Hey Centennial,
I found myself wondering this week,
What’s the right way to listen to a sermon?
And what’s the right way to gather with the church for worship?
And what’s the right way to gather with the church for worship?
Those questions came to mind because of a few conversations I’ve had recently about some unhelpful, or even unhealthy answers to the questions. I wouldn’t dare presume I could get it totally right here, but I’ll risk at least a couple insights drawn from people who have shared their reflections with me. First,
We worship in community.
Many have observed the highly individualistic nature of the western world we live in. Yes, God made us unique and loves us as individuals. That is true. It’s also true that he designed us for relationship. God is relationship and our identity will never be realized in isolation. Therefore, listening to a sermon should never be a private activity. Worshiping in all its forms — scripture, prayer, song, liturgy — find their fulfillment in our conversations before and after worship on Sunday mornings, in authentic relationships every day of the week, and in our daily “sharing the journey” of following Christ. Whatever we do on Sunday mornings, it should penetrate into our relationships and community year-round. Which naturally leads to my second thought.
We worship honestly.
It’s far too easy to give into the pressure to put on a mask, put on a show, keep up appearances, or simply make it look like we’re worshiping God. God doesn’t care about the ritual or the appearance, he cares about the deepest, truest reality of who you are. If we’re worshiping with a heavy heart, we should find a meaningful way to express that. If we’re worshiping with enthusiastic Joy, we should freely share that. The best way to engage this honesty is making sure you have authentic relationships with the people around you. Worshipping in honest relationship with others ensures that the people around you know (maybe not all of them but at least some of them) what you’re carrying as you coming to worship. Doing this honestly is inherent to healthy community. Which leads to the next observation,
We worship for one another.
When we worship – singing, praying, listening, speaking – we do so for the good of one another. Yes, our corporate act of worship has a benefit to us individually. He conforms us to the image of Christ; he leads us into paths of righteousness. And, as we have said many times, the righteousness of God is fundamentally about Gods desire to help those outside the community of his people. Whatever God does in you – in worship, prayer, scripture, or liturgy – whatever God is forming in this community, he is doing for the benefit of people who aren’t in the church. Our worship is done for one another and for others. God’s great desire in salvation is that God’s people will embody and enact righteousness to others. This is always, most significantly got helping those were her the most. People struggling with mental health, physical needs like hunger homelessness, social needs like loneliness or isolation, those are the ones for whom we engage in our corporate worship. We worship for one another. And finally, covering and supporting this all,
We worship faithfully.
Sometimes we don’t feel like it. We aren’t in the mood to sing or pray or speak a liturgy. Sometimes we wonder whether we believe it at all. Sometimes the weight of life is so heavy we don’t think we can do it. There’s a value to forming the habit of corporate worship for the sake of long-term discipleship. Faithfully gathering with God’s people, in God’s name, under God’s word is a way to let God form us as a community into his Kingdom for the sake of his name.
As we gather this Sunday to sing, pray, and hear God’s word, I pray we would do so in community, honestly, faithfully, and for the good of one another.
Jon Hardin is preaching and will be talking about the cost of discipleship. He will be looking at all of Matthew chapter 16. I encourage you to find a few minutes to read the chapter before our Sunday worship gathering, that will only further your readiness to hear God’s leading through our corporate gathering.
I will not be around Sunday; I am going to be in Yosemite with a group of my college friends. We all met in a freshman dorm Bible study and have been friends ever since.
Grace and Peace,
Karl
P.S. Sunday is also our second week of BLESS. We will be spending time in prayer considering how we can bless others by Listening With Care. Remember to bring your BLESS prayer card if you filled it out last week, we will create a time to pray for those God has prompted you to bless through prayer.