Thursday, January 30, 2014

Being the Church: Worship

One obvious aspect of being the Church is worship. The gathering of the saints on Sunday mornings is a key aspect of any church. So, what is worship? Simply put, worship is meeting with God in order to respond to His being our God. Who calls for this gathering of the saints for worship? God does. It’s His idea.  Where are the saints to gather? At His place. That doesn’t require some special building. But it does require our entering heaven. We go to Him. And the Spirit makes that possible. Just consider what happened to John (Revelation 4). He was invited into heaven which the Spirit made happen. And once there, what did he see? He saw God on His throne with people and angels and creatures worshiping Him. I grant you that we don’t get to see these things (yet), but not seeing something is not the same as it not being there. We don't see God (yet), but during worship heaven and earth do touch. We are meeting with God at His calling and at His place. Wasn’t that the point of the Tabernacle and the Temple? The Church back then was called to meet with God at His place.
Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! Psalm 95:2,5
Has something changed and made it less than that today?