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From
the September, 2000 edition of The Doulos monthly
newsletter
by
Dave Phelps
The
Heart of the Matter
As
I sat in church on a recent Sunday morning I thought about how God might view
our worship. I wondered if He found it
pleasing or if there were aspects
of it where we fall short. Personally I
felt that I failed to worship Him properly many Sundays, for there often
seems to be so many things occupying my mind and time that I fail to
focus on the reason I’m here. Words of
a former pastor come to mind. He often
would challenge us to be in our seats a few minutes prior to the service and to
sit quietly and prepare our hearts for worship.
In those few moments I could ask God to remove any concerns or
distractions, to forgive any unconfessed sin in my life, and thank Him for His
countless blessings. The sound of the
prelude being played in the background added to that time of preparation in a
very special way and it was amazing how much more meaningful the service was
when I took the time to properly prepare my heart and clear my mind of life’s
current cares.
Then
I began to think about the reports we’ve all heard regarding the church in
Yaroslavl, Russia and how a typical worship service there may last up to four
hours. If length were a
measurement of pleasing worship we might be found lacking, but I’m pretty
certain that’s not it. I believe
it’s a matter of the heart. So
then, what might hinder us from receiving the full blessing that comes when a
group of believers gather together to corporately and ceremoniously render the
praise and honor due our Creator? Perhaps
our lives have become so hectic that He needs to conform to our schedule, we
sort of fit Him in. Or perhaps, unlike
our brothers and sisters in Yaroslavl, the privilege to openly and freely
worship is taken for granted.
Truly
though, can we worship reverently and get the same blessing if we rush in at
the last second or even five minutes late as we could if we were five minutes
early and had prepared ourselves to worship the God of the universe?
There is just tons of effort that goes into the preparation of each
service. Just think what an
encouragement we would be to the pastor, all the musicians, the choir, those
who do special music, not to mention each other if we were ready
to worship when the service began. Most
importantly though it would be pleasing to God, the object and audience of our
praise and worship. The gospel of
John tells us in 4:23
that the Father seeks those that worship Him in spirit and in truth.
This is an area of my spiritual life that I plan to focus on in the days
ahead. I hope that any of you that share
this conviction with me might be encouraged to do likewise.
Come,
let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is
our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.
Psalm
95:6-7
In
Christ,
Dave
Phelps
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