Who Do You Worship?
Today, we started off with a film clip of people being asked what they worship, which started with a quote about how we are all created to worship something. The video showed that many people aren't aware that they worship anything and ended with this quote from Brennan Manning, "In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us - that we be people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough."
Pastor Henry then read the story of how Jesus was tempted by Satan in
Matthew 4:1-11. When Satan tried for the third time to tempt Jesus, he told Him he would give Him all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow down & worship him. Jesus replied each time from Scripture and this time, He said, it is written, "Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."
At the end of the sermon, we were given the opportunity to bow down and worship God with music and paint and markers. The question of the day is: "
What was it like to kneel down while you worshipped God today?" Before I went over to the paper, I thought about the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4 which says, " Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Usually, when there is so much going on, I need to concentrate. It's also hard to kneel when you have a bad knee, but I thought the important thing is that I was in a prone position. When I was there, I just had this immense feeling of gratitude for the gift of life which we have through Jesus and I wrote about that. How about you?
Labels: worship
True Worship
Baptism of Oaklyn MariaToday we celebrated God's grace in baptism, which was a good reminder of God's covenant with us. Then Pastor Amy talked about what true worship is - it's not what we DO, it's who we ARE. She read from John 4:1-26 where Jesus told the Samaritan woman "The time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." When we worship in spirit and truth, we'll come to church not just to worship, but already worshipping and then we'll leave still worshipping.
The question of the week is, "How do you prepare for worship?" I think the best way to prepare for corporate worship is to focus on God. It's good to continue reading the Bible, praying, and being with other Christians during the week so that you can continue to find His purpose in your life. Then the act of going to worship on Sunday morning will be part of the larger picture. What do you think? Chime in!
Labels: worship
Pray
Pastor Henry read from
1 Timothy 2:1-7 this morning which begins with this verse, "
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. " Paul is urging Timothy who is a church planter in Ephesus to make prayer his first priority because God wants everyone to be saved and to know the truth that there is one God and the only way to Him is through Jesus His only son.
Who do you normally pray for? Who else is God calling you to pray for this week?
I try to pray for everyone, but in the normal course of a day, I pray most for those near to me and much of the time, myself. In the second verse of today's text, Paul told Timothy to pray for the rulers. I am reminded to pray for those in power so they can keep the peace in the world so we can also live in peace. How about you?
Labels: Prayer
The True Vine
Today, Pastor Amy talked about
John 15:1-8 where Jesus said He is the True Vine, and she talked about what that means in our lives. She especially focused on verse 2 which says,"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. "
We were asked to focus on the following questions:
How have you been pruned this year? What fruit have you seen from it? How do you remain in Christ?
When I reflected on these questions, I thought about how I often wish I had a career that was more fulfilling or more important. This past year I even interviewed for a full time job that I thought would use more of my talents. In the end, I didn't get the job because it became obvious that my heart was more into being available to the kids God has given us to raise and this job would have hindered that. The fruit that I have seen is that I am more content and at peace with what I am doing (most of the time) and I have been given more opportunities in my current part-time job to do things that I both enjoy and work toward God's kingdom here on earth. To remain in Christ, it is essential that I read His word everyday and look to Him in all I do, otherwise, I forget to focus on Him.
