We all want to be part of church communities where miracles happen. The minute you meet Jesus you realise, anything can happen in his presence. Lives can be changed in an instant, bodies healed, the oppressed set free. The greatest of all, are those awesome moments when a greater measure of the glory of God is revealed to us. We were made to live for his glory and to celebrate his presence. So how does this become the norm instead of the exception? I think the secret lies in what each individual brings to the table. What each of us brings to the house of God.
Let me for posterity sake mention that this is being written during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. People are shut in, isolated and quarantined. Church services are being conducted purely through electronic means; we’re not exactly meeting together at the moment. But I believe, whether you’re meeting together or via zoom, hangouts, or Facetime, these principles can serve as an encouragement and motivation regarding the kind of expectation we as the people of God bring to the assembly of the saints.
If you’re a worship leader or pastor, you definitely employ the following strategy: locate the people in the congregation who worship expressively, sing along loudly, say Amen, and get visibly excited about the word of God being preached. It serves as self-encouragement. Because on the flip-side looking at all the other faces in the congregation can be quite discouraging. Expressions and body languages that signal fatigue, disinterest, and disconnection. Nobody does this on purpose, it’s just the way things are. Don’t get me wrong. It is possible to pray and seek the Lord through silent meditation and contemplation. These are great gifts to our devotional life. My point is: that does not constitute worship. To see my reasons check the blog post “The Davidic Model of Holistic Worship”. Worship is the expressive, extroverted display of the celebration of ultimate worth. Whether it’s toward God or something else, worship never solely happens on the inside. It starts there, but always comes to true form when it is expressed.
There is a reason David commanded the people to come to the temple with their best praise on. In fact two reasons: (1) since God is the most worthy of all things, he is therefore to be praised, honoured, and celebrated at a level that properly demonstrates our acknowledgement of that fact. If your worship changes based on your mood or circumstance, then you’re doing it wrong. God doesn’t change, neither should our worship. (2) there is such a thing as a law of multiplication. When Jesus talks about longing for unity among the saints (as does Paul, Peter, John, etc.), for us to be of one accord; he is not expressing a nice-to-have, but a must-have. When we come together in agreement about why we are there and who we intend to meet, something breaks open in the atmosphere. The Holy Spirit gets full permission to do what he wants in our midst. Then we experience that he is truly willig and able to do far more than we could ask or imagine. He doesn’t hold back. We do.
The fact is, it matters what I as an individual bring to the worship service. It matters how hungry I am to meet with God and dive into the power of his word. It matters if I come ready to pour out my worship on the feet of Jesus. The opposite is also true. It matters if I come to church so tired from the night before that I am unable to function. It matters if I expect the pastor and worship team to meet my personal expectations. It matters if I come solely looking for God to solve my every problem, and to resent him if he doesn’t. All of it matters. Every one of us matters.
I want to encourage you. Live your life and prepare for church like your life depends upon it. Give God your best, put him first, be willing to look undignified and lose your cool for the sake of honouring him and seeking his face. If we all do that, church will be a blast. God will show up. Miracles will happen. Jesus will be glorified.
Daniel Reinhold
Creative Director, Relayer Music