One of my favorite things on Sunday mornings is listening to my church sing praises to God. This morning was no different. We started worship today with the choir and orchestra singing and playing The River is Here. Our choir and orchestra take their responsibility of worship very seriously. They understand that they are on the frontlines leading our church into powerful worship that brings us all to the throne of God. You see, going into worship brings on a battle against the principalities of darkness…families argue as they are getting ready, outfits just don’t look right, people feel rushed, traffic is horrible, the kids are acting crazy, the car won’t start, the weather is terrible, the Bible is lost somewhere in the house, Dad is angry, Mom is frustrated, kids are over it, so many things go wrong; and the list goes on and on. Who do you think is the instigator of this Sunday morning set-up? Satan hates families, singles, widows and widowers, college kids, and youth, and children going to church. Satan hates collective worship from a Spirit-filled church.
As the choir and orchestra started the worship service this morning, I felt a sense of excitement. It’s the joy of being together to worship the God we all adore. I felt it. I think we all felt it – Yes, the Spirit was there. Then the most beautiful thing happened. We started singing a couple of the older songs; He Keeps Me Singing and Since Jesus Came into My Heart. (Some of you started humming the tunes just because you read the name of the song.) I usually sing along. But every now and then the Holy Spirit just impresses on me to be quiet and listen. The sound from the congregation began to swell and it took my breath away. Now these are old songs – the songs that the oldest members of our congregation probably learned as children.
The sound came rolling over the piano where I was playing and the sound was like an offering rising up to the Father. I glanced out into at the people that I have grown to love, looked again to a different area, once again to the youth section and what I saw were families, older folks, children, and youth all singing and worshipping together – really singing and participating in presenting their offering of music to the God who deserves our praise. As we moved into You Are My All in All and I Love You Lord, it was such a sweet and beautiful time that I could hardly play. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. I imagined tears in Jesus’ eyes as He felt our love and I pictured God smiling as He accepted our praise.
Pastor Rick started an amazing sermon series on faithful living in a hostile world. Every Sunday we hear God’s word preached from the heart from a pastor who loves His God and loves the people who he has been instructed to serve. We are challenged and chastised, loved and lifted and taught as the Word is shared. We laugh together and cry together and we become a family.
Ya’ll, we need Jesus and we need each other. This world we live in needs Jesus. My friends who are reading this, you need Jesus and you need a body of believers that will love you, support you, pray for you, and come alongside you in the good and the bad of life.
If you do not know my Jesus, it’s time to find out more about Him. It’s time to finally put your faith in the unchanging, powerful, life-giving name of Jesus. It’s time to finally feel complete. Call me and let me tell you about the best decision I ever made in my life which was to become a follower of Christ.
If you do know my Jesus, but did not walk through the doors of a place of worship this morning, you missed one of the most precious times that we have as believers. My husband, who is our music pastor, calls it corporate worship – Joining together with one purpose, one heart turned toward the Creator in reverence and praise. Maybe you just haven’t seemed to find the right place Maybe you feel like you are just too busy or you don’t have the right clothes, or you can’t sing, or you don’t know enough of the Bible to fit in, or you just don’t feel comfortable walking into a group, and there is excuse after excuse. Don’t wait. Don’t let Satan rob you of the blessing of a church family by filling you with excuses.
My church home is Northside Baptist Church in Corsicana, TX. It is filled with people who love the Lord and love each other. It is a church that loves to worship together, they support their staff and they want to take the message of Christ to our town and to the world. I would love to have you come here, but that is not the purpose of this post. Wherever you are as you are reading this, there is a church that God wants you to call home. There is a place for you! Your job is to pray for direction and then get out there and find it!
As I get ready to publish this post, I am praying for every single person that will read it and every single person that will share it. My prayer is that you either already have, or soon will find a church home that you love as much as I love mine!
