I read an article the other day which focused on the qualities of leadership in the Scriptures. The author made a point of emphasizing church leaders must always make decisions based upon “what God wants” instead of “what we want.”
When I think about what God wants from our worship service, I am humbled by the revelation all He really wants is our love. Driven by our love for Him comes our obedience to His commandments. The order of worship, the number and placement of songs, even the main idea of the sermon, are all less important than our gathering together to proclaim our love for and devotion to the Lord our God. It is commandment number one, according to Jesus, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.’
Today, if we focus our worship on singing our love to Him, praying our love to Him, preaching our love to Him, and communing our love to Him, then everything will fall neatly into place with a singularly aligned purpose. Our individual wants, needs, prayer requests, and the ever present countdown to the end of the service all take a back seat to the primary goal and our united purpose of worshiping the Lord our God.
I encourage you to plan for it. Prepare for it. Be ready for it. Come ready to bow your heart down before Him and worship. Praise His holy name with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and feel the transformation in your spiritual being as the Holy Spirit guides your heart into an even better relationship with Himself. Then, truly, ‘He will be our God, and we shall be His people.’ Can I get an Amen on that one?
Grace & Peace, Charles.