I like to use my head. To think. To analyze. To plan.

But sometimes, I need to put my body where my head is.

Put my body in position.

On Your Knees

It was the first Sunday of the new year. The first Sunday after the latest church shootings. Another one in Texas. Three people died.

Pastor Priscilla had been wrestling with God on Saturday night about it. On Sunday morning, she had an assignment for the rest of us.

Get down on your knees. Bow. Start the year off right by worshiping the Father. Physically, not just mentally or emotionally.

She wanted us to know awe, to exhibit faith, to discard fear. To start this year off right.

So we did. On our knees all across the room, we were prayed over by Pastor Priscilla. She gave us what she’d been given about BOW: Blessed Overcoming Winners (not sinners).

There’s something about putting the body in position.

Raise Your Hand

The service continued on. This time it was Pastor Pat pulling us up for more.

It had been two days since the assassination of Iran’s Qasem Soleimani. International tension was high. Pastor Pat asked for raised hands if you would be deploying overseas or had loved ones deploying. 

He asked those sitting nearby to gather around those with hands raised, to pray for their safety and for our military and for peace.

I looked around. I saw clumps of people spread out over the auditorium, praying, in touch with soul and body.

I saw people putting their bodies in position.

Body in Place

The sermon was delivered. Pastor Pat asked for those with needs to come receive prayer. Lay down their weights.

My friend Sandy, sitting next to me, stood up. She was quick to walk to the front and kneel for prayer.

My mind went into gear. Pray for Sandy. My heart engaged, too: Lord, please.

But my body? It was frozen in place. God could hear my prayers for Sandy from my seat. Why did my body need to follow?

Logically, I was right. God can hear us anywhere. I could hug Sandy afterwards, and even pray together then.

But sometimes the body needs to follow the heart instead of only rationalizing with the head.

I stepped out. Already there were many others up front praying. I found Sandy and knelt beside her, my arms over her shoulders, and prayed with her. Not just in spirit, but also in body.

It felt different than praying from my seat. It felt stronger.

A few more minutes went by. Sandy turned to me and asked if I needed prayer, too. I did. Don’t we always?

She prayed for me. This song flooded over us.

Chains fall
Fear bow
Here now
Jesus, you change everything.

All across the auditorium people were asked to pray with open hands. I opened mine.

Sometimes we need to just put the body in position.

The Body Complete

Some lead with their gut, some with their heart; I lead with my head.

But sometimes the whole body needs to show up, not just the head or heart.

I often have to make my body go where I want it to go.

I have to remind myself to linger in my body, not just in my mind. It doesn’t come naturally.

But perhaps we are most like God when we are three-in-one, together, like he is with the Son and Spirit.

Send the body. Put it where you want it to be. Let it do things.

Even if it’s uncomfortable.

Put the body in position.

* * *

Which are you: a head, heart, or body person? Please share in the comments.

This is my year to Linger. For January I’m focusing on lingering in the body. Here’s why.

For more on worshipping in the body:

• Let the Body Worship
  When God is in the house, how can a body contain him? Go with it. Let the body worship.
• Worship Different
  It was just a small change but a good change. May we never be too comfortable to try something different.
• Raise Your Hand If . . . 
  She asked me, “Why do people raise their hands at your church?” It’s a good question. How would you answer?

Do you want your good days to last forever? And your bad days to get over quickly?

How do we sustain a good life for the long haul?

The secret to a long life may be complex and dependent on many things.

But the secret to a good life doesn’t have to be a secret.

Read it all here: “How Do You Live a Good, Long Life?“

* * *

We’re studying Psalm 34 this month at Do Not Depart. Will you join me there?

Song

How do you describe “worship”?

In a secular context, we’d describe how fans worship a famous actor or sports star.

But in the church world, we’d typically describe Sunday mornings.

Sunday morning church is often referred to as a “Worship Service.” It is somewhat accurate; we do offer God our worship there. (Read Barbara’s excellent post on “What Is Worship?” here.)

But hopefully our worship extends past Sunday praise-singing.

• It’s Monday clothes-washing, and
• Tuesday dinner-cooking, and
• Wednesday pantry-serving, etc.

Power Start

Yet still, singing my worship on Sunday mornings starts the week with power.

In the midst of praising God, God pours grace on me.

• Through his promises we sing about
• Through melodious music he has inspired
• Through other people worshiping beside me

Because God is so worthy of worship, it’s easy to give him praise. We can temporarily set aside our own issues and focus on the wonder of Christ.

