We Worship
Today, Pastor Amy read from
I Corinthians 12-13 about spiritual gifts and the most necessary ingredient for the expression of these gifts which is love. When we use our gifts, they are only effective if we do them out of love for God and His people. We have the example of the Trinity to look to for unity in diversity, and so as we exercise our diverse gifts, we need to maintain unity by appreciating the gifts of others. This will show love and appreciation for others.
My dream for MCC is that it continues to be a place where people feel welcomed and affirmed in who they are as children of God, that it remains a place where God's word is central and He is praised. I would love to use my photography skills where I can. I have been taking my camera to church for the past month or two to be open to its use, but I hesitate to be disruptive, so I haven't done much. I also wouldn't mind a friendly game of Off-the Table every now & then :)
Labels: worship
Listening to God
Today at MCC Pastor Henry read from
Isaiah 55 where God invites us to come and listen. In this text, we see how He desires that we have a relationship with Him and that we seek Him so our souls will live. In our world, so many things compete for attention, but to give our attention to God is worth it all because from Him we get rest, mercy, forgiveness, life, joy, faithful love - things that money can't buy. We need to turn away from our own thoughts and ways and seek Him.
We had a chance then to listen to God together while the band sang. God confirmed to me that I was where I should be praising Him with His people and listening to His Word. Everything that makes us focus on God serves His purpose and is good for that reason, and we should encourage and continue with those things in our lives.
Knowing You Jesus, knowing you.
There is no greater thing.
Knowing You, You're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness,
And I love You.
What did you hear God say to you today? I hope we will all remember to listen and answer this question every day.
Labels: worship
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
