The twenty-four elders fall down before the One sitting on the throne and worship the One who lives for ever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying, "You are worthy, our Lord and God." Rev. 4:10, 11.
When you open a Bible for the first time, you will find poetry and songs, prophecy and proverbs, but mainly narrative--a story of sorts. It tells the history of a people, but it is more than this. Scripture is the history of a nation in relationship with God. And it is not so much the history of a nation as it is the history of the acts of God.
We often think of worship as a time when some preacher reminds us of what we're supposed to do. But biblical worship is not about what we should do--it is about what God has done. "He has caused his wonders to be remembered" (Ps. 111:4, NIV). When Israel recounted what the Lord has done for them, it enhanced their relationship with Him. But more than this, the acts of God were powerful deeds, events that changed history in a mighty way. Rehearsing them rekindled the power of the original acts. God would again break into history and change things for the better. When the Israelites recounted His deeds for them in the past, God became real to them in the present.
The lay leader of a large church felt his spiritual experience going dry. For whatever reason, he couldn't connect with the preaching in his church. His walk with God was slipping away, and he was about ready to give up. But he decided to give it one more chance. On Sunday morning he went down to the little Baptist church in town.
Bad luck. The preacher was away that week, and the deacon was up there reading something or other. As he mumbled along, the congregation seemed half asleep. Here I've decided that this is to be the last chance I'm going to give this church, and this has to happen, the lay leader thought. But a funny thing took place on the way to a nap. Every five or 10 minutes the deacon, who seemed totally clueless, lifted his eyes from the reading and said, "Well, I don't know about that, but I know one thing: God is able," and then he mumbled on for another five or 10 minutes. Then he said again, "Well, I don't know about that point, but I do know this: God is able!"
About 20 minutes into that sermon the lay leader began to sense God's presence warming his heart. Later he reported, "I just suddenly realized God really is able. God is able to take me where I am. It doesn't matter who is preaching." And it doesn't matter how dead the congregation is or how out-of-date the worship service might be. If you rehearse the mighty acts of God, He is able to resurrect the dead!
Lord, turn my eyes away from the many distractions of life to the mighty things You have done for me. May Your character and Your actions become the substance and focus of my life.
When you open a Bible for the first time, you will find poetry and songs, prophecy and proverbs, but mainly narrative--a story of sorts. It tells the history of a people, but it is more than this. Scripture is the history of a nation in relationship with God. And it is not so much the history of a nation as it is the history of the acts of God.
We often think of worship as a time when some preacher reminds us of what we're supposed to do. But biblical worship is not about what we should do--it is about what God has done. "He has caused his wonders to be remembered" (Ps. 111:4, NIV). When Israel recounted what the Lord has done for them, it enhanced their relationship with Him. But more than this, the acts of God were powerful deeds, events that changed history in a mighty way. Rehearsing them rekindled the power of the original acts. God would again break into history and change things for the better. When the Israelites recounted His deeds for them in the past, God became real to them in the present.
The lay leader of a large church felt his spiritual experience going dry. For whatever reason, he couldn't connect with the preaching in his church. His walk with God was slipping away, and he was about ready to give up. But he decided to give it one more chance. On Sunday morning he went down to the little Baptist church in town.
Bad luck. The preacher was away that week, and the deacon was up there reading something or other. As he mumbled along, the congregation seemed half asleep. Here I've decided that this is to be the last chance I'm going to give this church, and this has to happen, the lay leader thought. But a funny thing took place on the way to a nap. Every five or 10 minutes the deacon, who seemed totally clueless, lifted his eyes from the reading and said, "Well, I don't know about that, but I know one thing: God is able," and then he mumbled on for another five or 10 minutes. Then he said again, "Well, I don't know about that point, but I do know this: God is able!"
About 20 minutes into that sermon the lay leader began to sense God's presence warming his heart. Later he reported, "I just suddenly realized God really is able. God is able to take me where I am. It doesn't matter who is preaching." And it doesn't matter how dead the congregation is or how out-of-date the worship service might be. If you rehearse the mighty acts of God, He is able to resurrect the dead!
Lord, turn my eyes away from the many distractions of life to the mighty things You have done for me. May Your character and Your actions become the substance and focus of my life.
RSS Feed