Self-forgetfulness and Jesus-awareness are heightened during worship.

“Worship is an end in itself. We do not eat the feast of worship as a means to anything else. Happiness in God [which is the heart of worship] is the end of all our seeking. Nothing beyond it can be sought as a higher goal.”
– David Mathis

Worship is a perfect way to start a day, a week, a life.

And a perfect way to end one as well.

Three Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) Do you have a favorite actor, singer, or sports hero?

(2) Do you sing or play a musical instrument as worship, either at church or at home?

(3) When are you most inspired to worship God?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) My latest favorite artists are Matt Maher, Lauren Daigle, Cory Asbury, Tauren Wells.

(2) I sing with our church praise team (but I have no extraordinary talent). I play the piano only at home.

(3) Music, nature, people’s kindness to one another—these things point me to the wonder of God.

More here

• Be an Intercessory Worshiper
  God places us in community to be placeholders for hope, for prayer, for grace. Who can you be in intercessory worship for?
• Great Worship Study Resource
  This book by Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory, is an excellent compilation of scriptures and commentary on both Old Testament and New Testament scriptures on worship.
• Worship Different
  It was just a small change but a good change. May we never be too rigid to embrace change or too comfortable to try something different. Growing in worship is worth it all.

revised from the archives

Get the whole Handmade series here

Pause

I want to move. To change seats.

My intentions were good. But this is too much.

It’s the smell.

It’s the first Saturday of the month, Outdoor Church day. But today it’s inside because of the rain.

I look for the dirty when I choose my seat.

If I sit by the cleaned-up Christians like me, what’s the point of showing up at Outdoor Church? I can get that on any given Sunday at my regular church home.

So I sit by an older gentleman that is obviously different from me.

But two breaths in, I want to sit elsewhere. The stench is too strong. A mix of cheap cigarettes and no baths makes for a distinguishable smell.

Outside, it’s not so noticeable.

But inside, it stinks.

Just Stay Still

If I get up now, would I seem rude?

I pause.

Oddly enough, in the pause is where genuine worship can be birthed.

It’s the moment we’re deciding what to do next, what our truest priority is, who we will put first.

I glance at the old man’s clothes out of the corner of my eye. Ragged blue jeans. Worn-down tennis shoes. Dirty cap sitting on his dirty knee.

I preach to myself,

Stay put.

Don’t walk out.

Don’t squirm or turn your head or take fewer breaths.

Just sit still in the pause.

It’s the most radical worship I can offer in this moment.

An Inside Job

I’m keenly aware of my shallowness in contrast to God’s holiness. How can I walk away from my repulsiveness when it’s an inside job?

Outside, it’s not so noticeable.

But inside, it stinks.

I stink.

I sense my own need for grace. For a fresh blowing of the Spirit.

The preacher quotes John 3:16, and my homeless friend mumbles it along with me. The teen praise band sings on with Oh, how he loves us.

Pastor Mike reminds us the clear message today is God loves each of us, just as we are.

Breathe in Fresh Spirit

I can’t help but grin at how God is playing this, working on me with such divine finesse.

After the service, I ask the gentleman, “How’s it going?”

He answers, I lean in hard, but I can’t discern his words. No teeth, combined with a muddled mind, makes him hard to understand.

I simply smile and say “Uh-huh” and “Yes” and “Wow” when each seems appropriate.

I interrupt to invite him to the hot meal prepared next door. But he keeps talking to the air. So I eventually slide out of his vision while he’s in mid-sentence, even though I feel guilty about it.

I take a big gulp of fresh air.

Even in the rain, maybe especially in the rain, it tastes delicious.

And I thank God.

For keeping his seat when I sit down beside him with my stink.

For pressing in closer instead.

For not waiting until I’m cleaned up and sanitized before he accepts my worship.

Oh, how he loves us.

Just as we are.

Three Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) Do you like intermissions/halftimes/time-outs? Or would you rather keep going straight through?

(2) When do you have to count to ten to keep it together?

(3) Have you had a pause lately, a holy moment of worship?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) Sometimes I’d rather skip the intermission and stay in the flow.

(2) When I feel disrespected is when I’m most likely to lose it. I should count to 100.

(3) Hearing a moving lyric while singing in the car has brought me to tears lately over the awesome love of God for me.

