Anyone. Anytime. Anywhere.

-
I awoke to a new beginning: January 1, 2018.  As I started my day, I directed my thoughts towards God and the words of an old chorus came to mind:
"Come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord our God, our Maker."
based on Psalm 95:6

I don't know exactly what this year ahead will hold but I do know what I want my posture before God to be - one of worship.  I can't say that worship has been a main focus in my Christian life.  I give thanks regularly and I do spend time in worship but the framework of my life is often structured around other people.  I'm an extrovert, a helper, and have been way too often a people-pleaser.  My desire this year is to give more attention to God: Father, Son, and Spirit.  We will see how this goes!

As I was meditating on Psalm 29, this past week, I was directed again towards worship.
Verse 2
"Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness"

I was struck by the accessibility of worship in Christ.  Anyone can worship anytime in any place.    Age, social status, profession, health, knowledge, politics, income, ethnicity, culture, etc don't matter.  What matters is turning our attention to God in reverence and adoration.  What matters is that we do it!  There is no special place you have to go.  If we are in Christ, then Christ is in us through the Holy Spirit and we can encounter His holy presence right now within us.  (As as side note, I will say that I see a huge role for the church in leading us in worship so I am not dismissing regular church attendance.)

I think the reason that the accessibility of worship struck me as so significant is that I was pondering the importance of worship.  Worship is an eternal activity.  One could even say that it is the most important thing we do!  So, I find it wonderful that this most holy, important, eternal activity can be entered into by anyone who is willing to respond to this call:

"Come, let us bow down in worship,
     let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
  for He is our God
     and we are the people of His pasture,
     the flock under His care."
                            Psalm 95:6-7

May 2018 be a year of worshiping the Lord for us all!
peace and grace in Christ,
Tracy

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Third Week of Advent: Winter Joy

-
“How am I ever going to do that?” I asked myself in the fall when we started our 6 am Winnipeg Free Press paper route. I was thinking about the future – the dark, cold, windy winter mornings ahead – and wondering how I would be able to handle the paper route then. Since I am a person who loves warmth, sleep, and daylight, I just couldn't imagine it. So this last Saturday morning when the thermometer read -30º C and I was joyfully trudging along on the route, I remembered that question and asked myself another one, “How am I doing this?” Three things came to mind: By God's grace : When I go to bed at night I usual think I won't be eager to get up in the morning but when I'm awaken by my alarm, I get out of bed quite easily for me. It never ceases to surprise me since I was not a morning person. How do I explain this? It is a gracious gift of God. Nothing I deserve. It is a specific, practical way that God is blessing me in this season of my life. By God'...
Read more

Christmas Eve Sermon

-
Merry Christmas Everyone! As I was preparing for my Christmas Eve Children's Sermon for this year, I found the one from last year.  I really enjoyed thinking about the importance of shepherds in God's revelation of Himself to us so I thought I would post the sermon.  Remember: it is a children's sermon!   Here we are: it is Christmas Eve... the time we celebrate the greatest gift from God – Jesus our Saviour!  Now on such a special evening we could talk about so many interesting and wonderful things: We could talk about Mary: and how this young woman became the mother of God’s Son We could talk about Joseph: who took a very pregnant Mary to Bethlehem to be counted with his family We could talk about the angel: who appeared in the night sky proclaiming “good news of great joy for all people.” But... they are not going to be our focus today – as important as they are all. This Christmas Eve, I want to talk about some very ordinary people. Men who were just livin...
Read more

The Time In-Between

-
We are living in the time in-between.  When I think of that with regards to Christian theology, it is the time in between the first coming of Christ (the Incarnation) and the second coming of Christ (the Parousia).  Today, however, I am thinking of the time in-between when covid-19 drove us into our homes and when we will be free to socialize and work normally again.  The time in-between in both cases is a time of uncertainty.  Of waiting.  Of trusting.  Of hoping.  Of praying. These are very unique and challenging times.  I think that is what motivated me to blog today.  Thinking of all of you living your lives under the stress and strain of the corona virus pandemic and wanting to reach out to let you know you are not alone.  Truly not alone - God is with you. Zephaniah 3:17 comes to mind: "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he w...
Read more