Jym Shorts

Jym Shorts - March 28, 2019

by David Harris on March 28, 2019

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. -Psalm 29:2

We were created to be worshipers of the Most High God. I try to always make a distinction between worship as a way of life and what we do when we gather here each Sunday. We are to offer ourselves to God as a living and holy sacrifice (Romans 12:1). Worship isn’t just about church; it encompasses our whole lives and affects all that we do—but that includes the way we worship in a corporate setting. Our worship services here at LifePoint are of vital importance to the spiritual health of each of us individually and to us collectively. However, genuine worship does not happen automatically just because we walk through the doors of the church building—it takes preparation. We must spend time before hand preparing our hearts and minds for worship.

With that in mind, I would like to suggest a few things that can help each of us be more prepared and focused each week as we come together to worship. For starters, our preparation should begin at home—on Saturday. Plan your Saturday evenings with Sunday morning worship in mind. Don’t make it a habit of purposely staying up so late that you have a hard time getting up on Sunday mornings or end up fighting to stay awake and alert when you are here. Spend some quiet time in prayer and meditation before leaving home on Sunday mornings. Make it a point to get here with enough time before the beginning of the service that you are not rushed. Spend a few moments before the service begins to consider and think about how amazing God is and to have a sense of awe and humility before Him. Thinking about the attributes of God inspires us to worship. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods (Psalm 96:4). Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness (Psalm 150:2). An attitude of worship comes upon us when we see God as He is. When we contemplate the transcendence of God’s nature, our natural response is to worship Him.

How incredibly awesome that the God who created our world and then stepped into it in order to die on a cross for our sin is the same God who has invited us to worship Him today and every day! No wonder King David asked in Psalm 8, When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him? It is only by God’s grace and mercy that we can be in His presence. It is only by His grace and mercy that we can worship at all. Nothing exists higher than God.  There is nothing and no one else like Him. True worship treasures God’s presence. If we treasure His presence, then we owe Him our undivided attention. 

We need to guard against allowing ourselves to be distracted during our times of worship. Yes, we worship corporately, but corporate worship involves each of us as individual worshipers. Praying, singing, reading, and listening are worshipful activities though they do not automatically make us worship. It is possible to do these things and yet our minds can be miles away. No particular action is going to guarantee that we worship. We need to continually focus our attention on God alone—past the platform, the players and singers, the preacher—and truly seek to have an encounter with Him.   

I would like to encourage you (and me) to invest fully in every moment that you are here. Don’t wait for a song you like or for something to grab your attention. Tell the Lord that you are fully present, fully listening, confessing, responding—every moment of the worship service. True worship requires thoughtful and disciplined effort.  Ultimately, worship is a spiritual activity, so we need to pray that the Holy Spirit will enable us to worship in a manner that is God honoring each time we gather together.

Worshiping together,

Pastor David

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