Read Psalm 100 out loud and with gusto.
Wow!!! Psalm 100 resounds the call and echoes the truth of the first commandments …to love and worship the Lord our God and bless his holy name! Verse 2 says, “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” Paul says, “Rejoice and again I say rejoice,” in God’s love and faithfulness and do it with joy and happiness! Sing to Him and tell Him of his glory!
Psalm 84 verse 10 says, “Better is one day in your courts, than thousands elsewhere.” That’s the experience of worship! We spend time in God’s court, he comes to us, where we are in deep need, sees the state of our heart, hears our prayers and forgives our brokenness. He sets us on our feet again to bring glory to Him who heals us. We are blessed people and have the hope gifted us, in Jesus Christ, to sing about!
I was reading some materials published in a local congregation that asked the question, “Why do we worship?” The article says this,
“Worship is a bit like breathing. We rely on breathing for life. In worship, God gives and then continually supports life in Him through the washing of baptism, through his words, and through the bread and wine of the holy meal. Without this feeding we are dead – trapped despite all our good resolutions in our self-centredness, our pet weaknesses and the muck that we call sin. God calls us out of that by his action, by his love for us and the forgiveness which we don’t deserve (grace), and elevates us to an amazing new relationship as his precious children. So, in worship the emphasis is on God and we inhale his word and sacraments (the concrete, visible word). Of course, the communication is not one-way. We want to respond to God, so we exhale in prayer, in singing and in our offerings.”
We have a wonderful opportunity to worship with the saints each week in our faith community, to share in this life-giving breath given us through the grace of our Lord. Our faith family is an amazing group of people of all ages, that God has drawn together to ‘do life’ together. Some people often ask the question “Can’t I worship by myself at home?” the article says this,
“Being together as God’s family is the major way God feeds us. When you were baptized, you were baptized in a community which we call the church, and to make it even more personal, you were baptized into the local congregation. This motley, wonderful, diverse group of people is your local ‘body of Christ’, where you are called to serve, form loving relationships, exercise your gifts and most of all to worship together so that you can be fed and nurtured by God’s word and sacraments. God’s children are always community people – it’s a little like calling yourself a cricketer and never playing in a team.”
We are exploring worship as an intergenerational community. We are nurturing our young ones - who are full members of God’s family due unto their baptism - in expressing their worship of Jesus our Lord. We are continuing to work towards an inclusive approach: in our participation in liturgy, serving roles in worship, welcoming all people, providing space for young children and people with limited mobility, music and song. God promise visible in Psalm 100, verse 5 ... “his faithfulness continues through all generations.” We are witness to this here!