"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth."
John 4:24

Worship With Your Heart

As Jesus lives in our heart by faith,
His Holy Spirit will work through Word and Sacraments to spiritualize our worship.
Therefore, it is our heart that must go to church, not merely our well-dressed body.
Our heart goes to church when we make it a temple of the Holy Spirit.
For all worship is meaningless motion and voiceless sound, going nowhere, unless it comes from the heart.

"O come, let us worship and bow down:
let us kneel before the LORD our maker."
{Psalm 95:6}
We can worship God in public and in private.
Whatever way we choose, our faith and a feeling of gratitude to God for His many blessings, motivates our worship.

"So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God."
{Romans 10:17}
The Lord's Day has various meanings to certain individuals.
For most Christians, Sunday is the main day of church worship, where ears and hearts hear and receive the Word of God,
as the Holy Spirit strengthens their faith.
However, some people consider Sunday as a time for rest and recreation; playing golf, or a picnic at the lake, enjoying nature.
It's true that nature does reveal God's Majesty, however, we need more than that.
We are all aware that God is our Creator,
but we must also be aware that we need to know Him as our Redeemer and Sanctifier.
For that, we need the Word of God and the Holy Spirit,
Who works through God's Word.

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to inquire in his temple."
{Psalm 27:4}
When God built the battlements of the Christian life, He placed at every seventh day, a day that is thrust above life's common level for the safeguarding of our hearts and souls.
On that day, we behold the Lord's beauty,
giving heartfelt thanks and praise to Him.

"For this cause I bow my knee unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit
in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God."
{Ephesians 3:14-19}
These words were delivered by Paul on a mission to the Gentiles in Ephesus.
Paul makes three prayer requests for the addressees:
(1) That they would "be strengthened with might by his Spirit" . . .
that is that they be divinely enabled to successfully live the Christian life.
(2) That the readers "be able to comprehend" . . . "the love of Christ" . . .
that is, to better understand the enormous love Christ has for them.
(3) That they "might be filled with all the fullness of God" . . .
That is, that the life, character, and virtues of God Himself may be fully developed in them.
These verses, along with many others throughout the Bible,
portray a beautiful display of prayer and worship coming from the heart filled with faith.

Sometimes our feelings are not as strong as they need to be. But the more we worship with our fellow Christian family,
the more joy will come ~
through Scripture reading, the Pastor's message, prayer, hymns of praise, and the encouragement of other Christians.
We shouldn't go to church because we feel obligated.
We go to praise God, with heartfelt thanks in receiving new Spiritual strength in Christ through Word and Sacrament.

"Keep thy heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life."

May God bless you in fellowship with your church family, as you allow God's Word to absorb your minds, hearts and souls.

 

"Lord Dictated Them"