Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Rich and I have a routine -- get up at 6:45 am, shower, dress, drive to PCC Market on Avondale, get a cup of coffee (or tea), go through their breakfast buffet line, stop at bakery section and get a mini croissant (that’s for me), sit down in their little eating area and enjoy our breakfast, leave at 8:10 to arrive at the church in time for music rehearsal, run through the songs with Eliot and Rhonda (laugh a lot – Eliot is really funny in the morning), greet people who are coming to worship and then spend an hour worshipping with the 9:30 congregation. I love that time. I can’t think of anything more fulfilling or exciting than worshipping our Almighty God with a group of people I love to be with.
For several years of my life, I didn’t have the same excitement and enthusiasm that I have now. To get up early Sunday morning and get ready to go church to worship with my friends. Sleeping in or riding my horse or bicycling to Folsom Lake to swim, had a bit more appeal to me than going to church to worship. But in my mother’s household there was no other option available to me. So, when I moved out on my own, Sunday morning became a time of sleeping in (I mean it was my only sleep in day). I worked and went to school and Sunday was my only day off. Dr. Phil might ask “And how did that work for you?” Let’s just say it was not my wisest move. I fell into the “I can worship God anywhere” trap (which is true, but there is something about worshipping God in community that is irreplaceable by individual worship time.)
What I discovered is that for me my enjoyment and my enthusiasm for worship has direct correlation to my attitude toward God. When my relationship with Him is strong then my enthusiasm for worshipping with others is high also.
When Rich and I travel we always find a place to worship with other believers. That has been a great experience and a great way for us to understand that worshipping God really is not about what is happening in the service, but what is happening in your heart. One of greatest times of worship was in a small Catholic Church in Florianopolis, Brazil. We were not familiar with Catholic forms of worship, we don’t speak Portuguese and we didn’t know a soul. However, we entered this beautiful little church which was filled to standing room only. The priest was leading the singing and he was a bit off key but everyone was singing out. They were all dressed like we were in their summer shorts and t-shirts and you could tell they were very excited about being there. We just got caught up in their enthusiasm and it was a bit like Pentecost. I told Rich, I think I know what they are saying. When they sang words, we hummed along. It was a great experience. I realized then what true worshipping “in spirit and truth” was all about. It’s about my heart and where it is at. It’s about my relationship with God.
This week I look forward to sharing with you what God’s word teaches us about the “attitude you bring” to worship each week.
Look forward to seeing you.
Blessings on your life,
Pastor Linda Skinner