More here

• Hit the Pause Button
  Does your wound need space to heal? Jesus invites us to hit the pause button. There is healing in the pause.
• Stop the Rush
  Monastics have a practice called statio: stopping one thing before beginning another, rather than rushing from one task to the next. Take time to pause.
• Don’t Try Harder
  “The essence of loving living as a follower of Jesus isn’t in trying harder but in enjoying more….Enjoyment empowers effort.” – Sam Storms

Get the whole Handmade series here

revised from the archives

DAY 10, OCTOBER 10

How

Sometimes we know what to do. And even why we do it.

But how?

How do we do it?

How Do We Worship?

How is often underrated.

How is the nuts and bolts of intent. It puts the movement in our lives.

When we think of what we worship, or more precisely, who we worship, many Christians automatically think of God. And hopefully that’s accurate.

When we think about where we worship, one place is the building we gather on Sundays. And also everywhere else we go should be a place of worship.

But how do we worship?

That can look different for each individual.

On Sundays our worship may look similar to others within the same walls. But from building to building, it can vary greatly.

And on Mondays-Saturdays, how we worship can definitely look different from day to day, from person to person.

Think this week about your how, as much as your what, where, or why.

And not just on Sundays. But every day.

Three Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) Are you a screamer at ballgames or concerts, or are you one who sits silently and enjoys?

(2) What’s the norm for worship at your church? Contemporary? Traditional? Quiet? Noisy?

(3) Have you changed how you worship through the years?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) I don’t really yell crazy like a lot of people of games, but I do like to be enthusiastic.

(2) Our church’s worship is contemporary with a bit of rowdy participation from the crowd.

(3) My church of origin was very conservative and very still. Our singing (a cappella only) was to be vigorous, but that was it. Sometimes it was; sometimes it wasn’t.

More here

• Raise Your Hand If . . .
  She asked, “Why do people raise their hands at your church?” That’s a good question. How would you answer?
• Let the Body Worship
  I grew up being very still during singing with the church. That’s fine. Still is. But sometimes, when God is in the house, how can a body contain him?
• I Need Your Worship
  If I feel the words drying up in me, I glance at her to remember why I’m here. For Someone bigger and greater than me. I get that by watching her worship.

Get the whole Handmade series here

“So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands” (Ps. 63:4).

Averie is 7. Something she says a lot is this . . .

• Raise your hand if you know want to play a game.
• Raise your hand if you’re ready to eat.
• Raise your hand if you want to see my Halloween outfit.

So after visiting our church one Sunday morning, she asked at lunch:

Why do people raise their hands at your church?

It was a great question. Why do people raise their hands?

I used to wonder the same thing myself.

I grew up in a conservative church. No one moved their hands during a service except to turn the pages in the hymnal or flip to the next Bible reference. (We were masters at Bible sword drill competitions.)

But now I worship with a body of believers where we comfortably lift hands and clap hands and raise hands to heaven.

It makes perfectly good sense.

Maybe this is why:

• Raise your hand if you agree these lyrics are true.
• Raise your hand if you know God is faithful.
• Raise your hand if you need God to help you.

Granted, we don’t have to lift a finger to assert those same beliefs. But maybe in asking our bodies to participate with our minds, we’re kicking our hearts into gear as well.

Worshiping in spirit and in truth looks differently for every person. There is no one-size-fits-all worship. A paraplegic can worship God just as fully and sincerely as a skilled athlete. A stoic worshiper can be just as pleasing to God as a charismatic dancer. Worship is as individual as we are.

I didn’t explain all that to Averie when she asked. But I’ve continued to think on it myself.

Ultimately, what matters is this: Are we raising our hearts to God?

And if our hands go up at the same time, so be it.

“Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.”
Lamentations 3:41

* * *

Did you grow up in a hand-raising church? Or is it foreign to you? Please share in the comments.

If you still haven’t seen this, you’re due some laughter.

Tim Hawkins on Hand Raising

Related reading:

• Forget You, Remember God
• Let the Body Worship
• Worship Different

]]> https://lisanotes.com/raise-your-hand/feed/ 36 https://lisanotes.com/holy-spirit-active-or-not/ https://lisanotes.com/holy-spirit-active-or-not/#comments Mon, 10 Apr 2017 10:00:11 +0000 https://www.lisanotes.com/?p=12206 “If little else of practical benefit comes to you who read this chapter, I pray that you will move forward in your Christian life and in whatever ministry God has… ]]>

“If little else of practical benefit comes to you who read this chapter, I pray that you will move forward in your Christian life and in whatever ministry God has given you with a newly found and biblically grounded confidence in the authority and power given to every believer in the name of Jesus.

Don’t live in fear of the devil and his minions. Stand firm.”
– Sam Storms

Stop or Go with Gifts?

