“. . . they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.” Matthew 2:11
What gifts do we bring our King? One gift we can offer is our worship – our praise to the King. Just as gifts come in many different packages - big, small, brightly wrapped - worship comes in many different forms, too - in church on Sunday morning, walking through a forest blanketed with snow, through the eyes of our children. While worship is really for God, it can also be a blessing to the giver and fellow worshipers.
We at Johnson Memorial are fortunate to have many different ways and opportunities to worship God. The traditional service is the favorite of some; others prefer the early, informal worship and still others are touched by the Common Grounds service. Some are blessed by the worship at all three.
In the past year or so, the most touching and meaningful worship for me has come at some non-traditional services. Do you remember the youth leading the service for Children’s Sabbath in October 2005? The hymn “We are the Church” filled the sanctuary with Kids Klub, the youth, the choir and other worshipers singing from the heart. God’s love and presence filled our sanctuary that day.
The most recent Easter service was particularly powerful. My heart was truly touched when “Mary” wandered the aisles of the sanctuary singing about her Jesus. Were you blessed by this musical gift to the King?
This past spring the youth offered their gift of worship when they hosted “JesusQuest.” During Sunday’s service, Big Steve gave the message using his strongman skills and Portal filled our sanctuary with a different type of worship music – with guitars, keyboard and drums. I was filled with joy when our congregation, young and old, formed circles in the aisles and danced to worship our Lord. Did you see the man dancing with his daughter and great-granddaughter? How about the circle of preschoolers swaying to the beat?
As often happens, I recently learned a lesson from my son. For his summer reading assignment, Sam was required to read a particular book and then write about a life changing experience. He wrote about his first trip to Ichthus, a large Christian rock music festival. In his paper Sam described the fields of tents, the loud music and dancing. At Ichthus he discovered his love for heavy metal music. He summed up his life changing experience by writing:
“Ichthus taught me that Christianity and worship didn’t have to be dull and lifeless. It taught me that there could be fire and passion in my beliefs, and that I shouldn’t be afraid to proclaim them loudly.”
Neither should we.
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for accepting our gifts of worship, in their many forms. Please help us recognize the ways we can worship you daily and the opportunities to proclaim our beliefs loudly, with our actions and words. Lord, most of all, we thank you for the greatest gift – your Son. In His name we pray, Amen.
Shelly Shideler
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