Worship at Home
It's different isn't it? Worshiping at home is quite a bit different from worshiping with our church family. How are you doing with it? I think it is an excellent opportunity to find out about worship and about ourselves. Is Sunday just another day for you, or is it special? Can you really worship God meaningfully by yourself or with your family?
I am about finished reading Genesis as I read through the Bible this year. There are numerous references to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob building altars and worshiping God, either alone or with a small group. What did they think and do? It is kind of strange to think that they never sat in a building with a group of fellow believers and sang some songs and listened to a message. However, their worship was very real and intimate. Could it have been more real and intimate than our worship with our church family?
Then, I think about the worship of God in the Temple. The outer courts must have been noisy with conversations? Did everyone stop talking when the choir sang? I am not sure. Then, when they entered the inner court and made their sacrifices, how strange was that to worship God by praying, placing your hands on an animal while it was being killed, and then, watching it die. How is that worship? Well, that's how they did it for over 1,000 years.
It seems to me that God is trying to tell us that worship is personal, even if we are in a crowd. It is possible to be in a crowd and not worship God, and it is possible to be alone and to worship God. The best worship happens when a lot of people who are personally worshiping God do it together. They sing their songs to God together. They pray their prayers to God together. They listen to God speak to them together. The "together" is special, but it is dependent on the individual hearts worshiping God.
Therefore, I miss each of you today. I miss seeing you, and I miss worshiping with you, but I did not miss God, and I plan to spend some more time with Him throughout the day. I miss hearing you sing, but there is a song in my heart. I missed sharing God's Word with you, but His Word spoke to me very clearly today. I look forward to next week with even more anticipation than usual, because I missed my time of worship with you. However, I did have worship at home. What about you?
Please, remember that every Sunday is Resurrection Day. As Christians, it is our Sabbath, because it was on this day of the week that our Lord rose from the grave. He conquered sin, Satan, and the grave once and for all. This day will always be special for that reason. No matter where we are, or who we are with, Sunday should be a day of worship for He is worthy of all of our praise and worship.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 1-3 and Matthew 14:1-21.
I am about finished reading Genesis as I read through the Bible this year. There are numerous references to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob building altars and worshiping God, either alone or with a small group. What did they think and do? It is kind of strange to think that they never sat in a building with a group of fellow believers and sang some songs and listened to a message. However, their worship was very real and intimate. Could it have been more real and intimate than our worship with our church family?
Then, I think about the worship of God in the Temple. The outer courts must have been noisy with conversations? Did everyone stop talking when the choir sang? I am not sure. Then, when they entered the inner court and made their sacrifices, how strange was that to worship God by praying, placing your hands on an animal while it was being killed, and then, watching it die. How is that worship? Well, that's how they did it for over 1,000 years.
It seems to me that God is trying to tell us that worship is personal, even if we are in a crowd. It is possible to be in a crowd and not worship God, and it is possible to be alone and to worship God. The best worship happens when a lot of people who are personally worshiping God do it together. They sing their songs to God together. They pray their prayers to God together. They listen to God speak to them together. The "together" is special, but it is dependent on the individual hearts worshiping God.
Therefore, I miss each of you today. I miss seeing you, and I miss worshiping with you, but I did not miss God, and I plan to spend some more time with Him throughout the day. I miss hearing you sing, but there is a song in my heart. I missed sharing God's Word with you, but His Word spoke to me very clearly today. I look forward to next week with even more anticipation than usual, because I missed my time of worship with you. However, I did have worship at home. What about you?
Please, remember that every Sunday is Resurrection Day. As Christians, it is our Sabbath, because it was on this day of the week that our Lord rose from the grave. He conquered sin, Satan, and the grave once and for all. This day will always be special for that reason. No matter where we are, or who we are with, Sunday should be a day of worship for He is worthy of all of our praise and worship.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 1-3 and Matthew 14:1-21.