Do you believe the Holy Spirit still works today in miraculous ways? Or instead do you believe he stopped moving supernaturally near the end of the first century?

Whichever view you hold, this book might interest you.

Sam Storms (also the author of One Thing: Developing a Passion for the Beauty of God), in his newest book, Practicing the Power: Welcoming the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Your Life, says this:

“I believe that one of the reasons why spiritual gifts are less frequent in certain seasons of church history than in others is due to the fact that people didn’t seek, pursue, or passionately and incessantly pray for these gifts. And often the reason they didn’t pray for them or ask for them is because they had a prior conviction or belief that they did not exist or were not available to them.

In other words, they had not because they asked not, and they asked not because they believed not!”

In other words: if you don’t think it will happen, it’s less likely to.

So chapter by chapter, gift by gift, Storms writes why he does believe that the Spirit still works through humans with special gifts.

I agree with him on many points, and disagree on others. My views are still in flux.

But whether you agree or not, you won’t feel pushed in this book. Storms writes with humility. He includes scriptures and personal experiences to back up his claims. The tone of the book is positive, not prideful for those who do believe or condemning for those who don’t.

Worship in the Spirit

I particularly enjoyed Chapter 12, “The Importance of Worship in the Spirit.” Storms doesn’t say worship itself is a gift of the Spirit. He does say worship can be awakened, sustained, and energized by the Spirit.

He differentiates between . . .

• those whose greatest fear in worship is emotionalism and those whose greatest fear is intellectualism,
• those who only sing about God and those who sing to God,
• those who mostly cultivate fear and reverence and those who aim for joy and love.

I’ve worshiped in both types of churches. The differences are real. I have a preference. You likely have one, too. It’s not a right or wrong choice.

This happened yesterday at our church as part of Palm Sunday. I call this expression of worship a spiritual gift. It’s a gift I’ve not been given. But it’s one that moves me when others share it.

[click here if you can’t see the 1:27 video]

Lists of Reasons

The book ends with two appendices, An Alternative Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:33-35, and Are Miraculous Gifts for Today, derived from Storms’ previous writings.

The latter appendix includes this list: “Twelve Bad Reasons for Being a Cessationist” (one who believes certain gifts have ceased, stopped). One of the reasons is:

“If signs, wonders, and miracles were essential in the physical presence of the Son of God, how much more essential are they now in his absence?

. . . In other words, if the glorious presence of the Son of God himself did not preclude the need for miraculous phenomena, how can we suggest that our possession of the Bible does?”

Storms follows that list with another list: “Twelve Good Reasons for Being a Continuationist” (one who believes that all the gifts of the Spirit continue to be given by God today).

This list includes reasons like #3, the extensive New Testament evidence of miraculous gifts among Christians who are not apostles, and #5, the fundamental continuity or spiritually organic relationships between the church in Acts and the church in subsequent centuries.

Read them for yourself in Practicing the Power to form your own conclusions.

Quotes

Here are a few quotes from selected chapters in Practicing the Power.

• Chapter 1, Welcome the Spirit

Regarding embarrassing examples of faith healers on TV (or in person), Storms says, “I resolved in my heart that I would never justify my disobedience to God’s Word because of the abusive or embarrassing practices of others.”

“God is far more pleased with our obedience than he is with our success. Success is not something we ultimately control. I can’t guarantee that my prayers for the sick will result in healing. I can’t promise that my word to you will be spot-on accurate. But I can control whether or not I am willing to step out and take a risk. And the risk is worth it.”

• Chapter 3, Praying

“When God wants to bless us with a miraculous answer to our prayer, he will take the initiative to cultivate and build into our hearts the fulfillment of the condition he requires.”

• Chapter 4, Fasting

“Fasting is about spiritual indulgence! It is not a giving up of food (or some activity) for its own sake. It is about giving up food for Christ’s sake.

We are always driven to fast because we hunger for something more than food.”

• Chapter 5, Healing

“The primary reason God healed through Jesus prior to Pentecost was because he is a merciful, compassionate God. And the primary reason God continues to heal after Pentecost is because he is a merciful, compassionate God. God is no less merciful, no less compassionate, no less caring when it comes to the physical condition of his people after Pentecost than he was before Pentecost.”

• Chapter 9, Deliverance

“Don’t ever think of yourself as at one end of a rope and Satan at the other, both of you struggling to overpower the other. No! You are in Christ who is over all. Satan is beneath you, in Christ’s name.”

