When I started in ministry my father gave me a word of advice when teaching, “Don’t just teach one subject, teach two.” I thought, “Of course, why not, let’s add more work and more study to the plate.” At least that’s what I thought he was saying. Little did I know that he was grooming me for a great discipline of study of the Lord’s Word. It wasn’t just to give me “busy” work it was to get me in the Word.
Through my 27+ years of ministry this discipline has paid off over and over again. Every time I would get up on Wednesday night to teach or get up on Sunday night for Bible study and pull out two different Bible studies, I found out that the Lord was speaking to me in a powerful way. I have learned so much about Tabernacle Worship, Creation, the walk of the Israelites, and a lot of great stories in the Old Testament plus a lot of awesome principles out of the New. The other thing that I found interesting is that the Lord would take two subjects that were total opposites to me and tie them together. Right now on Sunday night I’m leading a study through the book of Judges (I’ll admit we are moving pretty slow considering we are not even out of chapter 1 and we have been studying it for almost 5 months). We have also started a study on the Institutional Church. I was challenged by a good friend of mine with a thesis concerning the reviving vs. the reformation of the Institutional Church. Of course the other side of the coin is to let it die.
We on Sunday night believe that there are aspects of the Church that should be revived and there are some that should be reformed. However, they should NOT be revived or reformed according to denominational standards, mans beliefs, or ideologies. As a result we are taking our time to really discuss models that we find in Scripture of Worship, of the Church, and then comparing it to ourselves and how we can “Revitalize” our own congregation.
One of the things that we have talked about over the past several weeks is our worship. We have been dealing with bringing the “Sacrifice of Praise” to the Lord. What does that mean? What does that look like? What does that “smell” like? What does that “taste” like? We know the passage in John where Jesus tells the woman at the well that the True worshippers will worship in Spirit and in truth. We understand that He is the truth and that we come to worship Him. What we are seeking is what does that look like? Is that what we see in church today? Is that what we see in our church today?
I want to share with you some of the character traits of worship from two different models that we have looked at so far. We looked at the Christmas story and those that worshipped the night that Jesus was born. They were Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Wise men, Elizabeth, and eventually Zachariah. The other model that we just talked about was the worship of Cain and Abel. The similarities are thus; humility, brought their best, brought their first fruits, came God’s Way, were reverent, came through the blood.
One of the aspects of our discussion and concerns that we have is the fact that we see worship that is full of self. We have basically come to the conclusion that in order to worship Jesus in Spirit and in Truth we have to get self out of the way. We have to come humbly. We have to be willing to be used. We have to realize that worship is not about us. It’s not about the bigger show. It’s not about the best praise team. It’s not about the best preacher. It’s not about brightest lights. I read an article not to long ago that stated that in order to keep people coming that we have to keep increasing the show. We have to keep making it bigger and better. When we do that we forget why we are here. We are here to worship God. If it weren’t for Him, we wouldn’t be here in the first place. If it weren’t for Jesus dying on the cross, we wouldn’t have a reason to worship.
I’m convinced that in order to worship God in Spirit and in Truth the first thing that all of us must do it get our minds fixed on Him. Many pastors and commentators might disagree with me and tell me that we need to get our eyes fixed on Him. However, I would say that, “As a man thinketh so is he.” The mind, the head, tells the eyes what to look at. We need to get our mind fixed on Him. That means that we need to get our minds off of us, our situations, our problems, our FB likes and cat pictures. We need to look to the One who can help us and worship Him. That is why you were created in the first place.
When you start praising and worshipping Him in Spirit and in Truth, you will find a new strength. You will find a new hope. You will have a new vision. You will have a fresh “Touch” from Him. I personally believe that we will see Him start to “Revitalize” the Church to what He meant it to be in the first place and not what man has created it. Let’s be the Church and let’s humbly worship Him and then go and share His love with all that we come in contact with.
Pastor Rob
