"An ancient saying suggested that there are two wings by which we rise, one being personal piety and the other community charity. No one can fly by flapping only one wing. It is impossible to be sincere in our worship of God without expecting to do the will of God. It is equally impossible to do the will of God without the guidance and empowering of a vital personal relationship with God."
Harvey and Lois Seifert "Liberation of Life"
I have been reading Ephesians 5 where it talks about imitating Christ. I had never noticed before, but in verse 10 Paul talks about finding out "what pleases the Lord", and in 17 he says "understand what the Lord's will is." I believe these two are connected. What pleases the Lord is what his will is. Worship that pleases God is worship that flows out of a life that understands and lives His will.
By the way, I am posting this from Panera Bread...yeehaw free wireless...thanks Brian for the enlightenment...
2 comments:
Yeah Panera!!!
Some great thoughts bro! I was thinking about how much we miss worshipping God and worship other things. If we took our personal relationship and our outward actions as measuring sticks, what ever would we find/discover? What about if others did?
Ouch! That's enough poking myself in the eye.
Brian,
Funky Monkey Bread Company. That's what I would name my bread company.
Anyway, I was reading further in Missional Church, and it had a brief comment on worship in the 4th chapter on being an apostolic church. It talked about a person inviting their friend to a worship service and when the sermon, which she didn't like, was over, she asked, "Well, what did you get out of that?" To which her friend replied, "Well, I didn't know that worship was what you got out of it. I always thought it was what you bring to God."
Me-church, shaped to my desires, bent on pleasing my whims...
I agree with the second lady. Then Worship becomes bigger than what happens in the church, and our world becomes the sanctuary. A sanctuary where we bring praise to God through our personal relationships and outward actions. Jesus did say that "whatever you do to the least of these you do to me". So when I scrub the floor for somebody or sit down to chat with the guy on the corner, I am in a way bowing at the feet of the Maker God.
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