• Chapter 11, Ministry

“We are to pray, ‘Come, Holy Spirit,’ and be confident that he will, whether or not manifestations follow. If they do, we should not prevent them from occurring. But neither should we take steps to artificially induce them.”

Conclusion

I recommend this book be read with an open mind. You may or may not change your mind on anything you believe, but in the challenge, you’ll still learn and grow.

We likely can all agree on this prayer offered by Storms in his conclusion:

“Pray yet again that God would increase your spiritual hunger pangs, that he would intensify your thirst for godly power, that he would never allow you to settle for the status quo.”

* * *

Do you believe the Spirit is still active today, or that he now speaks only in the words of the Bible? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

My thanks to BookLook Bloggers
for the review copy of this book.

When you hear the word “worship,” what do you think of?

Maybe someone idolizing a pro football player. Or an ancient worshiper burning a bull on an altar to their gods.

I often think of Sunday mornings. In the past we called our church gathering a “Worship Service.” Many still do; it remains accurate. We do offer our worship to God there.

I know, though, that our worship extends past Sunday praise-singing. It’s Monday clothes-washing, and Tuesday dinner-cooking, and Wednesday pantry-serving, etc.

But still. Singing my worship on Sunday mornings starts the week with joy and peace and power.

I believe how David Mathis describes it in Habits of Grace is true:

“Like no other means, corporate worship combines all three principles of God’s ongoing grace: his word, prayer, and fellowship.”

But I don’t always feel full of grace at 8am on Sunday mornings when I walk in our church building to review the songs we’ll be singing.

Yet once I’m there, God pours grace on me before I get a chance to offer anything back to him.

• Through his promises we sing about
• Through melodious music he has inspired
• Through other people worshiping beside me

As God reveals himself worthy of worship, it’s easy to give him praise. We lose sight of our own woes and gain clarity of Christ’s awe.

Self-forgetfulness and Jesus-awareness are heightened during worship.

“Worship is an end in itself. We do not eat the feast of worship as a means to anything else. Happiness in God [which is the heart of worship] is the end of all our seeking. Nothing beyond it can be sought as a higher goal.”
– David Mathis

Worship is a perfect way to start a day, a week, a life. And a perfect way to end one as well.

Worship now with “He Is Yahweh,” a song we’ve been singing with our church.

[click here if you can’t see “He Is Yahweh”]

VERSE 1
Who is moving on the waters
Who is holding up the moon
Who is peeling back the darkness
With the burning light of noon

Who is standing on the mountains
Who is on the earth below
Who is bigger than the heavens
And the lover of my soul

CHORUS
Creator God, He is Yahweh
The Great I Am, He is Yahweh
The Lord of All, He is Yahweh

Rose of Sharon, He is Yahweh
The Righteous Son, He is Yahweh
The Three-in-One, He is Yahweh

VERSE 2
Who is He that makes me happy
Who is He that gives me peace
Who is He that brings me comfort
And turns the bitter into sweet

Who is stirring up my passion
Who is rising up in me
Who is filling up my hunger
With everything I need

* * *

What do you think of when you hear worship? Do you have a favorite worship song that you sing with your church or at home? Please share in the comments.

The incense is strong. The colors are vivid. My friend Lauren and I take off our shoes and walk barefooted upstairs to the center room in the Hindu temple.

Here we see the idols, decorated deities, with signs explaining who is who.

Some gods resemble humans. One, a monkey; another, an elephant. They await their worshipers to offer gifts of flowers or food or money. A table displays gods representing the sun, moon, and planets.

A young priest approaches us and kindly attempts explanations. Originally from India, he served in Memphis at the Hindu temple for five years. He is on loan here in Alabama for one month. His accent is thick, his English is broken.

We communicate enough to know there is much we can’t understand.

A devout Hindu woman enters. She picks up a song book and sits cross-legged on the floor, facing one of the gods. She raises her voice with great beauty and foreign tongue.

I don’t understand the words. But I understand her intent. She is worshiping.

Lauren and I continue gazing at the intricate carvings and bright colors and jewels used to depict and adorn the gods, in stark contrast to the metal money boxes placed around them.

For a price, you can sponsor a puja, a religious ceremony offering a gift to the god and in turn receive its blessing.

The priest returns to us. He has gifts. He offers us each an apple and an orange. “For you,” he says.

We’re uncertain what to do. We accept his gift and say, “Thank you.”

The Hindu woman has stopped singing. The priest walks near her. He speaks words we don’t understand, but we assume he is giving her a blessing.

