07 Jul 06 Here I Am To Worship
I’ve been thinking about these words Steve wrote in a recent post:
We are moving ahead with some ideas to put people in a place of worship well before the assembly time begins on Sunday morning.
Yes. Carry on. Make it so. Use the force.
I was reminded of our time in Central America. There was such a thing as gringo time and latin time. For example, a particular event was scheduled to start at 7PM (gringo time) which meant 7:30PM (latin time). But on Sunday morning a strange thing happened. People would show up early. Not everyone, but a fair number of people would arrive before the start of the assembly.
They would sit silently in the meeting room. Some would pray. Others would read from their Bibles. It was their way to be in a place of worship well before the assembly time.
I imagine Steve is talking about steps to take during the week to put people in a place of worship. Excellent! We need this type of challenge.
Those of you who take part in the administration of the public assembly know how chaotic it can become before the assembly.
I want to brainstorm with you about ideas to make the meeting place (atmosphere and physical space) conducive to worship. We can with our collective creativity think of all sorts of things.
I am more interested in hearing about ways to challenge each person to arrive in a place of worship well before the assembly time begins on Sunday morning.
Psalm 24:1-5 (New Century Version)
The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it — the world and all its people.He built it on the waters and set it on the rivers.
Who may go up on the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy Temple?
Only those with clean hands and pure hearts,
who have not worshiped idols,
who have not made promises in the name of a false god.
They will receive a blessing from the Lord;
the God who saves them will declare them right.
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Quietness and solitude-in the stillness of our hearts-can prepare us for worship. What a great idea to plan to be there early to get your mind in a spirit of worship. Preparing our hearts through the week with an attitude of love and adoration and kinship would also pave the way for it to just transfer over into the collective assembly.
I’m afraid far too many times I slide in at the last minute with the weight of the world on my shoulders.
I would love to personally be ready for worship with my church family, rather than being so focused on the business of church (making sure all of the teachers are there, seeing that communion is set up, etc.). I would especially enjoy hearing ideas on how to do this with children - getting them ready for worship, as well as having an ounce of focus when there are many children present in a worship assembly.
Kristi hit the nail on the head. I’ll add our efforts to “educate” our church to not complain to someone just before worship begins. I find that most distracting.
Two thoughts I have here. One worship is one of those concepts that can hard to get your mind around. We often think of worship as what we do when we come to place like Israel at the temple. However, I can find very little NT teaching about worship that is tied to a place or that even describes believers coming together to “worship” as we think of it today. What I’m trying to say is we do need to rethink our idea of worship or coming to worship within the culture of church as we know it today.
I often go to texts like Romans 12:1-2 and Isaiah 6 when I want to get my mind and heart right before God to properly honor him.
Also and second, I struggle with the idea of quietness and stillness in worship, at least for some worshippers because we often have individual situations with kids and distractions that don’t allow us to worship with the church family in this manner.
I think the idea of worship comes down to individual hearts open before God to honor him in the way that brings the person’s life into the light of God’s truth so that God’s Spirit can transform and move that life closer to him.
I’m a work in progress on this one.
Peace.
I think I understand what you and Steve both are driving at. On the other hand, I look at life as an act of worship and the joy of being with and interacting with brothers and sisters when we assemble is, in it’s own, a worship to God. That’s not to say all that conversation is spiritual! We know better, and we need never cease trying to improve in our worship.
Thanks for your post and encouragment to excellence before our Father.
I remember hearing a story about missionaries to the Pacific Islands. The natives used to sit outside the temple and contemplate for long periods of time before entering and worshipping their idols, while the converted entered their church with little thought. They called the Christians “those of little breath” since they did not go through the long rituals.
Fresno told me they will be having donuts and coffee in the sanctuary, auditorium, meeting place to get people into a worshipful mood. In the Bethlehem church, the door is so low you must enter bent over or on your knees, two humble ways to prepare for worship.
It has always amazed me that people show up late for worship, and I wonder if they show up late for work. Its like God takes a second place in their lives.
Having doors open 1/2 hr earlier doesn’t seem to make a difference because the same people come early regardless. Possibly if the earlier time was advertised as prayer time, it might encourage some.