We worship God when we show him we love him by what we think (point at your head), by what we say (point at your mouth), and by what we do (extend your hands).
Ask: How can we worship God—from a heart that loves him and wants to obey him or from a heart that doesn’t love God and is full of sin? Read more…
