English Standard Version (ESV)
12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
*******************
*******************
When Rachel and I got married,
roughly 8 years ago, the pastor did not conclude with the encouragement to, if
we wanted to build a long, lasting and strong relationship, check in with each
other once a week. That probably wouldn’t
be a good recipe for a strong relationship.
So why would we think it’s ok to do the same with God?
Today, we’re celebrating a major step
in the lives of 4 members of this congregation.
They’ve put the work into 8 weeks of confirmation class, they’ve been
examined by the session, and they’re ready to make a public profession of their
faith. We, the church, are here to
encourage them, to mentor them, to shepherd them, and to celebrate what God is
doing in their lives.
Think, for a moment, about what you
would like to see in their lives. How
would you like to see their faith lived out?
Is your hope for these kids that
they somehow manage to squeeze in 60 minutes of worship once a week? Do you hope that they’ll find their way to a
church 52 times a year for the rest of their lives, figuring that will be enough
to sustain a lasting relationship with God and give them the guidance they need
to live a life of faith?
Or do you want more for them?
I think we all want more for
them. We’d like to encourage them to go
out into the world and let their faith be a bedrock for everything they
do. We’d like to see them take their
faith into their homes and their schools, to let the work of Jesus Christ
transform everything they think and do.
We’d like to see Christ guide them in their relationships and in their
studies, in their schoolwork and in their play.
We hope they will have lives rooted in prayer and in study. We hope that they remember that everything
they do can be done for the Lord.
That’s our hope for these children.
If we’re willing to challenge and
encourage these children into that kind of life, are we willing to examine our
own lives and see if we’re living up to that kind of standard?
Because when we talk about worship,
that’s the kind of life we’re talking about.
It’s easy to think worship happens
once a week. We call it worship, so it
certainly makes sense that this is the first thing that we think of when we
think of worship. But worship is meant
to be so much more than one hour on Sunday morning. Worship is intended to be more than a moment—it’s
intended to be a way of life.
See, our worship service isn’t
intended to be a substitute for what you do in the rest of the week—it’s
intended to set a pattern. And what is
that pattern?
First, we gather ourselves, hearing
Scripture call us to worship. Then,
after we give thanks in prayer, we are called to confess our sins. Then, having confessed our sin, we listen to
the Word of God read and proclaimed. We
hear about the promises of God and learn about how God is calling us to
live. Then, having heard what God has to
say, we respond in grateful prayer, in song and by offering our gifts. Then, and only then, do we go out into in the
world to live in a similar pattern!
Worship doesn’t end here. The
week ends here, and it begins anew. We tie
up the strings on the old week, and we have our vision guided out into the new
week. We die and are born anew, and this
Sunday morning pattern should lead us out into a week that awaits.
And in this week, we’re called to
listen for God’s voice, to repent of our sin, to read Scripture, and then
respond by giving our lives. It’s a
pattern to be lived, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, year by year. This is how we are to live.
And it’s all worship. All of life can be a continual conversation
with God, because every moment is an opportunity to be drawn closer to God by
the power of the Holy Spirit, if we’re willing to be led by God, rather than
pulled farther away by the distractions of the world.
Friends, every moment of your life
is a pregnant opportunity to worship God.
If you are willing to choose to be aware of God’s presence, life can be
worship. If you’re willing to seek him
in every moment, life can be worship. If
you’re willing to fight through the temptation to choose the easier path, the
way of less resistance, life can be worship.
This is a hard thing, and we all
fail. We get distracted. We get busy.
We forget, and then we find that it’s Tuesday and we haven’t thought of
God since the benediction on Sunday. It
happens.
This is why it’s so important to
have routines, to have habits, to set time aside intentionally that is offered
to the Lord, because it brings us back to him.
It guides our hearts and minds back to the Lord, and we allow our
attention to be recaptured by the Holy Spirit.
God is constantly with you. He will never leave nor forsake you.
The question before us is
this: What will you do today to make
yourself more aware of God’s presence and his desire to be in constant
relationship with you?
Let us pray
No comments:
Post a Comment