He takes something to the statue, then returns to the woman with more words and motions.

There is much about other religions I do not understand.
Admittedly, there is much about my own I do not understand.

But I do understand I am created in the image of my God (Genesis 1:27) (and while I try not to reverse the order, at times I still do).

I understand that my God came down in my form—a human—and lived like me.

He became like me so I could become like him.

He ate, played, slept, walked, prayed. He felt the sting of winter’s wind and the pain of sharp objects and the heaviness of sorrow.

Lauren and I walk downstairs, put on our shoes, and walk out toward the light. Away from the temple. Away from the gods enshrined there.

Our God walks with us. In us. We are his priests (Revelation 1:6). We are his temple (1 Corinthians 6:19).

He is our gift. We receive his blessings.

We worship in thanks. In ways we understand.

And with Spirit, even deeper, for being made in his image.

But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done.
1 Peter 2:9 (CEV)

* * *

We are each created in his image . . . thoughts? Please share in the comments.

Revised from the archives, originally posted here

You’re a worshiper. I’m a worshiper.

There’s no question about that. The questions are:

• What are we worshiping?
• What kind of worshipers are we?
• What worship matters to God?

TRUE WORSHIPERS MATTER

Bob Kauflin addresses these concerns in his new book, True Worshipers: Seeking What Matters to God.

“The worship of God matters. . . . There is nothing more foundational to our relationship with God and to our lives as Christians.”

I’ve been following Kauflin’s work for several years, so I know he’s the real deal. He’s a pastor, worship leader, blogger at WorshipMatters, and director of Sovereign Grace Music. And he’s now the author of two wonderful books.

I recommend his first book Worship Matters for growing in your personal worship of God.

And now I also recommend this second book, True Worshipers, where Kauflin lays out why our worship matters to God—and why it matters to us.

TRUE WORSHIPERS RECEIVE

Kauflin starts off strong: “It takes God to worship God.”

“Our first responsibility as Christians is not to give to God but to receive from him. . . .when it comes to being a true worshiper, receiving from God is our calling from first to last.”

God both invites us and enables us to worship him. Worship is our response to his initiative.

“We come to God by grace or we don’t come at all. We come by receiving a gift, not by doing a deed. We don’t create worship; we respond to what we’ve received in Jesus Christ—eternal life.”

TRUE WORSHIPERS EXALT

True worship requires humility on our part. Without it, our worship takes a wrong turn, exalting things other than God as we seek our own satisfaction elsewhere, i.e., idolatry

Exalting God shows that we remember he exists, and that we value him.

“When we love something, we attach worth to it. We’re saying to others, ‘This is worthy of my thoughts, time, labors, and affections.’ Loving God persuades others that God is desirable, good, and satisfying. Loving God is distinct from loving things about God. It’s the difference between Bible knowledge that leads to pride and that which leads to praise.”

TRUE WORSHIPERS GATHER

While, yes, we can (and should!) worship God when we’re home alone (and at work, at play), there’s something unique about gathering with family to worship God together.

Kauflin enumerates these benefits we receive when we worship in community:

• Remembering and rehearsing the gospel
• Receiving God’s Word together
• Mutual serving and caring
• A greater awareness of God’s presence
• Demonstrating our unity in the gospel
• Sharing the sacraments
• A greater display of God’s glory

Kauflin goes on to explain more actions that true worshipers do: They edify, sing, encounter God, and anticipate eternity. To be counted among the worshipers of God, “there can be no higher purpose . . . and there can be no greater joy.”

May we each be numbered among that group of true worshipers.

MORE QUOTES

“The critical question is not Do I have a voice? but Do I have a song?”

~ * ~ * ~

“Worship is a gift we receive before it’s a task we perform.”

~ * ~ * ~

“It brings no glory to God if we claim deep affection for God while harboring ill will toward people.”

~ * ~ * ~

“It should be clear by now that if we haven’t come to receive, we won’t have anything to give. This isn’t self-centered Christianity. It’s acknowledging that we have no resources in ourselves, and that from him, through him, and to him are all things (Rom. 11:35–36).”

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“We meet together as redeemed saints to remind each other whose we are, how we got here, and why it matters.”

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“There’s no context or group on earth quite like the gathering of God’s people. God has uniquely designed the church for true worshipers to experience, enjoy, and be edified by their common life in Christ. Every time we meet, God is eager and able to do more than we can ask or think according to the power at work within us (Eph. 3:20). There are no normal Sundays.”

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Your thoughts on worship?

My thanks to Crossway
for the review copy of this book