Worship

Beginning Our Day With Worship

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”  He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. John 9:37-38 ESV

Discipleship begins by faith but it will only grow as we worship. One pitfall in our churches today is that we connect worship in our minds to a hushed mood, a moment in the worship team’s performance and a time to settle back into our comfortable seats. But in the Bible we see Moses worshiped bare foot in the desert by a burning bush. We see Elijah worshiping God at a stone altar even when the crowd was loving the 400 man worship team at the 1st church of Baal. David worshiped while he watched sheep and Daniel worshiped with only an audience of lions. All of these people were worshiping because they had met an awesome God and they wanted Him to get all the glory, no matter what their circumstances.

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Dial it forward to when Jesus met a blind man in John chapter nine. First, while the disciples were debating why he was blind, Jesus healed him. Later when he was rejected by the local religious leaders, Jesus became His friend. Last of all, when Jesus showed the man who He really was he began to worship. Before we can walk down the road with Jesus we must learn what it means to truly worship Him. No ministry can be more important, no goal more vital, no relationship too precious to stand in the way of our worship. When we see that He is so worthy of all we have to give and begin to uncover the truth of who He really is; what else can we do but worship?

Are We Losing Connection?

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Are We Losing Connection?

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. Psalm 145:4 KJV

David talks about singing praise as something older believers must do in order to let the younger generation know what God has done for them. Of course young people in our churches usually know five or six of the hymns and maybe even a few Christmas carols but they think of that as the music belonging to the old folks. Hymns which connected parents to children for hundreds of years today are on the verge of vanishing away. The entire concept that older have anything of value is being forgotten. So before the baton of faith meant to be passed from one generation to the next is dropped; let’s spend a few days focusing on how to ensure that we pass it on.

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This past Sunday at our church the worship team deviated from its usual contemporary selection to close out the service with two entire verses and the chorus of “How Great Thou Art.” It was so wonderfully refreshing to hear older voices not just joining in but doing so with gusto! We were singing loudly not only because we liked that song but for once we felt as if someone remembered that we were there! It’s not that I think we ought to forget about the new worship songs; but in those few moments we began to make a closer connection. As young tenors blended with older slightly faded baritones; the hymn made us realize that together we are God’s family. As some of our voices weaken from having sung the songs of faith for decades; may others take up their melody. Together we tell the world the unchanging message of God’s love and faithfulness to every generation.

Worship is a Choice

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”   Luke 4:7-8

In the wilderness the devil came to Jesus and gave him a limited time offer, Bow down and worship and for a while I will give you all their authority and splendor.  This immediate ascension to a seat of power required no cross no obedience and no difficulties. It reminds me of some of those furniture commercials telling us that there is no money down and no payments for a year. Putting off the sacrifice of paying for stuff is pretty tempting. We have a  a choice to make: pay up now or pay lots more but way later. Jesus decided to wait for the right time and the right way and in choosing that path He chose real worship.

Temptations and the dark places of our lives are places where in practical ways we get to choose who we will worship. Worship is not when we are surrounded by friends in an air conditioned church lifting our hands to softy music. The best worship happens in the hard places and the deserts of our soul. We can give our highest praise when there is the highest price on our decision.

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Worship has nothing to do with our emotions or  rewards. Worship is based on what God has promised. Our choice to worship is about who we will trust and whose word we treasure. Will our worship be based on how it will profit us or, will it demonstrate our complete dependence on Jesus? When we choose Jesus and choose what He chose then our reward is sure though its value may not be seen till it is revealed by eternity’s light.